Poker Phrases
The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game.
Flat – A term used interchangeably with “call” in poker. See the entry for usage examples. Float – A call made with a speculative holding, having the intention of bluffing on a later street. In modern times this term has been re-appropriated to describe a “bet vs missed c-bet while in position”. Run It Once Poker, an offshoot of Phil Galfond’s Run It Once training site, launched in February 2019. The room immediately succeeded in generating a significant level of buzz thanks to its various innovative and unique features which sets it apart from other online poker rooms including. Over the years poker has accumulated a number of unique words and phrases that regular players use as their own language and can be incomprehensible to the uninitiated. Here is an example of a seasoned poker player describing a hand to a friend: “I had pocket rockets and the flop comes Ace, two rags, rainbow giving me top set. This section includes poker slang lingo and terms that are unique to this popular casino strategy game. For example, Overpair, Play on Your Belly, Rock, Rush and Scoot. Understanding poker terms is critical to your game play, and this applies whether playing poker offline or online.
Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where at least in the short run - the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens.'
From the small blind to the straight flush, here is a poker glossary of the important poker terms to know.
Act: check, bet, raise, or fold
Action: whose turn it is, as in “Action is on you.” Also, slang for gambling, as in “He loves action.” Or a lot of betting, like “The 2/4 game at Pala has a lot of action.”
Active Player:player still in competition for a pot
Add-on: additional chips that may be purchased to “add on” to your chip stack, usually at the end of the Re-buy period, though some tourneys allow add-ons earlier and some tourneys even allow for multiple add-ons (and/or Re-buys)
All-in: a player bets all of his or her remaining chips
Bad Beat: when a player has the best of it and the odds are heavily with him or her, but gets beaten in the hand by a long-shot draw
Bankroll:the money a player has set aside to gamble with
Behind: a player who acts after another player in a betting round
Benjamin: a hundred-dollar bill (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait appears on a U.S. $100 bill)
Best of It: the player who has the odds on his or her side
Bet:money initially wagered and put into the pot (during a given betting round, subsequent betting action beyond an initial bet is termed a “raise”)
Big Blind: the larger of two forced “blind hands” in community card games like Hold’em and Omaha; the big blind is generally located two to the left of the “dealer button”
Big Hand: a really good hand
Big Slick: Ace-King hole cards (see Hole Cards)
Blank: community board card that looks like it is harmless or couldn’t really help anybody
Bluff: a bet or raise that appears to represent a good hand, when in fact the bettor has a mediocre or at best a drawing hand
Board:(see also, Community Cards) the playing surface and the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Boat:full house (aka “full boat”). three of one card, two of another. ex. JJJ99
Brick and Mortar: a casino with a physical world spatial existence (as opposed to merely online or cyberspace); some casinos, like Pala, have both a brick and mortar and an online existence.
Broadway: ace-high straight
Bubble: in a tournament, one place away from making it to the money
Busted: broke. Lost all chips and out of the tournament.
Button:(aka Dealer Button), disc that denotes which player is the “dealer” for that hand. Button position is dealt the last card and is last to act in each betting round
Buy-In:the amount of chips a player must buy in order to enter a card game. For tourneys, the buy-in is a set amount of money for a set amount of starting chips. For cashgames, buy-ins are generally expressed as minimums, but can have an optional limited or unlimited range beyond the minimum as well.
Buying the Pot: to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff that forces other players out
Call:to put in the amount that another player bet: “I call”
Calling Station: you bet and bet and he calls and calls; generally a weak player who calls too much but doesn’t usually bet or raise.
Case Card: last card of a given rank left in the deck… the other three are already out
Chasing: hoping an upcoming community card will “hit” to complete a so-far unmade hand
Poker Slang Terms
Check: to not bet when it is your turn. can say “I check” or tap on the table in a live game
Check and Raise: to check initially, but then make a raise if another player bets after your initial check
Chop:in tournament play, the last remaining players decide to split up the prizepool rather than play to the end; or, in a hand, where the end result is a tie and the pot is split up and distributed evenly to the tied players.
Community Cards:(see also, Board) the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Connectors:(see also, Suited Connectors) two or more cards in sequence; for example: 89 or 10J
Counterfeit:In Omaha Eight or Better, when the board pairs one of your low cards
Cracked: to lose a hand you were initially favored to win, as in “My Aces got cracked!”
Crying Call: a very reluctant call
Dealer:player or staff member who deals the cards out to players; however, see also, Button
Dead Man Hand: A famous hand that consists of the black eights and the black aces
Deep Stack:a tournament in which players begin with an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blind or ante.
Dog:underdog. Not favored to win.
