Poker Dictionary
A Texas Holdem poker dictionary is more or less necessary for new players. All the different poker slang and poker terms that are related to poker is not easy to understand unless a poker dictionary is available. Find out what the different Poker terms are all about.
Poker Terms
Poker is a technical game with its own poker language. There are many unknown poker phrases and a lot of poker jargon flying around which is why a poker dictionary is needed for new players. We have created a comprehensive poker glossary guide to help especially new players to the game to get a full understanding of the poker lingo.
The guide is being updated regularly as poker language as all other languages are developing every day and new poker slang is created. This poker dictionary is the best way to begin your poker adventure.
3 bet
This expression is used about the second raise (re-raise) taking place in a hand. Many players to not fully understand this poker term but as the big blind are to be considered a bet (blind bet) then it makes sense. Blind (first bet), A raiser (second bet) and finally a re-raiser (3-bet) might help to understand the poker phrase 3 bet a little better.
4 times BB, x times Big Blind
Poker bets should always be related to the size of the pot which is why the poker term x times Big blind are used for the initial first raise in a hand. There are many different opinions regarding how big the first raise should be but overall it will seldom be wrong to raise the pot with 3 times BB when entering it.
ABC player or book player
You will be surprised to find out how many players who play according to what poker books suggest. Book are supposed to be guidelines and make players think about how to play in different scenarious and should not be used as a stringent way of playing poker. ABC players are very easy opponents to play against
Aces up
Aces up are a poker term for two pair where one of the pairs is aces.
Act, act out of turn
An act is when you decide to fold, call, bet or raise. Acting out of turn describes if a player make a move on the table before it was his turn to act. Acting out of turn is not well seen and should never be done deliberately.
Air, He had air
Air is poker slang for a bluff. Often players reporting about a hand and wins the show down will use the poker lingo “he had air” to describe that the opponent had nothing to show.
All in or AI
This scenario is when a player commits his last chips in the pot. He then announces- I am all in.
American Airlines
Poker jargon for Aces also often called AA
Angle or Angle shooting
Players looking for small tricks to get an advantage are said to be angle shooting. This causes them a lot of grief amongst other players. Even poker is a game for money then most players act in a decent way. Actually many players are really good friends outside the table and angle shooting is definitely not something that should be done on purpose as friends are lost this way.
Ante, Ante Up
Antes come in to play at later stages in poker tournaments. All players need to Ante up and the pots get bigger. A lot of strategy come in to place in tournaments when the Antes are up.
Backdoor, Backdoor straight, Backdoor flush, Backdoor draw
Poker hands should seldom only have one way of winning the pot. Backdoor draws can be very powerful because they are well hidden. Backdoor means that a player have to use both the turn and river card to complete his backdoor draw. A player holding two diamonds on his hand and where the flop comes with 1 diamond only has a backdoor flush draw as he need both turn and river to be diamonds to complete his hand. It is very bad poker to draw for backdoors. Backdoors are supposed to be backup winning possibilities and not something to rely on in a hand.
Bad beat
This poker lingo refers to situations where a player in trouble with his hand draws out on his opponent. He then gave a bad beat. Many players enjoy telling why they lost and how lucky their opponent was. Poker is a game where bad beats happen all the time and the right way to treat bad beats are to smile and come to the conclusion that your opponent made a pot odds mistake in the hand or misread the situation. New players do not fully understand the mathematics in poker and often talk about bad beats that are not really bad beats at all. AK all in pre flop against J7 do not win much more than 6 out of 10 times and it is certainly not even close to be a bad beat.
Bankroll, bankroll management, BR
Money is ammunition in poker. It is important at all times to preserve your bankroll so you do not need to reload your account. Many poker players play way to high stakes compared to their bankroll. Good players have a strong and selective bankroll management which is why they are excellent players. Players who deposit $100 is often seen jump directly in on a 0.5-1 table. The risj of ruin are enourmus and this scenario should be avoided at all times.
Belly buster
A belly buster draw is often well hidden and wins big pots. The poker nick name refers to a gut shot draw also called inside straight draw. You hold T8 and the board show K96. Any 7 complete you Belly buster draw. It is not advisable to draw to Belly busters unless there are additional draws or effective stack sizes are very big.
