Brush
A cardroom employee responsible for managing the seating list
is sometimes called the brush.
Bug
A joker, usually in five card draw or draw lowball. In high games, a bug can usually only be used as an ace or to complete a straight or flush.
Bullets
A pair of aces in the hole.
Bump To raise.
Buried A buried pair is a pair in the hole in seven card stud - a pair in the first two down cards. Buried kings are kings in the hole, buried aces are aces in the hole, etc.
Burn In order to reduce the chances of players getting advance information about cards to come, in many poker games the top card on the deck is discarded at certain pre-determined points in the dealing process (e.g., in hold'em, before the flop, turn, and river). These cards are the burn cards. In general, any time a card is discarded from the top of the deck it's called a burn card.
Burn Card See burn.
Bust
To run out of money, especially in a tournament. I busted in the second round, when my rockets lost to 87 off suit.
Busted Hand
A hand in poker without so much as a pair (i.e., any hand that will lose to a pair of 2's). A busted hand that missed a draw to a straight or a flush is a busted straight or a busted flush.
Button
A button is a marker, usually a plastic disc, used to mark a particular position at the table. Usually "the button" refers specifically to the dealer button, used to mark the dealer position, or the player playing in that position. In poker games with a professional house-supplied dealer (who is not playing), this
marks the player who acts in the dealer's position (who is dealt the last card and who is last to act in games where the order is fixed). This player is said to be "on the button." Other buttons include the ever-popular big blind button, used to indicate a player who was absent when it would have been their turn to post a blind bet (and who will be forced to post before they can return to the game).
(For some reason, in Maryland the dealer button sits to the left of where it should be, so when you're on the button you post the first blind and act first in subsequent rounds. As far as I know Maryland is the only blatant exception.)
I wouldn't have called with that hand, except that I was on the button.
Buy
To buy a pot is to make a bet large enough that other players would be extremely unlikely to call. To buy the button in flop games
is to raise before the flop in order to induce the players with better position than yourself to fold. If everyone closer to the button folds, you've bought the button. Obviously this works better the closer to
the button you start out.
Buy-In
The amount of money with which you enter a game is your buy-in. In a ring game, this is (hopefully) the amount you get in chips. Most ring games have a minimum buy-in that's typically less than you'll realistically need. In a tournament, your buy-in is the amount it costs
you to get your initial bunch of tourney chips. As a verb, to buy in is to make your initial purchase of chips.
I wanted to play in the bigger game, but the buy-in was too high.
Call
To call is to match the current bet. If there
has been a bet of $10 and a raise of $10 then it costs $20 to call.
Calling is the cheapest (and the most passive)
way to remain in a hand. See also cold call,
flat call, and it.
Calling Station
A player who calls much too often is called a
calling station. Such a player will pay you off
when you make hands, and will often fail to press
their advantage when they have relatively strong hands (see passive). On the other hand, calling stations
will hit more backdoor and other unlikely draws than other players, making it occasionally
frustrating to play against them, especially in large numbers.
Most of the players at the table were tough, but it was worth
playing there because of the two calling stations.
Cap
In limit poker games, the cap is the limit on the
number of raises in a round
of betting. In many places it's 3, for 4 bets total, but you can get
into very irritating arguments about the maximum number of raises
that's appropriate. A cap on the betting makes it more difficult for
players to collude. Some dealers have cutesy expressions they like to
use when a pot is capped (e.g., "capuccino"). To make the final
allowed raise is to cap the betting, or to "cap it."
After I made the loose
call in early position, much to my dismay
the pot was raised, reraised, and capped.
Cardroom
Cardrooms are the rooms in which poker is played, or the organizations that run those rooms. Most casinos that offer poker have a separate room, or at least a roped-off area, designated as the cardroom. In some places where poker is legal, you will also find separate cardrooms (not part of a larger casino) dedicated mostly to poker.
Key things to look for in a cardroom include tables, floorpeople,
the brush, chips, etc.
Cards Speak
Cards speak is simply the rule that the value of your hand is
determined solely by your cards. You don't have to declare your hand
properly in order to claim the part of the pot you deserve. The
alternative to this is mainly declare games,
usually played in home games for low stakes.
Case
The fourth card of a particular rank. I knew he was bluffing because I had folded the case 7.
Catch
When the cards are treating you well, you are said to be catching cards. The word often carries a mild connotation of improbable luck. Someone who says "nice catch" may mean anything from "okay, take the pot, you clueless moron," to "guess you outdrew me, no problem."
Chase
When you're behind, you can either choose
not to contend the pot (i.e., check and fold
as appropriate), try to steal it, or stick around, hoping
you'll improve enough to win.
To stay in a pot, with the sole hope of making
a particular hand (e.g., chasing a flush). Usually chasing implies
poor pot odds.
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.
If all the players at a table check in turn in the same round, it is
said to be checked around, resulting in a free card.
Poker chips are also sometimes called checks.
This is mostly European (esp. British) usage.
I checked with the intention of folding on
the turn and the river,
but no one ever bet.
Check-Raise
A check-raise is just what it sounds like -- a raise after you have already checked within a betting round.
Check-raises can be used to trap a player who
(for example) would have folded to
a single bet, but who will open if it is checked
to them.
While check-raising is legal virtually everywhere
serious poker is
played, there are apparently a few public cardrooms
which prohibit it at the lowest limits. Home poker games, which may be more or less serious, vary more widely.
