- A -

 ABC Player: Someone who is very predictable; has read a poker book or two and follows them to the word. They always play hands the same way and are generally pretty tight.
 Aces Full: Full house with three aces
 Ace-High: A five-card hand containing an ace but no pair; beats a king-high, but loses to any pair or above.
 Ace Rag: Ace with a weak kicker
 Aces Up: A pair of aces with one other pair.
 Action: The betting.
 Active Player: A player competing for a pot.
 Advertising or Advertise: To have a bluff called in order to encourage opponents to call later.
 Aggressive: A player who bets and raises a lot when he has a good hand.
 Ajax (aka Blackjack): The hold'em starting hand Ace-Jack.
 All Blue or All Pink: A flush.
 All-In: The betting by a player of all his money on the table.
 All Paint: An "all paint" is a situation in which the board is made up of jacks, queens, kings or aces.
 Alligator Blood: Describes a player who plays fearlessly when short-stacked and wins; also a player who plays for a long time short-stacked, winning just enough to stay in the game.
 American Airlines (aka Rockets, Pocket Rockets): A hand with two aces in the hole.
 An Ace Working: An ace in hand.
 Anna Kournikova: An Ace, King because it looks pretty but it rarely wins.
 Announced Bet: A verbal bet made by a player before putting his money in the pot.
 Ante: Money put in the pot before dealing.
 Aquarium: A poker room or game that has a lot of fish in it.
 Assassin: During tournament play, a player on a lucky streak who eliminates several/all opponents from play.
 Axs: A poker abbreviation for Ace-X suited. It means to hold an ace and a low card of the same suit. The other card is generally 9 or below.

- B -

 Baby: A small card, usually a five or less.
 Backer: A nonplayer who finances an active player.
 Back-to-back: A pair on the first two cards dealt in stud (Backed Up).
 Back Door: When the last two cards make a player's hand, even though they played on the flop for some other reason.
 Bankroll: The total amount of money one is willing (and able) to put at risk.
 Bad Beat: To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored hand. It is generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the pot at all; catching the one card in the deck that would win the pot.
 Beat the Board (Table): To have a hand better than all others showing.
 Belly-Buster Straight: An inside straight.
 Bet For Value: Betting in order to raise the amount in the pot, not to make your opponents fold.
 Bet Into: To bet before another player who apparently has a better hand.
 Bet the Limit: To bet the maximum amount allowed.
 Bet The Pot: To bet the total value of the pot.
 Betting Stakes: The dollar limits of all bets and raises permitted.
 Bicycle: A straight to the five . . . ace, two, three, four, five (Wheel).
 Big Blind: The final and largest blind bet.
 Big Pair: A pair with a value of 10 or greater.
 Big Slick: Any Ace-King combination pocket cards.
 Blank: A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand. If the flop is As-Jd-Ts, then a turn card of 2h would be considered a blank. On the other hand, the 2s would not be.
 Blind: A forced bet that one or more players to the dealer's left must make before any cards are dealt to start the action on the first round of betting.
 Blind Bet: To bet before looking at one's hand.
 Blow Back: To lose back one's profits.
 Bluff: The attempt to win a pot by making better hands fold.
 Board: (1) The poker table. (2) All face-up cards in stud or hold 'em.
 Boat: Another name for a full house.
 Bottom Pair: A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.
 Boxed Card: A card turned the wrong way in a deck.
 Broadway: An Ace high straight.
 Buck: In all flop games, a small disk used to indicate the dealer, or used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; the button.
 Bug: A Joker that can be used to make straights and flushes and can be paired with Aces, but not with any other cards.
 Bump: A raise.
 Bullets: A pair of aces in the hole.
 Buried Pair: In stud games, a pair in the hole.
 Burn Card or Burn: To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each betting round before putting out the next community card(s).
 Bust a Player: To deprive a player of all his chips; in tournament play, to eliminate a player.
 Busted: Broke, tapped.
 Busted Flush: A hand with only four of five cards in a flush.
 Busted Hand: (1) A worthless hand (Bust). (2) A hand that failed to fill a straight or a flush on the draw.
 Bust Out: To be eliminated from a tournament by losing all your chips.
 Button: In all flop games, a small disk used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; a buck.
 Buy In: The stack of chips that a player buys at the start of a game.
 Buy: 1)As In "buy the pot"-To buy a pot is to make a bet large enough that other players would be unlikely to call; to bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called. 2) As in "buy the button"-To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.
 By Me: An expression meaning to pass or check.

