Poker Terms Explained: A-Z Guide to Poker Slang & Definitions
Poker is full of unusual terms and slang that may be unfamiliar to a casual onlooker.
For players, however, poker terminology is essential for accurately describing hands and staying up-to-date with the latest strategies. The CardPlayer glossary of poker terms will set you right. We’ve outlined hundreds of definitions, covering every phrase and word that you could possibly need in the modern poker era.
Below you’ll find our A-Z of poker terms for beginners.
Key Points
- Poker is full of terminology and slang that might seem unfamiliar and difficult for new players to understand.
- It’s important to learn poker terminology so that you can keep up with the action, hold a conversation about strategy, and describe hands you were involved in.
- The CardPlayer glossary of poker terms contains every definition you’ll need to understand and discuss the game.
- If you’re brand new to poker, it’ll be helpful to skim the full list to learn poker slang. If there’s a particular term you’ve never heard of, use the quick links to find what you’re looking for.
Poker Terms & Slang List
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0-9
3-bet – The third bet on a given street. A reraise over a player’s raise.
4-bet – The fourth bet on a given street. This is a raise over the top of a three-bet.
6-Max – A poker game with a maximum of six players per table.
8-Game (Eight-Game Mix) – A mixed poker format featuring eight different games played in fixed rotation: 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha.
9-Game – An expanded mixed game featuring the same formats as 8-game, with the addition of No Limit 2-7 Single Draw.
10-Game – An even more complex mixed game that includes the same formats as 9-game with the addition of Badugi.
A
A-Game – When a player is performing at their best according to their skill level.
ABC Poker – A basic tight-aggressive style that focuses on consistency and avoiding mistakes. It can be profitable at the lower stakes and serves as a foundation for advanced strategy.
ABI – Stands for “average buy-in”, a bankroll term for the average cost of games played.
Ace in the Hole – Poker term for having an ace in your private hole cards.
Ace-to-Five Triple Draw – A form of lowball poker in which players try to make the lowest five-card combination, with A-2-3-4-5 being the nuts.
Ace-High – A high-card hand that contains an ace.
Action Card – A community card that is likely to lead to a flurry of bets and raises between active players.
Active Players – Anyone who is still involved in the hand and has chips left in their stack.
Add-on – Extra chips that can be purchased at the end of the rebuy period in certain tournaments.
Advertising – Making an obvious or revealing play that gives clues about the strength of your hand, either deliberately or due to an error.
Aggression Factor – A poker stat that compares the frequency of a player’s aggressive actions, such as betting and raising, to the frequency of their passive actions, like checking and calling.
Aggressive – Used to describe a player or style of play that favours betting, raising, and bluffing.
Aggro – Shorthand for “aggressive.”
Air – Poker slang for a completely missed hand that has no draws or equity. Also known as “Airball”.
Alias – A player’s nickname, usually taken from their online poker profile.
All-in – Betting or raising for the value of your entire stack of chips.
American Airlines – A nickname for pocket aces, taken from the initials of the airline.
Angle Shooting – Unethical or deceptive tactics used to gain an unfair advantage without technically breaking the rules.
Ante – A compulsory bet posted by all players before the deal begins, designed to seed the pot and encourage action. Often comes into play during the mid-stages of a tournament and is worth a small fraction of a blind.
Ante Off – A tournament rule in which players must place their antes even when they are not at the table to ensure fairness.
Any Two – Playing with any two cards. It can describe an overly aggressive style of play, or be used to talk about spots in which it’s profitable to play any cards because other circumstances allow it.
Average Buy-in – A bankroll term for the average cost of games played.
B
Backdoor – A draw that needs to hit on both the turn and river. A backdoor hand refers to the completed draw.
Back into a Pot – Winning the pot by chance with bad odds by hitting on later streets with a weak starting hand.
Backing – To fund a poker player’s buy-ins and costs in return for a percentage of their winnings. Also known as “staking”, although backing usually refers to a long-term arrangement.
Backraise – A reraise made by a player who first flat-called earlier in the betting round.
Bad Beat – Losing a hand when you are the statistical favourite by a long way.
Bad Beat Jackpot – A jackpot prize awarded by some poker rooms, usually in cash games, when an extreme bad beat occurs, such as running quads into higher quads or a royal flush.
Badugi – A draw poker variant where players aim to make the lowest possible hand with four unique suits and no pairs.
Balancing – An advanced poker strategy for playing a range of hands that includes the perfect frequency of value bets and bluffs, making it difficult for opponents to profitably fold or call in a given spot.
Bankroll – Funds used exclusively for playing poker that are kept separate from everyday life as part of a responsible approach to gaming.
Bankroll Management –Strategies for managing poker funds in order to reduce the chances of going broke and increase the chances of long-term success, such as controlling average buy-in.
Barrel – A bet made on one particular street. “Multi-barrels” refers to bets across several streets, such as the flop, turn, and river.
Bet – The first chips wagered on a given street. Each subsequent increase is referred to as a raise.
Betting Round – An opportunity for players to check, bet, raise, or fold. There are four betting rounds in Texas Hold’em: preflop, then after the flop, turn, and river.
Big Bet – The largest of the two fixed betting amounts in limit poker games. The big bet is usually twice the amount of the small bet and can be made on later streets.
Big Bet Poker – Any poker format that allows for large bets relative to the pot, such as pot limit or no limit games.
Big Blind – Both a position and a mandatory bet in poker, posted before cards are dealt. Usually double the size of the small blind.
Big Blind Special – A poker slang term for an unpredictable hand played from the big blind when pot odds make it possible to call with a wide range preflop.
Big O – Big O is a variation of Omaha in which players are dealt five hole cards instead of the usual four in other Omaha games. It’s a split pot game, so the pot is divided between the high hand and qualifying low hand.
Big Slick – A popular nickname for the starting hand Ace-King.
Blank – A card that is highly unlikely to impact the action by improving anyone’s hand.
Bleed – To gradually lose chips through poor play or repeated small mistakes.
Blinds – The term for the forced preflop bets paid by the two seats immediately to the left of the dealer, the small blind and big blind, to start off the action and ensure there are always chips in the pot.
Blind Bet – Any bet, mandatory or otherwise, placed without looking at your cards.
