If you are learning how to play poker and are new to this game, some of the terminology and slang you hear at the tables might throw you off. Understanding native player lingo and all of the abbreviations is a big part of learning even the basic poker rules.
This glossary will help you find and understand essential poker terms that players use in conversations and advance your knowledge of the game.
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W
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2-Bet – the first raise made in a betting street.
3-Bet – a re-raise.
4-Bet – a raise over a 3-bet.
5-Bet – a raise over a 4-bet.
6-Max – poker game with up to six players at a table.
A
Action Card – community card that gives many chances for players to improve their hands.
Aggressive – player who is constantly betting and raising.
All-In – an action of a player betting his entire stack.
Angle Shooting – trying to get an unfair advantage at the tables.
Ante – a mandatory bet usually posted by every single player at the table on each hand to incentivize action.
Any Two Cards – this term usually refers to a player who is playing all of the hands that he gets in a particular situation.
B
BB/100 – this term is used to measure the win rate in cash games and refers to how many big blinds you win per 100 hands.
Backer – a person who provides capital for poker players in exchange for a share of their winnings.
Bad Beat – a situation where a player loses a hand while being a big favorite to win.
Barrel – a slang term for continuing betting in a hand.
Bet – any wager made at a poker table.
Big Blind – position at a poker table that has to place a mandatory bet before the action starts.
Big Blind Ante – a mandatory bet placed by the player in the big blind position.
Blank – a card that does not change the board structure and is unlikely to be useful to any of the players.
Blocker – a card that reduces the chances of your opponent having a specific holding.
Bluff – a bet made with a weak hand in order to make your opponent fold a superior holding.
Board – community cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table for everyone to use.
Bomb Pot – a unique Texas Hold’em game variation where every player places a fixed bet before the flop, and the hand starts when the dealer deals the first free community cards, skipping preflop action.
Boat – a nickname for a full house hand.
Brick – a card on the turn or river that has very low chances of improving anyone’s hand.
Broadway – ace-high straight or any card from Ten to Ace.
Bubble – a situation in a tournament where the next player to go out gets nothing, and everyone else is guaranteed a payout.
Bum Hunting – a practice of only playing weak recreational players and following them around to sit at the same table.
Button – the most favorable position at the poker table.
Buy-In – the amount of money the player needs to pay to join the game.
C
Call – an action at the table that refers to matching the previously made bet.
Call the Clock – an action that gives another player a predefined time to act (usually 60 seconds), or he is forced to forfeit the hand.
Check – a move of passing the action to the next player without making a bet.
Chip Dumping – a deliberate action of losing the hand with the goal of giving some of your chips to another player.
Chip Leader – a person having the most chips in the tournament at any given time.
Chop – a situation where two or more players share the pot because they have the same hand.
Coin Flip – a situation in a hand where both players have almost the same chance of winning.
Cold Call – calling a raise or a re-reraise without being involved in the hand before this action.
Collusion – a situation where a few players are working together to gain an unfair advantage over others.
Color Up – a situation where smaller denomination chips are removed from play and replaced with larger denomination chips.
Combination – each variation of any possible hand is known as a separate combination since there are multiple ways to make each hand.
Community Cards – face-up cards dealt at the middle of the table that every player in the hand can use to make their combination.
Cooler – a situation where you lose a big pot with a very strong hand that couldn’t have been avoided.
Cutoff – a position at the poker table to the right of the dealer.
D
Dead Money – chips in the pot that are seemingly up for grabs without too much resistance.
Dealer – the last to act player sitting in the best position at the table or the person who is actually dealing the cards.
Discard – to throw away cards that you don’t want to play.
Donk Bet – a bet made by out-of-position players leading into a preflop aggressor.
Double Up – to win a pot where you wager all of your chips and double your stack as a result.
Downswing – a prolonged period of a losing stretch.
Draw – a hand that needs to hit specific cards to make a strong holding.
Drawing Dead – a situation where no cards in the deck can help you win this particular hand.
Dry Board – community cards that are disconnected from each other and do not create any apparent draws.
E
Early Position – seats at the poker table where players are the first to act before the flop.
Edge – describe an advantage a player has over their opponents.
Exploitative Play – a strategy aimed at identifying mistakes in your opponent’s game and adjusting your play to beat them.
F
Face Card – any card that has a picture on it, like a King, Queen, or a Jack.
Family Pot – a pot with multiple players seeing the flop.
Fast Fold Poker – an online poker format where players can fold their hands without waiting until their turn to act and get instantly moved to play another table.
Fish – a weak player who is likely to lose in any given session.
Fixed Limit – a predefined betting structure where you can only bet a specific amount in any given situation.
Float – to call a bet without having a strong hand with the intention of bluffing later and winning the pot.
Flop – the first three community cards and a betting round that follows after it is dealt.
Flush – poker hand combination with five cards of the same suit.
Fold – to throw away your hand and give up any chance of winning the pot.
