Poker Glossary of Terms

A one-off purchase of extra chips offered when the rebuy period ends, usually at a discount compared with the buy-in. In most rebuy events it is the best-priced chips you will ever be offered — see why taking the add-on is almost always right.

Putting every chip you have in front of you into the pot. Once all in, you cannot be bet out of the hand, but you can only win the portion of the pot you were able to match.

A forced bet, usually from every player at the table, paid into the pot before the cards are dealt. Once a staple of draw games, antes now appear mostly in the later stages of tournaments — a 500 small blind, 1,000 big blind and 100 ante, for example.

A draw that needs two more cards to complete rather than one. Holding A♥6♥ on a flop with a single heart, you can still backdoor the nut flush if both the turn and the river come hearts.

A strong hand losing to a weaker one that got lucky. Two players commit everything before the flop with pocket tens against pocket fives, and the fives spike a set — that is a bad beat for the tens.

Playing the same kinds of hands in different ways, and different kinds of hands in the same way, so opponents cannot narrow down what you hold. A balanced player is hard to read because their actions do not map neatly onto hand strength.

Handling your poker money so that normal bad runs cannot wipe you out. The point is to survive variance long enough for your edge to show. See how many buy-ins each format needs, then run your roll through the variance simulator.

A forced bet posted before the deal by the player two seats to the left of the dealer button. Together with the small blind it seeds every pot and gives players a reason to enter with more than premium hands. See playing the blinds for how to defend it.

A card that is very unlikely to have changed anyone’s hand. On a 10♠ J♠ 7♦ flop with action, a 3♥ on the turn is a blank — it improves almost nothing anyone could plausibly hold.

A card in your own hand that removes combinations from an opponent’s possible holdings. Holding the ace of diamonds on a two-diamond board means the nut flush draw is impossible for anyone else, which changes how you should treat their bets.

A bet made to win the pot without showing the best hand. A pure bluff has almost no chance at showdown and only wins if the opponent folds. See the right spot and person to bluff, and how much to bet.

Slang for a full house — three cards of one rank plus two of another.

A cash prize awarded for knocking a specific player out of a tournament. In bounty formats a share of every buy-in is set aside as a bounty, paid to you the moment you eliminate that player.

A physical casino or card room, as opposed to an online poker site.

A forced bet in stud games posted after the first cards are dealt, by the player showing either the lowest or highest upcard depending on the variant.

The ten, jack, queen, king and ace — the five cards that make the highest possible straight, which is itself called Broadway.

The point in a tournament just before the payouts begin, and by extension the last player eliminated without cashing. Play tightens sharply around it. Large events sometimes pay the bubble a small consolation.

The top card of the deck, set aside face down before each street is dealt. It protects the game against anyone who has managed to see or mark the next card, and it has stayed in the rules long after the original need.

The dealer position, marked by a small disc that moves one seat clockwise every hand. The button acts last on every street after the flop, which makes it the most profitable seat at the table.

Matching the current bet to stay in the hand, without raising.

Asking the floor to put a time limit on a player who is taking too long to act. Once the clock is called the player has a fixed period — the exact length varies by room and is set out in the Poker TDA rules most card rooms follow — and if they still have not acted, the hand is dead.

The rule that the cards themselves decide the winner at showdown, regardless of what a player says they have. Misdeclaring your hand does not cost you the pot if the cards are better than you claimed.

Leaving a game and exchanging your chips for money. Online, it means withdrawing funds from your account.

Passing the action to the next player without betting, when no bet has been made in front of you. Done verbally or by tapping the table.

Checking with the intention of raising once an opponent bets. It works because it turns their aggression against them, and it is the main reason you cannot assume a check means weakness.

Deliberately losing chips to another player to build their stack — cheating, and against the rules everywhere. It only really makes sense in tournaments, which is where it is watched for.

The procedure for removing low-denomination chips from a tournament once the blinds have outgrown them. Odd chips are rounded up or raced off so nobody loses value.

An online term for the smallest legal raise — literally clicking the raise button without changing the amount. Sometimes used deliberately to induce a call.