Blind Levels – The current size of the blinds. In cash games, blind levels determine stakes. In tournaments, blinds constantly rise as the game progresses, putting pressure on players’ stacks.
Blocker – A card that you hold or can see that makes it less likely that opponents have certain hands by removing possible combinations. For example, if you have an ace, then there are fewer possible combinations of Ax in the deck.
Blocker Bet – A small bet made by the out-of-position player in an attempt to set the price for the betting round.
Bluff – A bet made with the intention of getting opponents to fold stronger hands. Bluffing is an integral part of poker strategy.
Bluff Catching – Calling a bet with a relatively weak hand that is only likely to be ahead of bluffs.
Board – The community cards that are shared between all players in games like Hold’em and Omaha. In Stud poker, the board refers to all visible upcards.
Board Texture – The composition of community cards that make up the board, determining the possible hands and draws that are available. Board texture is often described as dry or wet.
Boat – Short for full boat, a poker slang term for a full house.
Bomb Pot – A special cash-game hand in which all players agree to put in a set amount preflop and go straight to the flop.
Bot – Short for robot, it can mean a literal software program, or it can be used to describe players who adopt a purely mathematical strategy.
Bot Farm / Bot Ring – When a group of people uses software bots to try and cheat real players online.
Botting – Running one or more bots.
Bottom Pair – The lowest possible pair that can be made using one hole card and one community card.
Bottom Two – The lowest possible two pair combination that can be made by pairing hole cards with community cards.
Bounty – The name for both a type of poker tournament in which players are rewarded for eliminating others, and the reward itself.
Break-even – When a player doesn’t win or lose in a session of poker.
Bring-in – A compulsory bet paid by the player who holds the lowest upcard at the start of a Stud poker hand.
Brick – A community card doesn’t improve your hand, particularly on later streets.
Broadway – The face cards in a deck of cards, along with tens, are collectively known as Broadway cards. A Broadway straight is A-K-Q-J-T.
Broke – When a player has lost their entire bankroll.
Bubble — The stage of a tournament immediately before prizes are about to be paid. Once the bubble “bursts”, all remaining players are in the money.
Bullets – One of several common poker terms referring to Aces. Comes from the pointed, angular shape of the letter A, which resembles a bullet.
Bully – Someone who raises often to apply pressure to weaker players, usually with a bigger stack than the rest of the table.
Bum Hunting – Intentionally seeking out weaker players in cash games to try and improve your chances of winning.
Burn Card – Before the dealer reveals the flop, turn, and river, they will burn one card by placing it face down on the table, out of play, for game fairness.
Busted – To be eliminated from a poker tournament.
Bust out – To be eliminated from a tournament or go broke. The slang term is “busto”.
Button – The strongest position in poker, denoted by the dealer button, which moves clockwise around the table.
Buy-in – The fixed entry fee paid by all players in order to take part in a poker tournament.
C
C-Bet – Short for “continuation bet”.
Call – To match the current bet.
Calling Station – A derogatory term for a player who calls far too often, making them predictable and easy to exploit.
Call the Clock – To request that floor staff begin a countdown when a player takes too long to act. If approved, the player must act within a specified time frame; otherwise, their hand is declared dead.
Cap – An upper limit applied to the rake, bet sizes, or range of hands given the action.
Card Dead – Poker terminology for a prolonged stretch without receiving playable starting hands.
Card Distribution – The way cards are dealt among players and on the board during a poker hand.
Card Removal – The impact your own cards have on the likelihood of your opponent holding certain combinations. See also “Blocker”.
Cardroom – Any venue that regularly hosts poker games, such as a casino or online poker room.
Case – The last remaining card of a given rank in the deck, such as the “case ace.”
Cash Game – A poker format where players buy in for any amount within a set range and play directly for real money. Players can join or leave at any time, and each pot is settled in cash value.
Cashing Out – Poker terminology for exchanging your cash game chips for money and leaving the table.
Catch – To improve your hand by hitting a card that helps you.
Chance – Refers to the natural element of probability that exists in poker.
Chase – To stay in a hand trying to catch a drawing card, often calling bets despite poor odds.
Check – A neutral action available when no bet has been made. Passing the action to the next player or moving to the next street.
Check Behind – To check when in position, allowing the next street to be dealt.
Check-Call – To check and then call an opponent’s bet.
Check Down – When all players check on multiple streets through to showdown.
Check-Fold – To check and then fold in response to a bet.
Check-Raise – To check with the intention of inducing a bet and then raising. Often used by an out-of-position player as a strong or deceptive move.
Chinese Poker – A poker variant where each player receives 13 cards and arranges them into three separate hands ranked from weakest to strongest.
Chip and a Chair – A concept suggesting that you can win a tournament as long as you have at least one chip left. Originated from Jack Straus’ 1982 WSOP Main Event comeback.
Chip-Dumping – An illegal form of collusion in which players intentionally pass chips to a partner to gain an advantage.
Chip Leader – The player holding the largest stack at any point, especially in tournaments.
Chop – A poker term used when the pot is shared between two or more players with the same hand strength. It can also refer to a prize money deal at the end of a tournament.
Clean Outs – Cards that are still in the deck that will likely give you the best hand if you hit.
Click it Back – Poker slang for a minimum raise, or a very small reraise, originating from online poker.
Clicking Buttons – An act of random clicking without logical reasoning.
Coin Flip – A 50/50 situation where two hands have nearly equal winning odds, such as a preflop all-in between overcards and a pocket pair.
Cold 4-Bet – To make a four-bet after a three-bet without having acted previously in the betting round.
Cold Call – To call a bet or raise without having yet acted in the betting round.
Cold Deck – A scenario where a player with a strong hand still loses due to the runout.
Collusion – Illegal cooperation between two or more players to gain an unfair advantage.
Coloring Up – The process of exchanging small-denomination chips for larger ones as blinds increase in tournaments.
Combo – Short for “combination.” Refers to the number of possible permutations of a specific hand (e.g., 16 combos of A-K).
Combo Draw – A drawing hand with multiple ways to improve, such as a flush draw plus a straight draw.
Community Cards – The shared cards dealt face-up in Hold’em and Omaha, also known as the board.
Complete – To finish a draw by hitting the cards you need. Also used as a term for limping in the small blind or making a full bet in Stud during the bring-in.
