Aces Up - A pair of aces with one other pair.
Action - The betting.
Active Player - A player still in the pot.
Advertise - To show a bluff in order to get called later.
All-in - When you put all your money in the pot.

Back Door - Two cards to a flush or straight after five cards have been dealt.
Bad Beat - Having a hand that was a big favorite to win defeated because of a lucky draw. Especially when the person drawing was playing incorrectly by being in the pot.Bankroll - The amount of money have to gamble with.
Belly-Buster - An inside straight.
Bet - To be the first to put money in a pot in a particular round.
Bettor - The person who bet.
Bet for Value - A bet in order to be called. You are not betting to get people to fold.
Big Slick - Ace King.
Blank - A card that doesn’t help the player.
Blind - A forced bet at the beginning of the first round of betting. The blind rotates around the table with each new deal.
Bluff - To bet or raise with a hand you don’t think is the best hand.
Board - All face-up cards on the table.
Bottom Pair - Pairing the lowest ranking card on the board.
Broadway - Ace high straight.
Button - A disc that represents the dealer position which rotates around the table indicates which player is last to act.
Buy in - The minimum amount of money it takes to sit down at a table and play.

Call - Putting money in the pot to match a bet or a raise.
Call a raise cold - Calling a double bet, i.e. a bet and a raise.
Caller - A person who calls a bet or a raise.
Calling Station - An opponent who calls almost any bet.
Catch - To be dealt a card that improves your hand.
Chase - To continue in a hand trying to outdraw your opponents even though you are sure you are beaten.
Check - To decline to bet when it’s your turn.
Check in the Dark - To check without looking at one’s cards.
Check - raise - To check and then raise after an opponent bets.
Chip - A disc representing money.
Chop - To tie and split the pot.
Cinch - The best possible hand, given all the cards on the board, when all the cards are out.
Cold-call - To call two or more bets, i.e. a bet and a raise.
Common card - An exposed card that are used by all players.
Counterfeit - To “improve” a hand in such a way that one or both hole cards no longer play, and the relative strength of your hand is reduced.
Cowboy - King.

Dame - Queen.
Dead hand - A hand a player cannot continue to play because of an irregularity.
Dead money - Money put in the pot by players who have already folded their cards.
Domination - When two players hold a card of the same rank, but one holds a smaller side card, the player with the smaller card is said to be dominated.
Drawing dead - Drawing to make a hand that cannot possibly win because an opponent already holds a hand that beats it.
Draw out - To improve your hand so that it beats an opponent who had a better hand than yours prior to the draw.
Dolly Parton - Having a 9 and a 5 as one’s hole cards.
Double belly buster - Open ended straight draw.
Duck - A duece.

Early position - A position in a round of betting in which you must act before most players.
Edge - An advantage over an opponent.
Edge odds - The advantage or disadvantage relative to all other players.
Effective odds - The ratio of the total amount of money you expect to win if you make your hand to the total amount of bets you will have to call to continue until the end of the hand.
Equity - The value of a hand or combination of cards.
Expectation - The average profit or loss of any bet over the long run.

Face card - Any picture card.
Favorite - Before all cards are dealt, the hand that has the best chance of winning.
Family pot - A pot in which most of the players at the table are involved.
Feed the pot - Bet or raise foolishly.
Fifth street - The fifth and final community card.
Fish - An easy or poor player.
Fill - To draw a card that makes a hand.
Fill up - To make a full house.
Flat call - To call a bet without raising.
Flop - The first three exposed community cards.
Flush - Five cards of the same suit.
Fold - To drop out of a pot rather than call or raise.
Four-flush - Four cards to a flush.
Four-of-a-kind - Four cards of the same rank.
Fourth street - The fourth community card.
Free card -A card that a player gets without having to call a bet.
Free roll - A lock on half the pot with a chance to win the whole pot.
Full house - Three cards of one rank and two of another.
Fundamental position - The value of the player’s hand relative to other player’s hands.