Dominated: a hand that is beaten due to shared cards. for example, A-8 is “dominated” by A-K
Draw: hand that needs additional cards to become a winning hand
Drawing Dead: when there are no cards left in the deck that will make a draw hand into a winner
Draw Poker: each player gets a set amount of cards and then can replace some of his or her cards with others dealt out from the remainder of the deck
Duck: a deuce, a 2
Early Position: approx. first third of players to act in a hand
Face Down: cards, like the hole cards, that are unexposed to other players
Face Up: exposed card that everybody can see
Fast Play: aggressive style emphasizing a lot of betting and raising
Favorite: based on odds alone, most likely hand to win
Fish: a novice or poorly-skilled player, expected to lose money
Flop: first three community cards dealt face up on the board
Flush: hand containing five cards of the same suit
Fold:to get rid of one’s cards, and in doing so forfeiting the right to any part of the pot.
Four-Flush: having four of the five cards needed for a flush… and hoping for the fifth
Free Card: a betting round where all players have checked, thus allowing the next community card to fall without anybody putting any money in the pot
Freeroll: a poker tournament in which certain qualifying players get in for free. “Freerolling” also is an expression sometimes used to describe somebody who has won a lot of chips already and is “rolling” through the game with other people’s money.
Four-of-a-Kind: Hand containing four cards of the same rank, like J J J J.
Full House: hand with two of one rank and three of another, like 9 9 J J J
Hand: the cards a poker player holds, combined with any community cards, to make the best five card combination
Head-to Head: aka “Heads Up”
Hi/Lo: type of poker where the highest hand and the lowest hand each take half the pot
Hole Cards: cards held by a player, unseen by other players
Implied Odds:what a player thinks his actual payoff will be if he hits his hand, relative to how much it will cost to play
In Front Of: a player who acts before another player
Inside Straight Draw: a draw where only one card will complete the straight, for example a hand like 6-7- – 9-10… needs an 8 to complete
Isolate: to bet and raise so as to get heads-up against a weaker hand or weaker player
Joker: a wild card, or slang for a really lucky card that came to complete a hand against odds
Kicker:unmatched card in a player’s hand that is not used except to break ties. Example, two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with A kicker beats two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with Q kicker.
Late Position: aprox. the final third of players to act in a hand
Laydown:to fold
Limit:the most that can be bet or raised at any one time (see also, Limit Poker)
Limit Poker:poker games where limits exist for betting or raising, as opposed to no-limit poker
Limp: to just call, rather than bet or raise
Live Card:a card whose rank has not yet appeared on the board (nor presumably in another hand)
Live One: a player likely to bet wildly and probably lose like a fish (see Fish)
Lock: a hand that cannot be beaten
Lock Up My Seat: a commitment to take a seat that is waiting for you
Longshot: a drawing hand that has the odds heavily against it and probably won’t be made
Look Up: to call somebody, as in “I’m gonna look you up.”
Loose: playing style that plays a lot of hands and often goes for longshots (see Longshot)
Made Hand: already solid. Don’t need to hit a draw to have a good winning hand.
Maniac:wild, loose player who bets it up with mediocre hands just to build the pot
Middle Position: aprox. the middle third of players to act in a hand
Monster: an excellent hand that is either a lock (see Lock) or at least probably won’t be beat
Muck: fold. To throw a hand away and toss it into the Muckpile. (see Muckpile) & (see Fold)
No-Limit: a player may bet any amount of chips up to and including everything he has in front of him or her
One Pair: hand containing two cards of the same rank, like Q Q
Overcard: a higher card. So a K is an “overcard” to a Q, and a Q is over a 9
Pocket Cards: see also- Hole Cards
Position: players relative position to the player who acts last; in flop games like Hold’em and Omaha, position is usually considered relative to the button
Pot:sum total of all antes, blinds, and bets put into the center of the table during a given poker hand. It is the pot for which players are competing to win.
Preflop:before the flop
Premium Starting Hands:holding among the best starting hole cards; for example, in Hold’em premium starting hands include A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, and possibly A-Q and J-J as well. Hi/Lo games also have low premium starting hands of their own, for example holding perhaps A-2-3-5 as a starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo
Raise:adding more chips to another player’s original bet to make it more expensive for other players to continue to play for the pot
Rake:the amount of money taken out of a pot by the house (the dealer is the house’s representative in this process) as its fee for running the game; the rake is used to pay overhead, including equipment, facilities, utilities, and staff salaries
Reraise: raising another player’s raise
Ring Game: a cash game with a full table of players, usually seven or more for Stud and nine or more for Omaha or Hold’em
River: the fifth (last) community card on board
Royal Flush: an A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest ranking hand in poker.
