Poker Slang Terms
The term pocket pair is used in poker games such as Texas Hold’em where there are cards dealt to the players (hole cards) and cards dealt to the board (community cards). A pocket pair is when a player has a pair in their hole cards. Each one of the possible pairs has at least one nickname associated with it and many of them have several. Sweeten: Poker slang for raise. T Table Cop: A player who calls hand to keep the other players honest. Tapped Out: Busted. Tell: A player's playing habits that might reveal his hand. Texas Hold 'Em: A game of poker in which players use five community cards in. Combination with their two hole cards to form the best five-card hand. Find 7 ways to say poker, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Poker Terms - Common Phrases and Acronyms. In poker, there is practically a library of poker terms that are commonly used. For the uninitiated, these terms can sound like a completely different language, when a poker player says, 'I flopped a belly buster on a rainbow board', when they are really saying that they have an inside straight draw, after the dealer dealt the first three cards, all.
Poker Slang Terms
Poker is a fascinating game which almost seems to have it’s own language. If you spend any time in a poker room, you’ll hear dozens of phrases and terms with no idea what people are on about. Have no fear! In this article, we will provide an A to Z on the most common poker slang terms used. So, when you next join a forum, chat with poker friends or visit a card-room you will be fluent in poker lingo.
ABC Poker
This is straight forward basic poker. It is used as negative term at high stakes as it implies solid, fundamental poker and no more. ABC poker can be enough to win a low stakes game though.
Bad Beat
If you’ve ever lost a hand as a huge favourite, you may have taken a bad beat. There’s sometimes confusion between novices what a bad beat actually is. Read our article on bad beats for more information on what they are and how to handle them.
Bounty Tournament
A type of tournament that rewards players with cash prizes if you knock out an opponent. In order to offer this, a percentage of the buy-in acts goes to the bounty prize pool. Check out our bounty poker tournament guide.
Cold Call
Anyone who calls before the flop when they’ve not invested anything yet. It is commonly associated with a call from someone after there’s already been a bet and raise. Our article on cold calling explains more.
C Bet (Continuation Bet)
A bet made on the flop by the initial raiser, hence continue to bet. This is an essential part of poker. We have created the most in depth course on this. See below for more information.
Cooler
A hand where two very strong hands match up e.g. quads against a full house or aces against kings. Coolers are part of poker and hard to escape but it’s nice when you’re on the right side of them!
Donk Bet
A flop bet made from out of position into the raiser. The donk bet is scorned at by many but can sometimes be a genius bet.
Downswing
This refers to a run of losing sessions for a prolonged period of time.
Equity
This is the share of the pot based on the odds that you will win the pot at some point.
Freeroll
This is a tournament that costs nothing to enter, hence “free”. They offer cash prizes for the top spots or loyalty points with that website. A freeroll is commonly used by new players to learn how to play.
Gutshot
Despite it’s name, it’s not nothing to do with guns. It refers to an unlikely straight where one needs one card to complete the straight. It’s otherwise known as inside straight. I assume the name was given as it’s like a shot in the gut to be hit with a straight that unlikely. An example of a gutshot is holding 8c 10c on a 6h 7d Ac flop where only a 9 will complete your straight.
Hand History
Most poker sites let you download the hands you’ve played. This is the “hand history”. We offer hand history reviews to players keen to analyse and discuss hands they’ve played.
Poker Terminology
Heads-Up
Heads up is just one on one poker. This is how most tournaments are finished, with two players left facing off. However, online also offers heads up SNGS and cash games too.
Hero Call
A brave call made despite holding a hand that appears relatively weak e.g. ace high card or bottom pair. Making a hero call takes guts.
Home Game
Have you ever played poker at a friend’s house? Then you’ve played in a home game. They involve your own dealing, snacks and no house fee.
ITM
This is an abbreviation of “in the money”, the part of a tournament where one has reached the money places. Check out our ITM article for more details.
Jam
A poker slang term for moving all-in.
Kicker
This is the second card used when two hands are similar strength e.g. an ace king against an ace three on an: A-4-J-6-7. The king would form part of the hand and is a bigger “kicker”. Our article on poker kickers explains more.
LAG
An abbreviation for the “loose aggressive” poker playing style. A LAG plays a wide range of hands with an aggressive mentality.
