A B
C D E
F G H
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J K
L M N
O P
Q
R S T
U
V
W
X Y Z
A
Aces Up
Two pairs, one pair containing aces.
Action
The betting.
Add-On
The opportunity to buy additional chips in some
tournaments.
All-In
A player is considered to be All-In when he/she bets
all his/her remaining chips.
Ante
A bet required to begin a hand.
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B
Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more
players before any cards are dealt. Usually, blinds
are put in by players immediately to the left of the
disc, which marks where the dealing begins with each
hand.
Board
All the community cards in a Texas Hold' Em game - the
flop, turn, and river cards together. Example: "There
wasn't a single heart on the board."
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C
Call
To call is to match the current bet. If there has been
a bet of $10 and a raise of $10 then it costs $20 to
call. Calling is the cheapest (and the most passive)
way to remain in a hand.
Card Room
The rooms in which poker is played, or the
organizations that runs those rooms. Most casinos that
offer poker have a separate room, or at least a
roped-off area, designated as the card room. In some
places where poker is legal, you will also find
separate card rooms (not part of a larger casino)
dedicated mostly to poker.
Check
If there has been no betting before you in a betting
round, you may check, which is like calling a bet of
$0, or passing your turn.
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D
Down card
A card dealt to a player or the dealer face down.
Draw
To deal – or request to have dealt – a new card from
the deck
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E
Exposed Card
A card that inadvertently turns face up when it isn't
supposed to, such as during the deal in a draw game.
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F
Fifth Street
The fifth card dealt. Following this card is the third
round of betting in seven-card stud and the fourth
round of betting in Texas Hold 'Em. In Texas Hold 'Em,
this is also called the river and is the last
community card dealt.
Fixed Limit
Bets can only be made in specified increments.
Flop
A series of games with five community cards. These are
called flop games. Hold 'Em and Omaha are two popular
flop games. The flop is the first three community
cards dealt.
Flush
When all five cards in your hand have a common suit,
you have a flush. The flush with the highest card not
in common is better, so AK873 of spades is a better
flush than AK872 of diamonds. A flush ranks between a
straight and a full house.
Fold
To muck your cards because someone else has made a
larger bet than you are willing to call. You are
unable to win the pot but at least you don't lose more
money.
Forced Bet
A blind bet or a bring-in.
Full House
A strong hand that ranks between a flush and four of a
kind, that consists of three cards of one rank and two
cards of another rank. AAA77 is aces full of sevens,
often abbreviated to "aces full".
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G
Green
$25 chips.
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H
Hand
Everything that occurs after the initial shuffling of
the cards - cards are dealt, betting is done, a winner
is declared and the pot is pushed. A hand also has
several other meanings, such as the five cards that
you chose to play in games with more than five cards.
Heads-up
Poker that is played by two players in a one-on-one
poker format.
House
Everything that makes up the card room, such as
dealers, management, etc. The house rakes money from
the pot and develops and enforces house rules.
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I
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J
Jackpot
A large number of card rooms offer sizeable jackpots
for certain things, such as the high hand of the hour.
The rules vary from card room to card room.
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K
Kicker
The highest extra card in your hand that doesn't
participate in a straight or flush. The card does not
contribute to the strength of your hand except by
itself. For example, if you hold QQ943, you have a
pair of queens with a nine kicker. Five-card hands
(straights, flushes, and full houses) don't have
kickers. In games with community cards, kickers are
especially important, because it's easy for two
players to make similar hands. For example, if you
hold A8 and someone else holds A7, and the flop is
AK642, you have your opponent out-kicked. Your hand is
AAK86 while theirs is AAK76.
Kill
A game in which a player may place an extra bet,
causing the betting limits to go up for just that
hand. The player posting the bet is the "killer," and
the hand is considered a "kill pot." The player is
said to have "killed the pot" for the amount of the
kill. If one player wins two pots in a row in a kill
Texas Hold' Em game, he is required to kill by posting
a blind small bet on the next hand, with the limits
doubled for that hand.
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L
Limit
poker A structured poker style that uses fixed limits
on betting and raising per round. Limit poker games
require specific bet amounts, as opposed to no-limit
games in which you can bet the farm if so desired. A
$5-$10 Texas Hold' Em game usually requires $5 bets
and raises on the first two rounds (pre-flop and post
flop) and $10 bets and raises on the last two (after
the turn and river). In a $5-$10 game, the small blind
is $2 and the big blind is $5.
Live Hand
A hand that has not been folded or mucked, or a hand
with many outs remaining.
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M
Main Pot
The only pot an ‘All-In’ player is eligible to win.
The main pot consists of the ‘All-In’ player's bet
plus all other players that have called that bet.
Additional bets, placed in a side pot, are contested
among the remaining players.
