Poker vocabulary is dense and largely undocumented at the table: terms are used as though everyone already knows them. This page collects the ones that come up in play, in commentary and in strategy discussion.
Where a term has a page of its own, the definition links to it. Everything else is explained in a sentence or two.
Terms A to Z
125 terms, written for players who meet them at the table rather than in a textbook.
A
- Action
- Either a player's turn to act, or the general level of betting in a game. A loose game is described as having a lot of action.
- Add-on
- A single optional purchase of extra chips offered at the end of the rebuy period in some tournaments.
- All in
- Having wagered every chip in front of you. A player who is all in remains eligible only for the portion of the pot they matched.
- Angle
- A technically legal manoeuvre intended to mislead opponents, such as a deliberately ambiguous motion toward the chips. Card rooms discourage it.
- Ante
- A small forced bet posted by every player before the cards are dealt, used in stud games and in most tournament levels.
B
- Backdoor
- A draw that needs both the turn and the river to complete. A backdoor flush draw has three cards of a suit after the flop.
- Bad beat
- A hand lost after being a large favourite. A description of variance, not of a mistake.
- Balance
- Playing a mixture of strong and weak hands in the same way, so that a particular bet does not reveal the hand behind it.
- Bankroll
- The money set aside for poker alone. See bankroll management.
- Big blind
- The larger of the two forced bets, posted two seats left of the button, and the unit in which stack sizes are usually measured.
- Blank
- A community card that changes nothing about the likely strength of either hand.
- Blind
- A forced bet posted before the cards are dealt by the two players left of the button.
- Blocker
- A card in your hand that reduces the number of strong hands an opponent can hold, such as holding the ace of the flush suit.
- Bluff
- A bet made with a hand that expects to lose at showdown, intended to make a better hand fold. See bluffing.
- Bluff-catcher
- A hand strong enough to beat a bluff and nothing else, typically a medium pair facing a river bet.
- Board
- The community cards shared by all players, or in stud the exposed cards in front of a player.
- Bounty
- A sum paid for eliminating a particular player, used in knockout tournaments.
- Bring-in
- The forced opening bet in stud games, assigned to the lowest exposed card in stud and the highest in razz.
- Bubble
- The stage immediately before the payouts begin, when the next player eliminated receives nothing.
- Burn card
- A card discarded face down by the dealer before each community card, a procedural safeguard against marked cards.
- The disc marking the nominal dealer. The player on it acts last after the flop and holds the most valuable seat.
- Buy-in
- The amount paid to enter a tournament, or the amount of money brought to a cash game table.
C
- Call
- To match the largest wager made in the current betting round.
- Calling station
- A player who calls far more often than they fold or raise. Bluffing them is unprofitable; value betting them is not.
- Cap
- Either the maximum number of raises permitted in a limit round, or a structure limiting the total wagered in a hand.
- Cash game
- A game in which chips represent money directly and a player may leave at any time. See cash games vs tournaments.
- Check
- To pass the action without wagering, legal only when no bet is standing.
- Check-raise
- Checking with the intention of raising if an opponent bets.
- Chip leader
- The player holding the largest stack in a tournament.
- Cold call
- Calling a raise without having already put money in during that betting round.
- Community cards
- Cards dealt face up and shared by every player, used in hold'em and Omaha.
- Connectors
- Two cards of adjacent rank, such as nine-eight. Suited connectors are the same cards in one suit.
- Continuation bet
- A bet on the flop by the player who raised before it. See continuation betting.
- Counterfeit
- A community card that reduces the value of a hand by making a better version available to everyone, common in two pair and in low hands.
- Cutoff
- The seat directly to the right of the button.
D
- Dead card
- A card no longer available, either because it has been folded or because it is visible elsewhere.
- See button.
- Deep stack
- A stack large relative to the blinds, which lengthens post-flop play.
- Donk bet
- A bet made out of position into the player who raised before the flop.
- Double barrel
- A second bet on the turn after a continuation bet on the flop.
- Draw
- A hand that needs further cards to become strong, or in draw games the exchange of cards itself.
- Drawing dead
- Holding a hand that cannot win regardless of the cards still to come.
E
- Equity
- The share of the pot a hand would win on average against a given range. See pot odds and equity.
- Expected value
- The average result of a decision if it were repeated many times, usually abbreviated EV.
F
- Family pot
- A pot in which most of the table has called before the flop.
- Fish
- A weak player. The term is common and unflattering; it describes a skill level, not a kind of person.
- Flat call
- Calling a bet rather than raising, particularly with a hand strong enough to raise.
- Float
- Calling with a weak hand in position, intending to take the pot on a later street.
- Flop
- The first three community cards, dealt together, and the betting round that follows them.
- Fold
- To surrender the hand and any chips already committed.
- Fold equity
- The value of the chance that a bet makes an opponent fold.
- Foul
- A hand that breaks a rule and is disqualified, most often in open-face Chinese poker.
- Freeroll
- Either a tournament with no entry cost, or a situation where two tied hands exist but only one can improve.
- Freezeout
- A tournament with a single entry and no re-entry.
- Full ring
- A table with eight or nine players, as opposed to a short-handed game.
G
- Gutshot
- A straight draw needing one specific rank in the middle of the sequence; four outs.
H
- Heads-up
- A hand or a game contested by two players.
- Hero call
- A call made with a weak holding because the opponent is judged to be bluffing.