- C -

 Call: Money put in the pot to match a bet or raise.
 Call Cold: To call a bet and raise at once.
 Calling Station: A player who calls almost any bet; Telephone Booth. A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. See also Pay Station.
 Cards Speak: A rule that the value of a hand is based on what the cards are rather than on what a player declares.
 Case Card: The last available card of a particular value or suit.
 Cash In: To exchange poker chips for cash and then to quit (Cash Out).
 Catching Cards: When the cards are treating you well, you are said to be catching cards.
 Caught Speeding: Slang for caught bluffing.
 Center Pot:  The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main pot."
 Chase: To stay against a better hand.
 Cheater: A player who intentionally violates the rules to gain advantage unavailable to others.
 Check: To pass without betting, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round.
 Check Blind (Check in the Dark): To check without looking at one's own cards.
 Check Raise: To check and then subsequently raise in the same round of betting.
 Chip: Money represented by a plastic disc.
 Cinch Hand: An unbeatable hand; nuts.
 Closed Hand: A hand in which all cards are concealed from the opponents.
 C-Note: A hundred-dollar bill.
 Coffeehousing: To talk about a hand one is involved in, usually with the intent of misleading or manipulating other players, is coffeehousing.
 Cold Call: To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after him must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.
 Cold Hands: (1) Showdown hands. (2) A run of poor hands.
 Come: Playing a worthless hand in the hope of improving it is called "playing on the come."
 Come Hand: A hand that has not yet been made, requiring one or more cards from the draw to complete it.
 Come Over The Top: To raise or re raise an opponent's bet.
 Commit Fully: To put in as many chips as necessary to play your hand to the river, even if they're your case chips.
 Complete Hand: A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush.
 Common Cards: The common cards produced on the flop, turn and river in Holdem and Omaha. See 'Widow'.
 Community Cards: These are the cards dealt to the table - the cards that each Player uses to complete their five-card hand.
 Connectors: A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76; consecutive cards which might make a straight.
 Counterfeit: To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.
 Cowboy: A slang for a King; more often heard in the plural.
 Crack: To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often used to apply to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."
 Cripple: As in to cripple the deck. Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.
 Crying Call: A call with a hand you think has a small chance of winning.
 Cut It Up: To split the pot after a tie.
 Cut the Cards: Putting the bottom cards of a deck on top of the deck.

- D -

 Dead Cards: Discarded or folded cards.
 Dead Hand: A foul hand that cannot be played.
 Dead Man's Hand: Usually aces and eights, two pair. Sometimes aces and eights, full house ... or jacks and eights, two pair.
 Dead Money: 1) Money put into the pot by players who have already folded. 2) The term is also used in a derogatory sense to refer to money put in the pot by players who are still legally eligible to win it, but who are unlikely to because they are unskilled. 2) The term also applies in tournaments, when a player enters who has no chance of winning.
 Deal: To distribute cards to the players.
 Dealer: (1) A person who deals the cards. (2) The operator of a gambling game in a casino. .
 Deck: All the cards used in the game (Pack)
 Deuce: A two.
 Deuce to Seven: Another term for Kansas City Lowball, a two to seven without a flush, being the best hand.
 Dog: A person or hand who is not mathematically favored to win a pot; shortened form of underdog.
 Dominate: Said of a starting hand that will almost always beat another starting hand.
 Dominated Hand: A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the exception of strange flops (e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), it will always lose to KQ.
 Door card: The first card dealt face up to each player in seven card stud is the door card.
 Double Gut Shot: A draw to a broken sequence of cards, in which either of two cards will make the straight.
 Double Suited: In Omaha, a holding that has two cards in each of two suits.
 Double Through: Going all-in against an opponent in order to double your stack if you win the hand.
 Down and Dirty: The final hole card dealt in seven-card stud.
 Down Cards: Cards dealt face-down.
 Down To The Felt: A player who has lost most of his chips.
 Draw Poker: A form of poker in which each player receives five cards and then has the option of discarding one or more of them and receiving new cards in their place.
 Draw Out: To catch the winning hand with the last card or with draw cards.
 Drawing Dead: Drawing a hand that cannot win.
 Drawing Hand: A potentially strong hand requiring a particular card from the draw to make it.
 Driver's Seat: The player who is making all the betting and thus appears to hold the strongest hand is said to be in the driver's seat.
 Drop or Drop Out: To retire from a hand by not calling a bet or raise (Fold).

