Curious about a poker term that keeps coming up? Our detailed poker glossary has you covered! We explain all the key poker terms clearly and provide expert strategy tips alongside many of them. This page gives you an overview of the entire glossary. You can use it as a guide to find and explore the most important poker terms. Or, you can jump directly between glossary entries using the frequently asked questions at the bottom of each page.
Useful Poker Terms Beginners Should Know
A
ABC Poker: Stick to tight, aggressive play with solid preflop hand choices.
Ace-High: The best hand without a pair, but includes an ace.
Add-On: Buy more chips in rebuy tournaments after registration.
All-In: Bet all your chips at once.
Angle Shooting: Unethical or rule-bending actions at the poker table.
Ante: Forced bet every player must make before cards are dealt.
B
Backdoor Draw: A draw needing both turn and river cards to complete.
Bad Beat: Losing with a statistically strong hand.
Bankroll: Money set aside for poker play.
Belly Buster: A straight draw needing non-consecutive cards.
Big Blind: Mandatory bet determining game stakes, rotating each hand.
Blind: Forced bets that increase over time in tournaments.
Bluff: Bet to make opponents fold, even if your hand is weak.
Bluff Catcher: A hand played to catch an opponent bluffing.
Board Cards: Community cards shared by all players.
Button: The position that acts last in each betting round.
Buy-In: Cost to enter a poker game.
C
Call: Match the highest previous bet.
Calling Station: A player who calls bets frequently but rarely raises.
Check: Pass action without betting.
Check-Raise: Check early, then raise after another player bets.
Community Cards: Shared cards in games like Hold’em.
Connectors: Sequential cards that can form a straight.
Continuation Bet (c-bet): Betting after raising preflop.
D
Dead Man’s Hand: Two pairs of aces and eights.
Deuce: A card with a value of two.
Donk Bet: Postflop bet by a player who didn’t raise preflop.
Down Cards: The flop, turn, and river in poker.
Drawing Hand: A hand needing future cards to improve.
E
Early Position: The first few seats at a poker table.
Effective Stacks: The smaller stack in play.
Equity: The chance of a hand winning at a showdown.
Equity Calculator: A tool to calculate hand equity.
Expectation: Also known as expected value.
Expected Value: How profitable a play is expected to be.
F
Fifth Street: The final community card, also known as the river.
Fish: A less-experienced player.
Flush Draw: Four cards of the same suit needing one more to complete.
Fold: Surrender your hand and exit the pot.
Forced Bet: Mandatory wager like ante or blind.
Four-of-a-kind: Four cards of the same rank.
Fourth Street: The turn card, after the flop and before the river.
Full House: Three-of-a-kind plus a pair.
G
Gap: A space between cards of consecutive rank. See examples in the glossary.
Grinding: Playing poker for long hours to slowly make a profit.
Gutshot: An inside straight draw. For example, if you have 5, 6, 8, and 9, you need a 7 to complete your straight.
Gutshot Straight Draw: A straight draw where you need a card in the middle of your sequence to complete the straight: Also called an inside straight draw.
H
Heads-up: A game or pot with only two players.
Hole Cards: Cards dealt face-down to each player.
I
ICM: A method that assigns real money values to tournament chips.
Implied Odds: Calculates potential future winnings based on current bets.
Inside Straight Draw: A hand needing a specific card to complete a straight.
Insurance: A side bet for a payout if your hand loses.
ITM: In poker, it means ‘in the money,’ or players who are guaranteed a cash prize.
J
Jackpot: Casinos offer a “bad beat jackpot” when a strong hand loses.
Jam: To go all-in with your chips.
Joker: A wild card added to a deck, often featuring a court jester.
K
Kicker: Kickers are side cards that boost a hand’s strength and break ties when two players have the same hand.
L
LAG: A player who aggressively plays many starting hands.
Last Longer: A side bet to see who stays in a tournament the longest.
Laydown: To fold a hand, often reluctantly.
Leveling: Thinking on different levels while playing poker.
Leverage: Chips influence strategy even if not in play.
Limit: A game with fixed betting amounts.
Limit Poker: A poker game with a fixed bet or raise amounts.
Limp: Calling without raising on the first betting round.
Lowball: A poker variant where the lowest hand wins.
Low Hand: The best “low hand” wins in lowball poker.MManiac: A player who is loose and crazy.
M
Mark: A weak player targeted by stronger players.
Mechanic: A person who uses sleight of hand to cheat at cards.
Mental Game: Improving your mental outlook while playing poker.
Middle Position: The hijack, lojack, and mp1 seats in full ring poker; hijack only in 6-handed games.
Mid Stakes: Poker games with a buy-in between low and high stakes.
Misclick: Accidentally clicking the wrong thing online.
Monotone: A board with all cards of the same suit.
Monster: A very strong poker hand.
Muck: To return a losing hand without showing it.
Must Move: An overflow game where players switch to the main table when a seat opens.
N
No-Limit: Betting structure allowing full stack bets.
Nuts: The best possible hand.
O
Open: Raise the pot when no one else has acted.
Open-Ended Straight Draw: Straight draw with cards needed at both ends.
Outs: Cards that improve your hand.
Over Card: A card in hand higher than the board cards.
P
Pocket Pair: Two cards of the same rank.
Poker Rooms: Places where poker games are held.
