UnabomberPoker

ACTION: The term used when money that is being bet. “Action is to you,” meaning “your turn.” Or, “Gimme some action” when a player is either hoping (or bluffing) for others to call or raise.

ACTIVE PLAYER: Any player still in the pot.

ALL-IN: When a player pushes all their chips into the pot.

ANTE: The minimum bet players are required to make before a hand is dealt.

BAD BEAT: When a player holding a strong hand gets beat by a much weaker hand. It can also mean a very good hand that is beat by an even better hand.

BANKROLL: The money a player has to use for gambling purposes.

BET: To put money into the pot.

BET THE POT: To bet an amount equal to the chips in the pot.

BLIND: A forced bet made by certain players usually sitting left of the button before each new hand is dealt. The amount of the blinds usually increases throughout a tournament.

BIG BLIND: The larger of the two forced bets before the cards are dealt, the other bet being the “small blind.”

BIG SLICK: A hand that contains an Ace and a King (A-K).

BLUFF: When a player attempts to make other players believe that their hand is better than it actually is by betting or raising.

BOTTOM PAIR: When a player has the lowest card on the flop to make a pair with one of his/her own cards.

BURN CARD: To discard the top card face down prior to dealing.

BUY-IN: The amount it costs to play at a particular poker table.

CALL: To match the amount previously bet.

CALLER: The player who matches the amount bet.

CALL STATION: A player who continually calls bets.

CASH OUT: To leave a game and exchange your chips for cash.

CHECK: When there’s been no action and therefore a player can choose not to bet, but to “check.”

COME OVER THE TOP: To raise or re-raise another player’s bet.

CONSERVATIVE: A player who folds everything but monster hands.

DEAL ME OUT: A player says this before temporarily leaving the game and will not be affected by further play.

DEALER’S POSITION: The last player to act during a betting round, giving the player the advantage of knowing how each player played - otherwise known as “on the button.”

DEUCES: A pair of twos.

DOMINATED: When a player is up against another player who has a much better hand.

DRAW DEAD: A hand in which a player cannot possibly beat another player’s cards regardless of what cards come up.

DONKEY: A bad poker player who makes wild calls and raises. Donkeys will sometimes get lucky and catch their cards, causing others at the table to go mad.

EARLY POSITION: The position located to the left of the blinds in which the player must act first.

EDGE: When a player has an advantage over the other player(s).

ETIQUETTE: The underlying rules of poker table behavior - i.e., not throwing chips into the pot, but stacking them neatly, etc.

FACECARD: A King, Queen or Jack.

FAMILY POT: A pot where all of the players at the table are involved.

FELTED: A term coined by Phil Laak, to mean having lost all of one’s chips.

FIFTH STREET: The final card on the table representing the final round of betting, also known as the “river” card. In Stud games, this is the fifth card dealt to each player and represents the third round of betting.

FISH: A player who fancies himself or herself a good poker player, but only succeeds in losing their bankroll (a.k.a. the most popular player at the table).

FOUR OF A KIND: Otherwise known as “quads,” four cards of the same number.

FLOP: The second round of betting where the first three community cards are laid down face-up all at one time.

FLOP A SET: When a player matches a card or pair of cards that gives them three of a kind during the second round of betting.

FLUSH: Five cards of the same suit.

FLUSH DRAW: Four cards of the same suit with the potential to draw a fifth.

FOLD: To decline to raise or call after a bet; therefore dropping out of the hand.

FULL HOUSE: Three of a kind, plus a pair.

GUTSHOT STRAIGHT: A hand in which you need one card, in the middle of the cards you have, to complete a straight.

GRINDING: Playing in a conservative style that minimizes risk and earns modest gains over a long period of time, keeping one in the game.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: A poker game that consists of just two players.

HEADS-UP: A hand being played by only two players.

HIGH LIMIT: When the minimum bet at a table is significant.

HOLDEM: Also known as Texas Holdem, where the players receive two hole cards and five community cards.

HOLE CARDS: The face-down cards dealt to each player.

HOT STREAK: A period of time when a player has a run of luck and/or good cards.

HOUSE RULES: Rules specific to the establishment where playing or, rules pertaining to betting agreed on by the players themselves.

HOUSE: The establishment hosting the poker game.

IMPLIED ODDS: A factor in calculating pot odds that accounts for being called if one completes their hand.

INSIDE STRAIGHT: See: Gutshot Straight.

KICKER: The highest card not matched.

LATE POSITION: A player who does not have to act until the other players have acted.

LIMIT POKER: A game that has a set minimum and maximum betting along with a prearranged number of raises.

LIMP IN: Calling the big blind rather than raising.

LITTLE BLIND: The smaller of the two forced bets before the cards are dealt, the other bet being the “big blind.”