Gambler - A player who wagers money with unfavorable edge odds.
Giving a hand away - Play your hand in such a way that your opponents know what you have.
Girl - Queen.
Go all-in - To bet all of one’s money at the table.
Gutshot - A draw to an inside straight.

Heads-up - Playing against a single opponent.
Hidden out - A card that does not directly improve your hand that still giver you the best hand.
Hit - To draw or catch a card that improves one’s hand.
Hourly rate - The amount of money a player expects to win per hour on average.

Ignorant End of a Straight - The lowest end of a straight.
Implied odds - The ratio of the total amount of money you expect to win if you make your hand to the bet you must now call to continue.
Inside straight - A straight which can be made only with a card of one particular rank.

Kicker - A side card.
Knock - To check by rapping the table.

Lady - Queen.
Late position - A position on a round of betting in which you act after most of the other players have acted.
Legitimate hand - A hand with value.
Limit - The amount a player may bet or raise in any round of betting.
Limit Stakes - Poker with maximum bets and raises established by house rules.
Limp in - To call a bet rather than raise (usually only applies to the first round of betting).
Live hand - A hand with a lot of chances to improve.
Live one - A loose, weak player with a lot of money to lose.
Lock - A cinch hand.
Long shot - A hand that has little chance of being made.
Look - To call.
Loose - Playing more hands than average.
Loose game - A game with a lot of players in most pots.
Luck - The illusion of winning or losing beyond statistical reality.

Main pot - The first pot apart from side pots.
Make good - To pay money owed to the pot.
Matching card - A card of the same rank or same suit as another card.
Match the pot - To put in an amount equal to what’s already in the pot.
Mathematical expectation - The mathematical calculation of what a bet can expect to win or lose on average.
Meet a bet - To call.
Middle pair - Pairing the second highest card on the board.
Middle position - A position on a round of betting somewhere in the middle.
Milker - A tight player.
Milking the game - The slow draining of money that results from tight play.
Miss - Not making a draw.
Monster - A very powerful hand that is the overwhelming favorite to win.
Muck - To discard a hand or the pile of discards in front of the dealer.
Multiway pot - A pot in which more than two players are involved.

Negative expectation - The amount a wager can be expected to lose in the long run, on average.
Nuts - The best hand possible at any given time.

Odds - The chance that an event will occur.
Odds against - The number of failures per success.
Off-suit - Not of the same suit.
Offensive bet - A bet made to deliberately build the pot.
Office hours - A straight from 9 to 5 or 8 to 4.
One card draw - A draw to a hand that uses only one card from your hand and four from the board.
On the come - A bet before one has made a good hand.
On tilt - Playing much worse than usual because you have become emotionally upset.
Open-ended straight - Four cards to a straight which can be made with cards of two different ranks.
Out kicked - To have the same pair as someone else, but to lose to a larger kicker.
Outs - Cards which will improve your hand.
Overcall - The calling of a big bet after others have already called.
Overcard - A card higher than any card on the flop, or any card higher than those in your hand.
Overpair - A wired pair that is higher than any card on the board.

Pair - Two cards of the same rank.
Partial out - A card that give you the best hand part of the time.
Pass - To check.
Pay off - To call a bet or raise when you don’t think you have the best hand.
Pay station - A player who calls bets and raises much more than is correct. Also called a “calling station” or “ATM.”
Pool - A pot.
Position - The spot in a round of betting where the player is located.
Positive expectation - The amount a wager can be expected to win on average.
Pot - The total amount of money wagered on a particular hand.
Pot equity - The percentage of time that you can expect to win the pot multiplied by the size of the pot.
Pot equity edge - You expect to win the more often than an average opponent.
Pot Limit - Poker stakes in which the maximum permitted bet is the size of the pot.
Pot odds - The ratio of the amount of money in the pot to the bet you must call to continue in the hand.
Protecting your hand - Betting or raising while there are still cards to come in an effort to get opponents with weaker hands to fold or pay to draw.
Put someone on a hand - To determine as best as you can the hand your opponent is most likely to have.
Pure nuts - The best possible hand.

