Poker Glossary

Ace High: Any hand in which the top card is an Ace

All in: When a player puts all of his chips into the pot.

Ante: Money contributed to the pot before the hand is dealt.

Bad Beat: A hand that is lost because of a last card draw when it would have been the winner. Another definition is where you have a great hand, like a full house, that loses to something better, such as four of a kind. Many online casinos have bonuses for losing hands like that.

Bankroll: The amount of money a player has for that particular game.

Bet: Money put into the pot.

Big Blind: The larger of the blind bets contributed to the pot, these bets are mandatory and are placed before any cards are dealt. The big blind is located two seats to the left of the dealer.

Blank: A useless card to a hand.

Blind: A bet that must be made by a player who is sitting to the left of the dealer, either in the first or second position. The bet is mandatory and must be made before any cards are dealt.

Bluff: A bet with a weak hand, usually trying to get the others players to fold because if the hand is played to the end it will probably lose.

Board: The cards seen by all the players, the community cards in the center of the table, or in a player’s hand like stud poker.

Burn a Card: The removal of the top card of a deck by the dealer. The card is removed and kept out of play.

Button: A disk that is used to show who is the theoretical dealer, in online poker it looks like a little button or a hockey puck and usually has a small D on it.

Buy in: The amount of money it requires to get into a game, that money is now available to bet in the game.

Call: Making a bet equal to the previous bet.

Cap: The number of times a raise can be re-raised, online games have a cap of three raises.

Capping a Raise: The final raise in games, it is the third raise in most games.

Catch: When a draw makes a hand. Some players might say, "Nice Catch."

Chat: A feature of most online poker games where players can communicate to each other by typing messages.

Check: You pass. You don’t bet on your turn.

Check and Raise: A player checks on the first opportunity to bet, then raises on his next opportunity.

Cold Call: Calling a bet and raise at the same time after first checking, or betting for the first time.

Community Cards: Cards shared by all players to make a hand, the cards in the center to the table to be used by all players.

Comp Program: Most online sites offer players cash incentives to signup and points or other benefits for loyalty.

Deal: Distribute the cards to the players.

Draw: Receiving more cards in a game.

Drop: (To Fold) to give up your cards and remove yourself from the play of the hand.

Early Position: In an early betting position, considered a weak position.

Family Pot: Where everyone at the table is still involved in the pot.

Fast Play: Betting and raising aggressively.

Flop: The first community cards dealt at once in a game like hold'em or omaha: the first 3 cards dealt to the table in hold'em is commonly referred to as “the flop.”

Fold: To give up your cards and remove yourself from play of the hand.

Flush: A hand where all five cards share the same suit, the best flush hand is the one with the highest-ranking non-common card.

Forced Bet: A bet that a player has no choice but to make, a blind bet.

Free Card: You get to see an additional card without having to call or bet.

Hand: The best 5 cards in games where more than 5 cards are available for you to play.

High Hand: The best hand in any round of Poker.

High-Low Split: Games where half the pot goes to the highest ranking poker hand and half goes to the lowest ranking poker hand.

Hold'em: A Poker game where each player receives 2 pocket cards and tries to make the best hand using these 2 cards and 5 community cards dealt to the table, bets can be made after the 2 pocket cards are dealt, after the first 3 community cards are dealt, and after the 4th and 5th community cards are dealt. It is the most popular game played online.

Hole Cards: The card or cards in poker unseen by the other players.

House: The owners or management of the game. They take the rake and manage the games.

Inside Straight: Drawing to an inside straight is drawing to a straight that is missing a card in the middle, such as drawing a card on a 2356 looking for a 4. An outside straight would include 4 consecutive cards like 3456 and to improve your hand you would have to draw a 2 or 7.

Kicker: An odd card in a draw hand, usually a high card retained for the draw.

Lo-ball: A variation of poker where the lowest ranking poker hand wins.

Middle Position: The middle betting position in a hand of poker where you usually have a few players who bet ahead of you and a few players that bet behind you.

No Limit: Any game where there is no limit on the bets and raises.

Omaha: A type of Poker game involving both pocket cards and flop cards.

Open: To open the betting, making the first bet in the first round.

Overcard: A card on the board that is higher than your pair card.

Pair: Two cards of the same rank.

Pocket Cards: The cards dealt face down to each player in Hold'em or Omaha.

Pot: The total money or chips on the table after all the betting is complete.

Pot-Limit: A game where a player's maximum bet is the size of the pot.

Pot Odds: The calculated odds the money in the pot represents in relation to how much it will cost to play the hand and the player’s chances of winning the hand.

Rake: The houses take on each hand, usually a percentage of the pot.

Raise: After betting has opened, increasing the amount that was already bet.

Scare Cards: Board Cards that look to be a problem to your hand. For example, a third same suited card, a card that puts the board three or four into a straight.

Seven Card Stud: A form of poker common in online poker rooms where you get 2 cards down, 4 face up and 1 last card down. There is a round of betting after the first up card and every subsequent card.

Showdown: The showing of cards after the last bets have been made.

Small Blind: The mandatory bet made by the player just to the left of the dealer. It is made before any cards are dealt.

Smooth: the best possible low hand with a certain card, a smooth 7 is 7 4 3 2 A.

Steal: To steal the pot is raising in expectation that all other players will fold, if they fold the player has stolen the pot.

Street: A term to designate the rounds of betting according to how many cards have been dealt out.

Stud: Games in which there are no community cards, the player plays only the cards in their hand.

Table Stakes: The player is limited to betting only the money or chips he or she has at the table.

Texas Hold'em: The same as Hold'em.

Tight: A tight player is a player who never bets unless they have good hands.

Tournament Poker: Usually all players start with the same number of chips or dollars and play until one player has all the chips or cash. Antes and blinds increase as the game moves along.