Action: A fold, check, call, bet, or raise.
In certain situations, doing something formally connected
with the game that conveys information on your hand may also
be considered an action. Examples may include showing one’s
cards at the end of a hand or indicating the number of cards
one is drawing.
All-In: To have put all of one’s remaining chips into
the pot.
Ante: A prescribed amount posted before the start of a hand
by all players.
Bet: (1) To place chips, in turn, into the pot in any betting
round. (2) The chips put into the pot.
Big Blind: In Hold ‘em, Omaha, and other games, the
larger of the two designated amounts that must be placed
in the pot by the player sitting in the second position,
clockwise from the dealer, before any cards are dealt; the
largest regular blind in a game.
Blind: A required bet made before any cards are dealt.
Bluff: (1) To attempt to indicate to other players that one
has a better hand than one actually has, by betting or raising.
(2) The bluff itself.
Boardcard: One of the cards dealt face-up in a poker game
for all players to see. In flop games, five cards are dealt
face-up in the center of the table. In Seven-Card Stud, four
cards are dealt face-up in front of each player.
Burn: To take the top card out of play, usually by placing
it facedown among the discards. A card is “burned”
before the flop, turn, and river in Hold ‘em and Omaha.
Burncard: After the initial round of cards is dealt, the
first card off the deck in each round, which is normally
placed under a chip in the pot for security purposes. This
is known as “burning” a card; the card itself is
called the burncard.
Button: (1) A player who is in the designated dealer position.
(2) A flat disk that indicates the player who is in the designated
dealer position (see also “dealer button”).
Buy-In: (1) The (minimum) amount of money required to enter
any game, normally ten times the big blind. (2) To pay for
chips for entry into a game.
Capped: Describes the situation in limit poker in which the
maximum number of raises in a betting round has been reached.
Check: To waive the right to initiate the betting in a round,
but retain the right to act if another player initiates the
betting.
Check-Raise: To waive the right to bet until a bet has been
made by an opponent, and then increase the bet by at least
an equal amount when it is one’s turn to act.
Color Change: A request to change from chips of one denomination
to those of another (normally higher) denomination.
Common Card: A card dealt face-up to be used by all players
at the showdown in games of stud poker when there are not
enough cards left in the deck to deal each player a card
individually.
Community Card: One of the cards dealt face-up in the center
of the table that can be used by all players to make the
best possible hand in games such as Hold 'em and Omaha.
Complete the Bet: To increase an all-in bet or forced bet
to a full bet in limit poker.
Cut: To divide the deck into two sections and then put the
two sections back together in such a manner as to change
the order of the cards.
Cut Card: The card used to shield the bottom of the deck.
Dead Card: A card that is not legally playable.
Dead Hand: A hand that is not legally playable.
Dead Money: (1) Money (chips) contributed to a pot by a player
no longer in the pot. (2) A player in a tournament who has
no realistic chance of winning.
Deal: To give each player cards, or to place cards on the
board. Refers to the entire process from the shuffling and
dealing of cards until the pot is awarded to the winner.
Dealer Button: A flat disk that indicates the player in the
theoretical dealing position for that hand; normally referred
to simply as the “button.”
Deal Off: To deal the final hand of the game.
Deck: A set of playing cards. The deck consists of:
(1) 52 cards in Seven-Card Stud, Hold 'em, Omaha, and many
other games; or
(2) 53 cards (including the joker), often used in Ace-to-Five
Lowball and Draw High.
Deuce: A two.
Discard: (1) In a draw game, to throw out cards from one’s
hand in order to make room for replacements. (2) The card(s)
thrown away; the “muck.”
Downcard: A card that is dealt facedown; also known as a “hole
card.”
Draw: (1) A form of poker in which players are given the
opportunity to replace cards in their hand. In some areas,
such as California, the word “draw” is used to
refer to Draw High; Draw Low is referred to as “Lowball.” (2)
The act of replacing cards in one’s hand. (3) The point
in the deal at which cards are replaced as described above.