I noticed he liked to position bet a
lot, so whenever I had a good hand I check-raised him.
Chip
Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table. The ones used at casinos are typically made of clay, while home poker games often substitute cheaper plastic chips. Using chips instead of cash has a number of advantages, mostly just that they're easier to count and manipulate. Color designations for chips are arbitrary, but many casinos use white for $1 chips, red for $5 chips, green for $25 chips, and black for $100 chips. If someone asks for a rack of white, they'd like $100 in $1 chips.
Chip Race
In tournaments, as the limits go up, lower demonination chips are taken out of circulation (see color up). Often, odd chips, rather than simply being rounded up or down for each player, are randomly given to one player at each table. Typically, each player is dealt a card for each odd chip, and the player with the highest card dealt is given all the odd chips (which are then colored up).
Chop
To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand. This may happen in hold'em when nobody calls the blind. By agreeing to chop rather than play the hand, the two blinds sometimes avoid paying the rake, since many cardrooms only collect on those hands when there is a flop. At a table which ordinarily sees more action,
players will often agree to chop so as to get on to a "real" hand more quickly.
Wanna chop?
Okay.
Coffeehouse
To talk about a hand one is involved in, usually with the intent
of misleading or manipulating other players, is coffeehousing. It's
usually considered just barely on one side of ethical, although which
side depend who you ask. See also table talk.
Cold Call
Cold calling is calling more
than one bet at once. If one player
bets, another player
raises, and a third player calls the two bets,
this is a cold call. This is contrasted with the situation in which a
player calls one bet before the raise, and then calls the raise.
I knew he had at least trips
when he called two bets cold.
Color Up
To exchange one's chips for ones of higher
value, usually in order to reduce the number of chips one has on the
table. In tournaments, players are forced to
color up periodically as the tourney money becomes divided among
fewer and fewer players and the sizes of the forced
bets go up (it makes no sense to play with $25 chips when the
blinds are $10000). See also chip race.
Come Hand
A hand which must improve in order to have a realistic shot is a
come hand. See also draw and drawing hand.
Community (Cards)
Face-up cards that are shared by all the players in a hand. Flop games have five community cards.
Connector
Cards of consecutive ranks, especially pocket cards, are connectors. If they're also of the same suit, they're suited connectors.
Counterfeit
In poker flop games, when your great hand is
subsequently made less powerful because of cards that hit the table
(especially cards that duplicate the strength of your hand), your hand
is said to be counterfeited. For example, if you hold J9 and the flop
is T87, you hold the nuts. If the turn is a 9,
suddenly anyone with a J has a straight, and QJ has a better straight.
If the river is a J, you're counterfeited even further - you're playing the board and anyone with a Q beats
you. Counterfeiting is especially common in high-low split omaha.
If you hold A2JQ and the flop is 678, you have the nut low. However,
if the turn card is an A or a 2, your nut low has been counterfeited.
It's no longer the nut low, and is probably not
even a winner.
Cowboy
A nickname for Kings, more often heard in the plural.
I had cowboys six times last night and didn't win a pot with them.
Crack
When a powerful hand (especially powerful pocket cards) is beat, it's said to be cracked.
I've had rockets
cracked twelve consecutive times.
Crying Call
A call by someone who is virtually certain
they will not win the pot.
Cut
After the cards are
shuffled but before they are dealt, usually
the deck is split in the middle and the halves reversed. This is
known as cutting the cards. In cardroom games with house dealers,
this is done by the dealer. In home games, it's usually done by the
player next to the dealer.
Dead
A dead card is a card that is no longer available to help you. In
seven card stud, for example, a pair of kings
in the hole is less strong if the two remaining
kings are two other players' door cards, and
therefore dead.
A dead hand is a hand that is no longer eligible to win the
pot (i.e., one that has been
mucked or otherwise invalidated).
Dead money is money that was put in a pot by a
player who has since folded.
Deal
To deal is to give out the cards during a hand.
The person who
does this is called the dealer.
At most public cardrooms, a dealer is hired
for this purpose (and for generally running the game). At most private
games, players take turns dealing.
To be dealt in is to be given cards during a hand. To be dealt out or
dealt around is not to be given cards.
Dealer Button
See button.
Dealer's Choice
A format in which the dealer is allowed to select the particular
poker game that will be dealt. Sometimes this means before each hand, although a more sensible system (since in many
games the dealer has a positional advantage)
is one in which players take turns choosing the game for an entire round.
Declare
Declare games are games in which you must declare the value of
your hand in order to claim the pot. A typical example is a high-low split game in which you must declare
before showdown whether you are claiming the
high, low, or both pots (typically if you declare both you must win
both in order to claim either). Declare games are played almost
exclusively in home games. In most if not all cardrooms, cards speak.
Deuce
Twos are sometimes called deuces. So 22277 can be called deuces full of sevens.
Deuce to Seven
In a game played for low, deuce to seven
usually means that the best low hand is simply the worst poker hand.
If you haven't figured it out already, that hand is 75432, with no flush. Deuce to seven lowball is also called Kansas City, or Kansas City
lowball. See also ace to five.
Dog
See underdog.
Dominate
A starting hand that will almost always beat another starting hand
is said to dominate that hand. For example, in hold'em, AK dominates K2. Most of the time K2
makes a playable hand, AK will make a better hand. However, a 2 might
still spoil the party.