- Hijack
- The seat two to the right of the button.
- Hole cards
- The private cards dealt to each player.
I
- ICM
- The independent chip model, which estimates the money value of a tournament stack. See ICM and payout pressure.
- Implied odds
- Money that may be won on later streets if a draw completes, used to justify calls that immediate pot odds do not.
- Isolate
- To raise with the intention of playing the pot against one particular opponent.
K
- Kicker
- A side card that decides a pot between two hands of the same rank.
L
- Late position
- The hijack, cutoff and button, the seats that act last before the flop.
- Limp
- To enter a pot by calling the big blind rather than raising.
- Live card
- A card still available in the deck, important in stud games where many cards are visible.
- Lojack
- The seat three to the right of the button.
- Loose
- Playing a wide range of hands.
M
- Main pot
- The portion of the pot that every remaining player has matched, as distinct from a side pot.
- Muck
- The pile of discarded cards, or the act of discarding without showing.
- Multiway
- A pot contested by three or more players.
N
- Nuts
- The strongest hand possible given the community cards.
O
- Offsuit
- Two cards of different suits.
- Open-ended
- A straight draw with four consecutive cards, completed at either end; eight outs.
- Out
- A card still unseen that would give a hand the best of it.
- Overbet
- A bet larger than the size of the pot.
- Overcard
- A card higher than any on the board, or a hole card higher than the board's highest.
- Overpair
- A pocket pair higher than every community card.
P
- Pocket pair
- Two hole cards of the same rank.
- Position
- The order in which a player acts. See table position.
- Pot
- The total of all wagers in a hand.
- Pot odds
- The price a call is offered, expressed as the call relative to the resulting pot.
- Pot-limit
- A structure in which the largest legal wager is the size of the pot. See betting structures.
Q
- Quads
- Four of a kind.
R
- Rainbow
- A flop containing three different suits, so no flush draw is possible on it.
- Raise
- To increase the standing bet.
- Rake
- The card room's charge for running the game, taken from the pot or charged by time.
- Range
- The set of hands a player could hold in a given situation, which is what skilled players read instead of guessing a single hand.
- Re-entry
- A new tournament entry bought after elimination, while registration remains open.
- Rebuy
- A purchase of chips during a defined period in some tournaments.
- Represent
- To bet in a way that suggests holding a particular hand.
- Reverse implied odds
- Money likely to be lost when a draw completes and is still second best.
- River
- The fifth and final community card, and the betting round that follows it.
- Rock
- A player who enters very few pots.
- Rolled up
- Three of a kind on the first three cards in seven-card stud.
- Runner-runner
- A hand completed by both the turn and the river; the same thing as a backdoor draw arriving.
S
- Satellite
- A tournament whose prize is entry to a larger one rather than cash.
- Scoop
- To win both halves of a split pot, as in Omaha hi-lo.
- Semi-bluff
- A bet with a hand that is probably behind but can improve, such as a flush draw.
- Set
- Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one board card.
- Short stack
- A stack small relative to the blinds or to the other stacks at the table.
- Showdown
- The point at which remaining players reveal their hands and the pot is awarded.
- Side pot
- A separate pot created when a player is all in for less than the current wager.
- Slow play
- Playing a strong hand passively to encourage betting from an opponent.
- Small blind
- The smaller forced bet, posted immediately left of the button.
- Snow
- In draw games, standing pat with a weak hand and betting as though it were made.
- Split pot
- A pot divided between two or more players, either because hands tie or because the game pays a high and a low.
- Squeeze
- A re-raise made after one player has raised and at least one other has called.
- Stack
- The chips a player has in front of them.
- Stack-to-pot ratio
- The size of the smallest effective stack divided by the pot, used to plan how many bets remain.
- Straddle
- An optional blind bet, usually twice the big blind, posted before the cards are dealt.
- String bet
- An illegal betting motion in which chips are added after the initial movement, treated as a call.
- Suited
- Two cards of the same suit.
T
- Tell
- A behaviour that gives information about a hand. See live and online tells.
- Three-bet
- The second raise in a betting round, counting the big blind as the first bet.
- Tight
- Playing a narrow range of hands.
- Tilt
- Playing worse than usual because of frustration, most often after a loss.
- Trips
- Three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board.
- Turn
- The fourth community card, and the betting round that follows it.
U
- Under the gun
- The first seat to act before the flop, immediately left of the big blind.
V
- Value bet
- A bet that expects to be called by a worse hand.
- Variance
- The spread of results around the long-run average, and the reason short-term results prove little.
W
- Wheel
- The hand five-four-three-two-ace, the best low in ace-to-five lowball and a straight for high.
- Wrap
- A large straight draw in Omaha, sometimes with thirteen or more outs.
Terms That Cause the Most Confusion
| Pair of terms | Difference |
|---|---|
| Set and trips | A set uses a pocket pair plus one board card; trips use one hole card and a pair on the board. A set is better disguised. |
| Bet and raise | A bet opens a round; a raise increases a bet that is already standing. |
| Rebuy and re-entry | A rebuy adds chips to a seat you still hold; a re-entry starts a new entry after elimination. |
| Implied and reverse implied odds | The first is money you may win later; the second is money you may lose when your draw arrives second best. |
| Equity and pot odds | Equity is your share of the pot on average; pot odds are the price you are being offered to continue. |
| Tight and passive | Tight describes how many hands are played; passive describes how they are played once entered. |