LOOSE: A player who plays more hands than the average.

MAIN POT: The center pot. When a player goes all in, other bets, if more than what the all-in player has placed in the main pot, go in a side pot(s) among the remaining players.

MANIAC: An aggressive player who makes wild raises and calls.

MIDDLE PAIR: A players matched pair that uses neither the highest or lowest card on the board.

MIDDLE POSITION: Between the early and late betting positions.

MONSTER: A very good hand such as a pair of high cards like Kings or Aces. Also refers to big made hands like a flush, a full house and a straight.

MUCK: To discard you cards without showing them.

NO LIMIT: Players can bet as much as they like during all rounds of betting providing it exceeds the minimum.

NURSING: Playing tight or conservatively in an attempt to hold on to chips.

NUT FLUSH: Having the best possible flush.

NUT FLUSH DRAW: Having the potential to draw the one card that will give a player the best possible flush.

NUTS: Having the best possible hand.

ODDS: The probability involved in a game.

OFFSUIT: Cards of a different suit.

OMAHA: A game in which each player is dealt four down cards with five community cards making their hand with two cards from their hand and three from the board.

ON THE BUTTON: The best position in a hand as the player is the last player to act in a betting round.

OPEN-ENDED STRAIGHT DRAW: Poker hand that is drawing to a straight that can be completed by two different cards on either end of the four cards that have already been made.

OVERCARD(S): Card(s) that ranks higher than the cards on the board.

POCKET ROCKETS: When a player holds a pair of aces.

POKER FACE: Refraining from showing emotion during a hand.

POSITION: Where a player is seated in relation to the dealer, which thereby establishes the betting order.

POT: The amount of chips being played for in a hand.

POT LIMIT: When the maximum bet can only equal the pot.

POT ODDS: The amount of money in the pot divided by the amount of money a player bets in order to call.

PREFLOP: Bets made before the flop.

QUADS: Four of a kind.

RAISE: Increasing the bet previously made.

RAKE: Money taken from the pot or tournament buy-in that goes to the house as compensation for hosting the game.

RAILBIRD: Anyone who watches a poker game from the sidelines or rails. Often someone who has busted out or who can’t afford the buy-in themselves.

READ: An assessment of what cards an opponent has.

REPRESENT: Playing in such a way as to seem to have a certain hand, which you don’t actually have.

RERAISE: Raising after someone before has raised in the same round of betting.

RING GAME: A poker game in which the chips represent real money as opposed to a tournament.

RIVER: The fifth card on the board. Also sometimes called Fifth Street.

RUNNER: A hand that needs to catch certain cards on the turn and the river in order to be made.

SATELLITES: Small tournaments in which the prize is a buy-in to a much larger tournament.

SET: A hand that has three cards of the same rank.

SHUFFLE: The mixing of the cards by the dealer.

SHORT STACK: A small amount of chips relative to the other players at the table.

SHOWDOWN: The point at the end of a hand when all bets are complete and all players reveal their cards to determine a winner.

SLOW PLAY: Representing a weak hand when you actually have a strong one so as to get your opponent to put as much into the pot as possible. Also known as sandbagging.

SIDE POT: Pots created when more than two players are all-in and at least one player can’t cover the all-in of another. The player(s) who did not have enough to invest in them cannot win side pots.

SMOOTH-CALLING: Simply calling a players bet with a strong hand instead of raising so as to appear weak.

SPLIT POT: A pot that is divided and shared among two or more players.

SUCK OUT: A hand that is very unlikely to win but does so.

SUITED CONNECTORS: Hole cards that are one rank apart and of the same suit.

TAPPED OUT: When a player has gone through his/her bankroll.

TELL: An action or expression a player does that gives away their hand.

TEXAS HOLDEM: See: “Holdem”

THREE OF A KIND: Otherwise known as “trips,” this is when a player has three cards of the same number (or face value).

TIGHT: When a player doesn’t engage in many hands.

TILT: Otherwise known as “on tilt” or “tilting” is when a player plays emotionally usually after a run of bad luck or big loss.

TOKE: Gambling term for tipping either the dealer or a cocktail waitress.

TOP PAIR: Having a hole card matching the highest card on the board.

TRIPS: See: “three of a kind.”

TURN: The fourth community card in Holdem before the river card.

TWO PAIR: When a player has a hand consisting of two pairs.

UNDER THE GUN: The seat immediately to the left of the big blind position. First to act in the first round of betting and third to act after the flop assuming the small and big blind are still in the hand.

VALUE BET: A bet made with a strong hand, usually on the river, which is small enough to entice a call from an opponent believed to have a weak hand.

VARIANCE: The effects of chance in poker; the up and down swings that all poker players experience regardless of skill and ability.