Door Card
The first card dealt face up to each player
in seven card stud is the door card.
Double Belly Buster
A double belly buster is a hand with two inside straight draws. For example, 79TJK
can become a straight with an 8 or a Q. It's
roughly equivalent to an open-ended
straight draw, except that the double belly-buster is more
deceptive, and people often fail to notice that they have one
(especially in cases such as when the 7 in the above example shows up
on a later street, and the player is focused on
the gutshot they already had).
Draw
The word draw has slightly different meanings in different
contexts, although generally it has something to do with receiving
more cards, with the hope of improving your hand.
Draw games are games where at some point during the hand you are
allowed to discard some or all of your cards, to be replaced from the
deck. Drawing two is thus exchanging two of your cards. "The draw"
is the point during the game at which players may do this. By
default, when someone asks you if you want to play some draw, they
usually mean five card draw.
In other poker games, drawing simply means staying in the game with
the hope of improving your hand when more cards come (as opposed to
with the intention of seeing if your hand is best). A draw means a
way to improve. For example, if you have four suited cards, you have a flush
draw. When you stay in a hand with the hope of improving, you are
said to be "on a draw." You are also said to be "drawing to" the hand
you hope to make. For example, in lowball, if
you hold K7642 and draw one, you are drawing to a (ragged) 7 (i.e., a 7 low).
See also open-ended straight draw,
inside straight draw, draw out, draw dead, and
drawing hand.
I had to stay in the hand, I had a great draw.
I was sure he was on a draw, so when the river was a blank I felt
comfortable betting with bottom pair.
Draw Dead
To draw when it turns out you would lose even
if you hit your draw. Most trivially on the turn in hold'em, if you have a fourflush with KQs but someone else holds A5s
and has already made a pair of aces, you're drawing dead. Whenever
you make your flush, they make a better flush.
Draw Out (on)
To draw out on someone is to outdraw
them.
When I called his
all-in bet, I didn't realize he had made
trips,
but I was lucky enough to draw out on him with my
backdoor flush.
Drawing Hand
A hand with which you expect to be on a
draw is a drawing hand.
Suited
connectors in
hold'em (e.g., QhJh)
are drawing hands, since while they
make strong hands (straights and
flushes) relatively often, they will
rarely make them on the flop.
Drop
To fold is to drop. To drop is to fold.
To lose a particular amount of money. At poker, that is, you don't have
to literally drop it on the carpet.
The drop is also what the house takes from a hand
(see also rake).
I bet again on the
turn and three more players dropped.
I dropped $600 in ten minutes. Guess
omaha isn't my game.
I never play there, they drop 15% of every
pot.
Equity
Your mathematical share of a pot, based on the
amount in the pot and your chances of winning it. If the pot is $100,
and your chances of winning are N%, then your equity in that pot is
$N. If the pot is $200, your equity is $2N.
Expectation
Expectation is the rate of profit (or loss) you would expect to
make if there were no variance, or on average
over a very large number of sessions. A positive expectation poker
player is one who, due to an advantage in poker skills over his/her
average opposition, will earn money in the long run. A negative
expectation poker player is someone you want at your table.
Note that expectation changes in different situations.
You may be a positive expectation
player overall, but perhaps not at certain tables, or when you're in a
particular emotional or other state. A positive expectation bet is a
bet that would, if you made it a sufficient number of times in nearly
identical circumstances (from your perspective), earn you a profit.
Expectation is closely linked (essentially identical) to "expected
value," a precise mathematical concept best illustrated by the following
example. If you have a 50% chance of winning (and a 50% chance of losing)
a $100 pot, your expectation is $50, even though you will definitely not
win exactly $50. This example also illustrates variance.
I finally stood up when I realized that it wasn't just back luck, I
was a negative expectation player at the table.
Family Pot
When everyone at the table decides to enter a
pot (e.g., see the
flop in hold'em),
it's said to be a family pot.
Fast
To play fast is to play
aggressively. The opposite of
playing slow. See also
speeding.
Favorite
The hand that is expected to win most often in a particular
situation. In hold'em, AA
is always a pre-flop favorite. If the flop is
775, the player with 75 is now a pretty big favorite.
I knew he was on the flush draw,
so I figured I was still a favorite.
Felt
The surface of most poker tables is made of some sort of felt, or
is in any case referred to as such. A player who is
running out of chips
rapidly can be referred to as "down to the felt."
Fill Up
To make a full house either from
trips or
two pair.
Fish
A bad player. A terrible player. A player who will tend to give
away lots of money. Fish-ness can also be relative. Common poker
wisdom holds that if you can't find the fish at your table, you're it.
See also provider.
I love playing at that fish pond.
Fishhook
A nickname for a jack, more often heard in the plural.
Damn these fishhooks, they keep getting me into trouble.
Five Card Draw
Probably the most well known poker game, although
it's not widely played in public cardrooms anymore.
Each player receives five cards. There is a round of betting, after which each player may
draw a certain number of cards (house rules often
stipulate how many may be drawn and under what circumstances).
Then there is a second round of
betting, and (if necessary) a showdown.
Flat Call
Flat call is a way of saying call that
emphasizes the fact that the player didn't raise.
See also smooth call.
When he flat called me on the flop
and on the turn, I put him on the flush draw.
