Are you overwhelmed by the massive amount of poker slang? Don’t worry, we are here to help you and have collected the most common slang in our big poker glossary.
Add-on
This is the opportunity to purchase extra chips regardless of the number of chips you already possess. This option is usually only offered once the rebuy period ends. During add-on, you usually get more chips for each dollar than you would during regular buy in or rebuys.
All in
This is the move when you bet all of your remaining chips. This is often demonstrated by moving all the chips towards the center.
American Airlines
This is a slang term used commonly in Texas Hold’em poker, for when a player has a pair of aces.
Ante
This is a small bet amount that gradually increases with the blinds. Normally, the pot starts to accumulate half-way through a tournament.
Backdoor
This is a draw which requires to cards in a row to complete. For example, having three cards of one suit on the flop means you now have a backdoor flush draw. If this is followed by two more cards of the same suit, then that is called a flush.
Bad Beat
The scenario where a player loses a hand despite being in a winning position.
Bankroll
The total sum of money that a player has made available for placing bets.
BB
1. This stands for big bind. In this play, the person seated two places down on the left side of the dealer has to place a blind bet before the hand has been dealt. This amount is generally twice as much as the amount of the small blind (SB).
2. It is also an acronym for Big Bet, which is the concept of doubling the size of the best on the last betting round. These increased bet sizes are referred to as big bets.
Bet
The act of placing the first sum in the pot during the pot. Future amounts placed in the same round are called either a ‘raise’ or a ‘call’.
Big Blind Special
This is when the person who is in the big blind spot (two places on the left side of the dealer) wins the hand even though they have a bad hand.
Big Slick
A hand consisting of an A-K
Blank
A card that is unhelpful for you. Often times, it is unhelpful for the other players too.
Bluff
The act of placing a bet or raising with the intention of tricking the opponent into thinking you have a good hand and folding when in reality you might not have a good hand.
Board
These are the shared cards in Omaha and Hold’em.
Boat
A hand where you have a pair and three of a kind. For example, 10-10-10-Q-Q.
Bot
An automated program that plays poker online with limited or without assistance from a human player.
Bottom Pair
A pair on the flop with the lowest card.
Bounty
A cash prize awarded in a tournament for eliminating other players.
Bring in
In a stud game, this is a forced bet.
Bubble
In a tournament, it is the last spot before pay-outs begin. It also refers to the person who finishes in this spot.
Burn
This is the card on the top of the deck which is removed from the game. This is done to ensure that no player accidently sees the card on the top.
Busted
When a player who was bluffing is called and ends up losing the pot.
Button
In live games, the current dealer is marked using a little marker. Such a person is said to be on the button. The dealer has the advantage of being the last one to act.
Buy-in
1. The sum of money you put up to buy chips in a poker game.
2. The fee required to enter a tournament.
Buying the Button
This is when your raise or bet causes the rest of the players who take a turn after you to fold. This gives you the last position.
Call
The event in which a player matches an opponent’s bet instead of folding or raising.
Calling Station
A weak player who usually prefers to call instead of raising or folding too often.
Cap
The act of placing the last raise that is permitted in a betting round. This is usually the third or fourth of the raise.
Case
This is the last card of a particular rank available in a certain deck. For example, if 3 of the J’s have already been played, then the 4th J is referred to as the case jack.
Cash Game
The regular game of poker played for cash. Players are free to join or leave the game whenever they want. This is different from tournaments where the players have to play from the start to the end unless they are eliminated before the end.
Catch
To receive one of the cards you wanted in order to win that hand.
Chase
The act of calling even when you have the worst hand in the hopes of improving. It is often considered a desperate or amateur move.
Check
The act of checking the option of betting. This is only possible if you are the first one to call or if the players before you haven’t placed a bet. If they have then you can either raise, call or fold.
Check-raise
After you have bet and someone else also bets behind you. Then when it is your turn again you raise. This play is referred to as a check-raise.
Chip Dumping
A type of a collusion between payers which usually results after a player or more decide to go all-in early. The winner of the collusion ends up winning all the chips of the other players involved in the collusion. This significantly improves the chases of cashing. The winnings are later split amongst all the colluders.
Chip Leader
The player who is currently holding the more than chips than the rest of the players in a tournament.
Chop
A form of an agreement between al the players who are left to divide the money in the prize pool according to the ratio of their respective chip stacks they have at the time of the agreement.
CO
An acronym for cut-off.