Satellite Tournament: a smaller stakes tourney in which the prizes are one or more entries into a more expensive major event
Set: three of a kind, consisting of a pocket pair plus a matching community card
Shorthanded: a poker game with five players or less, perhaps six or less
Showdown: final act of a poker hand
Slowplay: playing a powerful hand in a weak manner to disguise its strength and lure, or “trap,” other players into the action
Small Blind: located just to the left of the button, it is the smaller of the two forced blind bets preflop
Standard Raise: typically, three times the big blind
Steal the Blinds: bluffing to make the blinds fold
Straight: a sequence of five consecutive cards, like 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Straight Flush: a sequence of five consecutive cards that are all also the same suit
Suck-out:to hit a longshot draw, typically on the river
Suited Connectors: (see also, Connectors) two or more cards in sequence and of the same suit; for example: 8-9 or 10-J of Hearts
Swing:fluctuation of a player’s chip count or even overall bankroll
Table Stakes: a player can only play with the money/chips he or she has on the table in front of him or her; the player’s bet, call, or raise is limited to the number of chips he or she currently has, and the player cannot buy, borrow, or produce more chips in the middle of a hand.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank held in a given hand, ex.: QQQ. see also, Trips
Tournament: a competition in which all players start with the same amount of chips and play continues until one player holds all the chips
Trap: to underplay or slowplay powerful hand so as to lure other players into betting
Trips: three of a kind
Turn: the fourth community card on board, following the flop
Poker Phrases
Two Pair: a hand that contains two different pairs, like QQ and KK in the same hand
Under the Gun: the first player to act in a round of poker; preflop, under the gun is to the immediate left of the button
Value Bet: betting a hand that is perhaps not a sure thing but that over time will win more than it loses
Wheel: (aka “Bicycle”) a five-high straight: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Wired: to have a pair in the hole from the start
Now that you are familiar with all of the poker terms you can start playing poker online! Sign up today for a poker tournament to win real money!
This week, on The Ten, we’re taking a look at some of the best things ever said around a card table.
Take a look and let us know if you agree with our rankings. If you don’t, tell us which one of your favorite quotes we forgot to include.
10. There is more to poker than life. — Tom McEvoy
Wait. Go back and read that quote again. Chances are, you read it wrong the first time around. Too often, poker players get it backwards and allow the game to completely take over their lives. Here Tom McEvoy, four-time bracelet winner and 1983 WSOP main event winner, ironically captures the mindset of the average poker player.
9. Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art. In limit, you are shooting at a target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots back at you. — Crandell Addington
The quote would have made more sense coming from a young online pro, not Crandell Addington, a guy who competed with the greats during a time when no-limit poker was rarely played. Addington finished second in the WSOP main event twice and final tabled that tournament seven times in the 1970s, making his quote look even more prophetic.
8. It’s not whether you won or lost, but how many bad beat stories you were able to tell. — Grantland Rice
The great Grantland Rice was an American sportswriter who passed away in 1954. But even back then, Rice was able to nail the true appeal of the game. The truth is that the majority of us won’t get rich playing poker. In fact, we’ll probably wind up losing everything we brought to the table in the first place, but at least we’ll be left with a story or two.
7. Trust everyone, but always cut the cards. — Benny Binion
Benny Binion was a true Las Vegas visionary who is credited with the formation of the World Series of Poker back in 1970. This is also a man who was once accused of killing a competitor and then turning the gun on himself in order to claim self defense. Amarillo Slim Preston, who you’ll hear from in the next quote, once called Binion “either the gentlest bad guy or the baddest good guy you’d ever seen.”
6. You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
This was the quote that preceded “don’t tap the glass.” Amarillo Slim knew that it wasn’t enough to beat a man out of his money, you had to find a way to make him come back for more.
5. Poker is a lot like sex. Everyone thinks they are the best, but most don’t have a clue what they are doing. — Dutch Boyd
What Dutch Boyd gets correct here is that most poker players are a bit delusional about their abilities. Ask a table full of average $1-$2 no-limit hold’em players who is a winning player, and somehow, all will raise their hand. They’re not lying to you, they just don’t want to face the truth. It’s really easy to forget five losing sessions and focus on the one winning session you just had.
4. If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time. — Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is a poker quote machine. Who could forget when he channeled his inner-Neo to say that he could dodge bullets? Still, it’s hard to ignore the poignancy of this quote. Luck is the ultimate equalizer in poker. It’s the reason why Phil Ivey doesn’t win every tournament he enters, and it’s the reason why someone like you, an average reader, can take down the main event.
3. If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker. — Matt Damon in Rounders
This quote has been said by many people in many different ways, but for a lot of us, it’s the reason why we got into poker in the first place. Rounders fascinated us and Matt Damon’s portrayal of up-and-comer Mike McDermott had us all believing that we were the next Johnny Chan.
2. Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser — Stu Ungar
Popular Poker Phrases
Here you have just ten words, but they are ten words that say everything you need to know about the late, great Stu Ungar. The three-time WSOP main event winner despised losing and never took it well. That being said, he didn’t exactly take winning well either and overdosed just over a year after earning his fifth and final bracelet.
Cool Poker Phrases
1. Money won is twice as sweet as money earned. — Paul Newman in The Color of Money
Poker Phrases For Winning
If you haven’t seen the The Color of Money, you are missing out. It’s not a poker movie. Frankly, it’s not even about cards, but the quote above says it all. We’d all like to work hard and make a decent living, but the reality is that it’s way more fun to get rich “the easy way.” Of course, it’s been said that poker is hard way to earn an easy living.