Poker
Glossary
ACTION: A fold, check, call,
bet or raise. For certain situations
doing something formally connected
with the game that conveys information
about your hand may also be
considered as having taken action.
Examples would be showing your
cards at the end of the hand,
or indicating the number of
cards you are taking at draw.
AGGRESSIVE ACTION: A wager
that could enable a player to
win a pot without a showdown;
a bet or raise.
ALL-IN: When you have put all
of your playable money and chips
into the pot during the course
of a hand, you are said to be
all-in.
ANTE: A prescribed amount posted
before the start of a hand by
all players.
BET: The act of placing a wager
in turn into the pot on any
betting round or the chips put
in the pot.
BIG BLIND: The largest regular
blind in a game.
BLIND: A required bet made
before any cards are dealt.
BLIND GAME: A game which utilizes
a blind.
BOARD: (1) The board on which
a waiting list is kept for players
wanting seats in specific games.
(2) Cards faceup on the table
common to each of the hands.
BOARDCARD: A community card
in the center of the table,
as in holdem or Omaha.
BOXED CARD: A card that appears
faceup in the deck where all
other cards are facedown.
BROKEN GAME: A game no longer
in action.
BURNCARD: After the initial
round of cards is dealt, the
first card off the deck in each
round that is placed under a
chip in the pot, for security
purposes. To do so is to burn
the card; the card itself is
called the burncard.
BUTTON: A player who is in
the designated dealer position.
See dealer button.
BUTTON GAMES: Games in which
a dealer button is used.
BUY-IN: The minimum amount
of money required to enter any
game.
CALIFORNIA LOWBALL: Ace-to-five
lowball with a joker.
CARDS SPEAK: The face value
of a hand in a showdown is the
true value of the hand, regardless
of a verbal announcement.
CAPPED: Describes the situation
in limit poker in which the
maximum number of raises on
the betting round have been
reached.
CHECK: To waive the right to
initiate the betting in a round,
but to retain the right to act
if another player initiates
the betting.
CHECK-RAISE: To waive the right
to bet until a bet has been
made by an opponent, and then
to increase the bet by at least
an equal amount when it is your
turn to act.
COLLECTION: The fee charged
in a game (taken either out
of the pot or from each player).
COLLECTION DROP: A fee charged
for each hand dealt.
COLOR CHANGE: A request to
change the chips from one denomination
to another.
COMMON CARD: A card dealt faceup
to be used by all players at
the showdown in the games of
stud poker whenever there are
insufficient cards left in the
deck to deal each player a card
individually.
COMMUNITY CARDS: The cards
dealt faceup in the center of
the table that can be used by
all players to form their best
hand in the games of holdem
and Omaha.
COMPLETE THE BET: To increase
an all-in bet or forced bet
to a full bet in limit poker.
CUT: To divide the deck into
two sections in such a manner
as to change the order of the
cards.
CUT-CARD: Another term for
the bottom card.
DEAD CARD: A card that is not
legally playable.
DEAD COLLECTION BLIND: A fee
posted by the player having
the dealer button, used in some
games as an alternative method
of seat rental.
DEAD HAND: A hand that is not
legally playable.
DEAD MONEY: Chips that are
taken into the center of the
pot because they are not considered
part of a particular player's
bet.
DEAL: To give each player cards,
or put cards on the board. As
used in these rules, each deal
refers to the entire process
from the shuffling and dealing
of cards until the pot is awarded
to the winner.
DEALER BUTTON: A flat disk
that indicates the player who
would be in the dealing position
for that hand (if there were
not a house dealer). Normally
just called "the button."
DEAL OFF: To take all the blinds
and the button before changing
seats or leaving the table.
That is, participate through
all the blind positions and
the dealer position.
DEAL TWICE: When there is no
more betting, agreeing to have
the rest of the cards to come
determine only half the pot,
removing those cards, and dealing
again for the other half of
the pot.
DECK: A set of playing-cards.
In these games, the deck consists
of either:
(1) 52 cards in seven-card stud,
holdem, and Omaha.
(2) 53 cards (including the
joker), often used in ace-to-five
lowball and draw high.
DISCARD(S): In a draw game,
to throw cards out of your hand
to make room for replacements,
or the card(s) thrown away;
the muck.
DOWNCARDS: Cards that are dealt
facedown in a stud game.
DRAW: (1) The poker form where
players are given the opportunity
to replace cards in the hand.