Floor
See floorperson.
Floorman
A gender-specific form of floorperson.
Floorperson
In a cardroom floorpeople are responsible for the moment to moment
management of the cardroom - seating players, starting new tables,
settling disputes, generally making sure the cardroom runs smoothly.
You'll probably hear the "floorman" or "floor" more often.
Floor, get some live ones
in these empty seats!
Flop
A number of games, such as hold'em and omaha, are played with five community cards. The first three of these cards
are dealt all at once, and are called the flop. Games with a flop can
be called flop games.
To flop a hand is to make that hand on the flop. To "see" the flop
is to still be in the hand when the flop comes.
I missed my pre-flop raise, and lost the
hand when the big blind made a gutshot on the river.
I flopped a fourflush and made my hand on the turn.
Flush
A hand in which all five cards share the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the hand with the
highest card not in common is better. So AK873 of hearts is a better
flush than AK872 of diamonds. Not much better.
Fold
To abandon your hand, usually because someone else has made a
larger bet than you are willing to call. Usually, one folds by mucking one's cards.
Forced Bet
Just what it sounds like - a bet that one is
forced to place, typically a blind bet or a
bring-in.
Fourflush
A hand with four cards of the same suit. If
there are no cards remaining to come (or to draw),
a fourflush is not very useful.
With top pair and a fourflush,
I thought my raise was a good idea.
Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same rank. Also called
quads. For example, if you hold 88882, you have quad 8's.
Free Card
Whenever you get to see an additional card without having to call a bet, it's a free card
(usually this means it's been checked around).
Generally speaking, you'd like to get free cards when you need to
improve, and you'd like to avoid giving free cards when you're ahead.
Freeroll
Whenever you have at least part of the pot
locked up and you still have a chance to outdraw your opponents, you're said to be
freerolling on them. In hold'em, this happens
when you and another player have the same hand at the moment, but you
also have a draw to a better hand. At worst you'll tie, but you have
a chance to win the whole pot while the other player doesn't. For
example, if you hold AhKh and the flop is As6h4h,
you have a freeroll on a player holding AdKd. While you both have the
same hand at the moment, you might still make a
flush, while they can't outdraw you.
Freeroll tournaments are tournaments with
no apparent entry fee or initial buy-in. Such
tournaments are typically promotional events cardrooms host in order to
attract players. Sometimes players must clock a certain number of
hours in the cardroom in order to qualify, or meet some other
requirement.
Freezeout
Any tournament format in which you
cannot re-buy. A freezeout is a good format for
heads-up pot-limit or
no-limit play, since the amount at stake can be
fixed in advance, and the competitors can use arbitrarily valued chips
as in tournaments.
We decided to play a series of no-limit hold'em freezeouts to show
who was the better player.
Full House
A hand consisting of three cards of one rank
and two cards of another rank. AAA33 is aces full of threes, often
abbreviated to "aces full." To fill up is to draw
to and make a full house. Also called a boat.
I figured even if my trip sevens were no good, there was a decent
chance I'd fill up.
Go
See to go.
Gutshot
An inside straight draw.
Green
Green is the most common color for $25 chips.
If someone bets a stack of green, it means they're
betting a bunch of $25 chips, probably 20 of them.
See also white,
red, and
black.
Hand
A hand is also everything that happens between shuffles - cards are dealt, betting is done, a winner is declared, and the pot is pushed. To "play a hand" sometimes means to be
dealt in, and sometimes means to at least call the initial bet. Use
context to figure out which.
A hand also refers to the cards you hold - in games where you have
more than five cards (e.g., seven card stud
or Texas hold'em), it's your best five cards.
For your enjoyment, here are the different types of hands you can
make in poker, in increasing order of strength: no
pair; pair; two pair,
three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a
kind, straight flush.
Lastly, sometimes the phrase "a hand" means specifically a
good hand or a playable hand.
I've played (been dealt)
two thousand hands in a row without making a
flush.
I haven't played (seen the
flop with) a hand in hours.
I didn't get a hand for the next six hours.
Lemme see your hand.
You can't break up with me, I've got hand.
And you're gonna need it.
Heads-Up
Play between only two players.
We decided to play a heads-up
freezeout to settle the argument.
I raised on the turn and managed to get it heads-up.
Help
Someone who says they need help means they need their hand to
improve in order to have a chance at the pot.
Or that they've just pawned their pacemaker to fund a few more hours
of poker. Use context to figure out which.
High
The high hand is simply the best hand. When playing a
high-low split game, one is said
to "win the high" when one has the best hand, while another player
wins the low. In seven card stud, the
player with the strongest up cards is said to be high,
and is usually first to act on fourth and subsequent streets.
High-Low Split
In high-low split games, half the pot goes to
the best hand (the high), half to the worst (the low). The criteria
for deciding the low vary - see low. Split games
are also often played with a qualifier that
the low hand must be "8 or better." This means that the low hand must
have five unpaired cards 8 or lower. Omaha and
Seven Card Stud are the most popular high-low
split games.
Note that if there is a sole winner of one pot and a tie for
the other, the sole winner wins half the pot while the other
half is split evenly among the tied hands.
Hit
To hit (or miss) the
flop means to match (or not to match) the
flop in some way, usually to pair one of the flopped cards. You can
also hit or miss on a
draw, depending on whether or not the cards you
were drawing for showed up. Players whose
bluffs are
called when they
miss their draws on the
river often mutter "I missed," as if to point
out that they weren't betting completely insanely.