Meet
Same as call.
Middle Pair
If you pair one of your pocket cards to the second
highest card on the flop, you have middle pair.
Muck
The act of throwing your cards away because you cannot
or did not win the pot. They are ineligible to win the
pot if they are mucked.
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N
No-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet any
amount of chips (up to the number in front of him)
whenever it is his turn to act. It is a very different
game than limit poker.
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O
Open
To make the first bet in a round.
Open-Ended Straight
A straight draw with four consecutive cards that can
be completed on either end. An example is 6/7/8/9,
since a five or a 10 will make a straight.
Option
If no one raises the big blind, then the player in
that position has the option to raise when their turn
comes around. The dealer will typically say something
like "your option," to remind them.
Over Button
A type of button that indicates you are willing to
play at higher limits. Any time everyone left in the
hand has an over button, the limits go up.
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P
Pair
Two cards of the same value such as an Ace/Ace.
Pocket
Your first two down cards. Hold 'Em players tend to
call them pocket cards; stud players tend to call them
hole cards.
Position
Your place at the table, relative to the order of
betting within a betting round. The first few players
to act are in early position, the next few in middle
position, and the last few in late position. There is
an advantage to being in late position, seeing as how
you know exactly what your opponents have done. In
some games, the dealer, or the player on the dealer
button, is always in last position. If you have
position on someone, then they are on your right and
you will always act after them.
Position Bet
A bet made relying on the strength of one's position
rather than on the strength of one's hand. If no one
opens, a player on the button in Texas Hold' Em is in
good position to steal the pot, due to his position.
Post
To post is to put in the required amount in the pot
before the hand starts, such as an ante or blind.
Pot
The money gathered in the middle of the table from
blinds, bets, and raises. This money goes to the
winner, or winners as the case may be. If you have not
yet folded, you are "in the pot."
Pot Limit
A poker structure in which the maximum bet or raise is
the size of the pot. For raises, the size of the pot
includes the call, so if the pot is $100 and player A
bets $100, player B can throw $400 out for a maximum
raise (calling the $100 and then raising the size of
the $300 pot).
Pot Odds
A mathematical solution to whether or not a particular
situation is worth a call. The ratio of the amount of
money in the pot to the amount of money it will cost
you to call a bet. The greater the pot odds, the more
likely you should be to call.
Pre-Flop
Before the flop, such as raising pre-flop.
Protect
To induce folding in order to prevent another player
from outdrawing you is protecting your hand. This is
done by betting and raising so that someone on a draw
will fold rather than call to see if their cards come
off. A protectable hand is one that is almost always
the best, but is vulnerable to being outdrawn. It's
easiest to protect a hand in no-limit play, where you
can potentially make it as expensive as you like for
someone to draw. To protect your cards is to put a
chip or some other artifact on them so the dealer does
not muck them.
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R
Raise
To increase the amount of the bet after the betting
has already been opened in a round. For example, if
the betting limit is $10 and player A bets $10, player
B can fold, call the $10, or raise it to $20. Often,
an inexperienced player will say "bet" when he means
raise or "raise" when he means bet.
Rake
The house cut of each pot. The rake amount and
protocol changes from card room to card room. Some
rake the big blind and put the small blind in a
jackpot, while others use a time charge, and others
yet do a percentage of the pot as the rake.
Rank
The numerical value of a card. Each card has a suit
and a rank. The three of spades and the three of
hearts have the same rank. A pair is two cards of the
same rank.
Re-buy
If you run out of chips in a tournament, and you wish
to continue playing, you then re-buy, meaning, you buy
more chips. This is only legal in re-buy tournaments.
You can only re-buy up until a certain point. See
also: ADD-ON.
Redraw
After you get your initial draw, picking up another
draw. For example, if you hold 8h3h and the flop comes
Th9h2s, you have a flush draw. If the turn is the 7h,
you have made your flush and picked up a straight
flush redraw.
Re-raise
A second raise after the initial raise in a round.
This occurs when a player raises after a raise by
another player.
River
The fifth and final community card dealt in flop
games, or the last card dealt in non-flop games. Also
called Fifth Street in Texas Hold' Em.
Round
A betting round begins after a card or several cards
are dealt. Each player is given a chance to act, and
the round ends when everyone has either folded to or
called the last bet or raise. Each round of betting is
followed either by further dealing or by a showdown.
In Texas Hold' Em, there are four betting rounds
(pre-flop, post flop, after the turn, and after the
river). A round of hands is one full rotation around
the table, so, each player would hold the dealer
button once, or be the dealer if no pitcher were
present.
Royal Flush
This is the highest possible ranked hand. To achieve
this hand you need an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10
of the same suit.