- E -

 Early Position: A position on a round of betting in which you must act before most of the other players.
 Equity: Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot.
 Ethics or Etiquette: The understandings and courtesies of which violations do not constitute cheating.
 Even Money: A wager in which you hope to win the same amount as you bet.
 Exposed Cards: Cards purposely dealt face-up as in stud.

- F -

 Face Card: Any picture card.
 Family Pot: A pot in which everyone calls the bet.
 Fast: To play fast is to play aggressively.
 Fast Game: A game with a fast betting pace.
 Favorite: A hand that has the best chance of winning.
 Fifth Street: In flop games, the final round of betting and the fifth community card on the board; in stud games, the fifth card dealt to each player and the third betting round (on the third upcard).
 Fish: An easy or a poor player.
 Fishhook: A nickname for a Jacks, more often heard in the plural.
 Five of a Kind: Five cards of the same value.
 Fixed Limit: Betting with agreed-upon limits or maximums.
 Flash: (1) To expose concealed cards (2) To turn up a common card for everyone's use when insufficient cards are available to complete a stud game. (3) Five cards, one of each suit plus the joker.
 Fill: To pull the card one is seeking; to hit.
 Fill Up: To make a full house.
 Flat Call: To call a bet without raising.
 Flat Limit: A betting limit in a poker game that does not escalate from one round to the next.
 Floorman: (1) A cardroom manager. (2) Shift boss in a casino.
 Flop: In flop games, the first three community cards, which are turned face up simultaneously and start the second round of betting.
 Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
 Flush Draw: Having four cards of the same suit, and hoping to draw a fifth to make a flush.
 Fold: To drop out of a hand by not calling the bet or raise (Drop).
 Forced Bet:  A required bet to start the action on the first round of a poker hand.
 Force-in: A mandatory blind bet, usually with an option to raise.
 Foul Hand: A hand containing the wrong number of cards.
 Four Flush: Four cards of the same suit.
 Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same value.
 Fourth Street: In Texas Hold'Em, this is the fourth community card; also known as 'The Turn'. In Seven Card Stud Poker, the fourth card dealt to each player and the second round of betting (on the second upcard).
 Free Card: A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand. For instance, if you are on the button and raise when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. However, if you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well - seeing the river card for "free."
 Free Roll: A lock on half the pot with a chance to win the whole pot.
 Freeze Out: A game or tournament in which all players start with the same amount and play until one player has won all the chips.
 Full House, Full Barn, or Full Tub: Three of a kind with another pair (Full Hand).

- G -

 Gallery: Nonplaying spectators.
 Gambler: A player who wagers money at unfavorable edge odds.
 Gambling: Betting money at unfavorable investment and edge odds.
 G-Note: A one thousand dollar bill.
 Get The Right Price: The pot odds are favorable enough for you to justify calling a bet or a raise with a drawing hand.
 Get Full Value: Betting, raising and re-raising in order to manipulate the size of the pot so that you will be getting maximum pot odds if you win the hand.
 Get There: To make your hand.
 Give Action: Betting, calling, raising or re-raising.
 Go All In: To bet all of one's money in table stakes.
 Good Player: A player who extracts maximum money from the game.
 Grand: A thousand dollars.
 Gravy: One's winnings. .
 Gut-Shot or Gut-Shot Straight: A card drawn to fill an inside straight. If you have 9s-8s, the flop comes 7c-5h-2d, and the turn is the 6c, you've made your gutshot straight.
 Gypsy In: In lowball, to limp in.

- H -

 Hand: The cards dealt to a player.
 Heads Up: Two people playing poker.
 Help: To improve a hand on receiving additional cards in stud or draw poker.
 High: The high hand is simply the best hand.
 High-Low: A game in which the highest and lowest hands split the pot.
 Hit: A draw or catch that improves one's hand.
 Hold 'em: A seven-card game with two face-down cards for each player and five face-up cards for everyone's use (Tennessee Hold Me, Texas Hold 'em).
 Hole Cards: Cards dealt face-down in stud.
 Hook: A jack.
 Hot Deck: A deck from which good hands are being dealt.
 Hot Hands: A run of high-value hands.
 Hot Streak: A run of good "luck" or winning hands (Spinner).
 House: A person or organization running a poker game for profit. .
 House Rules: Rules, especially betting, agreed upon by the players.