Limp
To enter the pot with a flat call i.e. just completing the big blind. This is a common trait amongst weaker players, our article on why limping is bad explains why.
Multi-Way
If you get to the flop with more than one opponent, it’s a multi-way pot. It simply means several players are involved.
Nit
This is a nasty term used to describe very conservative players. They play very few hands and have a risk averse approach. We explain why nit poker is losing poker these days.
Open
An “open” is when someone enters the pot with a raise.
Probe Bet
These are smaller sized bets designed to win the pot now or elicit information. A probe bet is likely to be under 40% of the pot and is a common trait of small ball poker strategy.
Queens
A pair of queens in your hand. They’re the third best starting hand in Texas Hold’em.
Rake
This is the fee charged by the casino or poker-room to make money. It’s taken as a percentage of cash game pots or a fixed fee from tournament buy-ins.
Texas Holdem Slang Terms
Rakeback
A great way to get some rake “back” from the poker room you play on. You can sign up to rakeback schemes that pay back a percentage of rake to you.
Showdown
This is where the hand has no more betting involved and players must show their cards. It can be on the river after a bet and call, or in an all-in scenario in tournaments.
Slow Roll
An unethical move where a player with the winning hand slowly reveals their hand to the opponent. This is poor etiquette as we explain in our article on slow-rolling.
Snap Poker
A fast form of poker where you are moved between tables after folding. Snap poker the fastest form offered on 888 poker.
String Bet
A live poker move where one reaches back for chips multiple times instead of making a bet in one motion. This is sometimes unethical, but mostly accidental. The string bet article explains everything you need to know.
Tell
The tick or pattern of a player that indirectly reveals the strength of the hand. This is more common in live poker but there are online poker tells too.
Tilt
If someone loses a pot then proceeds to play terrible, they are known to go on tilt. It’s a terrible feeling as it can cost a lot of money.
Underpair
A small pocket pair is almost always going to be an underpair to the board. For instance, pocket twos on a board of K-3-J is an underpair.
Value Bet
This is a bet designed to extract value. Accurate value betting is fundamental to being a long term winner. We’ve explain the common mistakes of value betting before.
Variance
This is the difference between what you expect to win and what actually occurs. It is the short-term luck element that can be expressed through your poker tracking software. Variance is what keeps the bad players in the game so you should be grateful for this, if you are a winner.
Walk
Ever had the entire table fold to you in the big blind? This is otherwise known as a walk.
WSOP
This is abbreviation of the greatest poker tournament series, aka “World Series of Poker”.
Y
We couldn’t think of any poker slang terms for Y.
Zoom
This is the PokerStars equivalent of Snap.
The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game.
From the small blind to the straight flush, here is a poker glossary of the important poker terms to know.
Act: check, bet, raise, or fold
Action: whose turn it is, as in “Action is on you.” Also, slang for gambling, as in “He loves action.” Or a lot of betting, like “The 2/4 game at Pala has a lot of action.”
Active Player:player still in competition for a pot
Add-on: additional chips that may be purchased to “add on” to your chip stack, usually at the end of the Re-buy period, though some tourneys allow add-ons earlier and some tourneys even allow for multiple add-ons (and/or Re-buys)
All-in: a player bets all of his or her remaining chips
Bad Beat: when a player has the best of it and the odds are heavily with him or her, but gets beaten in the hand by a long-shot draw
Bankroll:the money a player has set aside to gamble with
Behind: a player who acts after another player in a betting round
Benjamin: a hundred-dollar bill (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait appears on a U.S. $100 bill)
Best of It: the player who has the odds on his or her side
Bet:money initially wagered and put into the pot (during a given betting round, subsequent betting action beyond an initial bet is termed a “raise”)
Big Blind: the larger of two forced “blind hands” in community card games like Hold’em and Omaha; the big blind is generally located two to the left of the “dealer button”
Big Hand: a really good hand
Big Slick: Ace-King hole cards (see Hole Cards)
Blank: community board card that looks like it is harmless or couldn’t really help anybody
Bluff: a bet or raise that appears to represent a good hand, when in fact the bettor has a mediocre or at best a drawing hand
Board:(see also, Community Cards) the playing surface and the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Boat:full house (aka “full boat”). three of one card, two of another. ex. JJJ99
Brick and Mortar: a casino with a physical world spatial existence (as opposed to merely online or cyberspace); some casinos, like Pala, have both a brick and mortar and an online existence.