A confrontation where both hands have roughly even chances. Ace-king against a pocket pair like tens is the classic example: the pair is a slight favourite, but close enough that nobody can complain about the outcome.

Originally a deck secretly arranged so that the mark could not win. Now used for a stretch of bad luck, or for a single hand where the cards fell in a way nobody could have played around.

Two or more players secretly working together at the same table — sharing hole-card information or soft playing each other — to take money from the rest. Cheating, and grounds for a ban.

The face-up cards in the middle of the table shared by every player — the flop, turn and river in Hold’em and Omaha.

Two cards of consecutive rank, like 7-8 or 10-J. Their value comes from making straights. See suited connectors for the version that also makes flushes.

A bet on the flop from the player who raised before it, regardless of whether the flop helped them. Sometimes it is a bluff, sometimes it protects a hand that is probably best. See six flops, six c-bet answers — and when firing just burns chips.

A hand where both players hold something so strong that neither can reasonably fold, and one of them is simply going to lose a lot. Aces against kings before the flop is the standard example.

Calling a bet you expect to lose, either because the pot odds are too good to fold or in the faint hope of catching a bluff.

The seat immediately to the right of the button. Second-best position at the table, and a common seat to try a steal from.

A hand that can no longer win the pot. Hands go dead for exposing cards in a tournament, touching the muck, or failing to act after the clock has been called.

Chips in the pot from players who have already folded or are clearly beaten. Six limpers before the flop leave a lot of dead money, which is why a big raise from the big blind can be profitable even with a mediocre hand.

A format where the player on the button chooses which game is played that hand. Mostly a home-game tradition, though some casinos spread it.

A bet into the previous street’s aggressor by the player who only called there. Named because inexperienced players do it without a plan, but it has legitimate uses on boards that favour the caller’s range.

In stud, the first face-up card each player receives. In flop games, occasionally used for the first card of the flop to be exposed.

Cards dealt face down, seen only by the player holding them.

Having no card left in the deck that can win you the pot. Holding the bottom end of a straight against the top end is a common way to get there.

Having very few outs. Set against a higher set, you are drawing to the one remaining card of your rank — alive, but only just.

A flop with few possible draws. 2♣ 6♠ J♥ offers no flush draw and barely a straight draw, so bets on it mean something different from bets on a coordinated board.

Your share of the pot if the hand were played out to showdown every possible way. A flush draw on the flop has about 35% equity against a made hand. The odds calculator gives you exact numbers for any matchup.

The average result of a decision if you could make it thousands of times. A +EV play makes money in the long run even when it loses this time; a −EV play loses in the long run even when it happens to win.

A card accidentally shown during the deal. If one player sees it, the rule is that everyone must see it, so nobody gains an edge from the accident.

A pot that most of the table stays in to see the flop.

The fifth card dealt. In Hold’em and Omaha that is the river; in stud it is the fifth card each player receives.

A weak player — one who does not know the game well or does not care to play it properly. See the four player archetypes and their exploits.

Calling a bet with a weak hand, planning to take the pot away on a later street when the opponent shows weakness.

The first three community cards, dealt together after the first betting round.

Five cards of the same suit. Between two flushes, the one with the highest card wins. Full order in the hand rankings.

The extra value a bet or raise gets from the chance the opponent folds. It is why a semi-bluff can be profitable even when the draw usually misses.

A rule in some rooms that moving chips toward the pot commits you to the bet, even if you pull back. It stops players from faking an action to see how opponents react.

Four cards of the same rank. Also called quads.

The fourth card dealt. In Hold’em and Omaha that is the turn; in stud it is each player’s fourth card.

A tournament with no entry fee that still pays real prizes. Used by sites to attract new players. See the freeroll sites worth a US player’s time.

Three cards of one rank plus two of another. Also called a boat. Between two full houses, the higher three-of-a-kind wins.

A table with nine or ten seats, as opposed to six-max or shorter-handed games.

A player who makes a living from small but consistent profit, usually at modest stakes over huge volume. Also the nickname of Michael Mizrachi, inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025.

A straight draw that can only be completed by one rank — four outs instead of eight. Holding 6-7 on a 3-4-K flop, only a five completes your straight.

