Poker Dictionary A - Aces-up... two pair, aces being one of them. - Action... what is going on at the table, also a measure of  how lively a poker game is. "The action was tremendous," or " I want some of that action." - Add-on... an additional amount of chips a player may buy at the beginning of a tournament, usually to double his stack. - Advertise... to make a loose play with the intent of looking like a loose player, thus inducing extra action from your opponents later. - Aggressive... type of playing style, when you play a lot of hands and raise more than you should. - All-in... when a player bets all of his chips into the pot risking elimination from the game/tournament. - All-in Protection... "anti-billionaire" rule, the concept that you cannot be "bet out of", or be eliminated from, a pot just because you run out of money on the table, but you can only collect the money due to you if you win. - American Airlines... when a player, in Texas Hold 'em, is dealt pocket aces. - ATM... a derogatory name to a novice. Used to call people when they are basically just giving out money to the other players. - Ante... amount of money or chips that each player puts into the pot before the cards are dealt. - A-x suited... Hold 'em term for an ace and an under card of the same suit, like A-5 suited or A-J suited. B - Backdoor... catching two cards in a row to make a particular hand. - Backer... a person who finances a poker player. - Bad Beat... unlucky turn of events that causes you to lose a hand. - Bad Beat Story... a story where someone tells you about a bad beat they experienced or witnessed. - Bad Shape... usually in reference to someone who is low on chips in a tournaments with no re-buys, although it can be applied to various other situations like when someone goes on tilt and you know he about to go downhill. - Banker... player responsible for passing out the chips and keeping track of the credit. - Bankroll... amount of money you have that you will risk on poker or any other endeavor. - Belly Buster... straight draw in which only one card will complete your hand, otherwise known as an "inside straight draw." - Bet... to initiate the betting after a new card is dealt. When no one has bet in front of you, and it is your turn to act, you may bet or check. Same as 'betting out' and 'betting into'. - Betting Round... betting that occurs from the time a new card is dealt until the action is complete. - Bettor... player who voluntarily puts money into the pot. - Bicycle... a five high straight. - Big Blind... blind that is two to the left of the button. The big blind always costs one betting unit. - Big Money Streets... in limit poker, the betting rounds in which the bets are doubled. - Big Slick...  a starting hand of an Ace and King - Blank... a card that does not help your hand. - Blind... money posted by the first two players to the left of the button, before the cards are dealt. There are two blinds, and the small blind is generally half the size of the big blind. - Bluff... betting that conveys to others that you have a stronger hand than you actually have. - Board... the face up cards in Hold 'em, Omaha, or Stud. - Board-Locked... situation in Stud games in which one player, regardless of the cards he holds in the hole, cannot beat the other. - Boat... a full house. Sometimes referred to as a "full boat." - Bring-In Bet... forced bet in Stud games; the bet that starts the action. The bring-in bet is usually about 25 percent of a full bet, and it is made, on the first round of betting, by the highest board card or the lowest board card, depending on the Stud variation. - Broadway... an ace-high straight. - Broke... see busted - Bubble... last non-paying spot in a poker tournament. For example, third place in a tournament that pays two players. - Building A Pot... raising in order to increase the amount of money in a pot. - Bullets... a starting hand of two Aces. - Busted... to be out of money, to run out of chips in a poker tournament. - Button... physical and symbolic designation of the person who is "dealing" and therefore last to act in the betting rounds/determines who acts last after pre-flop betting, moves one to left after every one hand is complete. - Buy Another Card... call a bet to see the next card dealt. - Buy-in... amount of money you start playing with in a game, or the amount it costs to enter a poker tournament. C - Call... to match another player's bet. When someone bets, you may fold, call, or raise. - Calling Someone Down... calling all of another player's bets, because you believe you have a better hand - Calling Station... someone who calls other players too much. - Capped (cap the betting)... used to describe a pot with the maximum number of bets allowed in a limit poker game on any given betting round. A capped pot in Las Vegas has five bets; a capped