Poker can be difficult to pick up and play for newcomers, mainly because of the sheer number of poker terms seasoned players use. But it’s crucial that you know some poker lingo if you want to start playing it for yourself online or offline.
To help make it easier for you, we’ve created this poker glossary covering dozens of common poker terms you’re likely to come across.
A Guide to Poker Terms
Action
Refers to your turn to take an action and to bet or raise.
All-in
Place all of your chips into the pot/middle.
Ante
The mandatory bet all players make before cards are dealt.
Backdoor
A hand needing consecutive cards on the turn and river to form a winning hand.
Bad Beat
A player who was on track to win is beaten by another player very unexpectedly.
Bet
Place the initial wagers on the present betting round.
A Poker game
Blank
A card that’s unlikely to make a player’s hand better.
Blind
Mandatory bets made by two players on the dealer’s immediate left to begin the first round of betting.
Bluff
Try to convince other players that your hand is better than it actually is by increasing your wager or raising.
Board
All the community cards that have been dealt.
Bottom Pair
Using the lowest-value card on the flop to form a pair with a card already in your hand.
Burn
Remove the deck’s top card, keeping it face down, to avoid giving players a potential advantage if they glimpse it.
Button
A disk passed clockwise between players after each hand to indicate the hand’s dealer.
Buy-in
The least amount of money a player needs to play a game.
Call
Match your current bet to the previous one.
Calling Station
A passive player who calls often without folding or raising as much.
The King Card
Cap
Make the final raise allowed in a betting round.
Case
The final card of a specific type available.
Centre Pot
The first pot set up in a poker hand.
Check
A player decides not to bet during their turn to act.
Check-Raise
After choosing to check, a player raises when another one bets.
Cold Call
Call one or more bets during one action when this is the player’s first action.
Connector
A hand with cards that rank consecutively.
Community Cards
Face-up cards for all players to use.
Counterfeit
A duplicate card that decreases the value of a player’s hand when drawn.
Cowboys
A pair of Kings.
Crack
One player’s hand surprisingly beats another player’s strong hand.
A Full House
Dealer
A player or casino employee who shuffles and deals the cards.
Draw
Playing a fairly weak hand in the hope that may get better if good cards are drawn.
Draw Dead
A player draws even when there are no cards in the deck capable of making their hand a winner.
Equity
The share of a pot a player is entitled to and their chance of winning it (represented as a percentage).
Expectation
The winnings a player can expect to pick up from a particular hand in the long term.
Extra Blind
A blind that a player puts in when they join or come back to a game.
Family Pot
When most or all of the players in a game call ahead of the flop.
Fast
Take an aggressive approach to playing a hand to try to win the maximum amount on offer, such as by betting or raising the highest amount possible.
Favourite
The hand that’s statistically most likely to win.
Flop
The first three community cards dealt in the middle of the table at the same time, always face up.
Poker Cards & Chips
Flush
Five cards of the same suit.
Fold
Discard your hand during your turn to act when you feel sure you can’t beat the other hands. You lose the amount you’ve bet up to that point.
Four of a Kind
Four cards with the same face value or number.
Full House
Any three cards with the same face value or number, as well as two other cards of the same face value or number, forming a strong hand.
Gutshot
An inside straight draw, where a player needs a card to complete their straight, but that card is in the middle of the straight.
Hand
The best five cards a player is holding.
Heads-up
A game of poker played between just two people.
Hole Cards
Cards dealt face down to the player.
Implied Odds
A player calculates potential pot odds based on bets they could win during a game if they get the cards they need.
Play Online Poker
Kicker
A side card used to determine a winner if two players hold hands of the same strength.
Late Position
A position in a round of betting that requires a player to act after most or all of the other players.
Live Blind
Betting without looking at your hand (a dark bet) and being able to raise without other players raising.
Maniac
A player who bets, raises, and bluffs in a highly aggressive way, which may confuse other players and make the “maniac” harder to predict.
Muck
Get rid of your hand or a pile of cards that is out of the game.
No-limit
Players can bet or raise as much as they like on any betting round, but only if the chips are available.