A mixed game rotating through five variants: Hold’em, Omaha hi-lo, Razz, Seven-card Stud and Seven-card Stud hi-lo (Eight or better). See surviving the round switches in H.O.R.S.E..

A stage near the bubble where every table must finish its current hand before any table deals the next one. It stops short stacks from stalling until someone else busts.

Poker between exactly two players, either as a format or as the final stage of a tournament. Hand values and aggression change completely. See why heads-up position flips after the flop.

Calling a big bet with a hand that only beats a bluff. If the opponent has anything real, you lose — the point is you have decided they do not.

A hand with no pair or better, ranked by its highest card. Ace-high beats king-high. The weakest made hand in the hand rankings.

The seat two to the right of the button, immediately before the cutoff.

The private cards dealt face down to each player.

Independent Chip Model — a way of converting tournament chips into their real money value, since chips are worth less as you accumulate them. It is why folding a coin flip near the bubble can be correct. See why a tournament chip isn’t a dollar, or run the numbers in the ICM calculator.

The odds you are really getting once you count the money you expect to win on later streets if you hit. A draw that is wrong to call on pot odds alone can be right on implied odds. See the five questions that decide a thin call, with worked examples.

The stage of a tournament where every remaining player is guaranteed a payout.

A raise made to get heads-up against one weak player by driving everyone else out.

Another word for rake — the house’s cut. In tournaments it is a fee on top of the buy-in; in cash games it is taken from each pot.

A card that does not form part of a made hand but breaks ties. Two players with a pair of aces: the higher second card wins. Full tie-break order in the hand rankings.

Loose-aggressive — a style that plays a wide range of hands and bets and raises with most of them.

Entering a pot by just calling the big blind instead of raising.

A weak player who is expected to lose. Close cousin of fish.

A player far looser and more aggressive than an ordinary LAG — in nearly every pot, betting and raising constantly. See how to play against a maniac.

A deal that is invalid and must be redone — a player missing a hole card, cards dealt out of order, or the first card exposed. Once noticed it cannot be patched; the hand is dealt again.

The pile of folded cards — and, as a verb, to fold, or to throw away your hand without showing it after the pot is decided.

A tournament spread across many tables, merged as players bust, until only the final table remains. See tournament strategy for each stage of the journey.

A player who is far too tight: waits for the strongest starting hands and then plays even those timidly.

The best possible low hand in a hi-lo game. Also used, jokingly, for the worst possible hand in a high-only game.

The best possible hand given the board. Sometimes used loosely for a hand that cannot realistically be beaten — aces full on an A-2-2-K-7 board is the nuts for practical purposes.

Putting a single large chip into the pot without saying anything counts as a call, not a raise. To raise with one chip you must announce it.

To make the first raise in a betting round.

Entering a pot as the first player in by just calling the big blind.

A straight draw that can be completed from either end — eight outs. Holding 7-8 on a 5-6-K board, any four or nine makes your straight.

Cards still in the deck that improve your hand to a winner. An open-ended straight draw has eight; a flush draw has nine. Outs × 4 on the flop, × 2 on the turn turns them into percentages.

A bet larger than the pot.

A card on the board higher than your pocket pair. Holding pocket nines, any ten or above is an overcard.

A pocket pair higher than every card on the board.

Face cards — jacks, queens and kings.

Two cards of the same rank.

A style built on calling and checking rather than betting and raising. Passive players let opponents set the price and hope to reach showdown cheaply.

Having hole cards that add nothing to the five community cards, so your best hand is the board itself.

Another name for hole cards.

Two hole cards of the same rank. The small ones are the hardest to play well — see why small pairs are lottery tickets.

An expression and manner that gives away nothing about your hand.

Where you sit relative to the button, which decides when you act. Acting last is a large, permanent advantage — you see what everyone else does before you decide.

All the chips wagered in the current hand.

The price the pot is offering you on a call. Facing a $20 bet into a $100 pot, you are getting 5:1. Weighing that price against your equity is the whole skill, and the pot odds calculator does the arithmetic.

Having so much of your stack in the pot that folding is no longer sensible, even with a weak hand, because the price to call is tiny relative to what you could win.