Draw Dead: To draw to a hand that cannot win.
Facecard: A king, queen, or jack.
Fifth Street: In flop games, the fifth and final community
card dealt (also known as the "river"), which precedes
the fourth and final round of betting. In stud games, the
fifth card (third upcard) dealt to each player, which precedes
the third round of betting.
Fixed-Limit: In limit poker, any betting structure in which
the amount of the bet in each round is pre-set.
Floorperson: A casino employee who seats players and makes
rulings and decisions concerning play; commonly referred
to as the “floorman.”
Flop: In Hold 'em and Omaha, the three community cards that
are turned simultaneously in the center of the table after
the first round of betting is complete; also refers to the
second round of betting.
Flush: A poker hand consisting of five cards of the same
suit.
Flush Draw: The situation in which a player has four cards
of the same suit in his/her hand and is attempting to complete
the flush.
Fold: To discard one’s hand and relinquish all rights
to a pot when it is one’s turn to act.
Forced Bet: A wager required to start the action in the first
betting round; the normal way action begins in a stud game.
Fourth Street: In flop games, the fourth community card dealt
(also known as the "turn"), which precedes the
third round of betting. In stud games, the fourth card (second
upcard) dealt to each player, which precedes the second round
of betting.
Freeroll: A chance to win at no risk or cost.
Full House: A hand consisting of three of a kind and a pair.
Hand: (1) All of a player's personal cards. (2) The five
cards determining the poker ranking. (3) A single poker deal.
Heads-Up: A situation in which only two players are involved
in play.
Hold ‘EM: See “Texas Hold ‘em.”
Holecard: One of the cards dealt facedown to a player.
Insurance: A side agreement between players whereby the actual
outcome of a hand is sold for its mathematical equity.
Joker: The 53rd card in the deck, distinct from the others,
used in some games as a “wild” card.
kicker: The highest unpaired side card in a player's hand.
Kill (or Kill Blind): An oversize blind, normally twice the
size of the big blind, that doubles the limit. A “half-kill,”
which increases the blinds and limits by fifty percent, is
sometimes used. A kill can be either voluntary or mandatory.
The most common requirements for a mandatory kill are winning
two pots in a row at Lowball and other games, or “scooping”
a pot in High-Low Split.
List: The ordered roster of players waiting to enter a game.
Lowball: A draw game in which the lowest hand wins; see Kansas
City Lowball.
Lowcard: In Seven-Card Stud, the lowest upcard, which is
required to initiate betting.
Main Pot: In cases in which there is a side pot (see definition
below), that portion of the pot in which all players involved
in the hand have a stake.
Miscall: An incorrect verbal declaration of the value of
a hand.
Misdeal: A mistake in the dealing of a hand that necessitates
the cards being reshuffled and new hands being dealt.
Missed Blind: A required bet that is not posted when it is
one’s turn to do so.
Muck: (1) The pile of discards gathered facedown in the center
of the table by the dealer. (2) To discard a hand.
No-Limit: A betting structure whereby players are allowed
to wager any or all of their chips in one bet.
Odds: The probability of a particular outcome.
Offsuit: Describes a hand containing cards of different suits.
Open: To make the first voluntary bet.
Opener: The player who makes the first voluntary bet.
Openers: In jacks-or-better draw, the cards that qualify
a hand to be opened. For example, in a case in which the
first person to bet has a pair of kings, the kings are referred
to as his/her openers.
Option: The choice to raise a bet given to a player in a
blind.
Pair: Two cards of the same value.
Pass: (1) Decline to bet. In a pass-and-out game, this differs
from a check, as a player who passes must fold. (2) Decline
to call a wager, at which point one must discard one’s
hand and waive further interest in the pot; see also “fold.”
Pat: The condition in which a player declines to draw any
cards in a draw game; see also “stand pat.”