Big slick
This poker term refer to the hand Ace King also named as AK. It has for many years been accepted poker lingo amongst players to tal about Big Slick instead of AK. The little sister AQ are referred to as Big Chick but this is seldom used by players these days.
Big Blind
When playing poker there must be posted 2 blinds every hand. These are called small and big blind. Big blind is seated 2 seats to the left of the dealer and is the second person to act after the flop. Blind positions are terrible spots as more or less all other players get to see the action of Big Blind before they have to act themselves. Big Blind will only be able to have position on the small blind. All players will in a round become the big blind once, it is mandatory. Big blind are sometimes wrongly taken for Big Bet. Ina $2-4 game the big blind is $2 and a big bet is $4.
Blinds
Blinds were created to make sure there was a pot to play for in poker. The term blinds are used because players post money in the pot before they receive their hole cards which make the bet a blind bet. Blinds are in principle the only expense that is forced when playing poker. See small blind and big bland for further comment on blinds.
Blocker, Blocker cards
Blocker cards are cards you hold in your hand that prevents your opponent from hitting one of those. On a board with all clubs- if you hold a club in your hand then your opponent will only draw to 8 outs instead of 9. Blockers can be essential in odds calculations. In general blockers are a term mostly discussed in PLO and Stud.
Blocker bet, blocking bet
This is an often used strategy to save money in a pot. A blocker bet is often a small bet compared to the pot size. It is used to prevent your opponents from making a big bet that you know you can not call or to find out if you have the worst hand.
Board
The poker jargons for the cards all players can see are board or board cards. Community cards would be the long poker description for the same thing. The board is the 3 flop cards, 1 turn card and the 1 river card.
Boat
This is the short version for announcing you have a full house. A boat consists of 3 of a kind and a pair. 77722 or AAAKK. Boats are very powerful poker hands.
Brick, Blank
This poker expression refers to a card that seems to be absolutely useless for your opponent.
Bubble
This poker term refer to the last player to exit the tournament before being in the money.
Bubble boy
The player who is the last one to leave the tournament without being paid is called Bubbly boy. Players should remember to raise a lot of hands when getting close to the Bubble as no one wants to be Bubble boy and leave the tournament empty handed.
Button
This poker word describes who the dealer is. It is the best position at the table and also the most profitable spot overall. The button is psychically a small puck that rotates clockwise after every hand.
C-Bet also called continuation bet
When poker players talk about the continuation bet it describes a bet that follows the initial raise. It is powerful to C-bet because if you are the aggressor and your opponent did not hit the flop you will often take the pot down. C-bet size is between 50%-70% of the pot size.
Calling station
This is one of the most beautiful words in poker. A calling station is players who only check and call and let you control the game. There are no better opponents to play and if a calling station ever raises you then you better much your cards in a hurry.
Check raise /CR
If you flop a semi good hand (2 pair or lower) it is often correct to check and raise if your opponent bets. Good hands should most often be bet as this increase the chance of winning a big pot. A check raise is a very powerful move in poker and if you are check raised you need to evaluate your hand carefully before proceeding.
Chip dumping
When players pass chips or money to each other it is called chip dumping. In online poker it is often used by players to avoid making a deposit. However it is and always will be illegal to chip dumb and this should be avoided by all means.
Chop
A chop is when the pot is split in equal parts. The poker phrase are also used if a final table deal is made.
Cutoff
This poker term is used about the seat just next to the dealer button.
Dominated, Dominated hand
AQ are dominated by AK. This is because there is a shared card so the kicker decides the outcome of the hand. Dominated hands wins around 30% of the time. It is a very profitable situation to dominate your opponent’s hand. This is why hands like AQ, AJ, KQ and KJ seldom should be played if an opponent have raised or you are being re raised. You might be dominated and have to proceed really careful in pots where you hit top pair.
Donk, Donkey, Fish
Not a flattering word. If someone calls you a donk then do not argue it. It is perfect if someone’s perception of you is that you are a donk.
Drawing dead
This poker term describes a situation where a player simply can not win the hand no matter what cards are dealt. Often seen when players are dealt flush over flush.
Early position
This refers to player’s relative position on the table compared to the dealer button. The earlier a player is to act the more tightly a player should consider playing as there are many players to act behind him. Hands like 99, 88, AQ are to be considered throwing in the muck from early position at a 9 or 10- handed poker table.