The reason I bet with overcards
was because I didn't see how anyone
who called my raise could've hit that flop.
Hit and Run
A player who leaves the table shortly after scooping a big pot is sometimes
described as playing hit and run poker, especially if they'd only been at
the table a short time.
It's loosely implied that they would not have
left if they hadn't won the pot.
Hold'em
See Texas Hold'em.
Hole
Your first two down cards in seven card
stud. If they're both jacks, you have a pair of jacks "in the
hole." See also pocket.
Horsing
Another word for scooting - the practice
of passing a small amount of money to another player after winning
a pot.
House
The cardroom (management, owners, etc.)
is the house. The house
rakes money from the pot,
has house rules, and when someone walks in,
you might say they're "in the house." If you're so inclined.
See also full house.
Implied Odds
Implied odds are similar to pot odds,
except that the money in the pot is not actually there yet. In an
extreme case, if you're first to call a bet, and
you know for a certainty that the eight players to act after you will
all call (and not raise), you have great implied
odds. Similarly if you know that several players in the hand will pay you off when you make your flush - you can act as though the pot were larger.
In general, implied odds is just a way of referring to odds that
require some estimation.
In the Air
Traditionally, a poker tournament starts
when the tournament director (or whoever's running things) instructs the
dealers to get the cards "in the air." This just means to start
dealing.
Inside Straight (Draw)
An inside straight draw is a draw to a straight that's missing one of the cards in the
middle (as opposed to on the end). 4578 is an inside straight, 4567
is an outside straight. Also called a one-gapper or a gutshot.
Insurance
In big bet poker, it is possible to reach a situation
in which you are uncomfortable with the amount of money you have invested in a pot.
To reduce variance, players will sometimes take insurance against an unfortunate outcome,
essentially selling the actual outcome of the hand
for its mathematical equity
(at a slight discount). For example, if you
hold a flush against a player who has three of a kind,
your equity in the pot is a
percentage of the pot equal to the probability that the other player will not
fill up.
If the pot is large,
and you don't want to risk coming away with nothing, you might
take insurance from somebody who has more money and would be glad to have the overlay.
Isolate
To raise with the intention of thinning the field
to yourself and a single other player is to isolate that player.
I raised to isolate him, but ended up getting three callers.
It
Yes, "it" is poker terminology. "It" usually refers to the
largest amount anyone has yet bet in a round. If someone opens for $5,
and the next player raises $10, they're "making
it $15." With the exception of all-in players,
if a player wants to see the next round, eventually they have to match
whatever "it" is. "It" can also mean the amount required to call. So
if someone bets $5 and two other players each raise $5 in the same
betting round, they may ask "what's it to me?" The correct answer is,
"Pay attention."
Jackpot
When is a bad beat not so bad? When you're
playing jackpot poker, of course. A number of cardrooms
offer sizeable jackpots for
particularly bad beats. The rules vary somewhat, but typically you
must have aces full or better beat (sometimes by quads or better). If the game is hold'em, often both players must use both of their pocket
cards. Other rules and technicalities make it worthwhile finding out
just what could invalidate a jackpot before you play your first hand.
Typically the "loser" gets the lion's share (e.g., 50%), the winner of
the hand the next largest share (e.g., 25%), and often the remainder
of the table splits the rest of the jackpot. The jackpot itself is
usually built by a jackpot drop from every hand,
sometimes the entire small blind. Jackpots for low-limit games are often in
the tens of thousands of dollars, and can get very big if no one wins
for a while.
Feelings about jackpot poker are divided. Some players get upset
about all the bad beats they take at the hands
of wild players chasing every remote chance at the jackpot, and resent
the extra money taken out of every pot. On the other hand, jackpot
poker is certainly popular, and it's hard to argue with anything that
fills seats.
Poker jackpots have recently been outlawed in California. As far as I
know, the lottery is still legal.
Yay, I hit the jackpot.
Jam
To bet or raise the maximum,
especially in no-limit, is to jam.
Joker
A joker is an additional card in the deck that is used in some games.
The jokers isn't often used in
serious poker, but when it is it's
usually considered a wild card.
See also bug.
Kansas City
Kansas City, or Kansas City lowball, is a
low only game played for a
deuce to seven low.
Kicker
The highest unpaired card in your hand that doesn't participate in a straight or flush - i.e.,
the card that does not contribute to the strength of your hand except
by itself. For example, if you hold AA743, you have a pair of
aces with a 7 kicker. Five card hands - straights, flushes, and
full
houses, - don't have kickers per se.
In games with community cards,
kickers are especially important,
because it's easy for two players to make similar hands. For example,
if you hold A8 and someone else holds A7, and the flop is AK642, you
have your opponent out-kicked. Your hand is AAK86 while theirs is AAK76.
And you both lose to the guy playing 53 off suit
under the gun.
Kill
A "kill" game is one in which a player may
place an extra bet, causing the betting limits
to go up for just that hand. The player
posting the bet is the "killer," and the hand is considered a "kill
pot." The player is said to have "killed the pot" for the amount of
the kill. The exact details
depend on the local rules and on the game.
As examples, here are the rules for
three kill games I've played in (all in San Diego).