Quadruplets - Four of a kind.
Quint - A straight flush.

Rabbit - A weak player.
Rag - A card that doesn’t help your hand.
Raise - To bet an additional amount after someone has bet.
Raiser - A player who raises.
Rake - An amount retained by the casino from each pot.
Rank - The relative value of hands.
Represent - To make a player believe that you have a better hand than you do.
Re-raise - To raise after an opponent has raised.
Restraddle - The third blind bet that is twice as much as the straddle or the second blind bet.
Reverse implied odds - The ration of the amount of money now in the pot to the amount of money you will have to call to continue from the present round to the end of the hand.
Ring game - A full game.
River - The fifth and last community card.
Round of betting - A sequence of betting after one or more cards have been dealt.
Royal flush - An ace high straight flush.
Running pair - Fourth and fifth street of the same rank.
Runner runner - A back door draw.
Rush - Several winning hands in a short period of time.

Sandbag - To check-raise.
Score - To win big.
Seat charge - In public card rooms, an hourly fee for playing poker.
Seat Position - The position of a player relative to the other players.
Second Best - The best losing hand.
Second pair - Pairing the second highest card on the board.
Semi-bluff - To bet with a hand which you do not think is the best but which has a reasonable chance of improving to the best hand.
Sequence - Cards of consecutive value as in a straight.
Set - Three-of-a-kind made using a pair in your hand and a matching third card on the board.
Share - The percentage of the time an average person expects to win the pot.
Short odds - The odds for an event that has a good chance of occurring.
Short-handed pot - A pot contested by only a few players.
Short-stack - Playing in a game with a relatively small number of chips remaining.
Showdown - The turning up of all active player’s cards at the end of the final round of betting to see who has the best hand.
Side pot - A second pot for other active players when one player is all in.
Slowplay - To check or just call an opponent’s bet with a big hand in order to win more money in later rounds.
Smooth Call - Making a call with a raising hand.
Speculative hand - A hand that will win only rarely, but that will make a big hand when it does hit and win a large pot.
Stake - The money with which a player enters a game.
Starting requirement - The minimum initial hand a player considers is needed to continue to play.
Start the action - To make the first bet in a particular hand.
Steal - To cause your opponents to fold when you probably don’t have the best hand, i.e. stealing the blinds.
Steam - To tilt.
Straddle - The right to buy the last-bettor position.
Straight - Five cards of mixed suites in sequence.
Straight flush - Five card of the same suit in sequence.
Strong draw - A draw that has a good chance of completing.
Structure - The limits set upon antes and blinds of a particular game.
Stuck - Losing a substantial amount of money.
Sucker - A player who can be expected to lose money, especially one who thinks they are better than they actually are.
Suited - Two or more cards of the same suit.

Technical Position - The strategic and psychological advantage of a player relative to the other players.
Telephone Booth - A very loose player.
Tells - A mannerism(s) that a player exhibits to give away his hand.
Three-of-a-kind - Three cards of the same rank.
Tight - Playing fewer hands than the norm.
Tight game - A game with a smaller number of player in most pots.
Top pair - Pairing the highest card on the board.
Top pair hand - A hand that often wins by making top pair, but rarely makes a big hand.
Trey - A three.
Trips - Three-of-a-kind.
Turn - The fourth community card.
Two Pair - Two separate pairs of different values in a hand.

Underdog - A hand that does not have the best chance of winning.
Under the gun - The first person to act on the first round of betting. On later rounds, it’s the player to the immediate left of the dealer button.
Up - The higher of two pair; e.g. queens and tens is queens up.

Value - What a hand is worth in terms of it’s chance of being the best hand.

Wager - A bet.
Weak draw - A draw that only has a small chance to be completed.
Wheel - The lowest straight possible Ace to Five.
Window - A card exposed first at the beginning of the flop.
Wired pair - A pair in the hole.
Woolworth - Five and ten in the hole.

Are we missing something? Got a suggesting for a poker term we should include or a correction to our definition? Drop us a line and let us know.

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