call

To match the current bet amount, maintaining one’s interest in the pot.

calling station

A weak player who frequently checks and calls, but rarely raises.

cap

A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round. Typically three or four (in addition the opening bet). In most casinos, the cap is removed if there are only two players remaining either (1) at the beginning of the betting round, or (2) at the time that what would have otherwise been the last raise is made.

Also, term for the chip, token, or object placed atop one’s cards to show continued involvement with a hand.

cards speak

1. Describing a split-pot game, one without a declaration.
2. A common house rule stating that properly shown hands at showdown may be read by anyone, and need not be announced.

case card

The last available card of a certain description (typically a rank). The only way I can win is to catch the case king., meaning the only king remaining in the deck.

catch

To receive needed cards on a draw. I’m down 300–I can’t catch anything today. or Joe caught his flush early, but I caught the boat on seventh street to beat him. Often used with an adjective to further specify, for example “catch perfect”, “catch inside”, “catch smooth”.

catch up

To successfully complete a draw, thus defeating a player who previously had a better hand. I was sure I had Karen beat, but she caught up when that spade fell.

catch perfect

To catch the only two possible cards that will complete a hand and win the pot, usually those leading to a straight flush. Usually used in Texas Hold ‘Em.

cat-hop

In five-card draw, a longshot draw requiring two desired cards to make a hand, specifically drawing two cards to a straight or flush, or drawing two cards to a small pair and kicker to make a full house.

center pot

The main pot in a table stakes game where one or more players are all in.

chase

1. To continue to play a drawing hand over multiple betting rounds, especially one unlikely to succeed. Frank knew I made three nines on fourth street, but he chased that flush draw all the way to the river.
2. To continue playing with a hand that is not likely the best because one has already invested money in the pot.

check

1. To bet nothing.
2. A casino chip.

check out

To fold, in turn, even though there is no bet facing the player. In some games this is considered a breach of etiquette equivalent to folding out of turn. In others it is permitted, but frowned upon.

check-raise

To check, and then raise someone else’s open.

cheese

A poor hand. Throw that piece of cheese in the muck and move on to the next hand.

chip

A token representing money used for betting.

chip along

To bet or call the minimum required to stay in, often done with little or no reflection. See also “white check”.

chip declare

A method of declaring intent to play high or low in a split-pot game with declaration.

chip dumping

A form of collusion that happens during tournaments, especially in the early rounds. Two or more players decide to go all-in early. The winner gets a large amount of chips, which increases the player’s chance of cashing. The winnings are then split among the colluders.

chip race

In tournament play, the act of removing all the small chips from play by dealing random cards to players holding odd chips, and awarding a proportional number of larger chips to the highest-ranking cards.

chip up

To exchange lower-denomination chips for higher-denomination chips. In tournament play, the term means to remove all the small chips from play by rounding up any odd small chips to the nearest large denomination, rather than using a chip race.

chop

1. To split a pot because of a tie, split-pot game, or player agreement.
2. To play a game for a short time and cash out; see “hit and run”.
3. A request made by a player to a dealer after toking a large-denomination chip that he wishes the dealer to make change.
4. To chop blinds.

chop blinds

An agreement between neighboring players having posted blinds that if all other players fold to them, they will each retrieve their respective blind amounts and discard their hands rather than playing out the hand. This is done to avoid excessive charges by the casino for small pots. It is generally frowned upon by casinos, so it usually takes the form of the small blind folding, and then the player with the large blind refunding the small blind amount while the dealer isn’t looking. Agreement must be made ahead of time.

closed

1. Describing a betting round, the condition that no player is eligible to raise, either because the last raise was called by all players, or because the cap was reached.
2. Describing a poker game, one in which each player’s cards are concealed from all opponents.

cockroach

Euphemism for a player who frequently raises the pot in a blatant attempt to steal the antes or blinds.

coffeehouse

To make annoying smalltalk during a game, to make comments about a hand in progress, or to make deceptive comments about one’s own play.

cold

1. Consecutive, as in I caught three cold spades for the flush.
2. Unlucky, as in I’ve been cold all week.

cold call

To call an amount that represents a sum of bets or raises by more than one player. Alice opened for $10, Bob raised another $20, and Charlie cold called the $30.