In the kill hold'em game,
any player who wins two pots in a row
is required to kill by posting a blind small bet on the subsequent hand,
with the limits doubled for that hand.
In a kill high-low split game, any player who
scooped a pot larger than a certain size was required to kill the
subsequent pot.
And in a draw game,
any player could kill any pot for an arbitrary amount
after looking at their first two cards.
These are just examples, the details
vary from cardroom to cardroom.
Large Bet
See big bet.
Leak
Winning poker players often lose back part or all of their winnings through
other gambling habits, either at the casino or elsewhere
(e.g., sports betting, craps, or golf). These are often referred to as
leaks.
Limit (Limit Poker)
Limit poker is any game in which there is a fixed limit on how
much you can bet or raise in
any round. Limit games usually offer either
fixed-sized bets for different betting rounds or spread limits, in which there is a minimum and
maximum bet for each round. For example, a 5-10 hold'em game usually requires $5 bets and raises on
the first two rounds and $10 bets and raises on the last two.
Games are often referred to as low-limit, medium-limit, and
high-limit. Typical low-limit games are 2-4, 3-6, and 5-10. Medium
limits are 10-20, 20-40, and 30-60. High-limits are 50-100 on up.
More generally, the word limit is used to refer to the maximum bet
at a given point, whether it's pot-limit,
spread limit, or whatever. See also structure.
I didn't want to give him a chance to draw
out on me, so I bet the limit.
Limp
To flat call an opening
forced bet is to limp into a hand.
Three players limped in ahead of me, so I decided just to call.
Live
A live player, or "live one," is someone who is expected to lose
their money at a pretty good rate. Players reminding floorpeople to fill a vacant seat often
request a live one.
For other uses of the word "live" see live
blind, live card, and live hand.
Live Blind
A blind bet is considered a live blind if the
player is allowed to raise even if no one else raises first. See also
straddle.
Live Card
A live card is a card that has not been seen. In seven card stud, for example, a player with a draw to a flush, is concerned with how many of the
remaining suited cards are live (i.e., have not been seen in other
players' hands). A live hand is a hand for which many of the outs are still live.
Live Hand
A live hand is a hand that is still eligible to win the pot (i.e.,
one that has not been mucked or otherwise
invalidated). In seven card stud, a hand is also called live if many
of the cards which would improve it are still unaccounted for (see
live card).
Lock
A lock is a hand guaranteed to win at least part of the
pot.
In a high-low split game, for example,
the lock low is the best possible low hand.
See also nuts.
Loose
Playing loose simply means playing more hands and holding on to
them longer. In essence, loose with your cash. A loose table is a table
dominated (so to speak) by loose players.
Loose isn't always bad -
excessively tight play can
be equally costly, especially at high
levels of play. Looseness should not be confused with
aggressiveness.
A loose call is a borderline
inadvisable or even incorrect call.
He was playing so loose, it seemed like he was in every
pot.
Low
In most poker games, the best hand wins. Most but not all. In a
number of games, the worst hand wins all or some of the pot. Draw lowball and razz are just two
examples of games played for low. Omaha and seven card stud have popular high-low split variants, in which the low
hand gets half the pot. There are two common ways to evaluate low
hands. In deuce to seven games, the best
low hand is just the worst high hand. The best possible low is 75432,
provided there is no flush. In ace to five games, straights and flushes don't count, and aces are
lower than 2's. So the best possible low is A2345, a wheel.
Lowball (or Draw Lowball)
Five card draw played for low only (i.e., where
the low hand wins the entire pot).
Main pot
When a player goes all-in in a table stakes game, that player is only
eligible to win the main pot - the pot consisting of those bets they
were able to match. Additional bets, placed in a side pot, are contested among the remaining
players.
Unfortunately, since I was all-in pre-flop,
the main pot was very small.
Make
To (non-specifically)
make a hand means to get a decent hand that has a
shot at winning the pot.
I didn't make a hand
for two hours, but then I went on a major
rush.
Maniac
A maniac is a player who plays extremely loose and
aggressive,
often raising with just about anything. Maniacs
at the table tend to increase the
variance considerably.
With all the maniacs at the table, I decided to just wait for the
nuts and let the money come to me.
Middle Pair
If there are three cards of different ranks on
the flop in
hold'em, and you pair the middle one, you have
middle pair.
I'll often raise with middle pair and an
overcard.
Miss
See hit.
Monster
An extremely strong hand, one that is almost certain to win the
pot.
It's often a bad idea to slowplay
unless you make a monster.
Muck
The pile of discarded cards in front of the dealer, or the act of putting
cards in this pile (and therefore taking them out of play).
The house rule is that as soon as the cards touch the muck, they
are ineligible to win the pot.
After I mucked my hand, I realized that I should
have called the bet.
No-Limit
As you might guess, any game in which there is no
limit on the sizes of bets and
raises. Note that in
table stakes games, players are still limited to
the amount of money they have in front of them.
Nuts (or Nut -)
The nuts is the best possible hand.
This makes most sense in flop games like
hold'em, where the community cards make the nuts pretty much
the same for everyone. An exception is when your hole
cards make a better hand impossible. If the
board is AAK52, the nuts
would be AA to an observer, but a player with AK would effectively hold the
nuts (assuming the 2 and 5 didn't share a suit with one
of the A's).
In hold'em, the nuts is never less than trips.