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S
Scare Card
A high card that, when it appears, brings forth a
possibility for a better hand. In Texas Hold' Em, a
third suited card on the river is a scare card,
because it makes a flush possible. If you're pretty
sure your opponent paired a king on the flop, an ace
on the turn is a scare card, because that lends the
idea of a pair of aces beating that pair of kings.
Scare cards will often make it difficult for the best
hand to bet, and offer an opportunity for bluffing.
7-Card Stud
A popular game commonly played in public card rooms.
In seven-card stud, each player is dealt seven cards
of their own: two down, then four up, and a final card
down. There is a round of betting after the first up
card and after each subsequent card dealt. 7-Card Stud
is usually played with a small ante and a forced
bring-in on Third Street. In limit games, the bet size
typically increases on Fifth Street.
Showdown
The showdown occurs at the end of a hand, to determine
the winner, if there is more than one player left. You
can either show your cards, or, if you aren't a
winner, you can muck them in most situations.
Shuffle
The mixing and rearranging of the cards before each
hand so that the cards occur randomly. This is done by
the dealer.
Sit In
To join in a game that has already started.
Split Pot
In a game that isn't high-low split, a tie between at
least two players. This happens when both players show
the same hand. This is common in Texas Hold' Em for
straights especially when both players are playing the
board. In a high-low split game, of course, almost
every hand results in a split pot.
Spread Limit
A structure in which betting limits have a fixed
minimum and maximum bet for each betting round. Any
amount in between these limits may be bet.
Starting Hand
The two pocket cards in Texas Hold' Em or the first
three cards in 7-Card stud.
Straddle
Raising before looking at your pocket cards when you
are under the gun. There is no sound reason for doing
this, other than trying to liven up a tight table, or
for advertising value.
Straight
A straight is five cards of any suit in ascending
order. The ace can be either high or low and the high
straight wins the tie.
Straight Flush
A hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks
of the same suit, aces being high or low.
Structure
The rules of a particular game regarding betting,
including antes, blinds, and the amount that may be
bet on any round. In card rooms, games are typically
posted along with shorthand for the limits. For
example, Texas Hold' Em is usually a fixed limit game,
played with $5 bets and raises pre-flop and on the
flop, and $10 bets and raises on the turn and the
river. Games with more complicated structures
sometimes spell it out like this: 5-10-10-15. In
connection with tournaments, structure can also mean
anything having to do with the amount of money in
tournament chips players can get, the re-buy and
add-on rules, and the way in which the blinds
increase.
Stud
Refers to stud games in general, however, usually
short for seven-card stud. Stud games are contrasted
with flop games and draw games.
Stud Poker
A form of poker with cards dealt to each person, some
being face down and some being face up.
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T
Table Stakes
Table stakes is a rule saying that a player may only
wager money they have on the table at the beginning of
a hand, in other words, they can't put their car keys
down as a bet. It also implies that money may not be
removed from the table at any time, although money may
be added to one's stacks between hands.
Tell
A gesture or signal unintentionally done by a player
that gives other players information about the
player's hand. For example, a player who twitches when
they are bluffing.
Texas Hold 'Em
Often shortened to just Hold 'Em, is widely considered
the grandfather of poker. A flop game, in Texas Hold 'Em
each player gets two pocket cards, while five
community cards are dealt face-up on the table. The
strength of a player's hand is the best five-card hand
that can be made with these seven cards. There are
four rounds of betting: after the pocket cards are
dealt, after the first three community cards (the
flop), after the fourth, or turn card, and after the
final, or river card.
Three of a Kind
Having three cards of the same value.
Top Pair
If you have a pair with one of your pocket cards and
the highest card on the board, you have top pair.
Tournament
In a poker tournament, each player sits down with the
same number of chips, and eventually only one player
has any chips left. That is the basic idea behind a
tournament. Each card room runs tournaments
differently. Tournaments are usually played with chips
that have no value outside of the tournament. So a
buy-in of $30 might get you $500 in tournament chips
to play with, but you can't cash them out in the
middle. The winner of a tournament (the last player to
bust out) as well as several of the other top
finishers are typically awarded prize money according
to some predetermined schedule.
Two Pair
A hand consisting of two pairs of cards with the same
value.
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U
Up Card
A card dealt to a player or the dealer face up.
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W
Wager
A bet.
Wait for the Blind
Instead of coming in the middle of a rotation, some
clubs do not let a new player be dealt in until it is
his turn to put in the blind. This prevents his
getting "free" hands. Some clubs allow the player to
join the hand if he immediately puts up the blind.
White
White is the color for $1 chips in most casinos.
Wild Card
Games that use a wild card are called wild card games.
A wild card is a card that can serve as any other card
in making your hand.
Winning hand
The hand that takes all the chips in the pot because
it was the best hand in a showdown.
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