Play Behind: To have chips in play that are not at the table
(allowed only when waiting for chips that have already been
purchased). This differs from table stakes. Until his/her
chips arrive, a player is said to be “playing behind.”
Play The Board: To use all five community cards to make one’s
hand in Hold ‘em or Omaha.
Position: (1) The relationship of a player's seat to the
blinds or the button. (2) The order of acting in a betting
round or hand.
Pot: The money or chips that have been wagered, or placed
in the center of the table, during a hand.
Pot-Limit: The betting structure of games in which players
are allowed to bet up to the amount of the pot.
Potting Out: Reaching an agreement with another player to
take money out of a pot, often to buy food, cigarettes, or
drinks, or to make side bets.
Proposition Bet: A side bet between players that is not related
to the outcome of a hand.
Push: When a new dealer replaces an existing dealer at a
particular table.
Rack: (1) A container in which chips are stored while being
transported. (2) A tray kept in front of the dealer, used
to hold chips and cards.
Rank: The value of each card and hand.
Raise: (1) To increase the amount of a previous wager. (2)
The raise itself.
Rake: The “house cut,” or charge taken from the
pot as compensation for hosting the game.
Reraise: (1) To raise another player’s raise. (2) The
reraise itself.
River: The last card dealt in all games. In Hold 'em and
Omaha, also known as “fifth street”; in stud games,
also known as “seventh street.” Also refers to
the last round of betting.
Royal Flush: An ace-high straight flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of the
same suit); the highest-ranked hand in poker.
Scoop: To win both the high and the low portions of a pot
in a split-pot game.
Setup: Two decks of cards, each with a different-colored
back, used to replace the current decks in a game.
Showdown: The final act of determining the winner of a pot
after all betting has been completed, with all players involved
in the hand turning their cards face-up.
Shuffle: To mix the cards before a hand.
Side Pot: A pot separate from the main pot, formed when one
or more players are all-in in a hand, contested among players
who still have chips remaining.
Small Blind: In a game with multiple blinds, the smallest
blind.
Split Pot: A pot that is divided among two or more players,
due either to a tie for the best hand or by agreement among
the players involved in the hand prior to the showdown.
Stack: The chips on the table in front of a player.
Stand Pat: To decline to draw any cards in a draw game.
Straight: Five cards of more than one suit that are consecutive
in rank.
Straight Draw: The situation in which a player has four of
the five cards in his/her hand necessary to make a straight,
and is attempting to complete the straight.
Straight Flush: Five cards of the same suit that are consecutive
in rank.
Street: A means of identifying the round of betting in stud
games, Hold ‘em, and Omaha. For instance, in Hold ‘em
and Omaha, the fourth and fifth community cards are referred
to as “fourth street” and “fifth street,”
respectively. In stud, the sixth card is referred to as “sixth
street,” and so on.
String Bet: A bet made in more than one motion, technically
illegal but often allowed if a raise is verbally declared.
The most common example of this type of bet is a player putting
in enough chips to call and then, in a separate motion, putting
in additional chips to raise.
Supervisor: A cardroom employee qualified to make rulings,
such as a floorperson, shift supervisor, or cardroom manager.
Table Stakes: (1) The amount of money a player has on the
table. This is the maximum amount the player can lose or
that another player can win from that player in any one hand.
(2) The requirement that players wager only the money in
front of them at the start of a hand, and that they only
buy more chips between hands.
Texas Hold'em: A poker game in which each player is
first dealt two downcards, and then five community cards
are dealt; also known simply as “Hold 'em.”
"Time": An expression used to stop the action in
a hand; a request for a timeout.
Tournament: A poker competition, normally with an entry fee
and prizes.
Trey: A three.
Turn: In flop games, the fourth card dealt; also refers to
the third round of betting; see also “turncard.”
Turncard: The fourth community card in Hold ‘em or Omaha.
Upcard: One of the cards dealt face-up in stud games.
Wager: (1) To bet or raise. (2) The bet or raise itself.