Poker Talk / Terminology
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006Before I even start writing this I know it is going to be long. But like I stated before, I will only include the commonly used terms, many of which you probably already know.
Poker Terms:
Ante: A certain number of chips which are put into the pot by every player at the table before the cards are dealt to build up the pot. Normally the only time Antes appear in Hold’em are in late tournament play to speed things up.
All-in: Not much to this one. All-in is a term used for a player who pushes their last chips into the pot, whether they have five or five thousand, if the chips are all-in then the person is referred to as being all-in.
Backdoor: When the last two community cards give you the winning the hand. This is also referred to as “runner runner”. For example, having three spades post flop to see spade come on fourth street and then another spade on fifth street to give you the flush would be you catching a backdoor hand.
Bad Beat: Something that makes you swear and leave the table. =) Seriously though, it is when a great hand gets beat by rags. Rags of course being poor cards/hole cards. When someone with 7-2 goes all in pre-flop and you call with AK suited and hit your flush only to see them hit a full house, THAT is a bad beat.
Blind: They come in the big blind and small blind variation. The person sitting next to the button is the small blind and the person directly after them is the large blind. The large blind is almost always the smallest amount that can be bet. The blinds HAVE to be posted by the player, and they exist to induce action on the hand.
Boat/Full Boat: A full house.
Calling Station: This refers to a player at the table. If they see a lot of flops and a lot of turns and rivers, and will call no matter how good or bad their hands are, they are a calling station.
Community Cards/Board: The cards that are displayed in the middle of the table that everyone can see and use. They consist of the flop (3 cards), the turn (1 card) and river (1 card).
Connectors: Connectors refer to your hole cards. Connectors are connected numerically, as in A-K or 2-3.
Draw: If you are “on a draw” it means you do not have a hand, but you are going for one. As in you have 4 spades with cards left to be turned and are shooting for the flush, but at the moment you have nothing.
Drawing Dead: No matter what card/s come up next there is no way that you can win the hand. Your opponent has already won with his superior hand.
Flop: The first three of five cards which are turned over in the community card area. They are turned over at the same time.
Gutshot Straight/Inside Straight: When you need one more card for your straight and only one card will work. For example: you have a J and 10, and the flop is an 8 and 7. The only card that will get you the straight is the 9. It is a form of draw.
Heads up play: This refers to when their are either only two people playing for the pot out of a table of more people, or to the play in general when their are only two people on a table.
Hole Cards/Pocket: These are the two cards you are dealt that only you can see and only you can use, as opposed to the community cards which everyone can see and use.
Kicker: The card used to determine the winner if their main hand is tied. For example: I have A Q and you have A K as hole cards. At the end of the hand we both have a pair of aces. Because your K is higher than me Q I am out kicked and you win the hand.
Muck: When you lose a hand you are given the option to muck your hand. This means that you simply throw your hole cards away and no one else sees them.
The Nuts: The best hand possible given the cards on the board. If you have the nuts you CANNOT lose the hand.
Offsuit/Off: Hole cards that are not of the same suit. For example: A of hearts and K of spades.
Open-Ended Straight Draw: This occurs when two card values can complete your straight. For example: you have 7 8 and the flop is 9 6 A. Either a 10 or a 5 can complete your straight, as opposed to only one card in the inside straight/gutshot straight draw.
Out/s: The number of cards that someone has left in the deck that can give them the winning hand. If the flop comes and you have Ace high and your opponent has a pair of kings, only an ace can give you a higher pair/winning hand. Because you have one of the four aces, there are three left. You have three outs.
Rainbow: A flop where each card is of a different suit.
Rake: The amount of the pot that the casino/gaming site takes for themselves. It is a percentage of the active pot.
Rock: The opposite of a calling station. A rock plays very tightly and normally only calls/raises with a very good hand.
Set: Three of a kind.
Side Pot: If there are more than two people in the hand and one of them is all-in but the other two continue to bet, there is a side pot created. Because the short stack (all-in stack) hasn’t contributed to the side pot, he is not eligible to win it. It instead goes to whoever has the best hand out of the two people who still have chips, even if they are both beat by the short stack.
Sit and Go (SNG): A form of tournament. Smaller than most tournaments, it can be anywhere from two players to a few tables worth. You join if there are spots open and it starts when there are no more spots.
Slow Play: When someone who has a very good hand/pocket pair plays as though they have a bad/lesser hand. Pocket aces may check a poor flop, knowing they are the top hand, and wait until they feel someone else has hit before betting, hoping to induce a call and win more chips.
Split Pot: This occurs when two or more people share the pot and each get an equal share. This can occur when the board is a straight.
Suited: When your two hole cards are of the same suit.
Tell: A sign that someone is bluffing/has a bad hand/has a good hand, etc. It can be a blink, a shake or anything else.
Quads: Four of a kind.
Tilt: The poker player’s worst nightmare. Normally occurs when a player loses a large pot, normally to a bad beat. They are mad and will play poorly, namely pushing it all in on an inferior hand out of frustration.
Under The Gun (UTG): The person who is directly after the big blind. The person first to act on the hand.
*Feel free to reply in a comment or via email with terms you feel should be on this list. Try to keep it to somewhat common terms. There are many many terms I intentionally left out becuase 1.) I don’t want to type too much, lol and 2.) You don’t NEED to know them.