pot in Los Angeles has four bets. - Cards... the items used in casinos with 13 ranks and 5 suits. - Cashed... placed in the money (paying spots) in a poker tournament. - Catching A Card... having a card come that was one of the cards needed to win the pot. - Celebrity Poker Showdown... a poker show on Bravo hosted by Phil Gordon. - Chasing... trying continually to hit long shots. - Check... to not bet. When no one has bet yet, you also have the option not to bet, without folding your hand. - Check-Raise... to check and then raise within one betting round. You may check initially and then, when it is your turn to act again, raise someone else's bet. - Chip And A Chair... phrase used when someone has only a couple of chips left in a tournament. - Chips... the "currency" used in casinos, represent money and are used to play the games like poker. - Chop... a percentage of the pot taken by the house depending usually on how big the pot is and how many players are at the table. - Cold... used to describe a situation in which the game seems to be going poorly and you have not been winning many pots over a period of at least an hour. - Cold Call... calling three or four bets without having invested any money previously in the pot. - Community Cards... the five cards dealt face up in the middle of the table that may be used by each player at the table; icluding the flop, turn, and river. - Completing The Bet... in Stud variations, raising the bring-in bet to one whole bet. - Connectors... two cards in sequence. - Cowboys... pair of Kings in Hold 'em. - Cut the Fat... fold the losing hands, play the winning hands. D - Dead... see drawing dead. - Dead Man's Hand... two pair, aces and eights. This term became part of the poker vernacular August 2nd, 1876, when a cowhand named Jack McCall walked into Carl Mann's Saloon number 10 in Deadwood, Dakota territory and shot the  legendary Wild Bill Hickok in the back of the head. Hickok slumped over dead, still holding his poker hand of two pairs - Aces and Eights - which has been known as dead man's hand ever since. - Deal... giving out the cards to the players and board, throughout an entire hand. - Dealer... the player with the button who may or may not actually deal cards. - Dealer's Choice... game in which the dealer has the option of choosing the game. - De-Chip... to win all of your opponents chips. Extracting chips from the other players. - Deck Of Cards... a set of 52 cards, 4 of each rank and 13 of each suit, used to play in casinos. - Declare... state whether you are pursuing a high or low hand. - Deuce... a two. - Door Card... first face-up card in Stud games. - Double Belly-Buster... a collection of five cards where two ranks of cards can complete a straight. For example, if a player holds a 7-9-10-J-K, a Queen or 8 will complete this straight. - Double Suited... used to describe a situation in which your four hole cards contain two suits. - Double Up... increase you chip stack by 100%. - Down Cards... player's private hole cards, which are dealt facedown and which only he can see. - Draw... situation in which a player needs on card to complete a poker hand. - Drawing Dead... when a player has no chance to win a hand regardless of what cards come up even though they are still drawing cards. - Drawing Hand... see draw. - Dry Aces... pair of Aces with no other draws. - Ducks... pocket deuces in Hold 'em. - Dump... fold. E - Eagle... a world-class poker player. One of Phil Hellmuth's "animal types." - Early Position... one of three positions to the immediate left of the big blind, in a Hold 'em of Omaha hand. - Elephant... player who plays too many hands and calls too many bets. One of Phil Hellmuth's "animal types." - Endgame... strategy pertaining to the last five players or fewer left in a poker tournament. - Even Money Pot... used to describe a situation in which a player's chance of winning the pot is roughly 50%. F - Family Poker Game... kind of poker game you might play with your close friends, coworkers, and/or family usually involving low stakes and wild cards. - Fast... used to describe a loose, aggressive style of play, including lots of betting and raising. This style involves playing a lot of hands. - Fast Play (a hand)... - Fifth Street... in Hold 'em and Omaha, the final face up card dealt and the last round of betting; in Stud games, the fifth card dealt (the third one dealt face up). - Final Table... final nine players remaining in a Hold 'em tournament; final eight players remaining in a Stud tournament. - Firing the Third Bullet... when you bluff after the flop and again after the turn, can you make the big bluff when the 5th card comes off?, or 'fire the third bullet'. - Fish Hooks... pair of Jacks. - Flat Call... instance in which a player with a very powerful hand calls instead of raising. - Flat Tire... pocket cards