Connectors – Two consecutive hole cards, such as J-T or 8-7.
Continue – To remain in a pot by calling a bet, or to make a continuation bet as the aggressor.
Continuation Bet – A bet made on the flop by the preflop aggressor to maintain initiative, often with both value hands and bluffs.
Cooler – A situation where two strong hands clash and neither player can reasonably fold.
Counterfeited – When the community cards render one or more of your hole cards irrelevant, such as when you have a small pocket pair and two higher pairs fall on the board.
Cowboys – Slang for pocket kings (KK).
Cracked – When a strong hand, like aces or kings, is beaten by a weaker one.
Crying Call – A reluctant call made by a player who expects to be behind but feels compelled to call, often due to pot odds or suspicion of a bluff.
Cutoff – The seat directly to the right of the dealer button, considered the second-best position at the table.
D
Dark Bet – Any bet made before the next community card is revealed, such as betting the turn before the flop is dealt.
Dead Hand – A hand that is no longer live for any reason, such as being folded, timed out, or declared invalid.
Dead Man’s Hand – A two-pair hand of aces and eights, famously associated with “Wild Bill” Hickok, who was holding it when he was shot.
Dead Money – Chips in the pot from players unlikely to win, such as blinds, limpers, or weak callers.
Dead Out – An out that can no longer improve your hand because it’s already out of play.
Deal – Can refer to the act of distributing cards or to an agreed prize split made between players late in a tournament.
Dealer – The person responsible for shuffling, dealing cards, and managing the pot. Also refers to the dealer’s position at the table.
Dealer Button – The small disc that rotates clockwise each hand to indicate the dealer position.
Dealer’s Choice – A mixed-game format where the player on the button chooses which poker variant will be played for that hand.
Deep Stack – A stack that is very large relative to the blinds, or a tournament structure that allows deep starting stacks.
Defend – To call or raise from the blinds to protect your investment and counter aggression.
Deuce – A slang term for cards with the value “2”.
Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw – A lowball poker variant where the goal is to make the lowest possible five-card hand over three draw rounds. Aces are high, and straights or flushes count against you, making 2-3-4-5-7 offsuit the best hand.
Dirty Stack – A chip stack mixed with different denominations, making it hard for others to read your true stack size.
Dominated – When one hand is heavily behind because it shares cards with a stronger hand, such as K-Q vs. A-K or a lower pocket pair vs. a higher one.
Donk – Slang for a weak or inexperienced player; short for “donkey.” See also “fish”.
Donk Bet – A bet made by an out-of-position player into the preflop aggressor.
Door Card – In Stud, the first upcard is dealt to each player.
Double Barrel – To bet on two consecutive streets, such as the flop and turn.
Double Gutshot (Double Belly Buster) – Poker slang term for two simultaneous inside straight draws, giving you eight outs to complete the straight.
Double Suited – An Omaha starting hand that includes two pairs of suited cards.
Double Up – To win a hand where all your chips are at risk, doubling your stack through an opponent.
Down Card – A Stud term for any card dealt face down.
Downswing – A prolonged losing streak. The opposite of an “upswing”.
Doyle Brunson – A nickname for the starting hand T-2, named after poker legend Doyle Brunson, who won two WSOP Main Events with it.
Draw – A hand that needs additional cards to complete, such as a straight draw or flush draw.
Drawing Dead – Poker terminology for when your hand cannot improve enough to win the pot under any possible runout.
Drawing Thin – Not quite “drawing dead”, but little chance of winning, with very few cards that you can catch to save you.
Dry Board – A board texture with unconnected and unsuited cards, offering few drawing possibilities.
Ducks – Slang for pocket deuces (22).
Dynamic Board – A set of connected or suited community cards that provides plenty of potential for hand strengths to change throughout the pot. See also “wet board”.
E
Early Position – The first few seats to act, such as under the gun, UTG+1, and UTG+2. The small and big blind are also considered early positions.
Edge – A skill advantage one player has over another or over the field as a whole.
Effective Stacks – The smaller of two players’ chip stacks in a hand, representing the maximum amount that can be won or lost.
Eights Or Better – A rule in split-pot games requiring an eight-high or lower hand to qualify for the low half of the pot.
Entry Fee – The portion of a tournament buy-in that goes to the house or staff fees rather than the prize pool.
Equity – Your share of the pot based on your current chances of winning, expressed as a percentage, chip total, or cash amount.
Equity Calculator – Software that calculates your hand’s equity, showing your probability of winning a given hand and helping with decision-making.
Expected Value (EV) – The long-term average amount a player can expect to win or lose from a given decision, expressed as a positive or negative figure.
Exposed – Poker term for when a card is accidentally revealed to other players, often due to a dealer or player mistake.
F
Face Card – Any court card depicting a face: kings, queens, and jacks.
Family Pot / Friendly Pot – When all or nearly all players see the flop, often due to a limped pot.
Fast Fold – An online poker format that lets players instantly fold and move to a new table to be dealt a fresh hand.
Fast Play – To play strong hands aggressively through bets and raises. The opposite of “slow playing”.
Favorite – The player or hand with the highest probability of winning a pot. Opposite of “underdog”.
Felt – The cloth covering a poker table. Also used to refer to the table itself or to playing live poker, as in “back on the felt.”
Field – All players participating in a poker tournament collectively.
Fifth Street – The fifth community card in Hold’em and Omaha (the river). Also, the fifth card is dealt in Stud poker.
Fill Up – When three of a kind improves to a full house.
First In/ First to Act – The player who must act first in a betting round, typically because they are out of position.
Fish – Insulting term for a weak or inexperienced poker player.
Five-Card Draw – A classic poker variant where players can exchange any number of their five cards for new ones.
Five-Card Stud – A stud poker variant where players receive one card face down and four upcards, with betting on each street.
Fixed Limit – A betting structure where wagers must be made in set amounts known as the small bet and big bet. See “limit poker”.
Flat Call – To call a bet, raise, or reraise instead of raising again.
Float – To call with a weak hand, usually in position, intending to bluff or win the pot on later streets.
Floor – The casino staff responsible for enforcing poker rules, handling disputes, and maintaining game integrity.
Flop – The first three community cards dealt in Hold’em and Omaha.
Flush – A poker hand containing five cards of the same suit, not in consecutive order.