- I -

 Implied Odds: Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For example, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.
 Improve: To draw cards that improve one's hand.
 In: A player is "in" if he or she has called all bets.
 In Action: The time when a player is involved in playing his hand.
 Inside Straight: A broken sequence of four cards, such as three, five, six, seven.
 In the Air: When the tournament director instructs the dealers to get the cards in the air, it means to start dealing.
 In The Dark: To check or bet blind, without looking at your cards.
 In the Hole: Cards dealt face-down in stud poker.
 In the Middle: The position of the players calling bets between two raising players; also, Middle Man.
 Isolate: To raise with the intention of reaching a heads up between yourself and a single other player.
 It: Refers to the largest amount anyone has yet played in a round.

- J -

 Jackpot Poker: A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten. In hold'em, the "loser" must typically get aces full or better beaten. In some card clubs, jackpots have gotten over $50,000. The jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the rake.
 Jack or Jack It: See Raise.
 Jacks Full: A full house consisting of three jacks and another pair.
 Jam: A hand in which several players are raising each other.
 Jammed Pot: The pot has been raised the maximum number of times, and may also be multi-way.
 Jesse James: A pot stealer; a bluffer.
 Joker: The 53rd card added to a deck 

- K -

 Kansas City: Kansas City lowball is a low game played for a deuce to seven low.
 Key Card: An important card needed to complete a hand.
 Key Player: A player with important influence over the game.
 Kibitzer: A commenting spectator.
 Kicker: An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands.

- L -

 Late Position:  A position on a round of betting in which you act after most of the other players have acted.
 Lay Down: The revealing of hands after the last bet.
 Lay Down Your Hand: To fold.
 Lead: To be the first to enter the pot after the blind.
 Leader: The player who is betting first.
 Leading Hand: Hand believed to be the best that any of the players at the table is likely to have.
 Legitimate Hand: A strong hand that is not a bluff.
 Limit: The maximum bet or raise allowed.
 Limit Poker: A game with fixed minimum and maximum betting intervals.
 Limit Stakes: Poker with maximum bets and raises established by the house rules.
 Limp In or Limper: To enter the round by calling a bet, rather than raising. Limper A player who enters the pot for the minimum bet.
 Little Blind or Small Blind: The first forced and smallest blind bet.
 Live Blind: A blind bettor with an option to raise.
 Live Card: A card that has not been dealt or exposed.
 Live Hand: A hand with a good chance to improve.
 Lock: A hand that cannot lose.
 Loose: Un-conservative style of play; playing more hands than the norm.
 Loose Game: A game with a lot of players in most pots.
 Luck: An illusion of winning or losing beyond statistical reality.
 Luck Out: To outdraw and beat a good hand.

- M -

 Make A Move: To try a bluff.
 Main Pot: The first pot apart from side pots.
 Main Pot: The first pot apart from side pots.
 Maniac: A player who plays extremely loose and aggressive, often raising with just about anything.
 Mark: A sucker.
 Marker:  An IOU.
 Mechanic: A cheat who manipulates the deck.
 Middle Pair: In flop games, a middle pair is made by pairing with the middle card on the flop.
 Misdeal: A faulty deal resulting in a redeal.
 Miss: To be unable to make your drawing hand when the final cards are dealt.
 Monster Hand:  Extraordinarily powerful hand; a hand that is almost certain to win.
 Move In:  To go all-in.
 Muck: If a Player does not wish to show his losing hand to the table, he can choose to muck. The hand will then be discarded without being displayed to the table. Also, the pile of folded/burned cards in front of the dealer. Also used as a verb: "He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."

- N -

 Narrow the Field: To bet or raise in order to scare off other players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but have the potential to improve.
 Nit: To bide your time, patiently waiting for a playable hand.
 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.
 Nuts: A hand that is a certain winner. The best possible hand given the board. If the board is Ks-Jd-Ts-4s-2h, then As-Xs is the nuts. You will occasionally hear the term applied to the best possible hand of a certain category, even though it isn't the overall nuts. For the above example, somebody with Ah-Qc in the above hand might say they had the "nut straight".
 Nut Hand: Best possible hand.
 Nut Flush: Best possible flush.

