Action
Opportunity to act
Ante
A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the beginning of a poker hand
All-In
To run out of chips while betting or calling
Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand
Bad Beat
To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored hand
Big Blind
The larger of the two blinds typically used in a Hold’em game
Big Slick
A nickname for Ace King
Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand
Blind
A forced or partial bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt
Bot
Short for "robot" that plays poker online with zero or minimal human intervention
Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop
Bubble
The point at which only one player must bust out before all others win some money, also the person who was unfortunate enough to finish in that position
Burn
To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each betting round before putting out the next community card
Button
A white acrylic disk that indicates the dealer
Buy
To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called
Buy-In
An amount of money you pay to enter a tournament
Call
To put into the pot an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise
Calling Station
A weak player who calls a lot but doesn't raise or fold much
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round
Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck
Center Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand
Check
To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round
Check-Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets
Chop
An agreement between the two players with blinds to simply take their blinds back rather than playing out the hand if nobody calls or raises in front of them
Clean Out
A card that would almost certainly make your hand best
Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action
Come Hand
A drawing hand
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards, a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush
Connector
A Hold’em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank
Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it
Crack
To beat a hand -- typically a big hand
Cripple
As in "to cripple the deck." Meaning, that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board
Crying Call
A call that you make expecting to lose, but feel that you must make anyway because of the pot odds
Cut-Off
The position (or player) who acts one before the button
Dead Money
Money contributed to a pot by a player no longer in the pot. Also a player in a tournament who has no realistic chance of winning
Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play
Draw
To play a hand that is not yet good, but could become so if the right cards come
Draw Dead
Trying to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot
Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot
Expectation
The amount you expect to gain on average if you make a certain play, also the amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period
Extra Blind
A blind put in by a player just entering the game, returning to the game, or otherwise changing his position at the table
Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop
Fast Play
To play a hand aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible
Fish
A poor player
Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together
Fold Equity
The extra value you get from a hand when you force an opponent to fold
Foul
A hand that may not be played for one reason or another
Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand
Free Roll
One player has a shot at winning an entire pot when he is currently tied with another player
Gap Hand
A starting hand with cards more than one rank apart
Gutshot Straight
A straight filled "inside”
Heads-Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players
Hit
As in "the flop hit me," meaning the flop contains cards that help your hand
House
The establishment running the game
Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand
Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten
Jam
To move all-in in a no-limit (or pot-limit) game
Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands
Leak
A weakness in your game that causes you to win less money than you would otherwise
Limp
To call
Live Blind
A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt
Live
Cards that are not duplicated in an opponent's stronger hand
Maniac
A player who does a lot of hyper-aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing
Made Hand
A hand to which you're drawing, or one good enough that it doesn't need to improve
Micro-Limit
Games so small that they couldn't be profitably dealt in a real card room
Muck
The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer
No-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act
Nuts
The best possible hand given the board
Offsuit
A Hold’em starting hand with two cards of different suits
One-Gap
A Hold’em starting hand with two cards two apart in rank
Out
A card that will make your hand win
Outrun
To beat
Overcall
To call a bet after one or more others players have already called
Overcard
A card higher than any card on the board
Overpair
A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop
Pat
A hand that you make on the flop
Pay Off
To call a bet when the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway
Play the Board
To show down a hand in Hold’em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board
Pocket
Your unique cards that only you can see
Pocket Pair
A Hold’em starting hand with two cards of the same rank, making a pair
Post
To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a card room game
Pot-Committed
A state where you are essentially forced to call the rest of your stack because of the size of the pot and your remaining chips
Pot-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act
Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing
Price
The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call
Protect
To keep your hand or a chip on your cards, also to invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted"
Put On
To mentally assign a hand to a player for the purposes of playing out your hand
Quads
Four of a kind
Ragged
A flop
Rainbow
A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn
Rake
An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer
Rank
The numerical value of a card
Rebuy
An option to buy back into a tournament after you've lost all your chips
Represent
To play as if you hold a certain hand
Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament
River
The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself
Rock
A player who plays very tight, or not very creatively
Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river
Satellite
A tournament that does not award cash to its winners, but a seat (or seats) in a subsequent "target" tournament
Scare Card
A card that may well turn the best hand into trash
Second Pair
A pair with the second highest card on the flop
Sell
In a spread-limit game, this means betting less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet
Semi-Bluff
A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play
Set
Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board
Short Stack
A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table
Showdown
The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over and determine who has the best hand
Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips
Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot
Small Blind
The smaller of two blind bets typically used in a Hold’em game
Smooth Call
To call. Smooth call often implies slow playing a strong hand
Soft-Play
To go easy on another player at the table
Splash the Pot
To toss chips directly into the pot rather than put them in a stack in front of you
Split Pot
A pot that is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands
Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well
Spread-Limit
A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round
Stop-and-Go
A play where you call (rather than re-raising) a raise, but then come out betting on the next card
Straddle
An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind
String Bet
A bet (more typically a raise) in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion
Structured
Used to apply to a certain betting structure in poker games
Suited
A Hold’em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit
Table Stakes
A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest
Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand or his next action
Thin
To be drawing to a very few outs, perhaps only one or two
Tilt
To play wildly or recklessly
Time
A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do, also an amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the card room
To Go
The amount a player must call if he wishes to continue playing
Toke
A small amount of money given to the dealer by the winner of a pot
Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop
Top Set
The highest possible trips
Top Two
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the two highest cards on the board
Top and Bottom
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the highest and lowest cards on the board
Trips
Three of a kind
Turn
The fourth community card, put out face up, by itself
Under the Gun
The position of the player who acts first on a betting round
Underdog
A person or hand not mathematically favored to win a pot
Value
As in "bet for value" meaning that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet as opposed to a bluff
Variance
A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through
Wheel
A straight from ace through five