Flush Draw – A poker hand containing four cards of the same suit, with one more needed in order to complete the flush.
Fold – To give up your hand and concede the pot because you don’t want to match the current bet.
Fold Equity – Poker terminology for the equity you can gain by raising or shoving when your opponent is forced to fold some of their hands.
Forced Bet – A compulsory bet that’s required to play, such as the small and big blinds in Hold’em, or the bring-in bet in Stud Poker.
Four of a Kind – Any four cards of the same rank. One of the strongest possible poker hands behind only straight and royal flushes.
Fourth Street – The fourth community card in Hold’em and Omaha, known as the turn. The fourth card (second upcard) to be dealt in Stud.
Free Card – When no bets are made on the turn or river, resulting in players seeing the next card without paying any chips.
Freeroll – A promotional tournament that is free to enter and has real money prizes up for grabs. Also used as a general gambling term for any situation in which you can win without risk.
Freezeout – A tournament in which only a single entry is allowed per person. There are no rebuys or reentries.
Full Boat – Another name for a full house.
Full House – A strong poker hand containing three-of-a-kind and a pair.
Full Ring – Any poker game with nine or ten seats available, as opposed to a 6-max or heads-up table.
Full Wrap – A very strong Omaha hand with 20 outs to a straight.
G
Gambling – Gambling includes playing games of chance for money or wagering on future outcomes. Casino games are considered pure gambling, while poker contains a mixture of chance and skill.
Gap Concept – An early poker strategy concept highlighting that players should call raises with a tighter range than they would otherwise have raised with.
GG – A general online gaming term that is short for “good game”. Used often in poker after a worthy opponent has been eliminated.
Ghosting – When a player receives real-time strategy advice from another person while in a hand or tournament, or when someone plays on their behalf using an online account. Ghosting is against the rules of poker.
Going South – Removing some chips from a cash game table, such as after winning a big pot, to prevent any risk of losing those chips. In most card rooms, this is against the rules, and players must leave the table with their entire stack to remove chips.
Grand Prix Poker – A little known poker variant also known as Let it Ride Stud in which players attempt to make a high pair or better using three of their own cards and two of the dealer’s cards.
Grind – A long or particularly testing session of poker. A general word for playing large volumes of online poker.
Grinder – Someone who plays a lot of poker over time, often putting in large volumes to sustain profits at lower stakes.
GTO – Short for “game theory optimal”, a mathematical equilibrium and style of play that is theoretically unbeatable against other opponents also playing GTO. Forms the basis of advanced strategy.
Guarantee – A minimum prize pool that poker rooms sometimes promise in order to attract players. If the amount is not met, the organizer covers the remaining cost, known as an overlay.
Gutshot – A well-used term for an inside straight draw.
H
Hand – Can refer to either your hole cards or the best five-card combination that you can make.
Hand-for-Hand – A phase that occurs near the bubble in a poker tournament to ensure all tables play the same number of hands. Hand-for-hand continues until players reach the money.
Hand Rankings – The order of hand strengths in poker, starting with a high card and running up to a royal flush.
Heads-up – A poker game or hand contested by two players.
Heater – An exceptional run of good hands and outcomes. It can refer to both short-term boosts to your stack in a tournament and to long-term results.
Hero – The name for the preferred player in a pot, such as yourself or a friend, used when discussing and analyzing past hands. Opposite of “villain”.
Hero Call – A difficult call with a marginal or weak hand that is made based on specific observations in the hand. May or may not turn out to be correct.
Hero Fold – Laying down a strong hand that you would usually call with because you suspect that an opponent has something even better.
Hi-Lo – Any split pot game where one half of the pot is awarded to the strongest hand and the other half to the best qualifying low hand.
Hijack – A late poker position two seats to the right of the dealer button.
High Card – A poker hand containing five completely unconnected and unpaired cards.
High Roller – A player who competes at high stakes with a large bankroll or backing.
Hit – A community card that improves your hand strength or equity in the pot.
Hit-and-Run – Leaving a cash game table immediately after winning a huge pot. A practice that’s frowned upon, but not illegal.
Hold’em – Common name for Texas Hold’em, the most popular form of poker.
Hole Cards – Your private face-down cards in any poker game.
Hollywooding – Overacting to deceive an opponent, usually by pretending you have a tough decision to make before raising or folding.
Hooks – Another name for pocket jacks, as the shape resembles a fishhook.
H.O.R.S.E. – A popular form of mixed games poker involving Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Stud Eights or Better.
HUD – Online poker software provides real-time assistance by showing important statistics on the screen. Short for “Heads-Up Display”.
Hyper Turbo – A poker tournament in which the blinds increase extremely quickly, speeding up the action.
I
ICM – Abbreviation for “Independent Chip Model”, a complex mathematical formula that puts a cash value on tournament chips. ICM is a crucial part of tournament strategy when you are close to the bubble or faced with pay jumps.
Idiot End – The low end of a straight. For example, on a board of 9-8-7, a player holding 6-5 has the idiot end of the straight.
Implied Odds – The amount of additional chips you can expect to win later in the hand if you complete your draw and your opponent pays you off.
Improve – To hit cards that give you a better hand than you already had.
In Position – Acting last during the postflop betting rounds.
Inside Straight Draw – When one specific card is needed, giving you just four outs to complete a straight.
In the Dark – See “dark bet.”
Isolation – A raise, usually made preflop, that is designed to push other players out of the pot to prevent multiway situations.
ITM – Short for “in the money”, when players have made it far enough in a tournament to receive a cash prize based on their finishing position.
J
Jackpot – A bonus prize pool sometimes awarded in cash games for rare hands or moments, such as making a royal flush or running quads into a higher hand.
Jam – To push all-in.
Joker – A card that is not part of the standard 52-card deck and is not often used in poker. It can be used as a wild card in home games or casino poker table games.
Juice – A slang poker term for the rake or house fee, particularly in a cash game.
K
Kicker – The highest unpaired card in a hand, used to break ties when two or more players have the same value hand.
Kojak – Poker slang for holding King-Jack of any suit as your hole cards. A play on words that makes reference to the 1970s TV detective series of the same name.
KO Tournament – A type of poker tournament in which a portion of the prize pool, usually half, goes towards bounties that are awarded for knocking out players.
