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Glossary
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Perhaps more than any other game, poker seems to have a language of its own. When entering the world of poker, it's essential to understand and master some of these terms. Not only will your opponents sniff you out in a heartbeat if you keep asking for translations, but you will also find yourself wasting your precious time and energy just to keep up with the lingo, instead of focusing on the cards and your game.
Poker jive isn't really all that hard to learn. Indeed, it's a lot easier than mastering the game itself - and it makes the experience more fun. Below is a partial list of terms you may encounter as a newcomer to the game. Most of the terms make perfect sense after they're explained once, so go ahead and take a minute to read through them before you dive into the game.
Poker Terminology
Act - To perform one of the four basic poker actions - bet, call, raise or fold. Players are expected to act in turn; otherwise they give away information that may help players who are scheduled to act before them.
Add-On - During tournaments which offer add-ons all players, regardless of their stack size, can buy more chips (see Rebuy) before the ‘add-on' period is over.
All In - Putting all your remaining chips into the pot puts you all-in. loosing a hand that you're all-in on could mean the end of the road for you, so this is always considered a very dramatic move. If you don't have enough chips to cover the bet, or someone raises after you've already gone all in, a side pot is created, and you stand to win only the chips that are in that side pot, i.e. the amount of chips that you covered with your all-in bet. In online play, all-in is used when a player with a live hand loses connection with the server due to technical problems beyond his or her control.Ante - A forced bet in which every player puts an equal amount of chips into the pot before a new hand is dealt. It's a form of communal blind bet that helps keep the action going during every hand, since there is always money to be won (and lost).
Blinds - Forced bets, usually placed by the two players sitting to the left of the dealer button. These bets are placed before the cards are dealt, hence the name ‘blind'. There are usually two blinds - the small blind equals half a minimum bet, and the big blind is equal to a minimum bet. At certain stages of kill games, an extra ‘kill blind' is added, and usually equals the big bet. Just like the ante, these forced bets are the minimum amount players must pay to participate in the game, and encourage betting to make up for the loss.
Bankroll - The amount of money a player has to bet on throughout his or her poker career.
Bluff - The act of betting or raising with an inferior hand. The point of the bluff is to make your opponent fold by representing a better hand than the one you really have, and is generally what makes poker so interesting.
Buy-in - The minimum amount of chips that a player must buy in order to participate in a game (usually applies to tournaments).
Chip Leader - The player currently holding the most chips (usually used in tournament play).
Community Cards (Shared Cards, Window Cards) - Cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table, and are shared by all players around the table. Games that feature community cards are known as community games. The opposite of Hole Cards.
Draw, Drawing hand - A hand that is incomplete, and needs to hit more cards (see Outs) in order to become valuable. The opposite of a Made Hand.
Drawing Dead - Drawing to a hand that will lose even if it's made.
Family Pot - A hand during which every player at the table (or almost everybody) calls the initial pre-flop bet.
Fish - A newcomer, a poker player who is easy to beat. Usually plays passively, calls way to many bets, and does not realize when he is beat. The opposite of a Shark.
Flop - The first three community cards are known as ‘the flop'.
Freeroll - A tournament with no entry fee. Very common throughout the online poker world, most freerolls offer real (sometimes cash) prizes and make a great learning experience.
Freezeout - a freezeout tournament is when there are no rebuys, and each player is ‘dead' as soon as they loose all their chips. The last person standing is the winner. This is the most common tournament play.
Heads-Up - The game of poker played with only two opponents. One-on-one poker.
Hole, Hole Cards - Cards that are dealt face down and are only to be seen or used by the player they were dealt to. The opposite of Community Cards.
High Hand - The traditional poker hand ranking system. The opposite of Lowball.
Inside Straight (Gutshot Draw, Belly Buster) - A hand that has four out of five cards needed to complete a straight, but is missing one of the middle cards. For example: 4-5-x-7-8. This hand only has four outs, and is generally considered a mistake to draw to.
In The Money (ITM) - Finishing a tournament in one of the paying positions.
Limit, Limit Games - Games that limit the amount allowed to be wagered.
Lowball (Low Poker) - Poker variants that reward players for low-valued hands. The opposite of High Hand.
Made Hand - A hand that doesn't need to improve in order to be of some value. A made hand will not necessarily win, since someone might draw a better hand, or might be holding a better made hand. A made hand can also improve into a better hand. The opposite of a Drawing Hand.
Nut Hand (AKA ‘the nuts') - The best possible hand in a given situation. Used mostly in Community Games, where players must use the same shared cards to make up their hands, and may therefore know when they hold the best possible combination.
Out, Outs - any unseen card that may improve a players hand if it is drawn. See
Drawing Hand.Outside Straight Draw (Open Ended Straight Draw ,Two-Way Straight Draw) - A hand that has four out of five cards needed to complete a straight, and those four are in a row. For example: x-4-5-6-7-x. This hand has eight outs to a straight.
Pocket Pair - When a player's hole cards are paired.
Pot - The money that may be won during a single round of poker.
Rake - The commission taken out of each pot by the card room (or online site) operating the game. The rake is how card rooms and poker sites see a profit, since the game is played between other players and not against the house.
Rebuy - any chips that are purchased after the initial buy-in.
River - The final card dealt during a hand.
Satellite - A tournament which offers free entrance to a bigger tournament as its prize.
Shark - An experienced (sometimes professional) poker player.
Sit'n'Go - A tournament with no scheduled starting time. The tournament starts as soon as enough players have signed up.
Slow Play - Playing a strong hand as if it's a weak one, slow playing is the psychological and tactical opposite of bluffing. You slow play a good hand in order to get more money in the pot.
Turn - The fourth card to be dealt on the board in a community game. In Hold'em and Omaha it is the second to last card to be dealt during a hand.