Poker Terms

 

Knowing the way to play poker is one thing, but do you know the terms while playing poker? It’s nescessary to know the exact terms that are said during poker so that you don’t make a stupid decision or look stupid while playing. Knowing these terms may also help you bring up your poker experience.

A

Action : Action! It’s your turn to raise, call or fold.

Ante : Just like ants, these bets are small and are required to be made by all players before a hand is dealt. Antes give the pot a value before every hand.

All-in : Obviously, putting it all in means that a player puts all of his chips into the pot.

B

Backdoor : Hitting the cards you need on the turn and the river to make your hand. This means that the remaining cards are the ones you need to win which makes you a “backdoor” win.

Backraise : Refers to you raising right after you call on the same turn.

Bad beat : Refers to a player who has a lead over his opponents but is defeated after the flop, turn or river.

Bankroll : Refers to the full quantity of funds a player has in his pocket for the aim of playing poker. 

Bet : To make the primary wager on the current betting round is called a “bet”. 

Big blind : Refers to the necessary investment made by the player two to the left of the dealer button before any cards are dealt.

Blind : Just like being blind you bet without looking at your cards. 

C

Call : Making a minimum quantity of bets to the pot necessary to continue playing a hand.

Check : To pass on betting.

Check-raise : A player that checks on the first chance to bet and later raises any further bet in the same round is called a check-raise.

Coinflip : The act of obtaining the chips in with roughly half of the pot equity.

Cold-call : To call for more than two bets on your turn. You’re considered cold calling if a pot has been bet and raised before it gets to you.

Combination : A selected combination of cards.

Community cards : Cards that are available for all players to use in creating a hand which is placed in the middle of the table. 

Counterfeit : The same card on the board that greatly devalues your hand. If the cards on the board are better than your cards, then you’ve been “counterfeited”.

Cut-off : A position to the right of the button.

D

Dealer : The person who shuffles the deck and deals the cards

Dealer button : The button which is passed clockwise after every hand that indicates the dealer.

Dead man’s hand : Two pairs made up of Aces and Eights

Draw : Refers to a scenario where you are waiting on cards to finish your hand.

Drawing dead : A scenario where none of the draws give the most effective hand.

F

Flop : The primary three community cards that are dealt out right after the first round of betting is done.

Flush : A hand consisting of five cards with the same shape.

Fold : To give up and lose whatever you have bet. Normally you will fold if you assume that your hand is too weak to beat your opponents.

Free card : A card seen while not having to bet any additional chips.

Four of a kind: A hand which contains all four cards of a similar rank.

Full house : A hand which consists of a three of a kind and a pair

G

Grinding : Slowly building up profit after playing for long hours.

Gutshot : By one possible card, a straight is completed from “inside”. 

H

Hand : The five cards that are made up of a player’s pocket cards and the community cards.

Heads-up : To play a pot or tournament against only one other player.

High hand : A poker hand which does not contain a pair or stronger.

Hit : We tend to “hit” when a card that falls offers us a good hand. 

Hold’em : The most well-liked poker variant which is also referred to as the “Cadillac of Poker”. 

House : An informal term relating to the entity that is running the current poker game.

I

Implied odds : Taking future calls from your fellow players into thought once you are drawing something. If you draw with success, you expect they’ll call with their hands. These funds are speculative and not concrete, as they don’t seem to be in the middle yet and won’t be unless you hit your card and they call your bets.

Insurance : A side wager created with another player at the table. If the hero’s hand doesn’t hold up, he’ll receive an insurance payout from the other player.

J

Jackpot : Some casinos and poker rooms offer a “bad beat jackpot” once a particularly sturdy hand gets cracked.

K

Kicker : Cards that don’t directly formulate a hand however still contribute to the general strength of a hand since they are used as side cards. In cases where two players have a similar hand, the best “kickers” will win.

L

Limp : A slang word for calling, implies that it’s not an aggressive move.

Limit : A structure of the game in which bets and raises are capped at a set quantity.

M

Muck : All the discarded cards during a hand. A player tosses his hand “into the muck” when he folds.

N

No-Limit : A structure of the game in which players can bet all of their chips. There’s no maximum bet but there is a minimum bet. 

Nuts : The best possible hand one can have at a period of time.

O

Off-suit : Holding pocket cards of various suits.

Omaha : A range of hold’em in which players receive 4 hole cards and should use precisely two of them, together with 3 of the 5 board cards, to create a hand.

Over-pair : In hold’em, a pair within the hole that is bigger than any community card on the board. 

Out : A card that will lift up your hand. 

Over-cards : Having cards larger than the board cards or the other plater’s pocket.

P

Pair : Made up of two cards with a similar rank.

Pocket cards : The cards in your hand that are not in the middle of the table.

Pot-limit : A rule of the game in which bets and raises are capped by the current size of the pot.

Q

Quads : Four of a sort.

R

Rainbow : In flop games, a flop during which no two cards are of the same kind.

River : The last card to be shown in the middle of the table.

Raise : To wager over the minimum requirement to call, forcing other players to put in additional money similarly.

Royal flush : The best possible hand in standard poker which is an ace-high straight flush

S

Semi-bluff : A bluff with a hand that has the potential to enhance should the bluff itself be unuseful.

Set : Having a pocket pair that hits on the board, creating three of a kind

Straight : A hand containing 5 cards in sequence however is not in a similar suit.

Straight flush : A hand consisting of 5 cards in sequence and in a similar suit.

T

Tell : An interpretation of a physical action or a betting pattern that on the face of it reveals how strong or weak a player’s hand is. The best players do not give several tells themselves and have a capability to notice tells of their opponents in order to determine a way to play a hand.

Tilt : Typically the result of taking a bad beat or a series of bad beats, a player is claimed to be “on tilt” once he plays with reckless abandon. 

Time : Requiring more time to think.

Top pair : A pair with the very best card on the board.

Tournament : A poker event which involves one or more tables of players who each start with a set quantity of tournament chips. 

Trips : A different term for three of a kind.

Turn : Community card number 4

U

Under the gun : The player positioned at the first-to-act position. 

Underbet   : A bet sizing which is less than half of the pot.

Upcard   : A card that is dealt to the player in Stud face up.