cold deck

A deck previously arranged to produce a specific outcome, then surreptitiously switched into the game. Called “cold” because such a deck switched in during play will not have been warmed by the dealer’s hands. I can’t believe Jim got those four kings the same time I got four sixes–it was like being cold-decked. Also “ice”.

collusion

A form of cheating involving cooperation among two or more players.

color change, color up

To exchange small-denomination chips for larger ones.

combo, combination game

A casino table at which multiple forms of poker are played in rotation.

come bet, on the come

A bet or raise made with a drawing hand, building the pot in anticipation of filling the draw. Usually a weak “gambler’s” play, but occasionally correct with a very good draw and large pot or as a semi-bluff.

community card

A card dealt face-up to the center of the table (not to any one player’s hand), which can be used in some way by multiple players according to specific game rules.

completion

To raise a small bet up to the amount of what would be a normal-sized bet. For example, in a $2/$4 stud game with $1 bring-in, a player after the bring-in may raise it to $2, completing what would otherwise be a sub-minimum bet up to the normal minimum. Also in limit games, if one player raises all in for less than the normally required minimum, a later player might complete the raise to the normal minimum (depending on house rules).

connectors

Two or more cards of consecutive rank.

countdown

1. Especially in lowball, two hands very nearly tied that must be compared in detail to determine a winner, for example, 8-6-5-3-2 versus 8-6-5-3-A.
2. The act of counting the cards that remain in the stub after all cards have been dealt, done by a dealer to ensure that a complete deck is being used.

counterfeit

Most often used in community card games, a card appearing on the board that doesn’t change the value of one’s own hand, but that makes it much more likely for an opponent to tie or beat you, often because it duplicates what was previously a valuable card in your hand. Also “duplicate”.

cow

A player with whom one is sharing a buy-in, with the intent to split the result after play. To “go cow” is to make such an arrangement.

cowboy

A king. And he’s flopped a pair of cowboys

crack

To beat a better hand, mostly heard in reference to the best Hold em hole cards, AA. eg “My Aces were cracked again”

crowley

Folding your hand when the action to check is an option. “You could have checked, why did you pull a crowley.”

crying call

A call made reluctantly on the last betting round with the expectation of losing (but with some remote hope of catching a bluff).

cut

Take some of the cards off the top of a deck and move them to the bottom.

cutoff

The seat immediately to the right of the dealer button. Also “pone”.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

baby

A low-ranked card, usually used in lowball games.

backdoor

1. A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of Seven-card stud or Texas hold ‘em to fill a straight or flush.
2. A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. I started with four hearts hoping for a flush, but I backdoored two more kings and my trips won.

back in

1. To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else’s open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers.
2. To enter a pot cheaply or for free because of having posted a blind.

back into

To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw “backs into” winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush.

bad beat

An event in which a player with a high expectation of winning the pot loses. This expectation may be based on having an unusually strong hand beaten by an even stronger one, or by having an opposing player make an extremely unlikely draw. “Bad beat stories” are frequent topics of conversation at poker tables. Lou Krieger started a tradition among some players of charging $1 to listen to one. In some casinos there is a “bad beat jackpot” awarded to a player who suffers a particular beat, for example, having four of a kind beaten.

bank

Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game.

Bankroll

The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of his or her poker career.

behind

1. Not currently having the best hand. I’m pretty sure my pair of jacks was behind Lou’s kings, but I had other draws, so I kept playing.
2. Describing money in play but not visible as chips in front a player. For example, a player may announce “I’ve got $100 behind” while handing money to a casino employee, meaning that he intends those chips to be in play as soon as they are brought to him.

belly buster

An inside straight draw. Also called a “gutshot”.

berry patch

A game with many unskilled or “live” players; a lucrative opportunity for profit.

bet

1. Any money wagered during the play of a hand.
2. More specifically, the opening bet of a betting round.
3. In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. There were six bets in the pot when I called.

betting structure

The set of specific rules for any game covering how much one may or must bet at any point in the game, including forced bets, limits, and raising cap.

bicycle, bicycle wheel

The hand A-2-3-4-5.