In some places like California,
the word "draw" is
used referring to draw high,
and draw low is called "lowball."
(2) The act of replacing cards
in the hand. (3) The point in
the deal where replacing is
done is called "the draw."
FACECARD: A king, queen, or
jack.
FIXED LIMIT: In limit poker,
any betting structure in which
the amount of the bet on each
particular round is pre-set.
FLASHED CARD: A card that is
partially exposed.
FLOORPERSON: A casino employee
who seats players and makes
decisions.
FLOP: In holdem or Omaha, the
three community cards that are
turned simultaneously after
the first round of betting is
complete.
FLUSH: A poker hand consisting
of five cards of the same suit.
FOLD: To throw a hand away
and relinquish all interest
in a pot.
FOURTH STREET: The second upcard
in seven-card stud or the first
boardcard after the flop in
holdem (also called the turn
card).
FOULED HAND: A dead hand.
FORCED BET: A required wager
to start the action on the first
betting round (the normal way
action begins in a stud game).
FREEROLL: A chance to win something
at no risk or cost.
FULL BUY: A buy-in of at least
the minimum requirement of chips
needed for a particular game.
FULL HOUSE: A hand consisting
of three of a kind and a pair.
HAND: (1) All a player's personal
cards. (2) The five cards determining
the poker ranking. (3) A single
poker deal.
HEADS-UP PLAY: Only two players
involved in play.
HOLECARDS: The cards dealt
facedown to a player.
INSURANCE: A side agreement
when someone is all-in for a
player in a pot to put up money
that guarantees a payoff of
a set amount in case the opponent
wins the pot.
JOKER: The joker is a "partially
wild card" in high draw
poker and ace-to-five lowball.
In high, it is used for aces,
straights, and flushes. In lowball,
the joker is the lowest unmatched
rank in a hand.
KANSAS CITY LOWBALL: A form
of draw poker low also known
as deuce-to-seven, in which
the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 and
straights and flushes count
against you.
KICKER: The highest unpaired
card that helps determine the
value of a five-card poker hand.
KILL (OR KILL BLIND): An oversize
blind, usually twice the size
of the big blind and doubling
the limit. Sometimes a "half-kill"
increasing the blind and limits
by fifty percent is used. A
kill can be either voluntary
or mandatory. The most common
requirements of a mandatory
kill are for winning two pots
in a row at lowball and other
games, or for scooping a pot
in high-low split.
KILL BUTTON: A button used
in a lowball game to indicate
a player who has won two pots
in a row and is required to
kill the pot.
KILL POT: A pot with a forced
kill by the winner of the two
previous pots, or the winner
of an entire pot of sufficient
size in a high-low split game.
(Some pots can be voluntarily
killed.)
LEG UP: Being in a situation
equivalent to having won the
previous pot, and thus liable
to have to kill the following
pot if you win the current pot.
LIVE BLIND: A blind bet giving
a player the option of raising
if no one else has raised.
LIST: The ordered roster of
players waiting for a game.
LOCK-UP: A chip marker that
holds a seat for a player.
LOWBALL: A draw game where
the lowest hand wins.
LOWCARD: The lowest upcard
at seven-card stud, which is
required to bet.
MISCALL: An incorrect verbal
declaration of the ranking of
a hand.
MISDEAL: A mistake on the dealing
of a hand which causes the cards
to be reshuffled and a new hand
to be dealt.
MISSED BLIND: A required bet
that is not posted when it is
your turn to do so.
MUCK: (1) The pile of discards
gathered facedown in the center
of the table by the dealer.
(2) To discard a hand.
MUST-MOVE: In order to protect
the main game, a situation where
the players of a second game
must move into the first game
as openings occur.
NO-LIMIT: Betting structure
where players are allowed to
wager any or all of their chips
in one bet.
OPENER: The player who made
the first voluntary bet.
OPENER BUTTON: A button used
to indicate who opened a particular
pot in a draw game.
OPENERS: In jacks-or-better
draw, the cards held by the
player who opens the pot that
show the hand qualifies to be
opened. Example: You are first
to bet and have a pair of kings;
the kings are called your openers.
OPTION: The choice to raise
a bet given to a player with
a blind.
OVERBLIND: Also called oversize
blind. A blind used in some
pots that is bigger than the
regular big blind, and usually
increases the stakes proportionally.