Knock / Knocking – An old-fashioned term for check. Also, another term for standing pat in Draw poker.
L
Ladies – Another name for a pair of queens.
LAG – Stands for loose-aggressive, a style of play that involves betting and raising with a high frequency of hands.
Large-Field MTT – A multi-table tournament that has hundreds, or even thousands of entrants. These games have huge prize pools, but are difficult to win.
Last Longer – A type of poker prop bet between two or more players on who will run deepest in a tournament.
Late Position – Refers to poker positions such as the button, cutoff, and hijack, which are late to act preflop and will often act last postflop.
Late Registration –A set amount of time that players can still buy-in for a poker tournament once the event has already begun.
Laydown – A synonym for folding in poker, most commonly used to describe a difficult fold or a fold against a huge bet.
Lead Out – To bet first on any given postflop street as the out-of-position player.
Leak – A long-term flaw in a player’s poker game that consistently costs them money.
Levelling – The level of thinking involved in a hand or situation. Experienced players try to anticipate what level their opponents know and what level they are thinking on.
Limit Poker – Any poker game with a fixed limit betting structure. Players can only bet or raise predetermined amounts, defined as the small bet and big bet.
Limp – To enter the pot by calling the minimum amount preflop, usually one big blind. Considered a weak play in most situations.
Limp Raise – Entering the pot by flat calling preflop and then raising over the top of any action.
Live Cards – When one or both of your hole cards have a chance to hit and improve, as opposed to when you are drawing dead.
Lock – As a poker term, lock refers to when a player has the nuts or effective nuts, and so cannot be beaten in the hand.
Lojack – The poker position that is three seats to the right of the button, a middle-late position in terms of strategy.
Loose – Someone who plays a lot of hands.
Lowball – Any poker variant where the lowest combination of cards wins, rather than the highest. For example, Razz or 2-7 Lowball.
Low Hand – A hand that qualifies to win the low half of the pot in a split-pot game, usually eight-high or lower.
Low Stakes – Cash games or tournaments that have an accessible buy-in aimed at recreational and aspiring players.
Luckbox – Pejorative term for a player who keeps winning by getting lucky, even when they are a consistent underdog.
M
Made Hand – A hand that’s already complete and requires no further cards to make, such as a pair, straight, flush, or full house.
Makeup – An amount owed by a player to their backer for previous buy-ins. The makeup must be repaid before the agreed-upon profit split resumes.
Main Pot – The primary portion of the pot that contains bets made by all players, up to the value of the smallest all-in. Side pots can be played between bigger stacks that continue.
Maniac – A common term for players who bet and raise recklessly, often with subpar hands.
Mark – A player who is known to be weak or lacking experience. The mark is hunted by more experienced players, particularly in cash games.
Markup – An additional fee charged by winning players when they sell action, typically based on having a provable edge in the game.
Mental Game – A general term for the mental aspect of poker, such as a player’s ability to maintain focus and control their emotions.
Merged Range – Ranges that consist of a mixture of strong value hands, bluffs, and medium strength hands.
Metagame – Considering factors beyond the current hand, such as table dynamics, opponent’s previous actions, and history between players.
Middle Pair – The second-best pair possible using a board card and a hole card.
Middle Position – Poker positions that are not early or late, but are in the middle relative to the dealer button and blinds.
Mid-Stakes – A mid-level of tournament and cash game buy-ins. Not quite high stakes, but a big step up from low stakes.
Min Raise – Raising the minimum possible amount over an existing bet or raise. See also “clicking it back.”
Misclick – A term that originated online to describe a blunderous mistake, such as accidentally calling when you were supposed to fold, or raising the wrong amount.
Misdeal – If the dealer makes an irretrievable error when distributing the cards, the hand is declared a misdeal and is dealt again from scratch.
Missed – When a player fails to make their draw or any made hand, they have missed the board.
Mississippi Straddle – An entirely optional blind bet that can be made from the button on cash game tables.
Money Bubble – Alternative term for the “bubble” in a poker tournament.
Monotone Board – A board that features cards that are all of the same suit.
Monster – A poker slang term for a huge hand, such as pocket aces preflop or a flopped full house.
M–Ratio– A measure of how many orbits a player can survive at the table, given their chip stack compared to the blinds and antes.
MTT – Abbreviation for multi-table tournament.
Multi-Table Tournament – A poker tournament that has a scheduled start time and a field of players that fills several tables.
Muck – The pile of discards in front of the dealer formed by players folding. An alternative term for folding.
Multi-way – A pot in which three or more players are active.
N
NLHE – Stands for “No Limit Hold’em”. It can also be written as “NLH”.
Nit – A predictable player who only plays very strong hands, is passive, and rarely bluffs.
No Limit – Any poker game with no rules on the maximum amount that players can bet or raise. The only limit is a player’s entire stack.
Nosebleed Stakes – Extremely high-stakes poker games that would make even the best players wince.
Nut Low – The best possible low hand in lowball or split pot poker games. It can be used ironically to mean the worst possible hand in Hold’em.
Nuts – A widely used for the best possible hand that can be made in a given situation.
Nut Flush – The strongest possible flush.
O
Offsuit – A starting hand that has two cards of different suits. The opposite of “suited”.
Omaha – A format of poker, similar to Texas Hold’em, in which players receive four hole cards instead of two and are required to use exactly two hole cards, along with three community cards to make the best hand.
One Gapper – Starting cards that are separated by one gap, such as Q-T or 8-6.
On the Button – Poker terminology used to describe the player currently in possession of the dealer button.
OOP – Short for “out of position”. This means you’ll need to act before your opponent, putting you at a disadvantage.
Open-Ended Straight Draw – A straight draw that already has four consecutive cards, giving you eight outs to complete your straight.
Open-Raise – The initial raise in any given round of betting.
Option – When no raise has been made, the player in the big blind has the choice to either check or raise, known as their option.
Out Of Turn – Attempting to take action in a hand before it is your turn. Considered a form of angle shooting if done intentionally.
Out of Line – When a player makes wild moves without the cards, position, or range advantage to back it up.
Outs – Any cards left in the deck that you can hit to improve the winning hand, such as outs for completing a draw.
Overbet – To make a bet larger than the size of the current pot. Only possible in no-limit poker.