- O -

 Odds: The chances of getting various hands or cards.
 Odds Against: The number of failures per success.
 Odds For: The number of attempts per success.
 Odds On: Odds at less than even money.
 Offsuit: A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are of different suits.
 Omaha: Seven-card stud with two hole cards in one's hand and five table cards that are rolled up one at a time.
 On Board: On the table; in the game.
 One-End or One-Way Straight: A four-card straight open only on one end, such as jack, queen, king, ace.
 One-Gap: A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are two apart in rank. Examples: J9s, 64.
 On the Come: A hand that is drawing to a straight or flush or, to bet before one has made a good hand.
 On Tilt: Playing very poorly or wildly, usually after losing badly or winning big.
 Open: The first bet of the first round.
 Open Ended Straight or Open at Both Ends or Open End: Four consecutive cards requiring one at either end to make a straight.
 Open Cards: Face-up cards in stud (Up Cards).
 Opener: The player who opens the pot.
 Open Game: A game in which anyone can play.
 Open Pair: An exposed pair in stud.
 Open Seat: A chair available for another player.
 Outs: A card that will improve your hand, usually one that you think will make you a winner. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."
 Outdraw: To beat an opponent by drawing to a better hand.
 Outrun or Outran: To beat or be beaten. Example: "Doyle outran my set when his flush card hit on the river."
 Overcall: The calling of a big bet after others have called.
 Overcard: A card that is higher than any card showing.
 Overcards: Cards that rank higher than a pair.
 Overpair: A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.
 Over The Top: To raise or re raise an opponent's bet.

- P -

 Paint or Paint Cards: Paint Cards are the King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; picture cards.
 Pair: Two cards of the same value.
 Pass: To check or drop out instead of betting.
 Passive: A style of play that is characterized by reluctance to bet and raise.
 Pat Hand: A hand that is played as dealt, without changing a card; usually a straight, flush or full house.
 Pay Off: To call a bet where the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but I had top set so I paid him off."
 Pay Station: A player who calls bets and raises much more than is typical; see Calling Station.
 Penny Ante: A very low-stake game.
 Picture Card: A jack, queen, or king.
 Pineapple Hold 'em: Any of a number of variants of hold 'em in which each player gets three cards and must discard one at some point.
 Pips: The suit symbols on a non-court card, indicating its rank; the spots or marks on the face of a card.
 Play: To call or stay in.
 Play Back: To raise or re-raise an opponent's bet.
 Played Card: A card dealt to a hand.
 Play the Board: To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have 2-2, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A, and no flush possible, then you must "play the board." The best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards and the best you can do is to split the pot with all remaining players.
 Play With: Staying in the hand by betting, calling, raising, or re-raising.
 Pocket Cards: Your unique cards that only you can see. For example, "He had pocket Queens."
 Pocket Rockets: A pair of Aces in the hole.
 Point: The value of a card.
 Poker: A money-management game that uses cards for manipulation and deception for winning.
 Poker Face: A face not showing any emotion or change in expression.
 Poker Rules: A loose, flexible framework of traditions for playing poker.
 Position: The relative situation of a player to the other players; Fundamental Position, Seat Position, Technical Position.
 Post: To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a cardroom game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds.
 Pot: The area in which antes, bets, and raises are placed.
 Pot Limit: Poker stakes in which the maximum permitted bet is the size of the pot.
 Pot Odds: The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least one out of twelve, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.
 Price: The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call. Example: "The pot was laying me a high enough price, so I stayed in with my gutshot straight draw."
 Protect or Protect Your Cards: (1) To protect your cards is to place a chip or some other small object on top of them so that they don't accidentally get mucked by the dealer, mixed with another player's discards, or otherwise become dead when you'd like to play them. (2) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted." Example: "He'll always protect his blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."
 Provider: A player who makes the game profitable for the other players at the table; a nicer term for a 'Fish'.
 Public Poker: Poker played in gambling casinos or in public card clubs in which the pots are cut for profit.
 Push: When the hand is finished and a winner is determined, the dealer pushes the chips towards the winner.
 Put Down: Fold.
 Put Him On: To guess an opponent's hand and play accordingly.
 Putting On The Heat: Pressuring your opponents with aggressive betting strategies to get the most value from your hand.

- Q -

 Quads or Quadruplets: Four of a kind.
 Qualifier: The minimum value hand allowed to win the pot.
 Quartered: When Players tie with either a high or a low hand, their winnings equal a quarter of the pot. Note: This is Applicable to Omaha Hi/Lo Poker.

