Poker Terms Glossary
The Cards
Blank - An up-card that does not help any player. The term comes from stud and Hold’em games.
Board - The up-cards in stud and Hold’em games. In stud games, each player has his own board; in Hold’em, the board is communal.
Bullet - An Ace.
Community Cards - Cards, usually dealt face up in the middle of the table, which are available for each player’s use. Hold’em games have community cards.
Cut - A part of the shuffling ritual, performed by the player on the dealer’s right. After the deck is shuffled, it is broken into two stacks with at least 5 cards in each, and the bottom stack is then placed on top of the top stack.
Deuce - A two.
Door - In a stud game, the first up-card dealt to a player.
Draw - A type of poker game in which each player is dealt 5 cards face down, with an opportunity later to discard undesirable cards and draw replacements from the deck.
Face Card - Any card with a face on it, except the Joker. The Jack, Queen, and King are face cards.
Fifth Street - The fifth card dealt in a hand of stud poker.
Flop - The first three community cards to be dealt in Hold’em. They are dealt out simultaneously.
Fourth Street - The fourth card dealt in a hand of stud poker.
High Card - The highest ranked card in a hand with no winning combination; for example, and ace-high hand.
Hole Card - In open-handed games, such as stud or Hold’em, the cards which are dealt to a player face-down.
Hook - A Jack.
Joker - In a standard deck of 52 cards, a 53rd card this is distinct from the rest. It is used only as a wild card.
Lady - A form of cheating in which the cards have been illegally altered so that their value can be read from their backs. Using a marked deck is a good way to get permanently banned form poker sites and casinos.
Marked Cards - A form of cheating in which the cards have been illegally altered so that their value can be read from their backs. Using a marked deck is a good way to get permanently banned form poker sites and casinos.
One-Eyed Faces - The three face cards (Jack of hearts, Jack of spades, and King of diamonds) which are drawn in profile, and so show only one eye on each head.
Pocket Rockets - A pair of Aces in the hole, in any Hold’em game.
Pocket Pair - Any matched pair of cards in the hole, in a Hold’em game.
Quads - Four of a kind. An excellent hand.
Rags - In Hold’em games, a set of board cards that do not provide much help for any player at the table.
River - In stud and Hold’em, the final card dealt.
Seventh Street - The seventh card dealt in hand of 7-card stud.
Sixth Street - The sixth card dealt in a hand of 7-card stud.
Suicide King - King of Hearts, who appears to be stabbing himself in the head.
Third Steet - The third card dealt in a hand of stud poker.
Trey - A three. In combination with a Queen, it is sometimes called a “Gay Waiter” (a Queen with a ‘tray’).
Turn - The fourth community card dealt in Texas Hold’em.
Wild Card - A card which, by agreement before the game or hand, can be used to represent any other card the player needs. Jokers are usually used as wild cards, but standard cards can be used as well, as in “Deuces, Aces, One-eyed Faces.”
The Games
Dealer’s Choice - A rule permitting the dealer to name the poker game to be played in each hand. The choice of games is usually agreed upon by all the players before play begins. This rule is usually invoked in home games.
Flop Game - Any poker game which includes dealing a flop.
Freeze Out - A type of open-ended table stakes game in which play continues until one player has won all of the money at the table. The rest of the players are “frozen out.”
Hold’em - In a generic sense, a type of poker game in which each player is dealt between 2 and 4 hold cards, with 5 community cards on the table. Betting is conducted at designated times during the dealing of the community cards.
Hold’em - In a specific sense, a shortening of Texas Hold’em.
House Rules - Game rules and interpretations which are specific to a particular poker site or table.
Jacks or Better - In draw poker, a rule requiring a minimum hand, usually a pair of Jacks, in order to start the action. If no one qualifies, the hand is dealt again.
Limit Poker - A poker game with fixed minimums and maximums on the bets.
Lowball - A term for poker games in which the lowest hand wins.
No-Limit Poker - A poker game with no fixed maximum on the bets. A player may wager as much as he can afford.
Omaha - A form of Hold’em Poker in which each player must use 2 of his 4 hole cards in combination with 3 of 5 community cards, to make his hand.
Open-Handed - Poker games in which part of each player’s hand is dealt face up.
Table Stakes - A rule limiting players to the money they have on the table when the game begins. If a player bets everything he has, he can stay in the game, but is only eligible to win that part of the pot to which he contributed.