Cold Streak
This is when a player keeps getting dealt a poor hand. They are then said to be on a cold streak.
Cold-call
This is when one person paces a bet, another player raises it, and you end up calling them both. This is referred to as cold-calling. This is often only done when the cold-caller has a very promising hand or draws, and a majority of the other holdings would have either folded or raised I such a scenario.
Collusion
This is a form of cheating between two or more players.
Cowboys
This is a slang term for a pair of kings. They are usually referred to as cowboys in Texas Hold’em when a player has got pocket kings.
CR
An acronym for Check-raise.
Cut-off
The seat one place down on the right side of the button is called the cut-off. The player in this position is the second last person to act in Hold’em.
Deuce
Another way of referring to a pair. For example, a deuce of spades. This term is most common among poker players.
Dime
In the world of gambling, and other financially driven activities, a dime is a slang term used to refer to 1000 dollars.
Dog
The player who is the least likely to win the hand.
Donk
1. A bad player, or a good player who makes a stupid mistake.
2. The act of placing a bet unexpectedly.
Draw/ Drawing
The act of calling a bet even though you don’t hold the best of the hands or have a hand that has a low chance of winning at the moment but there is a chance that it will improve.
Drawing Deed
This is when the remaining cards have no chance of improving your hand or giving you the best hand, you are said to be in a drawing deed.
Dry Pot
When one player goes all-in and is not raised by any opponent, but is called by one or more opponents then a side pot is created which has no money in it. This side pot is called a dry pot.
Equity
Your value or share in the pot. Fr example, if the plot has $100 and you have a 30% chance of winning the pot, then our equity in the pot is $30.
Fake Think
The act of showing that a player is thinking deeply about some decision in the given hand, but in reality, the decision is already made. The thinking process is completely pretentious.
Fifth Street
This is the last card which is dealt in either Hold ‘em Poker or in Omaha, and the third card which is dealt in the 7-card stud.
Fish
Commonly used to describe a bad player in an insulting manner.
Flat Call
The act of simply calling a bet instead of raising it.
Float
This is the act of calling a bet with the intention of taking down the pot later.
Grinder
A player who accumulates a profit over a prolonged period of playing. The profit can be modest, or large, but the key factor here is the time it took to collect it.
Gutshot
The act of drawing to a straight when one the middle cards is missing.
Hand History
The written documentation or history of the hand or hands that have been played online.
HE
An acronym commonly used for Hold ‘em,
High-card Hand
A hand in which the player hasn’t got a pair, straight or a flush is referred to as a high-car hand.
Hole, hole cards
This refers to the cards that are dealt in a game of hold ‘em or stud facing down.
Implied Odds
Odds of the pot that don’t exist just now, but have been speculated based on the number of bets you expect to win.
In the money
The act of place a bet high enough in a tournament of poker so as to qualify for the prize number.
Inside straight draw
The act of drawing to a straight when one of the middle cards is missing.
Jam
The act of moving all-in in a game which has no-limit.
Kicker
This is a type of a hole card (card that is dealt face down) that does not formally alter the rank f the hand.
Lag
A style of play where the player adopts a semi aggressive approach. The player plays quite a few starting hands and often raises slightly in order to out-play the opponents.
Laydown
The choice to fold despite having a good hand, if you believe that your opponent is more likely to win.
Leak
A systematic mistake made by a poker player. In other words, a mistake that causes the player to lose money over time is called a leak.
LHE
An acronym to describe Limit Hold ‘em.
Made hand
A hand whose value is more than a high-card. For example, a pair or more.
Maniac
A commonly used way to refer to a person who always bets or raises regardless of the hand they have.
Micro-limit
Quite commonly, a limit of $0.25 – 0.50 is called a micro-limit.
Move in
The act of going all-in.
NLHE
An acronym used for No-Limit Hold ‘Em.
No-Limits
The edition of poker in which the player is free to bet whatever he wants when it is his turn to play.
Nuts
The best hand among all the ones the players have in a hand. In a game, the person holding the best possible hand among all the other players is referred to as ‘holding the nuts.’
O8
Omaha 8 or better.
Offsuit
These are two cards that are not of the same suit.
On the come
The act of betting or calling with a draw.
Open
The act of placing the first bet.
Pair
This is when a player has two cards of the same rank.
Passive
A playing style where the player generally checks and calls.
PLHE
An acronym for Pot-limit Hold ‘em