"Nut xxx" is used to refer to the best hand of a particular type,
especially a straight or
flush. If the table described above had the AK2
of spades, the nut flush would be the queen and any other spade.
Odds
A ratio of two probabilities, usually the probability of making a
hand to the probability of not making the hand. Thus if you have a
25% chance of making a hand, the odds are 3 to 1 against your making
it. In poker, this is especially important in considering pot odds.
Off-suit
Not of the same suit, especially in reference to
hole cards. Sometimes abbreviated to just
"off."
I'll play KT off suit occasionally, but never in early
position.
Omaha
Omaha is a flop game similar to hold'em, but with two key differences.
First, each player is dealt four cards instead of just two.
Second, a hand must be made using
exactly two pocket cards (out of those four)
and three from the table. That
is, if four
suited cards hit the table, you still need two more to
make a flush. And if you start with
four aces, then you have a pair of aces, with little chance to improve.
The high-low variant of omaha,
with an 8 or better
qualifier for low, is especially popular.
One-Gap
See inside straight.
Open
To open, or open betting, is simply to make the first
bet in a
round.
When everyone checked to me,
I figured it was okay to open
with middle pair.
Open-Ender
See open-ended straight draw
(right down there).
Open-Ended Straight (Draw)
An straight draw is open-ended if it
consists of four consecutive
cards (none of them an ace). The straight can be completed at either
end. See also double belly buster
and inside straight.
I had an open-ended straight draw. Really.
Open Pair
An open pair in seven card stud is an
exposed pair - a pair among your up
cards.
Option
When a player posts a live blind, that
player is given the option to raise when their
turn comes around, even if no one else has raised. The dealer will
typically say something like "your option," to remind them. See also
straddle.
Out
An out is a card that will improve your hand, usually one that
you think
will make it a winner. In hold'em, an open-ended straight draw has eight outs (the
four cards of each rank that will complete the
straight). But it may be only six outs if there are two suited cards on the table and someone else is
drawing for the flush.
With all that money in the
pot and fifteen outs, it seemed like a
good idea to call the raise.
Except that I was drawing dead on both the
flush and the straight.
Outdraw
To make a better hand than an opponent by merit of the cards you
draw.
Outrun
See outdraw.
Over Button
In some games, players can take "over" buttons that mean they're
willing to play at higher limits.
Any time everyone left in the hand
has an over button, the limits go up.
Overcall
Any additional call after a
bet is first called.
Player A bets, player B calls, player C overcalls.
Overcard
In flop games, a card higher
than the highest card on the board.
If you hold AJ and the flop is J92, you have
top pair with an
overcard. If the flop is T92, you just have two overcards.
Overpair
In flop games, a pocket pair
higher than the highest card on the
board. If you hold AA and the flop is K62, you have a nice overpair.
Paint
A jack, king, or queen (i.e., a card with a picture on it).
Let's see some paint.
Pair
Two cards of the same rank. If you hold AAKJ3,
you have a pair. See also
top pair, middle pair,
bottom pair, and
two pair.
Pass
To pass is to fold.
Passive
Passive is a style of play that is characterized by reluctance to
bet and raise.
This does not always mean tight.
A typical loose-passive
player will call with almost anything, but raise only with very
powerful hands (see
calling station). A passive table is one
with many passive players, so that, for example,
few hands are raised pre-flop.
Pat
In draw games, a pat hand is one to which you
draw no cards. In lowball, J7542 is a pat
jack, but also offers a draw to a 7.
The other day I made pat
straights twice in a row.
Pay Off
To call a bet by a player
you're reasonably sure has you beat. Usually you ought to have some
sort of reason to do this, other than just generosity. Weak players pay you off more often than other
players.
I was pretty sure he had the flush, but
with all that money in the pot I figured it was
worth paying him off to be sure.
Perfect
When you only have one way to make a hand, you
need perfect cards. Usually this means two cards. If you hold 8JQ,
you need two perfect cards for a straight.
To catch perfect is to hit a perfect card.
Pineapple
Any of a number of variants of hold'em
in which each player gets three cards and must discard one at some
point (usually before or after pre-flop betting, after the
flop, or after the second round of betting).
Play
To play a hand in poker means to make it past the initial
round of betting. In seven card stud,
this usually means calling the bring-in, while
in hold'em, this means calling the big blind.
If someone says they haven't played a hand in hours, they're not usually telling
you that they've been walking, they're whining that they
haven't had cards good enough to play. Don't encourage them.
To make a play, or put a play on (someone), means to
present a pattern of behavior inconsistent with your cards,
that will mislead your opponent and
cause them to make a mistake. Often this means bluffing
them out of a pot, but it can also mean getting them to call when you
have a strong hand, or more generally anything
calculated to guide their behavior.
Play Back (at)
To play back at someone is to raise their
opening bet.
Play the Board
In flop games like hold'em, if your best five card hand uses the five
community cards, you're playing the board.
The best you can do in this situation is split the pot with anyone who
calls. Nevertheless, betting can be a good idea if you don't think
anyone else can improve on the board either. For example, if the
board is ThJhQdKdAd, someone would have to have two diamonds not to be
playing the board.
Pocket
The two cards dealt to you face down in hold'em, or the first two face down in seven card stud are your pocket cards, or hole
cards. Hold'em players tend to call them pocket cards, stud players
tend to call them hole cards. See also pocket
pair.