Pot-Limit: Betting based on the current pot size.
Pot Odds: Ratio of pot size to bet size.
Q
Quads: Nickname for “four of a kind” in poker.
Qualify: Low hands need 5 cards 8 or lower to qualify in split pot games.
R
Rake: House fee from cash game pots or entry fees.
Rebuy: Buy back into a tournament after busting out.
Ring Game: Cash game not related to a tournament.
River: Final community card dealt.
Royal Flush: Ace-high straight flush, the best hand.
S
Satellite: Tournament entry won as a prize.
Semi-Bluff: Bet with a hand that might improve.
Short Handed: A table with fewer than the full number of players.
Side Pot: A separate pot for actively betting players.
Small Blind: Mandatory bet by the player left of the dealer.
Split Pot: Pot divided among multiple winners.
Squeeze: Re-raise against a previous raiser and callers.
Straddle: Optional blind bet placed before cards are dealt.
Straight: Five sequential cards of any suit.
Straight Flush: Five sequential cards of the same suit.
Scare Card: A card that might scare opponents into folding.
Set: Three of a kind made with a pocket pair.
Set over Set: When two players both have sets but one is higher.
Sequence: The order of cards; five in a row makes a straight.
Short Handed: A table with six or fewer players.
Short Stack: A player with fewer chips, often less than 50bb.
Shove: Betting all-in.
Showdown: Revealing hands to determine the winner.
Show Hand: Exposing hole cards after the hand ends.
Sick: Can mean either extremely cool or extremely unlucky.
Side Pot: An additional pot for players still in after one goes all-in.
Sizing: The amount of the bet.
T
Table Stakes: Players can’t bet more chips than they brought.
TAG: An aggressive player with a tight hand range.
Tank: Taking time to decide during a hand.
Tell: An unconscious sign of an opponent’s hand.
Texture: The nature of community cards or board.
Three-Bet: The third bet in a betting sequence.
Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank.
Three Pair: Three pairs where only two count.
Tie: Two hands are equally strong, splitting the pot.
Tilt: Playing poorly due to a negative mental state.
Time Bank: Extra time for online players to think.
Tournament: A fixed buy-in event where players play until out of chips.
Tracking Software: Software that tracks poker results and stats.
Trap: Playing strong hands passively to lure bluffs.
Trey: A card of rank “Three.”
Trips: Three of a kind not made with a pocket pair.
Turn: The third betting round in Hold’em or Omaha.
Two-bet: The second bet in a betting sequence.
Two Pair: Two sets of pairs plus one kicker.
Two-tone: A board with two different suits.
U
Under the Gun: The first player to act in the first betting round.
Underbet: Betting less than 50% of the pot.
Underdog: The less likely hand or player to win.
Upcard: A visible card dealt face up in Stud.
Upswing: A period of winning more than expected.
Up the Ante: Increasing stakes or antes.
V
Value Bet: Betting to be paid off by a worse hand.
Variance: The natural ups and downs in poker results.
Variant: A specific type of poker game.
Villain: The opponent in a poker hand.
VPIP: Percentage of hands where a player voluntarily puts in chips.
Vulnerable: A hand that can be easily beaten.
W
Whale: A very poor poker player, especially at high stakes.
Wet: A board texture with many possible draws.
Wheel: An Ace to Five straight, strong in PLO8 for both high and low pots.
Wired: A pair on third street with both cards face down.
Wrap: A big straight draw in Omaha with up to 20 outs.
Wrap Around Straight: A straight with the Ace in the middle, not legal in most variants.
WSOP: The World Series of Poker, a top poker event in Las Vegas.
WTSD: How often a player goes to showdown after the flop.
WWSF: How often a player wins the hand after seeing the flop.
Conclusion
So, knowing poker terms well is important for beginners, as well as for experienced players. This glossary is helpful as it offers proper definitions and practical recommendations on the better way of using some aspects of the game. Learning the terms will increase your game performance and thus your level of confidence at the table.
This ultimate guide is helpful for both purposes; it provides definitions of precise terms as well as general strategies. When you take advantage of these recommendations, poker games will prove to be easier, and the moves made during the games will end up being beneficial. Explore the glossary, sit back, and allow your poker adventure to be both fun and rewarding.
FAQs
What is slang for losing ‘unluckily’ in poker?
In poker, if you lose in a way that feels unlucky, people often call it a “bad beat.” This means you lost mainly because of bad luck, not because you played poorly. There are other ways to describe losing, but “bad beat” is a common term.
What are the stages of poker called?
Poker has four main stages. First is the pre-flop, where each player gets two cards. Next is the flop, where the dealer puts three community cards face up on the table. Then comes the turn, where the dealer adds a fourth card face up. Finally, the river is when the dealer adds the fifth card face up.
What is slang for pocket aces?
Pocket aces are sometimes called “pocket rockets” or “bullets” in poker slang. These terms are used to refer to having a pair of aces as your starting hand.
What is a poker bet called?
When you place a bet in poker, it’s called either calling or raising (or re-raising). This means you match the amount another player has bet to keep the game going or increase the bet.
What is the dead man’s hand in poker?
The dead man’s hand consists of two black aces and two black eights. It’s named after Wild Bill Hickock, a famous lawman who was killed while holding this hand in a poker game. Despite its infamous reputation, if you win with it, it’s no longer considered unlucky.