of Jack and 4. - Flop... the first three community cards in Texas Hold 'em dealt face up. All three cards are flipped up at once. Next comes the turn and river. - Flopped... making a hand on the flop. - Flush... five cards of the same suit. - Flush Draw... situation in which a player has four cards of the same suit, thus needing only one more of that suit to make a flush hand. - Fold... concede the pot either by throwing your hand away or by a verbal declaration. - Four of a Kind... four cards of the same rank. - Fourth Street... in Hold 'em and Omaha, the dealing of the  fourth community card and the ensuing round of betting. - Free Card... used to describe a situation in which no bets  are made on any given round of betting. - Free Roll... describing a situation in which you are sure to win but also have an opportunity to win a further amount. - Frog Eyes... 8/8 - Full House... one of the strongest hands in Hold 'em, a set with a pair in one hand. - Full Ring Game... playing with the maximum number of players allowed in a side (non-tournament) game. Nine is usually the maximum in a Hold 'em game. G - Game Theory... tactics for a particular game. - Garbage... weak hand. - Get Quartered... receive only 25% of a pot, usually in high-low games. - Good Shape... used to describe a situation in which a player has a high probability of winning the pot. - Gutshot... see inside straight draw. H - Hand... refers to your cards, or to the process of dealing the cards until the winning of the pot. - Heads-Up... used to describe a situation in which poker is played one-to-one; mano a mano. Some people like heads-up better than a full table. - High Card... lowest rank of poker hands in which you have nothing. - High Society Chip... poker chip that is worth $100. - High Hand... hand that is competing for the high side of the pot. See also low hand. - High Stakes... usually refers to poker games $75-$150 and higher. - Hit A Card... catch a good card or a card that wins the pot for you. - Hold 'em... world's most popular poker game. Each player has two cards facedown, and the players share the five community cards face up in the middle of the table. The best five-card hand wins. - Hole... see position. - Hole Cards... player's private facedown cards that only he can see. - Home Games... poker games played with family and/or friends usually to just have a good time. - Home-Style Poker... see family poker game. - Horse... game in which you play equal numbers of hands (or equal lengths of time) in five different games. The games are Hold 'em, Omaha Eight or Better (High Low Split), Razz (Seven Card Low), Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud High-Low Split (E= eight or better). HORSE is very popular in the poker community right now. - Hot... used to describe a player who is winning more than his share of pots. I - Implied Odds... odds a player factors into his calculation of pot odds to account for being called if you complete you hand. - Inside Straight... see belly buster. - In The Dark... without looking at the facedown hole cards. - In The Money... in the paying positions at a poker tournament. - Isolation... technique in which a player re-raises a weaker player's bet, trying to play him heads-up (one on one) by making it expensive for any other players to call. J - Jackal... crazy, seemingly illogical player who makes a lot of bets and raises. One of Phil Hellmuth's "animal types." - Jam... bet and raise as many times as you can in a particular hand or round of betting. - Joker... in poker parlance refers to the perfect hand. - Judgment Fold... folding a hand on the basis of your read of all the factors. K - Kicker... highest card outside of you "core/main" hand. L - Ladies... a pair of Queens. - Last Action... the player who is last to decide to check, bet, call, raise, or fold; the player with the button. - Late Position... In Hold 'em and Omaha, refers to the player with the button, and the two players to the right of the button. - Lay Down... the act of folding. - Limit Poker... variations of poker in which the amounts of the bets are present, in contrast to no-limit poker, where you can bet any amount at any time. - Limp In... in Hold 'em and Omaha, to call the big blind bet before the flop. - Lion... very tough, consistently winning poker player. One of Phil Hellmuth's "animal types." - Live Game... same as a side game. - Live Hand... a hand that has not been folded or declared folded. - Lock Up... to be winning, with no chance of losing. - Loose... style of play in which you play a lot of hands. - Low Hand... hand that is competing for the low side of the pot. - Low Pair... when one of your hole cards pairs the lowest card on the board, or when you have a pocket pair lower than any card on the table. - Low Stakes... usually refers to limit poker games $1-$2 and smaller. M - Made Hand... complete hand that is straight or better. - Majority Play... a term referring to specific hands that you usually would play. - Maniac... loose, aggressive player who likes to raise a lot of pots. Similar to the Jackal. - Marginal Playing Hand... somewhat weak hand that should not be played according to the odds. - Mess With (another player)... raise an opponent with a weak hand in order to give the impression that you are a wild, loose player. - Miss... fail to complete your hand. - Money Game... non-tournament game, or side game. Participants in a money game play for cash. - Money Cutoff Line... point in a poker tournament at which a player makes money if he survives that point. In other words, twentieth place if the tournament pays twenty players deep. - Move All In... to put all your chips into any given pot. - Mouse... super tight player who always has a strong hand when he bets. One of Phil Hellmuth's "animal types." - Muck... to not show your cards if you lose. - Multi-way Pot... hand in which more than one opponent is involved. N - NLH... No Limit Hold 'em. - No Limit... variation of poker games in which players may bet as much as they want, as opposed to limit poker, where there is an established betting structure. - No Limit Hold 'em... often referred to as the Cadillac of poker. Players may bet any amount at any time. - Nosebleed... metaphor used to describe high-stakes poker in which players can lose large amounts of money very quickly. - Nuts... best possible hand, given the cards on the board. O - Odds... percentage chance that the player will win the pot. - Offsuit... in Hold 'em and Omaha, used to describe cards of different suits. - On The End... on the last card or last round of betting. - Omaha... variation of poker where each player is dealt four facedown cards and players share five community face-up cards. Players must use exactly two cards from their hand and three from the face up cards to make the best five-card hand. - Omaha Eight or Bettor (O8B)... Omaha high-low split. See Omaha. - Online Poker... poker played on the internet. - Open a Hand... be the first bettor. - Out, Outer... number of cards required to make a hand. If you need an Ace to win, then you have four outs. If a seven is needed to win, but you already have a seven, then it is a three-outer or you have three outs. - Overcard... card on the board higher than the pair you have. - Over-pair... pocket pair above the common cards in the middle. - Over The Top... refers to situations in which a player re-raises an opponent. This term is usual used in no-limit Hold 'em. P - Paint... a face card. - Pair... two cards with the same rank. - Passive... a type of play, when a player folds most of his cards or just calls. -Payout... the amount of money a player can win in a tournament or the amount a player leaves a ring game with. - Phil Hellmuth's Hand... pair of black nines, known as his hand because he won the WSOP with them. - Pip... lose a pot in a very close hand. - Pocket Aces... dealt two Aces in your down cards. - Pocket Cards... the cards you are dealt before the hand starts. - Pocket Pair... pair in a players facedown cards. - Pocket Rockets... pair of aces among a players facedown cards, you are dealt Pocket Rockets about 1 in 221 times. - Poker... a card game that has many variations including Texas Hold 'em which has become very popular recently. - Position... refers to where a player is seated relative to the button. The names of the positions are, from left to right: button, small blind, big blind, 1 hole, 2 hole, etc. - Positional Advantage... refers to a situation where a player sits behind an opponent in a hand, thus acting after the opponent. - Post... put up an ante. - Pot... the money gathered in the middle of the table during a hand. - Pot-Limit... variation of poker games in which the maximum bet a player may make is the size of the pot at the time the bet is made. - Pot-Limit Hold 'em... in this game, a player can bet the size of the pot at any time. - Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)... variation of Omaha in which the maximum bet a player may make is the size of the pot at the time the player acts. Europe's number one poker game. - Pot Odds... calculation of odds: the size of the pot divided by the cost of calling a bet. - Pre-flop... the round of betting before the flop is dealt. - Presto... pair of fives among a players facedown cards. The name was coined by an online newsgroup, rec.gambling.poker.com (RGP) - Protect You Hand... raise or bet to eliminate opponents and increase chances of winning with a strong hand. - Protected Pot... a pot has become so big, that someone is going to call you. - Puck... the button. - Put In A Bet... make a bet. Q - Quads... four of a kind. - Qualify Low... make a hand that is entitled to win half the