Pocket Pair
Two pocket cards of the same rank.
Poker
Poker isn't just a card game - it's many card games. While
no definition is going to satisfy everyone,
the majority of poker games do share some common
features, especially
betting in rounds and
the ranking of hands.
Poker is commonly played in cardrooms
(often within casinos) and in private
home games (illegally in many states). The games played in cardrooms
seem to divide into stud games, draw games, and flop games. In
home games, however, anything goes, including games that seem to have no reason
to be called poker. The varieties played in home games probably
number in the hundreds, or even the thousands. Some common cardroom
games include Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, Razz, Lowball, Pineapple, and Anaconda. (Okay, just kidding about
the anaconda.)
Position
Position refers to your place at the table, especially with
respect to the order of betting within a particular
betting round. The first few players to act are
said to be in early position, the next few in middle position, and the
last few in late position. Late position is almost always best, since
you have the advantage of knowing what your opponents have done. For
this reason, many players are more liberal about the hands they will
play from later positions. In some games (most flop and draw games), position is
fixed from one round of betting to the next, and the dealer (or the
player on the button) is always in last
position.
More generally, to have position on someone is to be in a position
to bet after them, either during a particular hand or in general. You
have position on anyone sitting immediately to your right, since you
will far more often than not be able to act after them.
I didn't think he could've made the straight because he would've had to be playing 65
in early position. Shows what I know.
Position Bet
A position bet is a bet made more on the strength of one's position than on the strength of one's hand. A player on the button
in hold'em is in good position to steal the pot if no one else opens.
Post
To post a bet is to place your chips in the pot (or, commonly, out in front of you, so that your
bet can be counted). In poker, posting usually means a forced bet,
such as a blind.
Pot
All the money in the middle of the poker table that goes to the
winner of the hand is the pot. Any player who has not yet
folded is said to be "in the pot." A player who has
called an initial bet is said to have entered the pot.
Pot-Limit
Any game in which the maximum bet or raise
is the size of the pot.
For raises, the size of the pot includes the call, so if the pot is
$100 and player A bets $100, player B can throw $400 out for a maximum
raise (calling the $100 and then raising the size of the $300 pot).
Pot Odds
The ratio of the amount of money in the pot to
the amount of money it will cost you to call a
bet. The greater the pot odds, the more likely you should be to call
(all else being equal), because you will have to win fewer times (in
the long run) to make the bet positive
expectation.
I knew it was a longshot, but with all that money in the pot and a
draw to the nuts, I had no choice but to call.
Presto
A nickname for pocket 5's, usually in
hold'em. This nickname comes from the
internet newsgroup rec.gambling (now rec.gambling.poker), and
is sometimes used among the readership of that newsgroup to identify
other members.
Prop
Short for proposition player.
Proposition Player
A proposition player, or "prop,"
is a player who is paid by a cardroom to play poker,
usually in order to keep games going when they get shorthanded, or to get games started. Props
are paid a salary, but they gamble with their own money. Props either
learn how to play pretty solid poker or they run out of money. See
also shill.
Protect
To protect a hand is to bet so as to reduce the
chances of anyone outdrawing you (by getting
them to fold). A hand that needs protection is
one that is almost certainly best, but that is vulnerable to being
outdrawn. Large pots make it difficult to protect
hands, since players will be willing to chase more long shots. The
structure of a game has a large impact on how easy it is to protect a
hand, as do the personalities of the players at the table. It's
easiest to protect a hand in no-limit play,
where you can potentially make it as expensive as you like for someone
to draw.
To protect your cards is to place a chip or some other small object
(players often have particular artifacts they like to use) on top of
them so that they don't accidentally get mucked by the dealer, mixed
with another player's discards, or otherwise become dead when you'd
like to play them.
Provider
A provider is a poker player who makes the game profitable for the
other players at the table. Similar in meaning to fish, although provider has a somehow less negative
connotation. A provider might be a decent player who just happens to
be playing out of his/her
league. A fish is usually someone who's probably out of any league.
Push
What the dealer does with the pot when he or
she figures out who the winner is. Because of the nature of
poker tables, the dealer can almost always orient him- or herself so
as to be facing the winner of the pot. From this position, pushing
the pot (literally, the chips in the pot) will result in the movement
of the pot towards the winner of the hand, so that the player can
add the chips to his or her stacks. Aren't you
glad you asked?
Pushka
A pushka is an arrangement between two or more players to share part of
the pots they win, or more precisely, the container into which the shared
chips are placed. Typically pushka partners will place as much as $10 from
each pot won into a container, and split the container's contents later.
I've only heard this term in Maryland, although apparently it's due to the
Polish word for box, via Yiddish. Of course removing chips from the table
is illegal in table stakes games. See also scoot.
Put On
To put someone on a hand (or on a draw) is to
guess that that is what they are holding.
When she re-raised the flop, I tentatively put her on two
pair.
When she flat called the re-raise,
I put her on the flush draw.
Quads
Four of a kind.
Qualifier
In high-low split games, the qualifier is
a requirement that a hand must meet in order to be eligible for part of the
pot, generally the low part. See 8 or better.
Quarter
To win one fourth of the pot is to be
quartered. This is usually the result of splitting half the pot in a
high-low split game.
Rack
Poker chips can get a bit unweildy in large
quantities, so Someone is said to be "racking up" a game if they're winning a lot of
money at the table.