- R -

 Rabbit Hunting: Looking through the undealt deck of cards.
 Rag Off: To get a card on the river that doesn't help you.
 Rags: Worthless cards.
 Ragged: A flop, or board, that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged.
 Rail: The sideline at a poker table.
 Railbird : A non-playing spectator or kibitzer, often used to describe a broke ex-player.
 Rainbow: A flop that contains three of four cards of different suits; three different suits means no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.
 Raise: To increase the bet. In a limit game, this means add a bet equal to the betting limit; in a no-limit game, this means increase by anything equal to or greater than the previous bet or raise. Also jack, jack it, jack it up, or jack up.
 Raise Blind: (1) To raise without looking at one's cards. (2) A forced raise. .
 Rake: An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer - this is the cardroom's income.
 Rank: The numerical value of a card,as opposed to its suit. Example: "jack," "seven." The relative value of hands.
 Rap: To knock the table, indicating a check.
 Rat Holer: A player who pockets his money or winnings during the game.
 Razz: (1) Seven-card lowball stud. (2) Draw poker in which the winner of the previous pot bets last.
 Read or Reading Cards: To try and determine your opponent's cards or betting strategy.
 Redeal: A new deal after a misdeal.
 Redraw: A draw to an even better hand when you currently are holding the nuts.
 Represent: To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.
 Reraise: A raise after having been raised.
 Riffle: To shuffle; or to fidget with your chips.
 Ring Game: A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips. A full game.
 River: The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street".
 Rock: A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable - if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.
 Rock Garden: A table populated with rocks.
 Roll: To turn a card face-up.
 Rolled Up: The first three cards being three of a kind.
 Rotation: Movement in the direction of the deal...clockwise.
 Rounder : A professional player who "makes the rounds" of the big poker games in the country.
 Round of Betting: The action sequence in which each player is allowed to check, open, bet, raise, or drop.
 Round of Play: The action sequence in which every player deals a poker hand.
 Royal Flush: A straight flush to the ace.
 Run: A sequence or a straight.
 Runner: Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand which was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips."
 Running Pair:  Two cards of same rank dealt in succession.
 Running Bad: On a losing streak.
 Running Good:  On a winning streak.
 Rush: Several winning hands in a short period of time; a winning streak.