big bet

In a fixed limit game where the limit is higher in later rounds than in early rounds, the higher amount is called a “big bet”. That $10-$20 game looked good, but I only had 8 big bets in my pocket at the time.

big bet game

A game played with a no limit or pot limit betting structure.

big slick

A Texas Hold’em starting hand that consists of an Ace and King regardless of suit.

blank

A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. I suspected Margaret had a good draw, but the river card was a blank, so I bet again. See “brick”.

blaze

A hand of five face cards that used to outrank a flush.

bleed

To lose small amounts continually, so as to add up to a large loss. I won that large pot with my kings, but then I bled it all off over the next hour.

blind

1. A type of forced bet.
2. A term applied to any action taken by a player before seeing some piece of information to which that player would normally be entitled before that action. For example, a player who would be first to act after the draw in a draw poker game might discard cards and then announce “I bet $10 blind” before looking at his replacement cards. One can similarly check blind, raise blind, etc. Also “dark” or “in the dark”.

blind crowley

Folding your hand when the action to check is an option before looking at your cards.

blind stud

A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there.

bluff

To bet an inferior hand hoping the opponent will fold.

bluff-catcher

On the last betting round, a hand that cannot win if the opponent is making a legitimate value bet, but that might win if the opponent’s bet was a pure bluff. It looked like Jim and I were both drawing for a flush. I missed and he bet, but I figured the pair of nines I caught along the way made a bluff-catcher, so I called.

board

1. The set of community cards in a community card game. If another spade hits the board, I’ll have to fold.
2. The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. Zack’s board didn’t look too scary, so I bet into him again.
3. The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. I started with a flush draw, but there were already four other diamonds showing on the board, so I folded.

boat

A full house.

bobtail

An open-ender, or “outside” straight draw. Occasionally used to refer to an inside straight draw or a four-card flush draw as well.

bomb

A brick.

bone

A chip, often of small denomination.

book

Four of a kind.

both ways

Both halves of a split pot, often declared by a player who thinks he or she will win both low and high.

bottom end

The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. For example, in Texas hold ‘em with the cards 5-6-7 on the board, a player holding 3-4 has the bottom end straight, while a player holding 4-8 or 8-9 has a higher straight. Also “idiot end”.

bottom pair, bottom set

In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one’s private hand.

box

The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer’s position at the table. You’ve been in the box for an hour now; don’t you get a break?

boxed card

A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it didn’t exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal.

break

1. In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a much better one. For example, a player with J-J-10-9-8 may wish to break his pair of jacks to draw for the straight, and a lowball player may break his 9-high 9-5-4-2-A to draw for the wheel.
2. To end a session of play. The game broke at about 3:00.

brick

A blank, though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game.

brick and mortar

A poker game played in person with real physical cards at a traditional casino. The term is meant to distinguish brick and mortar games from online poker games. Abbreviated “B&M”.

bring in

To open a betting round. Gary brought it in for $5, and Kevin raised $10.

bring-in

A kind of forced bet.

broadway

An ace-high straight. A “broadway card” is any card that might make such a straight, namely a 10, J, Q, K, or A.

brush

A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, whence the name).

buck

A token used to mark the position of the dealer.

bug

A wild card that can serve to fill a straight or flush, but which otherwise plays as an ace.

bullet

1. An ace.
2. A chip. See “ammo”.

bully

To bluff repeatedly at all opportunities, or a player who does so. See “run over”.

bum deal

A mis-deal

bump

To raise. I raised $5, and Joe bumped it to $20.

burn, burn card

To deal a card directly into the discards, often at the start of the second and subsequent rounds of a multiple-round game (for example, before giving players their draws in a draw poker game, or before the flop in a community card game). This is done for several reasons, including protecting the players against marked cards, making it easier to recover from irregularities in the deal, and others.

busted

1. Not complete, such as four cards to a straight that never gets the fifth card to complete it.
2. Out of chips.

button

1. A token (also called a buck) used to mark the position of the dealer. In casino games with a house dealer, a buck may still be used to mark the position of the player who acts last on that deal (which would normally be the dealer in a home game).
2. The player currently seated in the position marked by the button. The button raised last round, so I checked into him.