Forced Bet – a mandatory bet that the player must put in before dealing the cards and seeing his hand.
Four of a Kind – poker hand combination consisting of four cards of the same rank.
Freeroll – poker tournament that does not have a buy-in fee and is free to enter.
Freezeout – a type of tournament where players can only buy in once, and no re-buys of any kind are possible.
Full House – poker hand combination consisting of three cards of the same rank and a pair.
Full Ring – a game that has 8 or more players at the table.
G
Ghosting – an unfair practice in which a better player advises someone else what to do in the game or takes over the play entirely later in the tournament.
Grinder – a player who spends a lot of time playing the game with the primary goal of making a profit.
GTO – game theory optimal strategy that perfectly balances bluffs versus value hands and makes you unexploitable.
Gutshot – a straight draw that can only be filled by one card that falls in the middle.
H
Hand-for-Hand – a period in a tournament where the next hand starts only when the current one is finished on all of the tables in play.
Hand History – a record of a played hand that displayed all of the actions that happened during it.
Heater – an extended period of great results that exceeds long-term expectations.
Hero – a person from whose point of view the hand history is being explained.
Hero Call – a call made with a weak hand that can only win if the opponent is bluffing.
Hijack – a position at the poker table located two seats right from the button.
High Card – weakest poker hand combination consisting of five different cards that are not in a row and not all of the same suit.
Hit – to get a card, you need to improve your hand and likely end up with a winner.
Hit and Run – leaving immediately after winning a big pot, not giving a chance for a losing player to win it back.
Hole Cards – face-down cards that are dealt to each player before the betting starts and only they can use it in the hand.
HUD – an abbreviation for “Heads Up Display,” which is a piece of software that shows important statistical information for players.
HUSNG – an abbreviation for heads-up sit-and-goes.
I
ICM – an abbreviation for the Independent Chip Model, a system that assigns monetary value to tournament chips.
In Position – a player who is the last to act in a betting round.
Inside Straight – a straight draw that needs to hit a specific card to make this combination and only has four outs for it.
Insurance – an option to insure your money when you find yourself in an all-in situation to protect against possible variance and losses.
Isolate – to make a raise that aims to prevent other players from entering the pot and puts you heads-up against a particular opponent.
ITM – an abbreviation for “in the money.”
J
Jam – a synonym for all-in, meaning that you bet all of your chips.
K
Kicker – the highest side card that you hold alongside your poker hand.
L
LAG – abbreviation for “loose-aggressive,” which describes a particular style of play with many bets and raises.
Leveling – refers to mind games between the players as they try to figure out each other’s hands and outplay one another.
Limit – can refer to a game structure or describe particular stakes the player is playing.
Limp – calling the size of the big blind before the flop in an unopened pot.
Live Cards – particular cards that can improve your hand into a winning one.
Long Run – an extended period of time or a big number of games that make variance irrelevant.
M
Makeup – a term used to describe how much a player has lost in the staking deal that he needs to win back before sharing the profits.
Maniac – a player who plays a reckless and aggressive style and gets involved in big pots with marginal holdings.
MDF – an abbreviation for Minimum Defense Frequency, which describes how often you need to defend against an opponent’s bet or raise.
Middle Position – seats in the middle of the poker table that have to act after early position players but before the CO and BTN.
Misclick – clicking the wrong button on the screen while playing poker, thus making an action you did not want to make.
Monster – a very strong hand that’s likely to win the pot.
MTT – an abbreviation for multi-table tournaments.
Muck – to fold your hand.
Multiway – hands that have more than two players after the flop.
N
NIT – a tight player who only plays the best hands.
No-Limit – a betting structure where a player can bet any amount of chips from his stack at any time in the hand.
Nosebleeds – the highest stakes games that generate massive pots and action.
Nuts – the best possible poker hand combination at any given time.
O
Odds – the likelihood of hitting a specific hand.
Offsuit – poker hand consisting of two cards of different suits.
One Pair – a poker hand combination consisting of two cards of the same rank and three different cards.
Open – a synonym for a first raise that describes the first aggressive action before the flop.
Option – a situation where you have the option to check and see the flop without putting any additional money in the pot or making a bet.
Orbit – the term orbit in poker describes a complete round of hands, where every player at the table got to play every position.
Out Of Position – a player who has to act first in a betting round.
Outs – cards that can improve a hand and turn it into a winner.
Overbet – a bet that is over the size of the pot.
Overcards – cards with a higher value than community cards or your opponent’s hand.
Overpair – describe a pair held by the player in his hole cards that’s higher than any of the community cards.
P
Pair – is a poker hand containing two cards of the same rank and three other unrelated cards.
Pocket Rockets – a nickname for pocket aces.
Pocket Pair – describe a situation when a player is dealt two cards of the same rank.
Poker Shark – a professional poker player who plays to win money and has an edge over the competition.
Position – refers to the player’s position at the table in relation to the dealer button and the blinds.