Overcards – Unpaired hole cards that are bigger than the community cards on the board. Sometimes shortened to “overs”.
Overlay – When a tournament’s guaranteed prize pool exceeds the actual amount raised by buy-ins, the organizer adds the extra money needed to match the guarantee, known as the overlay.
Overpair – A pocket pair that is bigger than any of the community cards currently on the board.
Overplay – Investing more chips than you should or playing a hand too aggressively.
P
Paint – Slang term for the face cards, i.e., kings, queens, and jacks.
Pair – A poker hand containing two cards of the same rank, with three unrelated cards.
Passive – A weak playing style that involves checking and calling in an attempt to hit cards, rather than betting and raising to win pots. The opposite of “aggressive” or “aggro”.
Payout Structure – The way a prize pool is distributed among the top finishers in a tournament. Finalized and outlined once late registration is closed.
PFR – Stands for preflop raise, a poker statistic that shows the percentage of hands a player raises with before the flop.
PKO – Short for Progressive Knockout, a type of poker tournament in which bounties get bigger with each elimination.
Playability – How easily a hand can be played, such as how often it hits the board, makes draws or combos that can continue, wins at showdown, and avoids difficult spots.
Playing the Board – When the strongest possible five-card combination is on the board, and a player’s hole cards are not used at all to form the hand.
Pocket Pair – Two hole cards of the same value, such as K-K or 8-8.
Pocket Rockets – Common term for pocket aces, the best possible starting hand in Hold’em.
Poker Face – This is a slang term for having a neutral facial expression that doesn’t give away any information while you play poker.
Poker Room – A venue that hosts poker games. Can be in a casino, poker club, or online platform.
Poker Run – A run in poker refers to a string of results. Running good is a period of positive results, whereas running bad is a prolonged period of unexpectedly negative results, also known as a losing streak.
Polarized Range – When a player’s range of hands consists only of monsters and complete bluffs.
Position – The order of play in the hand. The positions rotate after every hand and has significant strategic implications in poker.
Post – To place any forced bet before a hand starts, such as antes and blinds.
Postflop – Betting rounds that take place after the flop has been dealt.
Pot – The money in the middle of the table that can be won, the sum of all bets placed during the hand.
Pot Committed – When you’ve committed so many chips to the pot already relative to your remaining stack, you can no longer profitably fold, regardless of the situation.
Pot Control – Poker strategy for making it to showdown with medium strength hands by checking and flat calling bets, rather than betting and raising.
Pot Limit – Any poker game with a betting structure that limits the maximum bet to the size of the current pot.
Pot Odds – The ratio between the total size of the pot and the size of the current bet.
Preflop – The round of betting that takes place before the flop is dealt.
Probe Bet – A relatively small bet made by the player who is not the aggressor to apply pressure and take the initiative, usually after the aggressor checks back the flop.
Prop Bet – Any side wager made between players that is separate from the main poker game. May or may not be related to poker.
Prop Players – Players who are hired by a poker room to participate in cash games in order to make sure tables start and keep running.
Protection Bet – Betting to defend a potentially vulnerable hand, such as when you have top pair against a draw.
Q
Q–Ratio – A measure of a player’s chip stack relative to the tournament average.
Quartered – Used in split pot games for when a player wins only a quarter of the pot, such as when they split either the high or low pot with another player.
Quads – Poker terminology for four-of-a-kind.
Qualify – To gain or win entry to a tournament. It can also refer to qualifying hands in split games.
R
Rabbit Hunting – Peeking at the undealt cards after a hand is completed, usually to see what would have happened. Frowned upon everywhere apart from casual home games.
Rack – A small tray that’s used to hold and carry up to 100 poker chips at a time.
Rag – A low-value card that’s not particularly helpful. Usually refers to a weak hole card, but can also mean a low card on the board.
Rail – An area surrounding a feature or final table, often separated by a literal rail, where spectators can observe the game. Also refers to a player’s entourage of friends and supporters.
Rainbow – A board texture that contains several varying suits, with no flush draws available.
Raise – To voluntarily increase the size of the current bet. Raises can be made for value or as a bluff.
Rake – A percentage of each cash game pot and fee from tournament entries, which is taken by the poker room as profit for hosting the game.
Rakeback – A percentage rebate given back to the player based on the amount of rake paid. One of the best poker bonuses available.
Ram and Jam – Hyper hyper-aggressive approach to a hand that involves raising and reraising to build a large pot before applying maximum pressure by moving all-in.
Range – The likely combinations of hands a player could be holding based on how they’ve played the pot.
Range Advantage – When a player’s range naturally contains more stronger hands than their opponent’s range, given the action and board texture.
Range Construction – Consciously putting together a range of profitable hands that can be played in a particular situation, usually by starting with value hands and then adding bluffs.
Rank – The value of a playing card or hand, running from deuce to ace.
Razz – A lowball poker game based on Seven Card Stud.
Read – An assessment of an opponent’s hand strength or tendencies based on their actions, timing, or physical tells.
Rebuy – Additional tournament chips that players can purchase within a designated timeframe after losing their initial stack.
Redraw – When a player’s hand can further improve to an even stronger hand by hitting cards on later streets. For example, a straight with a redraw to the flush.
Re-Raise –To make a raise over the top of an opponent who has already raised during the betting round.
Responsible gambling – Playing within your means with money you can afford to lose. In poker, responsible gambling involves bankroll management and playing the right stakes.
Resteal – Poker term for playing back against a player who is attempting to steal the pot, usually by making a three-bet or shove to take down the pot.
Reverse Implied Odds – The amount you can expect to lose if you make your hand, but your opponent still has you beat. Opposite of “implied odds”.
Ring Game – Alternative term for a cash game in poker.
River – The final community card dealt in Hold’em and Omaha games.
River Rat – Derogatory poker slang for a player who catches a big hand on the river in an undeserved pot.
RNG – Short for “random number generator”, a piece of software used by online poker sites to shuffle and distribute the cards.
Rock – An extremely tight player who rarely puts chips in the middle without a very strong hand.
ROI – Abbreviation for “return on investment”, a metric to measure a player’s long-term profit or loss.
Rolled Up – To make three-of-a-kind using your first three cards in Stud.
Rounder – A professional or semi-pro player who travels from game to game, making a living from poker.