buy-in

The minimum required amount of chips to become involved in a game (or tournament). For example, a $4-$8 fixed limit game might require a player to buy at least $40 worth of chips to play. This is typically far less than an average player would expect to play with for any amount of time, but large enough that the player can play a number of hands without buying more, so the game isn’t slowed down by constant chip-buying.

buy short

To buy into a game for an amount smaller than the normal buy-in. Some casinos allow this under certain circumstances, such as after having lost a full buy-in, or if all players agree to allow it.

buy the button

A rule originating in northern California casinos in games played with blinds, in which a new player sitting down with the button to his right (who would normally be required to sit out a hand as the button passed him, then post to come in) may choose to pay the amount of both blinds for this one hand (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money), play this hand, and then receive the button on the next hand as if he had been playing all along.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

A-B-C, A-B-C-D

1. A sequence of the lowest cards in a lowball game. For example, the hand 8-6-3-2-A might be called an “eight-six-a-b-c”.
2. Uncreative or predictable play. He’s an a-b-c player.

ace-to-five, ace-to-six

Methods of evaluating low hands.

aces and spaces

A hand with one pair of aces, and nothing else. Used derogatorily, especially in games such as seven-card stud, where two pair is a typical winning hand.

action

1. A player’s turn to act. The action is on you.
2. A willingness to gamble. I’ll give you action or There’s plenty of action in this game
3. A bet, along with all the calls of that bet. For example, if one player makes a $5 bet and three other players call, he is said to have $5 “in action”, and to have received $15 worth of action on his bet. Usually this term comes into play when figuring side pots when one or more players is all in.

action button

A marker similar to a kill button, on which a player places an extra forced bet. Typically in a stud game, a player is required to post an amount representing a completion of the bring-in to a full bet. For example, in a stud game with $2 and $4 betting limits and a $1 bring-in, a player with the action button must post $2; after the cards are dealt, the player with the low card must still pay the $1 bring-in, then when the betting reaches the player who posted the $2, he is required to leave it in as a raise of the bring-in (and has the option to raise further). Players in between the bring-in and the action button can just call the bring-in, but they know ahead of time that they will be raised by the action button.

action player

Euphemism for a less skillful player who bets and calls frequently with inferior hands. Also called an “Action Junkie” (derogatory).

add-on

In a live game, to buy more chips before you have busted. In tournament play, a single rebuy for which all players are eligible regardless of their stack size. This is usually allowed only once, at the end of the rebuy period.

advertising

To make an obvious play or expose cards in such a way as to deliberately convey an impression to your opponents about your style of play. For example, to make a bad play or bluff to give the impression that you bluff frequently (hoping opponents will then call your legitimate bets) or to show only good hands to give the impression that you rarely bluff (hoping opponents will then fold when you do).

aggressive

A player who frequently bets and raises. Compare to “passive”.

Ainsworth

A term used in hold’em; 6 – 2 as a player’s first two cards.

air

In a lowball game, “giving air” is letting an opponent who might otherwise fold know that you intend to draw one or more cards to induce him to call.

all in

Having bet one’s entire stake.

all blue/all pink

A flush, “blue” usually referring to black suits and “pink” to red ones. Occasionally one hears “all green” or “all purple”.

Alligator blood

A tough player who plays well under pressure is said to have “alligator blood”.

ammo, ammunition

Chips in play. I’m going to need more ammo for this game. Compare to “fire”.

angle

A technically legal, but borderline unethical, play. For example, deliberately miscalling one’s own hand to induce a fold, or placing odd amounts of chips in the pot to confuse opponents about whether you mean to call or raise. A player employing such tactics is called an “angle shooter”.

Anna Kournikova

In Texas Hold ‘Em, referring to a player who is dealt A-K for his or her pocket cards and never having the hand improve. This parodies Anna Kournikova in that the hand looked good, but didn’t win.

ante

Once meaning a first-round bet, now a type of forced bet before cards are dealt.

ante off

In tournament play, to force an absent player to continue paying antes, blinds, bring-ins, or other forced bets so that the contest remains fair to the other players. Go ahead and take that phone call. We’ll ante you off until you get back. Also “blind off”.