Nuts
The strongest hand that you can hold, which can’t be beat.
Off-suit
A starting hand with cards from different suits.
Omaha
A game that begins with four face-down cards dealt to each player and five community cards available. You need to play two cards from your own hand with three from the board.
Play Mobile Poker
Open Card
A card that’s face up when dealt.
Open Pair
A pair that is dealt face up.
Overcards
Cards with higher value than the board’s highest-value card.
Overcall
Call a bet after other players have called and bet or raised.
Pair
Two cards of matching number or face value.
Pass
Another term for folding.
Play the Board
Often refers to hands made completely of five community cards and no hole cards.
The cards that only a player can see, and not community cards.
Pocket Pair
Two hole cards of matching rank.
Pot
The middle of a poker table and the zone where players place their betting chips. The winner claims the pot.
Pot Limit
In pot limit games, the maximum bet may be equal to the pot but no higher.
Pot Odds
The amount that a player has to call, relative to the value of the pot, to stay in the game.
Real Money Poker
Preflop
The opening round of betting in flop games (e.g. Pot Limit Omaha).
Quads
Four cards of a kind (e.g. the aces of clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds).
Rainbow
All cards (usually in a starting hand) are of different suits in a flop game.
Rake
The amount taken from a poker hand by the house.
Raise
Increase the size of the bet in the current betting round as a response to another’s player’s wager.
Rank
A card’s number or value (5, King, etc.).
Ring Game
A standard game of poker, rather than a tournament.
River
The fifth and last community card, dealt face-up.
Royal Flush
An Ace high straight of the same suit — a 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. The best hand in poker.
Scare Card
A community card that may scare players into believing that one player has a better hand and prompt them to fold more often.
Scoop
Winning the whole pot.
Online Casino Poker
Second Pair
A player pairs the second-highest card on the board during a flop game.
Sell
You hold a great hand but bet below the maximum, hoping that other players will call.
Short Stack
Players with a small amount of chips to use.
Showdown
All players still in the game flip their cards at the end of the last betting round to reveal the winner of the pot.
Side Pot
A side pot is formed with one player is all-in and the rest keep betting on the side.
Sit Out
A player leaves a table for one or more hands. They can’t rejoin the table if they stay away for 15 minutes or more.
Small Blind
The chips that are placed in the pot by the player directly to the left of the person with the dealer button before the cards are dealt.
Split Pot
A pot shared between two or more players holding hands of equal value.
Straddle
A blind bet that is typically twice the size of the big blind. This is optional and may be made before cards are dealt.
Straight Flush
A run of five cards of the same suit and consecutive rank.
Poker Player
Street
A card dealt in a specific betting round. For example, the turn is the fourth street in Texas Hold ‘em.
String Bet
A player puts multiple stacks of chips in the pot one stack at a time, in separate motions, instead of all at the same time.
Table Stakes
A rule that prevents players from betting more than they brought to the table at the start of a hand.
Tell
A hint that a player unwittingly gives other players about the strength of their hand, the next action they will take, or anything else that may give others an advantage.
Three of a Kind
Three cards with the same face value or number.
Tilt
If you make a rash decision based on emotion instead of logic during a hand, you are “on tilt”.
Time
You can call time if you need time to think about your next action.
Toke
A small tip awarded to the dealer by whoever wins the pot.
Top Pair
During a flop game, a player pairs one of their face-down cards with the top-value card on the board.
Top Set
If a player has three of a kind with the top-ranked card on the board, they hold top set.
Winning On Poker
Top Two
A hand contains cards that give the player the two highest pairs possible according to what is on the board.
Top and Bottom
A two-pair hand created with the highest and lowest community cards.
Trips
A player with “trips” has three of a kind.
Turn
The fourth card dealt and the third betting round in flop games.
Under the Gun
The player sitting immediately to the big blind’s left before the flop.
Underdog
A hand that is statistically unlikely to win.
Value Bet
A player makes a value bet when they aim to get called by a weaker hand.
Variance
Refers to the contrast between your expected win rate and the actual rate.
Wet Board
A well-coordinated board with many draw possibilities.