To move all in.

Four of a kind.

Looking at what the next cards would have been after a hand ends early. Most rooms do not allow it.

Low, unconnected cards unlikely to make anything.

The area around a table where spectators watch. To rail someone is to watch them play.

A board with no two cards of the same suit, so no flush draw is possible.

The house’s cut from each cash-game pot, or the fee on top of a tournament buy-in.

A percentage of the rake you paid returned to you as a reward. Common online; live rooms use comps instead.

The full set of hands a player could plausibly hold given how they have played so far. Thinking in ranges rather than trying to guess one exact hand is the single biggest step from beginner to competent.

Quietly taking chips off the table during a cash game. Not allowed — chips stay in play until you leave.

Buying a fresh stack after busting during the early part of a tournament that allows it. The economics are more subtle than they look: only one of the rebuy options is actually a profit, and busting early costs less than you think.

A cash game — one where chips have a fixed money value and you can leave whenever you like, as opposed to a tournament. See cash game strategy.

The fifth and final community card.

A player who moves between games looking for the softest one. The 1998 film Rounders took its title from the term.

Ten through ace, all of one suit — the best possible hand.

A tournament whose prize is entry to a bigger tournament rather than cash. In a satellite every prize is the same prize, which changes how every hand is played.

A bet with a hand that is probably not best now but has real chances to improve. It can win two ways — the opponent folds, or the draw comes in.

Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching card on the board. Stronger and better disguised than trips, which uses one hole card and a pair on the board.

A strong, experienced player who is expected to win.

A tournament format where each table plays down to one winner before the winners are combined into new tables.

The end of the hand, when remaining players reveal their cards and the best hand takes the pot.

A single-table tournament that starts as soon as enough players have registered, rather than at a scheduled time. See the three stages of a sit and go.

Deliberately delaying revealing a winning hand at showdown to needle the loser. Not against the rules, but universally considered bad form.

The smaller of the two forced bets, posted by the player immediately left of the button. Usually half the big blind, and the worst seat at the table because it acts first after the flop.

Going easy on a particular opponent — checking instead of betting, or not raising a strong hand — to spare them chips. A form of collusion.

A large re-raise after one player has raised and one or more have called, aimed at forcing everyone out and taking the dead money.

Paying some or all of a player’s buy-in in exchange for a share of their winnings.

An optional blind bet, usually double the big blind, posted before the cards are dealt by the player left of the big blind. It buys the right to act last before the flop. Cash games only.

Five cards in sequence, of mixed suits — 5-6-7-8-9, for example. An ace can be high (10-J-Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5), but cannot wrap around.

Five cards in sequence, all of one suit. Beaten only by a higher straight flush.

Two consecutive cards of the same suit, like 8♠ 9♠. They can make both straights and flushes, which is what makes them worth playing cheaply. They only pay in three spots — see the position, depth and multiway requirements.

Anything a player does that leaks information about their hand — a glance, a timing pattern, a change in breathing. Online, tells are mostly about timing and bet sizing. See the ten online tells that actually mean something.

Three cards of the same rank. Called a set when made with a pocket pair, and trips when made with one hole card.

The third bet in a round — a re-raise of the first raise. A four-bet is the raise after that. Counting starts with the big blind as the first bet.

Playing badly because emotion has taken over — after a bad beat, a needle from an opponent, or something unrelated to poker. See how to reset after a bad beat, before the next hand.

Three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board. See set.

The fourth community card, dealt after the flop betting round. Also called fourth street.

Two cards of one rank and two of another. Between two two-pair hands, the higher top pair wins.

The first player to act before the flop — immediately left of the big blind. The hardest seat to open from, because everyone else gets to see what you do.

A bet made with what you believe is the best hand, sized to get called by worse.

The normal swings in results caused by luck rather than skill. Large enough in poker that a winning player can lose for weeks; bankroll management exists to absorb it.

When everyone folds to the big blind, who collects the blinds and antes without playing a hand.

The World Series of Poker — the largest festival of poker tournaments, held every summer in Las Vegas since 1970. The official WSOP site carries the schedule and results.