Texas Hold’em - A form of Hold’em poker in which each player receives 2 hole cards to go along with 5 board cards. Players in Texas Hold’em are not required to use the hole cards.
The Players
Active Player - A player who is still in the pot.
All in - A player who has wagered all of his chips in one hand. While he can no longer wager, he is not out of the hand until he folds. However, he can only win that part of the pot to which he has contributed.
Fish - A novice player; especially one who loses a lot of money.
Opener - In draw poker, the first player to place a bet.
Live One - A fun kind of fish to play against. This type of player is not very skilled, comes to the table with a lot of money, and is in a hurry to lose it all.
Pay Station - Another type of fish. This type of player loses by calling bets against stronger hands.
Read - To determine another player’s hand by examining his facial expressions and body language.
Shark - A skilled player who purposely plays the early hands of a game poorly, to put opponents off their guard.
Tapped Out - A player who has lost all of his money. This term can apply to a player who has simply bet everything he has during one hand, and is therefore not out of the game, or to a player who has lost all of his money, and is therefore out of the game.
Tell - Body language, facial tics, or other idiosyncratic mannerisms that can betray the contents of a player’s hand. Skilled poker sharks know how to read the tells.
The Hands
Bicyle - A term for the best low hand possible. Usually, it is a straight flush running Ace-2-3-4-5.
Boat - Another term for a Full House; a pair, plus three of a kind.
Come - An incomplete hand, such as an inside straight or a four flush.
Dead Man’s Hand - A pair of Aces, and a pair of eights.
Fill - A drawn card that finishes a hand. For example, drawing a Queen to a pair of Queens and a pair of twos will fill a full house.
Flush - A hand containing five cards of the same suit.
Four Flush - A incomplete hand, containing four cards of the same suit.
Four of a Kind - A hand containing four matching cards. For example, a nine and four tens.
Full House - A containing a pair, plus three of a kind.
Inside Straight - An incomplete straight, in which only one card will complete the hand. For example, 2-3-4-6 is an inside straight, requiring a 5.
Lock - A hand that cannot lose.
Open-Ended Straight - An incomplete straight, in which two cards can complete the hand. A 4-5-6-7 is an open ended straight, which can be completed by either a 3 or an 8.
Overpair - A hole pair in Hold’em that will beat any pair in the community cards.
Pair - Two matching cards.
Pat Hand - Any hand in draw poker to which a player does not need to draw any cards; it is good enough to win on its own. Usually a full house or a straight flush.
Royal Flush - The highest possible hand in ordinary poker. It is the Ace-high straight flush, 10-J-Q-K-A.
Set - In a Hold’em game, a three of a kind hand using two hole cards and one community card.
Straight - A hand containing five cards in sequence, but not of the same suit.
Straight Flush - A hand containing five cards in sequence, and of the same suit.
Three of a Kind - A hand containing three matching cards.
Three Flush - A hand containing three cards of the same suit.
Trips - Three of a kind.
The Bets
Action - The money that is placed into the pot.
Ante - A small bet that every player is required to place in order to play the hand.
Blind - A type of ante placed by the player to the dealer’s left, before any cards are dealt. Sometimes used in place of table antes.
Bluff - To place or raise a bet without a strong hand to back it, in the hope that the other players will fold.
Call - To place the minimum bet required to keep playing.
Chase - When a player stays in a hand, despite holding poor cards, in the hope of improving his hand.
Chip - A token or counter used on the poker table in place of cash money. Chips are used for convenience and ease of counting.
Dead Money - A player’s contribution to the pot, made before he folds.
Family Pot - A pot to which all of the players at a table have contributed, especially when all of the players are still in the hand.
Fixed Limit - A poker game in which each round of betting is given a particular limit.
Flat Call - A bet which a player calls, but does not raise.
Flat Limit - A type of fixed limit game which uses the same limit for each round of betting.
Fold - To withdraw from play in one hand, by declining to bet. Usually done by a player with a very weak hand.
Forced Bet - The opening bet of the hand, required of the player in stud poker whose up-cards show the weakest hand.
In - A player who is competing to win the pot.
Open - To start a round of betting.
Out - A player who is no longer competing to win the pot, usually because he has folded.
Raise - To place a higher bet than is required to call. This action will force the other players to wager more as well, to stay in the game.
Rake - A percentage, usually 5% to 10%, of the pot taken by the house, as the house’s stake.
Semi-Bluff - To bluff, but with a hand that has potential for great improvement on the draw.
Tap - To wager all of one’s money on one hand.