Poker Glossary

Glossary

Did You Know these Poker Terms?

All In: When a player puts the last of their chips into a pot, that player is said to be all-in.

Ante: A small, forced bet that everyone at the table is required to pay before each hand (in games with an ante).

Back Door: A hand-made back door is one made using both of the last two cards, as in seven card stud or Texas hold ’em.

Bankroll: The total amount of money one is willing (and able) to put at risk

Blind Bet: A blind bet, or blind, is a forced bet that must be posted before you see any cards.

Bluff: A bet with a weak hand (typically a busted hand), usually intended to get other players to fold.

Boat: Another name for a full house.

Broadway: An Ace high straight.

Bullets: A pair of aces in the hole.

Bump: To raise.

Bust:
To run out of money, especially in a tournament.

Buy: To buy a pot is to make a bet large enough that other players would be unlikely to call.

Call: To call is match the current bet.

Catch: When the cards are treating you well, you are said to be catching cards.

Check:
If there has been no betting before you in a betting round, you may check, which is like calling a bet of $0, or passing your turn.

Chip:
Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table.

Coffeehouse:
To talk about a hand one is involved in, usually with the intent of misleading or manipulating other players, is coffeehousing.

Cowboy:
A nickname for Kings, more often heard in the plural.

Cut:
After the cards are shuffled but before they are dealt, usually the deck is split in the middle and the halves are reversed.

Door card:
The first card dealt face up to each player in seven card stud is the door card.

Drop:
To fold. Also, to lose a particular amount of money.

Fast:
To play fast is to play aggressively.

Fishhook:
A nickname for a Jacks, more often heard in the plural.

Flop:
A number of games, such as Hold ‘Em and Omaha, are played with 5 community cards.

Fold:
To abandon your hand, usually because someone else has made a larger bet than you are willing to call.

Four Flush:
A hand with four cards of the same suit.

Four of a kind:
Four cards of the same rank.

Full House:
A hand consisting of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank.

Gutshot:
An inside straight draw.

Heads Up:
A play between only two players.

High:
The high hand is simply the best hand.

It:
Refers to the largest amount anyone has yet played in a round.

Kansas City:
Kansas City lowball is a low game played for a deuce to seven low.

Live card:
A card that has not been seen.

Lock:
A hand that is guaranteed to win at least part of the pot.

Make:
To (non-specifically) make a hand means to get a decent hand that has a shot at winning the pot.

Maniac:
A player who plays extremely loose and aggressive, often raising with just about anything.

Omaha:
Omaha is a flop game similar to hold ‘ em.

Outs:
A card that will improve your hand, usually one that you think will make you a winner.

Paint:
A Jack, King or Queen (i.e. a card with a picture on it).

Passive:
A style of play that is characterized by reluctance to bet and raise.

Pineapple:
Any of a number of variants of hold ’em in which each player gets three cards and must discard one at some point.

Pushka:
An arrangement between two or more of the players to share part of the pots win, or more precisely, the container into which the shared chips are played.

Quads:
Four of a kind.

Rag:
A card, usually a low card, that, when it appears, has no apparent impact on the
hand.

Rainbow:
Three or four cards of different suits, for example on a flop.

Raise:
After someone has opened betting in a round, to increase the amount of the bet os to raise.

Rolled Up:
In Seven Card Stud, three of a kind on the first three cards are called rolled up X’s, where X is the rank of the cards.

Round:
A round can refer either to a round of betting or a round of hands.

Royal Straight Flush:
An ace high straight flush is a royal straight flush, or a royal flush, or just a royal.

Semi-bluff:
A semi-bluff is similar to a bluff, except that the semi-bluff has some chance of making a winning hand.

Seven Card Stud:
Of the poker games most commonly played in public cardrooms, seven card stud is probably the most well known. In this game, each player is dealt seven cards of their own: two down, then four up, and a final card down.

Sir:
One of those confusing terms that can have a completely different meaning at the poker table than elsewhere. If someone says “nice hand, sir,” after you win a big pot, what they’re really saying is “congratulations on winning money through sheer luck.”

Snap Off:
To beat someone, often a bluffer, and usually with a not especially powerful hand, is to snap them off.

Speed:
Speed refers to the level of aggressiveness with which you play.

Straight Flush
: A hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the same suit.

Suit:
Clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.

Texas Hold’em:
Texas Hold’em (or just Hold’em) is a poker game in which each player gets two pocket cards, while five community cards are dealt face up on the table.

Underdog:
When two hands face off, the underdog is the one that’s less likely to win than the other.