pot in a high-low split game. Usually an eight-low is a qualifying low. R - Rabbit Hunting... looking at what cards would have come up, after all players have folded their hands. This is considered bad etiquette in poker, because it slows the game down. - Rack (of chips)... container that holds 100 chips. Sometimes players use” rack" to describe the amount won or lost. - Rag... weak or unplayable hand. Small community cards can be referred to with this term. - Rainbow... four cards, each of different suits. - Raise... add to an opponent's bet. - Ram And Jam... raise and re-raise as much as you can. - Rake... a percentage of the pot taken by the house depending usually on how big the pot is and how many players are at the table. - Razz... another name for Seven-Card Low. - Read An Opponent... make your best guess at what your opponent's hand is; try to determine whether your opponent's hand is weak or strong. - Re-buys... a player may re-buy his way into a tournament, after he has bust out. - Represent... pretend that and play as if you have a strong hand. - Re-raise... raise someone who has raised. - Re-stealing... re-raiseing a player who you believe is making a steal (he's weak), to try to bluff him out of a hand. - Respect... believing your opponent has a good hand and acting accordingly. - Ring Game... a player buys-in to a game and can leave and cash out at anytime. - River... round of betting that occurs after the last card is flipped up in the middle, also the last card flipped up. - RGP... online poker newsgroup, rec.gambling.poker.com. - Rivered It... made your hand on the river. - Rolled Up... started a Stud hand with three of a kind. - Rough... low hand that ranks among the worst possible low hands. - Royal Flush... A-K-Q-J-10 (ace-high straight) of the same suit. - Rush... term used when someone is winning pot after pot. S - San Francisco Hand... pair of Queens. - Satellites... ten-handed mini-tournaments in which players put up one-tenth of the buy-in to a poker tournament and the last player standing wins a seat at the main event. - Scooping... winning a whole pot in a high-low split game. - Second Nuts... second-best possible hand. - Semi Bluff... a player who bets aggressively with a hand that is not made but has outs to make the nuts. - Set... three of a kind, this is a very popular word in pokerese. - Set A Trap... see trapped. - Seven Card Stud (STUD)... classic American poker game, in which each player is dealt three cards to begin the hand (two down and one up). If the players stay in the hand long enough, they will be awarded the pot. - Seven Card Stud Eight Or Better (STUD 8/B)... dealt like Stud, but in this game half the pot is rewarded to the high hand and half the pot is awarded to the low hand (if that hand is eight or better) - Seven Card Stud High-Low Split... see Seven Card Stud Eight or Better. - Seven Card Stud Low (RAZZ)... Stud game in which the best low hand wins the pot (aces are considered low). - Sheriff... player who calls opponents down to make sure they are not bluffing. - Shorthanded... refers to a game with four or fewer players in it. - Showdown... flipping the hands face up after all the betting is complete. - Showman... eight - Side Game... non-tournament poker game. People are playing with their cash. - Sigfrued and Roy... hole cards of Q/Q. - Six Perfect... refers to a 6-4-3-2-A low hand - the best possible six-low hand. - Sixth Street... refers to the sixth card dealt in Stud games, and the ensuing round of betting. - Slider... someone who moves all his chips into a pot frequently in no-limit Hold 'em. - Slow-Playing... under betting a strong hand in order to lure other players into calling. - Small Blind... the physical location for the small blind is just left of the button. It is usually half the size of the big blind. - Smooth Calling... just calling someone else's bet when you have a strong hand, in order to lure your other opponents into the pot. - Smooth Hand... low hand that is one of the best of its rank. - Solid... strategy in which you play very few hands. Had connotations of emotional control and soundness of play. - Split Pot... pot divided in half in high-low split games. - Stakes... amount of money being played for. - Stand... to stop letting someone bluff you out, because you are sick of it. - Steal The Blinds... in Hold 'em, on the first round of betting, to make a raise trying to get the blinds to fold, thus winning the pot immediately. - Stone-Cold Bluff... to bluff having a very weak hand and no draw at all. - Straight... five cards in a row, the higher the better. - Straight Draw... refers to a situation in which you need two different cards that will make you a straight. - Street... refers to one complete round of betting, including the card that was dealt preceding the betting. - Straight Flush.... five cards