Broadway: ace-high straight
Bubble: in a tournament, one place away from making it to the money
Busted: broke. Lost all chips and out of the tournament.
Button:(aka Dealer Button), disc that denotes which player is the “dealer” for that hand. Button position is dealt the last card and is last to act in each betting round
Buy-In:the amount of chips a player must buy in order to enter a card game. For tourneys, the buy-in is a set amount of money for a set amount of starting chips. For cashgames, buy-ins are generally expressed as minimums, but can have an optional limited or unlimited range beyond the minimum as well.
Buying the Pot: to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff that forces other players out
Call:to put in the amount that another player bet: “I call”
Calling Station: you bet and bet and he calls and calls; generally a weak player who calls too much but doesn’t usually bet or raise.
Case Card: last card of a given rank left in the deck… the other three are already out
Chasing: hoping an upcoming community card will “hit” to complete a so-far unmade hand
Check: to not bet when it is your turn. can say “I check” or tap on the table in a live game
Check and Raise: to check initially, but then make a raise if another player bets after your initial check
Chop:in tournament play, the last remaining players decide to split up the prizepool rather than play to the end; or, in a hand, where the end result is a tie and the pot is split up and distributed evenly to the tied players.
Community Cards:(see also, Board) the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Connectors:(see also, Suited Connectors) two or more cards in sequence; for example: 89 or 10J
Counterfeit:In Omaha Eight or Better, when the board pairs one of your low cards
Cracked: to lose a hand you were initially favored to win, as in “My Aces got cracked!”
Crying Call: a very reluctant call
Dealer:player or staff member who deals the cards out to players; however, see also, Button
Dead Man Hand: A famous hand that consists of the black eights and the black aces
Deep Stack:a tournament in which players begin with an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blind or ante.
Dog:underdog. Not favored to win.
Dominated: a hand that is beaten due to shared cards. for example, A-8 is “dominated” by A-K
Draw: hand that needs additional cards to become a winning hand
Drawing Dead: when there are no cards left in the deck that will make a draw hand into a winner
Draw Poker: each player gets a set amount of cards and then can replace some of his or her cards with others dealt out from the remainder of the deck
Duck: a deuce, a 2
Early Position: approx. first third of players to act in a hand
Face Down: cards, like the hole cards, that are unexposed to other players
Face Up: exposed card that everybody can see
Fast Play: aggressive style emphasizing a lot of betting and raising
Favorite: based on odds alone, most likely hand to win
Fish: a novice or poorly-skilled player, expected to lose money
Flop: first three community cards dealt face up on the board
Flush: hand containing five cards of the same suit
Fold:to get rid of one’s cards, and in doing so forfeiting the right to any part of the pot.
Four-Flush: having four of the five cards needed for a flush… and hoping for the fifth
Free Card: a betting round where all players have checked, thus allowing the next community card to fall without anybody putting any money in the pot
Freeroll: a poker tournament in which certain qualifying players get in for free. “Freerolling” also is an expression sometimes used to describe somebody who has won a lot of chips already and is “rolling” through the game with other people’s money.
Four-of-a-Kind: Hand containing four cards of the same rank, like J J J J.
Full House: hand with two of one rank and three of another, like 9 9 J J J
Hand: the cards a poker player holds, combined with any community cards, to make the best five card combination
Head-to Head: aka “Heads Up”
Hi/Lo: type of poker where the highest hand and the lowest hand each take half the pot
Hole Cards: cards held by a player, unseen by other players
Implied Odds:what a player thinks his actual payoff will be if he hits his hand, relative to how much it will cost to play
In Front Of: a player who acts before another player
Inside Straight Draw: a draw where only one card will complete the straight, for example a hand like 6-7- – 9-10… needs an 8 to complete
Isolate: to bet and raise so as to get heads-up against a weaker hand or weaker player
Joker: a wild card, or slang for a really lucky card that came to complete a hand against odds
Kicker:unmatched card in a player’s hand that is not used except to break ties. Example, two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with A kicker beats two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with Q kicker.
