Poker Dictionary
This is the poker dictionary. We have divided the terms for more convenient browsing and less scrolling through the poker terms.
Action
(1) Opportunity to act. If a player appears
not to realize it's his turn, the dealer will say "Your action, sir."
(2) Bets and raises. "If a third heart hits the board and there's a lot of
action, you have to assume that somebody has made the flush."
All-In
To run out of chips while betting or calling. In table stakes games, a player
may not go into his pocket for more money during a hand. If he runs out, a side
pot is created in which he has no interest. However, he can still win the pot
for which he had the chips. Example: "Poor Bob - he made quads against the big
full house, but he was all-in on the second bet."
Ante
A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the
beginning of a poker hand. Most hold'em games do not have an ante; they use
"blinds" to get initial money into the pot.
Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For instance,
suppose you have As- 7s. The flop comes Ad-6c-4s. You bet and are called. The
turn is the Ts, which everybody checks, and then the river is the Js. You've
made a "backdoor" nut flush. See also "runner."
Bad Beat
To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored hand. It is
generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the
pot at all, and it was the wildest of luck that he managed to catch the one card
in the deck that would win the pot. We won't give any examples, you will hear
plenty of them during your poker career.
Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand. If the flop
is As-Jd-Ts, then a turn card of 2h would be considered a blank. On the other
hand, the 2s would not be.
Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before any cards are
dealt. Typically, blinds are put in by players immediately to the left of the
button. See also "Live blind."
Board
All the community cards in a hold'em game - the flop, turn, and river cards
together. Example: "There wasn't a single heart on the board."
Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and the flop comes
Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.
Burn
To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each
betting round before putting out the next community card(s). It is security
against any player recognizing or glimpsing the next card to be used on the
board.
Button
A white acrylic disk to indicate who is the (nominal) dealer. Also used to refer
to the player on the button. Example: "Oh, the button raised."
Buy
(1) As in "buy the pot." To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called.
(2) As in "buy the button." To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you
and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.
Calling Station
A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. This is
the kind of player you like to have in your game.
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the
third or fourth raise. Dealers in California are fond of saying "Capitola" or
"Cappuccino".
Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop came J-8-3; I've
got pocket jacks, he's got pocket 8's, and then the case eight falls on the
river and he beats my full house."
Center Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more
"side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main
pot."
Check Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets. Occasionally you will
hear people say this is not fair or ethical poker. Piffle. Almost all casinos
permit check-raising, and it is an important poker tactic. It is particularly
useful in low-limit hold'em where you need extra strength to narrow the field
when you have the best hand.
Check
(1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round.
Equivalent to betting zero dollars.
(2) Another word for "chip", as in poker chip.
Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the
first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after him
must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then
calling a subsequent raise.
Come Hand
A drawing hand (probably from the craps term).
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full house,
four of a kind, or straight flush.
Connector
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank.
Examples: KQs, 76.
Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it.
Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8
comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost
worthless.
Crack
To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often used to
apply to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."
Cripple
As in to cripple the deck. Meaning that you have most or all of the cards
that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket
kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.
Dog
Shortened form of "Underdog".
Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually
play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the exception of strange flops
(e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), it will always lose to KQ.
Draw Dead
Try to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you're
drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are
"drawing dead". Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.
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