Rounders – A famous poker-themed movie from 1998 starring Matt Damon, John Malkovich, and Edward Norton.
Royal Flush – An ace-high straight flush, the strongest hand in poker.
Rundown – Often used in Omaha and Draw games for four consecutive cards with one card needed for a straight.
Run It Twice – An optional cash game feature that allows two or more all-in players to deal the remaining board cards twice to reduce variance. The pot is awarded according to the two outcomes.
Runner-Runner – Completing a draw by hitting the needed cards on two consecutive streets, such as the turn and river.
Running Bad – Poker terminology for a sustained period of negative results caused by variance, often characterized by bad beats or being card dead.
Running Good – Poker slang for a sustained period of positive results above a player’s expected win rate. Opposite of running bad.
S
Sandwiched – A player’s position and the betting action lead to them being stuck between two players. It can be a disadvantage, leaving you vulnerable to being squeezed.
Satellite – A poker tournament that awards tickets or seats to a higher buy-in event as prizes.
Scare Card – A community card that has the potential to change the strength of your own or your opponent’s hand.
Scared Money – A player who is afraid to lose their chips or money, which negatively impacts their decision-making.
Scoop – To win the entire pot in a Hi Lo game by having both the strongest high hand and the low hand.
Second Pair – The second strongest value pair that can be made using one hole card and one community card. See also “middle pair”.
Semi-Bluff – A bluff made with a hand that has some equity and could catch up on later streets, such as betting with a draw.
Set – A three-of-a-kind hand formed using a pocket pair and one community card.
Set Mining – A poker strategy that involves calling small preflop bets with low pocket pairs to attempt to flop a set.
Set-Over-Set – A cooler situation in which both players make three-of-kind with their pocket pairs.
Seven Card Stud – A form of Stud Poker in which players are dealt up to seven hole cards, three face down and four face-up, to form a five-card poker hand.
Seventh Street – The final downcard dealt to players and the last betting round in a Seven Card Stud hand.
Shark – Poker slang term for a player who is skilled, experienced, and out to win.
Shootout – A poker game involving a series of single-table tournaments. The winner of each table progresses to the next round until the final table is formed and an outright winner emerges.
Short Deck – A type of Hold’em poker in which all low-ranked cards from 2-5 are removed from the deck. Also known as 6+ Poker.
Shorthanded – A poker table with fewer players than the number of seats, or a general term for a poker game with only a few players per table.
Short Stack – A stack that is relatively low in chips compared to the size of the blinds. Also refers to the player with the fewest chips.
Shot-Taking – Playing in a poker game that is well above your usual stakes and bankroll limits as a one-off opportunity to win big.
Shove – To push all of your chips into the pot.
Showdown – If two or more players remain in a hand following the final betting round, they reveal their cards to see who has won the pot.
Showdown Value – Refers to a hand that has value if it can make it to showdown for cheap by checking or calling small bets. The hand will often be too weak to bet, yet too strong to bluff.
Side Bet – A separate wager made alongside a poker game, such as who can last the longest or who can win a hand and show 7-2.
Side Pot – A separate pot that’s kept separate from the main pot, played between players who continue after one or more players are already all-in.
Single-table tournament – A tournament poker game with a small field of just one table, such as a 9-max or 6-max tournament.
Sixth Street – The fourth upcard dealt to players and the penultimate betting round in Seven Card Stud Poker.
Snap Call – Instantly calling a bet or raise.
SNG – Shorthand term for a Sit and Go. This kind of poker tournament starts once a predetermined number of players have registered, rather than at a specified time.
Sizing – The amount a player chooses to bet or raise.
Slowplay – To play a very strong hand passively in order to deceive opponents and potentially induce bets or raises.
Slowroll – Delaying a call when you are certain you have the best hand, such as the nuts, forcing an opponent to needlessly sweat. This is bad poker etiquette.
Soft-play – Intentionally playing passively and avoiding aggressive actions against a friend or associate. An illegal form of collusion.
Solvers – Poker tools that run thousands of mathematical simulations in order to determine GTO solutions for a given situation. Used for training and hand analysis.
Small Blind – A compulsory bet, usually half the size of the big blind, paid by the player who is seated to the left of the dealer button. Also refers to the position itself.
Smooth Call – Interchangeable with “flat call”.
Snap – To make a decision and take an action instantly, such as snap-calling or snap-folding.
Snowmen – A fun nickname for pocket aces, given due to their shape.
Spew – To lose a lots of chips due to unnecessary aggression.
Splashing the Pot – The act of throwing chips into the pot instead of placing bets out in front of you. It could be seen as a form of angling in poker.
Split Pot – When the pot is divided between two or more players with exactly the same value hand. Also used in Hi Lo games when the pot is split between the winning high and low hands.
SPR – Abbreviation for Stack-to-Pot Ratio. The ratio of the size of the pot compared to the amount left in your stack.
Spread Limit – A type of betting structure that only allows bets within a certain range, usually found in jurisdictions with strict regulations on gambling.
Squeeze Play – A three-bet made against a player who has raised and another player who has called. Designed to apply pressure and isolate an opponent.
SRP – Shorthand for “single-raised pot”, a pot that was only raised once preflop with no reraise.
Stab – To make a bet or raise, usually a bluff, made as an attempt to steal the pot from an opponent who has a weak hand.
Stack – The chips that a player has in front of them to play with, physical or digital.
Stakes – The buy-in level of a tournament or cash game, ranging from micro to high stakes.
Staking – An agreement to provide a player with poker funds in exchange for a predefined split of the profits. See also “backing”.
Stand Pat – To discard none of your cards and instead hold your entire hand in Draw Poker. A sign of strength and also a method for bluffing.
Starting Stack – The amount of chips that all players start with in a tournament.
Static Board – A board texture that makes it unlikely for hand strengths to change during the course of the hand, similar to a dry board. Opposite of “dynamic board”.
Steel Wheel – A straight flush consisting of the five lowest cards in poker, A-2-3-4-5.
Stone-Cold Nuts – The best possible hand that can be made given the board, without any question.
Straddle – A voluntary blind bet that can be made by the under-the-gun player in cash games. The aim is to up the stakes and encourage more action.
Street – The community cards dealt and betting rounds in poker.
Straight – A poker hand that comprises five running cards in a sequential order.
