All-comprehensive guide to poker terminology

Ante: A bet that all players need to make prior to a hand being dealt. Similar to a Blind, everyone has to contribute prior to the game kicking off.

All-in: A bet that encompasses all the player’s chips into the pot.

Backdoor: Hitting the required cards on the turn and the river to accomplish the hand required.

Bad Beat: When a poker player who is statistically in the lead loses to an opponent after the flop, turn or river.

Big Blind: The amount of chips that the second player to the left of the dealer must bet.

Blind: The generic term used to refer to either the small blind or the big blind. If a player is either of the blinds, then they are sitting either to the left of the dealer button (small blind) or else farther left (big blind).

Board: The community cards that all the players use in combination with their pocket cards to establish the best hand.

Burn: The process of discarding the top card prior to each betting round.

Button: The position of the dealer.

Buy-In: The fee one must pay to participate in a tournament.

Call: To provide the lowest amount of money to the pot to continue playing a hand.

Check: To pass on betting.

Check-Raise: This is done when a participating player checks when it’s his turn to bet and later raises any subsequent bet in the same round.

Cold Call: To call two or more bets on your turn.

Connector: Sequential pocket cards such as 5 of hearts and 6 of clubs.

Community Cards: The cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table and which can be used by all poker players to create a hand.

Cut Off: The position on the right-hand side of the button.

Dealer: Casino’s representative that shuffles and deals the cards.

Dealer Button: The button indicating who the dealer is and which is passed clockwise following each hand.

Draw: Staying in the game in the hopes of improving your hand such as if you need more cards.

Draw Out: A card that changes your hand from a losing one to a winning hand.

Drawing Dead: When a player draws but it’s fruitless since not a single card will successfully create a winning hand for you.

Flop: The initial three community cards dealt after the first round of betting has been completed.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit.

Fold: Giving up by placing your cards face down and thus losing your bet. Players usually fold when their hand is weak to compete with other poker players.

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank.

Full House: Three of a kind and a pair.

Hand: Five cards encompassing player’s pocket cards and community cards.

Heads-Up: Playing a poker tournament against one other player.

Kicker: Having the same hand as another player at showdown. The player with the highest kicker wins the game.

Limit: When bets and raises are halted at a fixed amount.

Limp: Another term for a Call.

Muck: Discarded cards in a hand.

No-Limit: A poker game structure where players can bet their entire stack without any minimum or maximum thresholds.

Nuts: The best possible hand a poker player can have at any given moment.

Off-Suit: Having in hand poker cards of various suits.

Omaha: A variation of the game Texas Hold’em in which players receive 4 hole cards and must use two of them, in addition to the three of the 5 board cards to make a hand.

Over-Pair: In Texas Hold’em, a pair in the hole is more significant than any community card on the board.

Open-Ended: A straight completed by one of two feasible cards.

Out: A card that will enhance your hand.

Over-Cards: Having in hand cards that are higher than the board cards or the opponent’s.

Pair: Two cards of the same rank.

Pocket Cards: The cards in your hand that don’t form part of the community cards.

Pot-Committed: A scenario which requires you to call due to the money in the pot regarding your stack of chips.

Pot-Limit: When bets and raises are capped by the current pot size.

Quads: Four of a kind.

Rainbow: A flop in which there are no two cards of the same suit.

Rake: The sum the house takes out of a poker hand.

River: The last of the five community cards.

Raise: To bet more than the minimum required to call.

Royal Flush: A Royal Flush is the best possible hand in poker: an ace-high straight flush.

Satellite: A poker tournament with a small buy-in that collects all participants’ funds and awards seats to a higher-value poker tournament than cash.

Semi-Bluff: A bluff with a poker hand that has the potential of developing into an effective bluff.

Set: A pocket pair that creates three of a kind.

Showdown: Revealing your hands after a final round of betting.

Side Pot: A side pot is separate from the main pot. A side pot is created from any extra money bet by the players who aren’t all-in.

Sit ‘n Go: A poker tournament that starts with a set number of poker players that have registered.

Slow Play: When a poker player plays less aggressively to have other poker players stay in the game.

Small Blind: The position to the left of the dealer button, the Small Blind is the smallest of the two blind bets.

Split Pot: When two or more poker players create the same hand and the pot is split between them.

Straight: A hand that is made up of 5 cards in sequence but not in suit.

Straight Flush: A hand made up of 5 cards in sequence and belonging to the same suit.

Tilt: When a poker player is losing many consecutive games is said to be “on tilt”.

Time: A request for more time to ponder the next move.

Top Pair: A pair with the highest card on the board.

Trips: Three of a kind.

Turn: The fourth community card also known as the “Fourth Street”.

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