Postflop – in community card games, the term postflop relates to all the action that takes place after the flop is dealt.
Pot – the total amount of chips wagered by the players at any given moment in the hand.
Pot Committed – a situation where the player has already put so much money into the pot that they now have to call the opponent’s bet no matter what.
Pot Control – a strategic play to keep the pot smaller when a player has a medium-strength hand and does not want to risk a lot of chips.
Pot Odds – in poker, pot odds represent the ratio between the size of the pot and the bet the player is facing.
Pot Limit – a betting structure in which you cannot bet more than the current size of the pot.
Preflop – a betting round that takes place before the first three community cards are dealt.
R
Rabbit Hunt – asking to see what cards would have come next when everyone is already folded.
Rainbow – a board that contains cards of different suits, which means that flushes or flush draws are not possible.
Raise – increase the size of an active bet.
Rake – a fee taken by the game provider for running the games.
Range – it refers to all possible hands a player can realistically have in a given situation.
Re-Buy – to buy more chips when you lose your stack, whether in cash games or tournaments.
Re-Entry – a poker tournament format that allows a player to enter the tournament again after they bust.
Redraw – a strong hand that can improve even further with specific cards to come.
River – the last, 5th community cards dealt in the middle of the table and a betting round that follows after that.
ROI – abbreviation for return on investment, which is a way to measure results in tournaments.
Royal Flush – the best possible hand consisting of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit.
RTA – an abbreviation for Real-Time Assistance, which refers to illegal tools used to help make in-play decisions.
Run It Twice – dealing the community cards two times and playing it as two separate hands.
Runner Runner – a type of a draw where you need to hit both turn and river card to make your hand.
S
Set – specific three-of-a-kind combination that is made with a pocket pair and one of the community cards on the board.
Shootout – a multi-table tournament format in which every table is played until the winner, after which all winners come together to form new tables.
Shorthanded – a game with fewer than 8 players, usually a 6-max game.
Shove – a synonym for all-in or jamming, meaning you bet all of your chips.
Showdown – the final stage in a poker hand when all players still involved in a pot will turn over their hands to determine the winner.
Side Pot – a separate pot created only for the active players when someone is already all-in with fewer chips than the rest.
Slow Roll – describes an action when a player takes an unusually long time to call a bet when they know they’re holding a winner.
Small Blind – poker position at the table to the immediate left of the button that has to place a mandatory bet before getting the cards.
Snap Call – a very fast call made almost instantly after the opponent’s bet.
Split Pot – a pot that is shared by two or more players on a showdown.
SPR – abbreviation for stack-to-pot ratio, which is used to determine proper strategy and bet size.
Stake – a game level that you are playing referring to the buy-in or the size of the blinds.
Steal – a raise made with an attempt to win the blinds without going to the flop.
Straddle – refers to an additional voluntarily blind posted by one of the players before getting his cards to generate more action.
Straight – a poker hand combination with five consecutive cards in a row.
Straight Flush – the second-best hand combination in poker with five cards in a row that are of the same suit.
Street – a specific betting round in hand like preflop, flop, turn, or river.
String Bet – a bet in a live game where the player fails to place chips to the pot in one motion where usually only the first part of the bet counts.
Suck Out – to win in a hand where you were a big mathematical underdog when a majority of chips went into the pot.
Suited – a poker hand with two cards of the same suit.
T
Tank – taking a very long time to make your decision.
Three of a Kind – poker hand combination consisting of three cards of the same rank and two unpaired cards alongside.
Tight – a player who plays a very cautious and timid style, only getting involved with very strong hands.
Tilt – an emotional state in which a player is not capable of making rational decisions and starts to deviate from what they know is the right strategy.
Top Pair – a poker hand combination when you make a pair with one of your hole cards and the highest-ranking community card.
Trap – playing a strong hand in a way that indicates weakness, with the goal of getting your opponent to commit more chips to the pot.
Trips – a specific three-of-a-kind hand that you made of one of your hole cards and a pair on the board.
Turbo – a fast-paced poker tournament structure with rapidly increasing blinds.
Turn – 4th community card dealt at the middle of the table for everyone to use, and the betting round that follows after that.
Two Pairs – poker hand combination consisting of two different pairs and a unique 5th card.
U
Underdog – a hand that is statistically less likely to win after all community cards are dealt.
Under The Gun – position at a poker table that is directly to the left of the BB and has to act first before the flop.
Upswing – a period during which a player has been winning often and more than their average win rate suggests.
V
Value Bet – a bet made with a strong hand with the hope that another player calls.
Villain – the name used to describe your opponent in the hand.
W
Wet Board – community cards that are connected to each other, making straight and flush draws possible.
Whale – a player who has very little poker knowledge but has a big bankroll and likes action.
Wheel – the lowest possible straight combination consisting of A 2 3 4 5.
Win Rate – a number that shows how profitable a poker player is in the games they play.