Straight Flush – A very strong poker hand with five consecutive cards of the same suit.
Street Poker – A more old-school playing style based on instinct and experience, rather than GTO fundamentals.
String Bet – An invalid betting action where chips are added in two or more stages. For a bet to be legal, the chips must be moved forward in one smooth motion.
Structure – The rules and format of a poker game, including betting limits, blind levels, and rebuy periods.
Stuck – Being severely down on money in a poker game or session.
Stud – A form of poker where each player has their own individual hand, with no community cards involved. Some hole cards are dealt face up, and others are dealt face down.
Suck Out – To win a hand due to a fortunate runout of cards despite being the statistical underdog.
Suit – There are four suits in a deck of cards: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Suits are used to make flushes and other poker hands.
Suited – Two hole cards of the same suit.
Suited Connectors – Two hole cards of consecutive values of the same suit, offering the possibility to draw to both flushes and straights.
T
TAG – Shorthand for “tight aggressive”.
Tank / Tanking – To take an exceptionally long time to make a decision and act. Short for going into the time bank.
Tell – A physical cue that can give indications about a player’s hand strength.
Texture – See “board texture”.
Three-of-a-kind – A poker hand consisting of three cards of the same rank, with two other unrelated cards. For example, 6-6-6-A-J. Can be shortened to “3-Oak”.
Tight aggressive – A style of poker that involves playing strong hands aggressively with bets and raises.
Tilt / On Tilt – Originally a pinball term, tilt refers to a state where the player loses control of their emotions and makes irrational decisions as a result, usually following a bad beat or perceived injustice.
Time Bank – An additional time allowance for players to make decisions. Time banks are standard online and are used in some high-stakes live tournaments.
Top Pair – The highest pair that can be made using one of the community cards and a hole card.
Tournament – A popular format of poker in which players pay a fixed buy-in in exchange for a starting stack of chips. The aim is to progress as far as possible in the game, with payouts heavily weighted towards the final table and the outright winner.
Tournament Director – A senior casino staff member responsible for overseeing the entire poker tournament, including floor staff, and resolving any disputes.
Top Pair Top Kicker – A poker hand that includes the highest possible pair given the board, along with the strongest kicker. Can be abbreviated to “TPTK”.
Trapping – Slowplaying and disguising the strength of a strong hand with the specific intention of enticing opponents into making bets or raises.
Triple Barrel – To bet on three consecutive streets, such as the flop, turn, and river.
Trips – A three-of-a-kind hand made using one of your hole cards and two community cards. The same hand strength as a set, but not as well hidden.
Turn – The fourth community card in games like Hold’em and Omaha.
Two Gapper – A starting hand that contains cards that are two values apart, such as T-7 or 8-5.
Two Pair – A poker hand containing two different pairs and an unconnected fifth card.
Two-Tone – Any board that only contains cards of two suits, usually in the context of two flush draws being available.
U
Underdog – A widely used term for the player who is least likely to win. In poker hand matchups, it refers to the player who statistically has the lowest probability of winning the hand.
Upcard – Any card that is dealt face-up in poker, as opposed to face down, such as the fourth street in Stud.
Upswing – A sustained period of winning results.
UTG – Shorthand for “under the gun”, the first player to act after the big blind.
Under-the-Gun – The first player to act after the big blind and one of the worst positions at the poker table.
V
Value Bet – A bet made by a player who believes they are ahead with the intention of getting called by a worse hand. Designed to extract chips.
Variance – A poker term for the short-term statistical volatility, commonly referred to as chance, that is inherent in poker.
Variant – Different forms of poker, such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Stud.
Vigorish – Another term for the rake in a poker game. Often shortened simply to “vig”.
Villain – When discussing hand histories, the term villain is often used to describe an opponent.
Volume – The number of cash game hands or tournaments played over a given period of time.
VPIP – Short for “Voluntarily Put in Pot”, a statistic illustrating how frequently a player calls or raises preflop to give an indication of their preflop range.
Vulnerable Hand – A poker hand that is likely ahead on the current street, but is at risk of being outdrawn on later streets.
W
Walk – When all players fold around, the big blind will win the pot by default. This is known as a walk-in.
Whale – Slightly derogatory poker slang term for a player who likes to splash money around in high stakes games, but doesn’t necessarily have the skill to back it up.
Wet Board – A board texture that includes connected and suited cards, making draws more likely.
Wheel – A five-high straight using the lowest cards in the deck, the A-2-3-4-5.
Whiff – To completely miss the board, to have no made hand or draw after the flop.
Wild – A nominated card, such as a Joker, or a deuce in Deuces Wild, that can represent and substitute for other cards in the deck.
Wrap – An Omaha term referring to a powerful straight draw with as many as 20 outs.
WSOP – The World Series of Poker, known as WSOP, is perhaps the best-known and most illustrious poker event on the planet.
WPT – Common abbreviation for the World Poker Tour, a series of televised international tournaments dating back to 2002.
WSD – Stands for “Win at Showdown”. A poker HUD stat that shows how often a player won the pot when the cards were flipped after the final betting round.
X-Y
There are no common terms in poker beginning with the letters “X” or “Y”.
Z
Zone Poker – see Zoom Poker.
Zoom Poker – A type of fast-fold poker game in which players can fold in advance and move immediately to a different table with a new hand. Zoom poker is popular at major online poker sites.
FAQs
What is the difference between poker slang and official poker terminology?
Poker slang is informal, player-created language that varies by table and culture. Official poker terminology is standardized language used to clearly describe rules, actions, and strategy.
How to understand poker terminology?
Poker terminology can seem like a minefield at first, but with time and experience you’ll come to understand the main terms used. To accelerate your learning, check out the CardPlayer glossary of poker terms.
What are the most common poker terms?
The most common terms in poker relate to important aspects of gameplay, such as positions, betting actions, and nicknames of hands.
How to learn poker terms quickly?
If you want to learn poker terms quickly, check out the CardPlayer glossary of poker terms for hundreds of essential phrases. Then, use these phrases at the tables to reinforce your learning.
What are the 10 types of hands in poker?
The ten types of hands in the poker hand rankings, in order of best to worst, are royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card.
What are the betting actions in poker?
The betting actions you can take in poker are check, bet, call, raise or fold.