- S -

 Sandbag: (1) To check and then raise the opener. (2) To check or hold back raising to get more money in the pot (Check Raising).
 Satellite: A small-stakes tournament whose winner obtains cheap entry into a bigger tournament.
 Scare Card: A card which may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd-Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.
 Scoop: To win the entire pot.
 Scooting: Passing chips to another player after winning a pot; horsing.
 Seat Position: The position of a player relative to the other players.
 Second Best: The best losing hand.
 Second Pair: A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair.
 See: To call.
 Sell: As in "sell a hand". In a spread limit game, this means to bet less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet.
 Semi-bluff: It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play.
 Set: Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
 Set:  You In To bet as much as your opponent has left in front of him.
 Seventh Street:  The final betting round on the last card in Seven-Card Stud.
 Shill:  A card room employee, often an off-duty dealer, who plays with house money to make up a game.
 Shootout: A tournament format in which a single player ends up with the entire prize money, or in which play continues at each table until only one player remains.
 Short Odds:  The odds for an event that has a good chance of occurring.
 Sequence: Cards of consecutive value as in a straight (e.g., four, five, six, seven, eight).
 Session: The period in which a poker game is held.
 Set: Three or four of a kind.
 Short Stack: A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table. If you have $10 in front of you, and everybody else at the table has over $100, you are playing on a short stack.
 Show: To expose one's cards.
 Show Cards: The exposed cards in stud.
 Showdown: (1) The showing of cards at the end of a hand. (2) An open hand played for a predetermined amount.
 Show One, Show All: A rule that says if a player shows their cards to anyone at the table they can be asked to show everyone else.
 Shuffle: To mix the cards prior to dealing.
 Side Bet: Any bet made outside the pot.
 Side Card: An unmatched card which may determine the winner between two otherwise equal hands.
 Side Pot: A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Bob calls the $6, and Phil calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Al or Bob can win, but not Phil. Furthermore, any more bets that Al and Bob make go into that side pot. Phil, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.
 Sixth Street: The fourth round of betting is the 'Sixth Street' as each Player has six cards. Note: This is applicable to Seven Card Stud Poker.
 Slow Play: Passively allowing opponents to bet while holding a strong hand.
 Slow Roll: To reveal one's hand slowly at showdown, one card at a time, to heighten the drama.
 Small Blind or Little Blind: A small blind is the first bet posted by the Player to the Dealer's left. It is a forced bet, and its amount is equal to half of the lower bet. For example, in a $10 - $20 game, the small blind is $5.
 Smooth: The best possible low hand with a particular high card.
 Smooth Call: To call rather than raise an opponent's bet.
 Snap Off: To beat another player, often a bluffer, and usually without a powerful hand.
 Speed: The level of aggressiveness with which you play. Fast play is more aggressive, slow play is more passive.
 Speed Limit: Slang for a wired pair of 5's.
 Splash Around:  To play more loosely than you should.
 Splash The Pot: To throw your chips into the pot, instead of placing them in front of you. This makes it difficult for the dealer to determine the amount you bet.
 Split Pot: A pot which is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.
 Split Two Pair: A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is 9-5-5.
 Spread: When a card room starts a table for a particular game, it is said to spread that game. If you want to know what games are played in a particular place, you can ask what they spread.
 Spread Limit: A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round. A typical spread limit structure is $2-$6, where a player may bet as little as $2 or as much as $6 on every betting round.
 Squared Deck: An evenly stacked deck ready for cutting or dealing.
 Squeeze: To look slowly at the extremities of your hole cards, without removing them from the table, to worry your opponents and heighten the drama; also Sweat.
 Stack: (1) A pile of chips. (2) To cheat by prearranging cards to be dealt.
 Stake: The money with which a player enters a game.
 Stand Pat: In draw Poker, to draw no cards.
 Stay: To remain in a hand with a call rather than a raise.
 Steal: A bluff in late position, attempting to steal the pot from a table of apparently weak hands.
 Steal The Ante: Make a first round bet that causes opponents to fold.
 Steaming: Playing poorly and wildly, often because the player is emotionally upset; see 'On Tilt'.
 Steel Wheel:  In lowball, a straight flush, five high (Ace-2-3-4-5).
 Straddle: (1) A forced or a compulsory raise (Blind Raise). (2) The right to buy the last-bettor position.
 Straight:  cards in sequence, such as three, four, five, six, seven.
 Straight Flush: Cards of the same suit in sequence.
 Stranger: A new or unfamiliar card in a hand after the draw.
 Streak: A run of winning or losing hands.
 String Bet: A hesitating bet made in segments to lure giveaway reactions from other players, especially those on one's left; this is not allowed in most casinos and poker clubs.
 Stuck: Slang for losing, often a substantial amount of money.
 Structured: Used to apply to a certain betting structure in "flop" games such as hold'em. The typical definition is a fixed amount for bets and raises before the flop and on the flop, and then twice that amount on the turn and river. Example: a $2-$4 structured hold'em game - bets and raises of $2 before the flop and on the flop; $4 bets and raises on the turn and river.
 Stud: Any form of poker in which the first card or cards are dealt down, or in the hole, followed by several open, or face up, cards.
 Suck Out: To win a hand by hitting a very weak draw, often with poor pot odds.
 Suit: Any of the four sets (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) in a deck of cards.
 Suited: A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play Jack Three; it was suited."
 Sweat: 1) Take a long time to look at your cards, often by squeezing; 2) Watch someone play, or stand and watch a game, often from the raill; 3) Win by careful play, avoiding taking risks.
 Sweater: Kibitzer; sometimes in particular someone who, in a tournament, stands on the rail and closely follows the play of one particular player, perhaps because of having a financial interest in, or being married to, the significant other of, or a friend of, that player.
 Sweeten The Pot: Slang for raise.

- T -

 Table: Refers to the poker table itself, or the collective players in the game.
 Table Cards: Cards turned face-up on the table for use in everyone's hand, such as used in Cincinnati. Five cards are dealt to each player plus another hand of five cards face down on the table. These cards are turned up one at a time, and there is a round of betting each time a card is exposed. Each player selects a hand of five cards from among the cards in his own hand and the five on the table.
 Table Cop: A player who calls with the intention of keeping other players honest.
 Table Stakes: Stakes in which the betting and raising is limited to the amount of money a player has in front of him.
 Table Talk: Any discussion at the table of the hand currently underway, especially by players not involved in the pot, and especially any talk that might affect play.
 Take Off: A Card To call a single bet in order to see one more card.
 Take Off The Gloves:  To use an aggressive betting strategy to bully opponents.
 Take The Odds: To wager less money on a proposition than you hope to win.
 Tap City: To go broke.
 Tap Out: To bet all one's chips.
 Tapped Out: Broke, busted.
 Tells: Characteristics, habits, or actions of a player that give away his hand or intentions.
 Texas Hold 'em: A seven-card game with two face-down cards for each player and five face-up cards for everyone's use. Same as Hold 'em, Tennessee Hold Me.
 Third Pair: In flop games, pairing the third highest card on board.
 Third Street : The first round of betting is the 'Third Street' as each Player has three cards. The Player with the lowest card displayed brings-in the betting in this round. Note: This is applicable to Seven-Card Stud Poker.
 Three Flush: Three cards of the same suit, requiring two more to make a flush.
 Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same value; also Treys, Triplets, Trips.
 Throwing A Party: When several loose or amateur players are making significant monetary contributions to the pot.
 Ticket: A card.
 Tie: Two hands of equal value. The pot is usually divided between tied hands that win. .
 Tight Game:  A game with a small number of players in most pots.
 Tight Player: A player who seldom bets unless he has a strong hand or plays on fewer hands than the norm.
 Tilt: To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.
 Time: A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. Simply, "Time please!" If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has folded.
 To Go: An amount "to go" is the amount it takes to enter the pot.
 Toke: A tip, especially to a dealer in a gambling casino.
 Top Pair: A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair.
 Tough Player: A superior poker player.
 Trey: A three.
 Triplets: Three of a kind; see also 'Trip'.
 Trips: Three of a kind; see also "Triplets'.
 Turn: The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street.
 Two Flush: Two cards of the same suit, requiring three more to make a flush.
 Two Pair: Two separate pairs of different values in a hand.
 Two-Way Hand: A hand having possibilities of winning both high and low halves of a split-pot game.