Late Position: aprox. the final third of players to act in a hand
Laydown:to fold
Limit:the most that can be bet or raised at any one time (see also, Limit Poker)
Limit Poker:poker games where limits exist for betting or raising, as opposed to no-limit poker
Limp: to just call, rather than bet or raise
Live Card:a card whose rank has not yet appeared on the board (nor presumably in another hand)
Live One: a player likely to bet wildly and probably lose like a fish (see Fish)
Lock: a hand that cannot be beaten
Lock Up My Seat: a commitment to take a seat that is waiting for you
Longshot: a drawing hand that has the odds heavily against it and probably won’t be made
Look Up: to call somebody, as in “I’m gonna look you up.”
Loose: playing style that plays a lot of hands and often goes for longshots (see Longshot)
Made Hand: already solid. Don’t need to hit a draw to have a good winning hand.
Maniac:wild, loose player who bets it up with mediocre hands just to build the pot
Middle Position: aprox. the middle third of players to act in a hand
Monster: an excellent hand that is either a lock (see Lock) or at least probably won’t be beat
Muck: fold. To throw a hand away and toss it into the Muckpile. (see Muckpile) & (see Fold)
No-Limit: a player may bet any amount of chips up to and including everything he has in front of him or her
One Pair: hand containing two cards of the same rank, like Q Q
Overcard: a higher card. So a K is an “overcard” to a Q, and a Q is over a 9
Pocket Cards: see also- Hole Cards
Position: players relative position to the player who acts last; in flop games like Hold’em and Omaha, position is usually considered relative to the button
Pot:sum total of all antes, blinds, and bets put into the center of the table during a given poker hand. It is the pot for which players are competing to win.
Preflop:before the flop
Premium Starting Hands:holding among the best starting hole cards; for example, in Hold’em premium starting hands include A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, and possibly A-Q and J-J as well. Hi/Lo games also have low premium starting hands of their own, for example holding perhaps A-2-3-5 as a starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo
Raise:adding more chips to another player’s original bet to make it more expensive for other players to continue to play for the pot
Rake:the amount of money taken out of a pot by the house (the dealer is the house’s representative in this process) as its fee for running the game; the rake is used to pay overhead, including equipment, facilities, utilities, and staff salaries
Reraise: raising another player’s raise
Ring Game: a cash game with a full table of players, usually seven or more for Stud and nine or more for Omaha or Hold’em
River: the fifth (last) community card on board
Royal Flush: an A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest ranking hand in poker.
Satellite Tournament: a smaller stakes tourney in which the prizes are one or more entries into a more expensive major event
Set: three of a kind, consisting of a pocket pair plus a matching community card
Shorthanded: a poker game with five players or less, perhaps six or less
Showdown: final act of a poker hand
Slowplay: playing a powerful hand in a weak manner to disguise its strength and lure, or “trap,” other players into the action
Small Blind: located just to the left of the button, it is the smaller of the two forced blind bets preflop
Standard Raise: typically, three times the big blind
Steal the Blinds: bluffing to make the blinds fold
Straight: a sequence of five consecutive cards, like 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Straight Flush: a sequence of five consecutive cards that are all also the same suit
Suck-out:to hit a longshot draw, typically on the river
Suited Connectors: (see also, Connectors) two or more cards in sequence and of the same suit; for example: 8-9 or 10-J of Hearts
Swing:fluctuation of a player’s chip count or even overall bankroll
Table Stakes: a player can only play with the money/chips he or she has on the table in front of him or her; the player’s bet, call, or raise is limited to the number of chips he or she currently has, and the player cannot buy, borrow, or produce more chips in the middle of a hand.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank held in a given hand, ex.: QQQ. see also, Trips
Tournament: a competition in which all players start with the same amount of chips and play continues until one player holds all the chips
Trap: to underplay or slowplay powerful hand so as to lure other players into betting
Trips: three of a kind
Turn: the fourth community card on board, following the flop
Two Pair: a hand that contains two different pairs, like QQ and KK in the same hand
Under the Gun: the first player to act in a round of poker; preflop, under the gun is to the immediate left of the button
Value Bet: betting a hand that is perhaps not a sure thing but that over time will win more than it loses
Wheel: (aka “Bicycle”) a five-high straight: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Wired: to have a pair in the hole from the start
Now that you are familiar with all of the poker terms you can start playing poker online! Sign up today for a poker tournament to win real money!