Poker
Terms @ Poker-Play.com
Aces
Up: Two
of a kind, a pair of Aces or any other
pair.
ACTION:
Any move carried out by a player, such as folding,
checking, raising, betting or calling.
For particular situations, making a move that conveys information about your
hand may also be considered an action. For
instance, revealing your cards at
the end of the hand, or indicating the amount of
cards you are taking at a draw.
Active
Player : A player
who is still involved in a current hand.
AGGRESSIVE
ACTION: A bold wager that could facilitate
and enable a player
to win a pot without a showdown, bet or raise.
All
Blue : A flush containing either
Clubs or Spades.
ALL-IN:
This is the action of putting all of your playable money and
chips into the pot during the course of a hand.
All
Pink : A flush containing either
Diamonds
or Hearts.
Ante:
A prescribed betting amount posted before the start
of a hand.
Back
Door : Molding a hand that the player
was not drawing at.
Back
Raise : The
action of raising again another players raise.
Bad
Beat : A hand
beat by another hand
that had an extremely low percentage of becoming a
winning hand.
BET:
The action of making a wager into the pot.
BIG
BLIND: The biggest regular blind in a poker
game.
Blank
: A card that lends hardly any value to a
poker hand.
BLIND:
A required bet that is agreed upon by all players
and made before any cards are dealt.
BLIND
GAME: A game which makes use of a blind.
Bluff
: A bet or raise on a hand that will unlikely
beat the other players hands.
BOARD:
A board that contains a waiting list for players
desiring to play specific games; Face-up
cards that are common to all hands, which are set on the table.
BOARD-CARD:
A community card that is placed in the center of the
table, which can be used by any player, as is the
case in Texas Hold’em.
Bottom
Pair :The
act of pairing the lowest card on the board.
BOXED
CARD: A face-up card in a deck of all
face-down cards.
BROKEN
GAME: A game that is no longer in action.
Button
: A player who has been rotated into the designated dealer
position.
BUTTON
GAMES: Poker games in which a dealer button is
used.
BUY-IN:
The minimum sum of money required to enter any
poker game.
CALIFORNIA
LOWBALL: Ace-to-five lowball with a joker.
CARDS
SPEAK: Despite a verbal declaration, the face value of a hand in a
showdown is what the cards reveal the hand to be
in actuality.
CAPPED:
Describes the situation in a game of limit poker in which
the maximum amount of raises on the betting round
have been obtained.
CHECK:
The act of waiving the right to initiate the betting
round, but still retaining the right to wager if another
player decides to initiate the betting.
CHECK-RAISE:
The act of waiving the right to bet until a bet has been
made by another player, and then, to raise the bet
by at least an equal amount when the turn to act
approaches.
Cold
Call : To call a bet or multiple bets
in a round for the first time.
COLLECTION:
The fee charged in a game (taken either out of the
pot or from each player).
COLLECTION
DROP: A fee placed on each dealt hand.
COLOR
CHANGE: A request to change the poker chips from
one denomination to another.
COMMON
CARD: A face-up card that is to be used by all
players at the showdown in a game of stud poker.
This is done whenever there are not sufficient cards left in the
deck for each player to receive.
Community
Cards :
Face-up cards that are dealt onto the center of the
playing table, which can be opted for use by each
player when trying to mold a winning
hand.
COMPLETE
THE BET: To increase an all-in bet or
forced bet to a full bet in limit poker.
Chase
: To play a poker hand that is, more than likely,
a lower rank than at least one other players hand.
Check
: To pass without betting.
CUT:
The act of dividing the deck into two sections.
It is executed in order to rearrange the card
order, and is carried out by the
dealer.
CUT-CARD:
Another term for the bottom card.
DEAD
CARD: A card that is not legally playable.
DEAD
COLLECTION BLIND: A fee posted by the
player having the dealer button. It can be
applied to alternative methods of seat rental as
well.
DEAD
HAND: A hand that is not legally playable.
DEAD
MONEY: Chips that are not considered to be
a part of any players bet, but are put into the
pot regardless.
DEAL:
The act of cutting, shuffling and
dispersing cards to all the players of a game,
which remains in effect until a player wins the
pot on that hand.
DEALER
BUTTON: A small disk that indicates which
player is in the dealing position for the current hand (if there
is not a house dealer). It is commonly referred to
as just “the button.”
DEAL
OFF: When a player completes the process
of passing through the dealer position and all
blind positions in consecutive games of
poker.
DEAL
TWICE: When no more betting is carried out,
the players must agree to have the rest of the cards to
determine a winner on only half the pot. The
played cards are removed and re-dealt for the
remaining half of the pot.
DECK:
A set of playing-cards. The following sets are
used in specific poker games:
52 cards in seven-card stud, Texas Hold’em, and
Omaha; 53 cards (including the joker), often used in
ace-to-five lowball and draw high.
DISCARD(S):
In a draw game, these are cards which are thrown out of
a hand to
make room for replacements. Also called
cards thrown into the 'muck'.
DOWNCARDS:
Playing cards which are dealt face-down in a stud
game of poker.
DRAW:
(1) The act of replacing cards in a hand.