in a row all of the same suit. - Straight Royal Flush... same as Royal Flush. - String Bet...the act of betting in increments in order to elicit some tell from your opponent. This is bad poker etiquette. - Stud... popular term for Seven-Card Stud. - Sucking Wind... refers to times when someone is just plain unlucky. You seem to miss you drawing hands, and your opponents hit theirs. - Suit... symbol appearing next to the number on each card. The lowest suit is clubs, followed by diamonds, hearts, and spades. The letters c-d-h-s, the correct order of suits in breaking a tie, are in alphabetical order, lowest letter equals lowest card. - Suited... in Hold 'em, term used when your two hole cards are of the same suit. In Stud, term used when your three starting cards are all of the same suit. In Omaha, term used when two of your four cards are of the same suit. - Suited Connectors... term used for a suited hand that always run in sequence. - Super Tight... term used when you play only a few select hands. - Swing... roller-coaster ride that your chips may take on any given day when you play poker. T - Table Image... refers to the way the other players at the table view you. - Taking One Card Off... calling a bet or bets in order to see one more card - it's implied that if the next card does not help you, you will fold. - Taking Two Cards Off... calling a bet or bets with the intent of seeing two more cards. - Tell... any mannerism that gives information on a player's cards. - Texas Hold 'em... the game that takes minutes to learn, but lifetimes to master, a poker game which there is four rounds of betting and can be played with 2 to 10 players. Can be played using no limit, pot limit or limit rules./See also Hold 'em. - Three-Betting... making it three bets to go- raising when it is already two bets to go. - Three Card Wheel... having three wheel cards (A-2-3-4-5) in your hand. - Three of a Kind... three cards of the same rank, commonly referred to as "trips." - Tight... poker strategy in which you are very selective in choosing hands to play; this causes you to play very few hands. - Tilt... term used when someone is playing far to many hands because he is emotionally unbalanced./A television show started in 2005. - Toothpick Principle... idea that you can start with a tiny amount of money in a poker game and end up with a small fortune. - Top Kicker... best possible high card that goes with your  pair or better. - Top Pair... pair of the highest community cards on the board. - Tournament... a game that consists of multiple players, usually at multiple tables, all playing for a final prize. - Trap (set a trap)... to try to trick an opponent into thinking that you have a weak hand when in fact you have a powerful hand. To cleverly disguise you hand, causing your opponent to call you. - Treys... pocket threes. - Trips... common term for three of a kind. - Tricky... playing hands in unorthodox ways to confuse your opponents. - Turn (the turn)... in Hold 'em and Omaha, the fourth card and the action after the fourth card is turned up. The River follows this card to complete the community cards for the hand. - Turned it... to make a hand on the fourth card. - Two Boys... hole cars of J/J. - Two Pair... one of the weakest hand rankings in poker. If you have a pair and another pair with two different rankings, it is considered two pair. EX: A/A/K/K/3 U - Underpair... pair underneath the board. - Under The Gun... position of the player directly to the left of the big blind. - Unsuited... when cards are of different suits. Usually referring to connectors as your hole cards. - Up Card... in Stud games, card that you are dealt face up. V - Value Betting... making a bet in the belief that you will win money with slightly more than you will lose money with. A bet that you may well lose, but you believe the chances are you will win. - Vig (vigorish)... a percentage of the pot taken by the house depending usually on how big the pot is and how many players are at the table. W - Wheel... a five high straight/common term for the best possible low hand, 5-4-3-2-A. - Wild Card... card that you may change to any other card in the deck. - World Poker Tour (WPT)... a poker show on the Travel Channel. - World Series of Poker (WSOP)... roughly 33 poker tournaments, the last of which is a $10,000 buy-in event called the World Championship of Poker. The WSOP is the biggest and most prestigious series of poker tournaments in the world, shown on ESPN. - Wrap... in Omaha, four consecutive cards in your starting hand, such as 10-J-Q-K. In Omaha, a wrap straight draw. - Wrap Straight Draw... straight draw in which at least three different cards make your straight. - WSOP... World Series Of Poker.         X Y Z - Zone... almost mythical place where you are reading players perfectly and making all the right moves.