- U -

 Under-Raise:  To raise less than the previous bet; allowed only if a player is going all-in.
 Under the Gun: The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are under the gun before the flop.
 Underdog: A person or hand who is not mathematically favored to win a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river, i.e., you will make your flush about one in three times. Also known as "dog."
 Up Cards: The face-up cards in stud (Open Cards).

- V -

 Value: As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw which, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.
 Variance: A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.
 Visible cards: These are the cards that are dealt face up to each Player. Players use these cards to complete their five-card combinations.

- W -

 Wager: To wager is to bet.
 Wake Up With A Hand:  To be dealt a hand with winning potential.
 Walk: To walk is to be away from the table long enough to miss one or more hands.
 Walkers: Players who walk frequently.
 Wash: To Shuffle.
 Wheel:  The lowest hand in lowball, Ace-2-3-4-5; also known as a bicycle.
 Whipsaw: To raise before, and after, a caller who gets caught in the middle.
 Widow: The common cards produced on the flop turn and river in Holdem and Omaha.
 Wild card: Card that may be given any desired rank or suit by the player holding it.
 Winning Hand: A winning hand is a hand that takes the pot in a poker game. This hand beats all the other players' hands that are still active in the pot.
 Wired Pair:  A pair in hand.
 World's Fair: A big hand.
 Wrap or Wrap Around: This term is used in Omaha when your hand is showing every straight draw possible. If the flop is 3, 7, 8 and you hold 5, 6, 9, 10, this is a complete wrap with 20 outs to make a straight.
 WSOP-World Series of Poker: A Hold 'em tournament with a $10,000 buy-in held every May at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas.

- X -

 X: Ten Dollars ($10). Comes from the Roman numeral.
 X Marks the Spot: A variant of Southern Cross, played only in home games, in which each player is dealt five cards face down, and five cards are dealt face down in the center, in the form of a cross, forming three vertical and three horizontal cards, with each player allowed to combine any of the widow cards together with his original cards in forming a five-card hand. The widow cards are turned up one at a time, with the center card turned up last, each followed by a betting round. The center card and others of the same rank are wild. Also called criss-cross.

 

- Y -

 Yard:  One hundred dollars ($100).
 Yeast:  Raise. "Let's give it a little yeast" means "I raise."
 Yo and Yoleven: 11, in respect to the size of a bet. Probably comes from craps dealers who pronounce the word clearly, loudly, and distinctly to distinguish amid all the casino noise from the similar sounding seven. Often they drag it out to eeyoleven, and this is sometimes shortened to eeyo.
  You Roll Two: A form of seven-card stud, found exclusively in home games, in which each player receives four cards face down, turns any two up, and then the betting commences.

 

- Z -

 Z-Game: The smallest game in a card room or casino. Opposite of A-game.
 Zilch or Zip: Nothing. A dealt hand with no cards worth holding or a final hand with no payoff. Also called a garbage hand.
 Zip: In lowball, 4-3-2-A; always preceded by the rank of the highest card in the hand. For example, 8-zip is 8-4-3-2-A. Also, nothing.
 Zombie : A poker player with no tells, one who has a poker face, shows no emotion, and otherwise exhibits no behavior to give away his holdings.
 Zuke:  Toke, a gambling term for "tip", as in "Toke the cocktail waitress". Comes from the term "Token of appreciation". A small amount of money, typically $.50 or $1.00, is given to the dealer by the winner of a pot. Quite often, tokes represent the great majority of a dealer's income. This term is generally used only by dealers.