Sometimes 'draw' is referred to as 'drawing high'.
(3)
The point in the deal in which replacing cards is
finished. This is called 'the draw'.
Drawing
Dead : Drawing to a hand that cannot win
due to another player possessing a hand that will
beat it out.
Dominated
: A hand that is extremely difficult to
improve since it yields three of less 'outs'.
Early
Position :
During a round, this is the position in which a
player must act
before most of the other players do so.
FACECARD:
A king, queen, or jack.
FIXED
LIMIT: In limit poker, any betting
structure in which the amount of the bet on each
particular round has been predetermined and set
prior.
FLASHED
CARD: A card that is partially exposed or
entirely revealed.
FLOORPERSON:
A casino employee who seats players and makes
management decisions.
FLOP:
In Texas Hold’em or Omaha, this is the act of
simultaneously turning the three community cards
face-up, after the first
round of wagering is finished.
FLUSH:
A poker hand consisting of five cards of the same
suit.
FOLD: To throw a hand
into the 'muck' and relinquish
all claim on the pot.
FOURTH
STREET: The second up-card dealt in seven-card
stud, or, the first board-card dealt after the flop in
Texas Hold’em. It is also referred to as
the 'Turn Card'
FOULED
HAND: A dead hand.
FORCED
BET: A required bet, which starts the action
on the first betting round.
FREEROLL:
An opportunity to win at no risk or cost.
FULL
BUY: A buy-in of at least the minimum
required amount of chips needed for a specific game.
FULL
HOUSE: A poker hand made up of a three of a kind
and a two of a kind.
HAND:
(1) A players cards; The five cards determining a poker
ranking; A single poker deal.
HEADS-UP
PLAY: A poker game in which there only
remain two players against each other.
INSURANCE:
An outside agreement between players which covers
a player who is in the pot. A player who is
all-in for that player in the pot, agrees to pay a
predetermined sum in case the opponent takes home
the pot.
JOKER:
The joker is a “partially wild card” in
high draw and ace-to-five lowball poker. In high
ball, it is used for aces, straights, and flushes. In
lowball, the joker is the lowest unmatched rank in
a hand.
KANSAS
CITY LOWBALL: A form of draw poker low, also
known as deuce-to-seven, in which the best hand is
7-5-4-3-2, with straights and flushes counting against
the player.
Kicker
: The greatest unpaired card that helps
equate the value of a five-card poker hand.
KILL
(OR KILL BLIND): An oversize blind, which
is normally double the size of the big blind. Sometimes a “half-kill”
is used, which increases the
blind and limits by fifty percent. A kill
can be either voluntary or required. The most
common requirements of a mandatory kill are for
winning two pots in a row at lowball and other
games, or, for scooping a pot in high-low split.
KILL
BUTTON: This is the button used in a lowball game
of poker, which
indicates what player has won two consecutive pots
and is required to kill the pot.
KILL
POT: A pot which has been forced to be killed by the winner
of the two previous consecutive pots, or, by the winner of an
entire pot of proper amount in a high-low split
game.
Late
Position :
This is the position in which a player acts after most of the other players during a round.
LEG
UP: When a player is under the
circumstances of having won the prior pot, very
likely to win the current pot, and thus required
to kill the following pot.
LIVE
BLIND: A blind bet giving a player the
choice of increasing the bet if nobody else has raised.
LIST:
The ordered roster of players waiting to play a game.
LOCK-UP:
A chip marker that reserves a spot for a player.
Loose
: The act of playing more hands than usual.
Loose
Game : A
poker game containing a high number of players in most
hands.
LOWBALL:
A draw game in which the lowest hand wins the pot.
LOWCARD:
The lowest up-card, which is obligated to bet, in
a poker game of seven-card stud.
Middle
Pair :
When the second highest card on
the board is paired.
Middle
Position : A position in which
a player takes an action at some point between all
the other players actions in a round.
MISCALL:
An erroneous verbal declaration pertaining to the ranking of
a hand.
MISDEAL:
An error made on the dealing of a hand, resulting
in a mandatory reshuffling and dealing of the
cards.
MISSED
BLIND: A mandatory wager that is not posted
when it is a player's turn to do so.
MUCK:
The pile of face-down, discarded cards accumulated
in the
center of the table by the dealer; To discard a hand.
MUST-MOVE:
In order to protect the main game, this is an
action taken by players of a second game, who join
the first game as chances arise.
NO-LIMIT:
A wagering structure which enables players to
wager any or all of their chips in one bet.
Nuts
: The best possible hand.
OPENER:
The player who placed the first voluntary bet.
OPENER
BUTTON: A button used to indicate which
player opened a specific pot in a draw game of
poker.
OPENERS:
In jacks-or-better draw, these are the cards held by the
player who opens the pot. They serve to
declare that the hand is qualified to be
opened.
OPTION:
The choice to raise a bet imparted to a player with a
blind.
OUTS
: The cards that will improve a hand for
winning the pot.
OVERBLIND:
A blind used in some poker pots that is larger than the regular big blind,
and which normally raises the stakes proportionally.
