Poker Glossary

New to the game of poker? Don’t worry. When playing poker, you might come across various poker terms which you might be unfamiliar with. Given below is one of the most comprehensive poker glossaries, where you could find meanings to the phrases like "On Tilt", "Fifth Street", "Pot Odds", etc.

A

Ace-High: A five-card hand containing an ace but no pair; beats a king-high, but loses to any pair or above.
Aces Full: A full house with aces over any pair.
Aces Up: Two pairs, one of which is aces.
Action: The betting.
Active Player: A player still in the pot.
Add-On: The opportunity to buy additional chips in some tournaments.
All-In: When a player bets all his or her remaining chips.
Ante: A token bet required before the start of a hand.
Ajax: Ace/Jack in the hole

B

Back Door: Hand made in the last two cards.
Bad Beat: Losing when you have a very strong hand, usually to a very unlikely draw on the last card.
Bankrole: The total amount of money you plan to gamble with
Base Deal: Dealing cards from the bottom of the deck rather than the top. A form of cheating
Beer Hand: 7 and 2 hole cards for Texas Holdem. The worst possible starting hole cards
Belly Buster: An Inside Straight draw.
Berry Patch: An easy game, with many poor players.
Bicycle: A Straight, A-5.
Big Lick: 6 - 9 unsuited in the hole.
Big Slick: Pocket Ace/King
Blank: Poor card that has no impact on the game. Also known a rag.
Bring in: To open a round of betting

 C

Chop: See Rake
Coffeehousing: Excessive often distracting talking at the table.
Cold Call: To call both a bet and a raise.
Community Card: A card dealt face up on the table that can be used by any player at the table.
Computer Hand: Q 7 starting hand.
Connectors: Pocket cards of sequential rank.
Counterfeit: A card that does not help you, but is likely to make an opponents hand better than yours.
Cowboys: Kings
Crying Call: When some calls even though they are almost certain they are beat.
Call: To match the current high bet.
Calling Station: A player who almost always calls and seldom raises.
Cap: In many limit games there is a restriction on the number of bets allowed each round. A player caps the betting by making the last allowable raise.
Cards Speak: A rule that says the cards determine the best possible hand, not the player. If a player has a better hand than he realizes, the better hand is the one that is used.
Chameleon: Player in a game who changes and varies his style of play from wild and unpredictable to tight and aggressive.
Chase: Calling when you have not yet made your hand.

 

D

Dead Man's Hand: Two pair, Aces and Eights.
Deuce: A two
Dolly Pardon: 9 - 5 hole cards
Donkey A bad player. A fish.
Door card: In stud games, the first card dealt face up to a player.
Down to the Felt: Out of money/chips.
Doyle Brunson: 10-2 hole cards in Texas Holdem. This is the hand with which Super System author
Ducks: Twos

E

Eyes of Texas: A pair of Aces in the hole.

F

Family: Pot A round where everyone calls the opening bet.
Fifth Street: The fifth card dealt in stud poker, or the final card in games with five community cards.
Fish: Poor player
Fold: To give up on your hand.
Four Flush: Four cards to a flush.
Four of a Kind: Four Cards of the Same Rank

 

G

Gay Waiter: A slang term sometimes used for a Queen 3
Gunshot: An Inside Straight Draw

H

Hammer: The 7-2 off suit, specifically a winning hand with these as your hole cards. A popular hand among the poker bloggers.
Heads Up: A one on one poker match or round.
Heinz: 5 7 in the hole
High Society: The highest denomination of chips in a particular establishment
Hilton Sisters: Wired queens
Hole: The first two down cards in poker game.
Hooks: A pocket pair of Jacks

I

Implied Odds: The odds you are getting from the expected calls in future betting rounds.
Inside Straight: Hand in which you have four cards to a straight, but are missing one in the middle.
Isolate: Bet strongly in an attempt to make everyone fold except one other player.

J

Jackson Five: Pocket Jack/5

K

Kicker: The highest unpaired card in your hand. Used as a tie-breaker. If two players have the same pair, the one with the higher kicker will win the pot.
Kojack: Pocket K/J

L

Ladies: Queens
Lay Down: To fold
Lock: A hand that is guaranteed to win at least part of the pot
Loose: A player who stays in more hands than most, and stays in them longer
Lumber Yard: K - 8 in the hole

M

Maniac: A very loose and aggressive player. Rarely folds or calls. Bluffs often and raises frequently.
Mechanic: Someone who cheats by manipulating the cards while dealing
Montana Banana: 9-2 in the hole
Motown: J 5 in the hole Muck Pile of discarded cards.
Mullets: Pocket 7's in Texas Hold'em.

N

Nut flush: Highest possible flush
Nuts, The: The best possible hand, given the cards on the board
Nut Straight: Highest possible straight.

O

Odds: The probability of making your hand
Off Suit: Cards with different suits, usually referring to hole cards.
On Tilt betting: wildly or making poor bets. Usually after a bad beat.
Open: Make the first bet in a round.
Over the Top: To raise a large bet

P

Paint: Face Card
Pat Hand: In draw games, being dealt a made hand.
Pocket: First two down cards in poker game.
Pocket Pair: Two cards of the same rank in the hole.
Pot Limit: A limit on the maximum allowable raise. The limit is the amount currently in the pot.
Prom Nite: 6 - 9 suited in the hole.

Q

Quads: Four of a Kind

R

Rabbit Hunting: Looking through the muck for undealt cards after a hand.
Rag: Poor card that has no impact on the game.
Railbird: Spectator Railroad Bible A Deck of Cards
Rainbow: A flop containing three different suits.
Raise: To increase the amount of an opponent's bet
Rake: Set amount or percentage that the house claims from each pot.
Ring Game: Standard non-tournament poker game.
River: The last card dealt in a game.
Rock: A tight and aggressive player who folds often and doesn't play a lot of hands.
Rolled Up: In seven card stud, three of a kind with your first three cards
Royal Flush: 10-A Straight Flush

S

Sailboats: A pair of fours in the hole
Sandbag: Slow Play. To play a strong hand as if it is weak in an effort to lure opponents into betting.
San Francisco Busboy: Q 3 in the hole. (Queen with a trey)
See: To Call
Semi-Bluff: Like a bluff except that your hand might be good enough to win if someone calls you. Set Three of a kind.
Short Stack: Having less chips than every one else at the table.
Suited Cards: of the same suit
Suited Connectors: Sequential hole cards in the same suit.
Siegfried and Roy: A pair of queens in the hole
Snowmen: A pair of 8's in the hole.

T

Tapioca: Out of money/chips
Tight: A conservative player who doesn't play many hands.
Trips: Three of a kind
Turn, The: The fourth card in Texas Hold'em or Omaha.
Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same denomination. 4h, 4c, 4s for example.

U

Under the Gun: First to bet in a given round

W

Whipsaw: To raise before, and after, a caller who gets caught in the middle.
Walking Sticks: A pair of 7's in the hole
Wired: Pocket cards of the same rank.
World's Fair: A big hand.
W.S.O.P: World Series of Poker,an Annual Tournament, which would take place in Las Vegas.
Wild Card: A card designated as a joker, playable as any value.
WPT: World Poker Tournament