PASS: (1) Decline to bet. In
a pass-and-out game, this differs
from a check, because a player
who passes must fold. (2) Decline
to call a wager, at which point
you must discard your hand and
have no further interest in
the pot.
PAT: Not drawing any cards
in a draw game.
PLAY BEHIND: Have chips in
play that are not in front of
you (allowed only when waiting
for chips that are already purchased).
This differs from table stakes.
PLAY THE BOARD: Using all five
community cards for your hand
in holdem.
PLAY OVER: To play in a seat
when the occupant is absent.
PLAY OVER BOX: A clear plastic
box used to cover and protect
the chips of an absent player
when someone plays over that
seat.
POSITION: (1) The relation
of a player's seat to the blinds
or the button. (2) The order
of acting on a betting round
or deal.
POT-LIMIT: Betting structure
of a game in which you are allowed
to bet up to the amount of the
pot
POTTING OUT: Agreeing with
another player to take money
out of a pot, often to buy food,
cigarettes, or drinks, or to
make side bets.
PROPOSITION BETS: Side bets
between players that are not
related to the outcome of the
hand.
PROTECTED HAND: A hand of cards
that the player is physically
holding, or has topped with
a chip or some other object
to prevent a fouled hand.
PUSH: When a new dealer replaces
an existing dealer at a particular
table.
PUSHING BETS: The situation
in which two or more players
make an agreement to return
bets to each other when one
of them wins a pot in which
the other or others play. Also
called saving bets.
RACK: (1) A container in which
chips are stored while being
transported. (2) A tray in front
of the dealer, used to hold
chips and cards.
RAISE: To increase the amount
of a prior wager. This increase
must meet certain specifications,
depending on the game, to reopen
the betting and count toward
a limit on the number of raises
allowed.
RERAISE: To raise someone's
raise.
SAVING BETS: Same as pushing
bets.
SCOOP: To win both the high
and the low portions of a pot
in a split-pot game.
SCRAMBLE: A facedown mixing
of the cards.
SETUP: Two suited decks, each
with different colored backs,
to replace current decks in
a game.
SIDE POT: A separate pot formed
when one or more players are
all in.
SHORT BUY: A buy-in that is
less than the required minimum
buy-in.
SHOWDOWN: The final act of
determining the winner of the
pot after all betting is completed.
SHUFFLE: The act of mixing
the cards before a hand.
SMALL BLIND: In a game with
multiple blind bets, the smallest
blind.
SPLIT POT: A pot that is divided
among players, either because
of a tie for the best hand or
by agreement prior to the showdown.
SPLITTING BLINDS: When no one
else has entered the pot, an
agreement between the big blind
and small blind to each take
back their blind bets instead
of playing the deal (chopping).
SPLITTING OPENERS: In high
draw jacks-or-better poker,
dividing openers in hopes of
making a different type of hand.
Example: You open the pot with
a pair of aces. One of your
aces is a spade, as are the
three other cards in the hand.
If you throw away the non-spade
ace to go for the flush, you
announce to the table, "Splitting
openers."
STACK: Chips in front of a
player.
STRADDLE: An additional blind
bet placed after the forced
blinds, usually double the big
blind in size or in lowball,
a multiple blind game.
STRAIGHT: Five cards in consecutive
rank.
STRAIGHT FLUSH: Five cards
in consecutive rank of the same
suit.
STREET: Cards dealt on a particular
round in stud games. For instance,
the fourth card in a player's
hand is often known as fourth
street, the sixth card as sixth
street, and so on.
STRING RAISE: A bet made in
more than one motion, without
a declaration of a raise (not
allowed).
STUB: The portion of the deck
which has not been dealt.
SUPERVISOR: A cardroom employee
qualified to make rulings, such
as a floorperson, shift supervisor,
or the cardroom manager.
TABLE STAKES: (1) The amount
of money you have on the table.
This is the maximum amount that
you can lose or that anyone
can win from you on any one
hand. (2) The requirement that
players can wager only the money
in front of them at the start
of a hand, and can only buy
more chips between hands.
"TIME": An expression
used to stop the action on a
hand. Equivalent to "Hold
it."
TIME COLLECTION: A fee for
a seat rental, paid in advance.
TOURNAMENT: A poker competition,
normally with an entry fee and
prizes.
TURNCARD: The fourth street
card in holdem or Omaha.
UPCARDS: Cards that are dealt
faceup for opponents to see
in stud games.
WAGER: (1) To bet or raise.
(2) The chips used for betting
or raising.
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