It is commonly called an oversize
blind.
Overcard:
A hole-card that is higher than any other card on
the board.
Overpair:
Two paired hole-cards that are higher than any
other card on
the board.
PASS:
An action use to decline a bet; Also, an
action used to decline a call on a wager, at which point
the player has to discard their hand into the
muck.
Passive
: When a player takes the actions of
checking and calling hands, instead of betting
and raising hands.
PAT:
The act of not drawing cards in a draw game.
PLAY
BEHIND: The act of placing chips into the
pot without having the physical chips. This
can only be executed when the player who is making
the bet is waiting for chips that have been
purchased prior.
PLAY
THE BOARD: Using all five of the community cards
for a hand in Texas Hold’em.
PLAY
OVER: The act of playing in a seat not
occupied by the rightful player.
PLAY
OVER
BOX: A clear plastic box that covers and
protects the chips of an absent player whose seat
is being played over by another.
POSITION:
The relation of a player’s seat to the
blinds or the button; The order of acting on a betting round.
POT-LIMIT:
The amount that can be wagered by a player, which
cannot exceed the amount in the pot.
POTTING
OUT: A verbal agreement between players
that allows them to take
money out of a pot, often to buy food or drinks, or to
place side bets.
PROPOSITION
BETS: Side bets between players that are
not connected to the current hand or pot.
PROTECTED
HAND: A hand of cards that the player is
physically holding, or has topped with a chip, in
order to prevent them from becoming fouled or
exposed.
PUSH:
The act of replacing an existing dealer with a new
dealer.
PUSHING
BETS: An agreement between players stating
that if one of them wins the pot, then they will
return the chips to the other players.
Commonly referred to as 'saving bets'.
RACK:
A container serving as a storage bin for
transported chips; A tray that is placed in front of the
dealer, which is used to store chips
and cards.
Rags
: Cards normally not worth the effort of playing.
RAISE:
The act of increasing the amount of a previous bet
made by a player. This
increase must meet certain requirements,
depending on the game.
RE-RAISE:
The act of raising another player's raise.
River
: Name given to the last dealt card.
SAVING
BETS: Same as pushing bets.
SCOOP:
The act of winning both the high and the low portions of a pot
in a split-pot game of poker.
SCRAMBLE:
A face-down mixing of the cards, similar to
shuffling.
SETUP:
Two suited decks, each with different colored
backs, serving as replacements for the current
deck in use.
SIDE
POT: A separate pot created as a result of one or more
players being all in.
SHORT
BUY: A buy-in that is less than the
required minimum buy-in.
SHOWDOWN:
After the final betting round, this is the last action of
all hands which determines the winner of the pot.
SHUFFLE:
The act of mixing the cards before the start of a
new hand.
SMALL
BLIND: In a game with numerous blind bets,
this is the smallest blind.
SPLIT
POT: A pot that is divided among players,
either because of a tie, or for reasons agreed to
by the players prior to the showdown.
SPLITTING
BLINDS: When no one else has entered the
pot, an agreement between the big blind and small
blind to each take back their blind bets instead
of playing the deal (chopping).
SPLITTING
OPENERS: In high draw jacks-or-better
poker, this is the act of dividing openers in hopes of
molding a
different type of hand. I.e. A player opens the pot
with a pair of aces. One of the aces is a Club,
as are the three other cards in the hand. If the
player throws the non-Club ace in the muck, in
hopes of making a flush, that player must verbally
declare that they are 'splitting openers'.
STACK:
Chips placed in front of a player.
Steal
: The act of betting or raising, which
causes another player to fold, especially the hand
raised is more than likely to not be the winning
hand; Similar to bluff.
STRADDLE:
An additional blind bet made after the forced
blinds, which is normally double in size of the big blind.
STRAIGHT:
Five cards in consecutive rank.
STRAIGHT
FLUSH: Five cards in consecutive rank of
the same suit.
STREET:
Cards dealt on a specific round in games of stud
poker.
For example, the fourth card in a player’s hand
is called fourth street.
STRING
RAISE: A bet made in more than one motion,
without the declaration of a raise (not allowed).
STUB:
The section of the card deck which has not been
dealt into the hand.
Suited
: Cards that are of the same suit.
TABLE
STAKES: The total sum of money a player
has, which if bet at one time, could be won by
another player; Also, it refers to the rule
in which a player is limited to wagering the money
in front of them on the table. If a player wants
to buy more chips, they can only do so between
hands.
TighT:
The act of playing fewer hands than
usual.
TIGHT
GAME: A
game with less players than usual, resulting in
less hands.
TIME:
A verbal declaration executed in order to stop the action on a hand.
It serves the same purpose as the declaration “Hold it.”
TIME
COLLECTION: A fee for a seat rental.
Top
Pair :
The act of pairing the highest card on the
board.
Turn
: The fourth card dealt on the board during
community poker games.
TURN-CARD:
The name given to the fourth street card in Texas
Hold'em or Omaha poker.
UP-CARDS:
Cards that are dealt face-up in stud games.
WAGER:
To bet or raise; The chips used for such
action.
Weak
: A player who liberally folds hands.
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