Equity
This is a mathematical term who expresses how much of a pot a player in principle should be awarded on average. In a $500 pot where a player has 48.5% chance of winning the players equity would be 500*0.485= 242.5. Pot size multiplied with the chance of winning the hand gives the equity.
Expected value/EV
Poker is all about making positive expected value decisions. Calling a 10 times raise with pocket 4s will not bring long term positive Expected value where as a 2-3 times raise can be called with a pocket pair for set value.
Float/ Floating the flop or turn
Floating is something that can be done in position only. The theory behind is that your opponent did not hit the flop and by floating (even with nothing) you intend to take the pot away at a later street.
Flop
The flop is the poker term for the first 3 community cards that are dealt. All players can use the cards on the flop to create the best 5 card poker hand possible. In No Limit poker the flop is very crucial as players already now know 5/7 cards. Most of the time pots should be given up if your hole cards do not connect to the flop.
Flush Draw
A flush draw is when a player holds four of the same suit and only misses one more card in that suit to complete the flush. If a player only holds three cards in the same suit the flush draw is referred to as a backdoor flush draw. Flush draws can be very expensive to try and hit. Pot odds and effective stack sizes have to be considered carefully before proceeding with a naked flush draw. Any combo draw together with a flush draw is hard to throw away but naked flush draws are always to be considered.
Fourth Street
This is the forth community card being dealt also called The Turn.
Fifth Street
This is the fifth community card being dealt also call The River which completes the hand as no more cards are being dealt in Texas Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha.
Freeroll/free rolling
A freeroll can refer to a tournament without any buy in but still the tournament would award some kind of monetary prizes.
Freeroll can also refer to a situation where a player has not rsik of losing the pot but could win the whole pot. Both players hold AK with one of them holding AK of clubs. If the flop contains two clubs then the player with AKc freeroll for the full pot.
Freezeout
This is the most often used standard poker tournament form where a player is out when he loses all his tournament chips.
[9/25/2009 10:50:50 PM] Henrik Witt: Gut shot
A gut shot draw in poker refers to a hand where one card is missing to complete the straight. The card missing is a specific card in the middle of the straight which means there is only 4 outs opposed to a open ended straight draw that has 8 outs. If you hold 86 and the board is K45 then the 7 will complete your straight. Gut shot draws are well hidden and opponents seldom have a chance to guess your hand which often creates big pots when you hit a gut shut. To draw for a gut shut straight draw it is important that your opponent has a lot of chips in his stack that you can win.
Gap Concept
The gap concept is invented by David Sklansky and this poker term refers to the fact that you can open the betting with more hands than you can call with. Raising with KQ is a lot stronger than calling with it. The gap concept can also be used in tournaments at late stages where your opponents will respect raises made from early position because they will think you are strong.
Going South
Moving chips from a cash game table is referred to as Going South which is very unethical behavior and against all rules in a live poker room. Online players who leave a poker table can not join the same table again with less money than was removed from the table.
Hand History /HH
Online poker is a great thing because all hand histories are stored on your computer which means it is possible to analyze the hands after a session and find eventual leaks and correct them before playing again.
Heads Up /HU
This poker term is used when only 2 players are in the hand. The poker expression is also used about special poker tables where only 2 players can sit down and play.
Heater
It often happens that a specific player has a really good run and wins many pots in row which is called a heater. The poker jargon is also used to describe tournament players who perform well in consecutive poker tournaments.
HORSE
HORSE has become a very popular game these days because of the monster $50.000 WSOP HORSE event. The letters in HORSE each refer to a poker variation. H= Fixed Limit Hold’em O= Omaha Hi/Lo R= Razz S= Seven card stud and finally E Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo.
Implied odds
Implied odds are a poker term which is used to describe the expected winnings if you make your hand on a later betting round. Often huge implied odds are needed to call a bet from your opponent if you are on a drawing hand.
In position
This poker jargon is used often and tells that the player is having the advantage of being in position meaning that he will know all other players action when it is his turn to act. Position is extremely important in poker and the button is the most valuable spot to sit in.
Inside straight draw
Read about this under “Gut Shot”
Isolation/ isolating
This is a very strong poker strategy where a raise or reraise is used to isolate a player so you get to play against him heads up in the pot.