Poker Terms

Learn the most common poker terms and poker slang and talk like a pro at the tables!

Advertise: Making a move intended at falsely exposing oneself as a weak or bluffing player.

Ante: A small forced bet sometimes placed by all players before each hand. Common in big tournaments to provoke aggressive play.

Back door: Making a hand other than the one intended, for example drawing for a straight and hitting a runner-runner flush.

Bad beat: A hand that is a huge favorite to win, but loses nonetheless.

B&M: Abbreviation for a real life "Brick and Mortar" Poker Room or Casino.

Bust: Losing your entire table stack or your entire bank roll.

Calling station: A player who passively calls with a lot of hands and doesn't fold or raise very often.

Cap: To max out the number of allowed raises, usually four, in a fixed limit poker game.

Coin Toss: An all-in situation where both players have a close to equal chance of winning.

Connectors: Pocket cards that connect in rank, for example 7-8 or Ace-King.

Cracked: To have the best Holdem starting hand there is, two aces, beaten.

Crap Shoot: A table where the players are aggressive and the action is wild and crazy.

Crying Call: A call made by a player despite declaring that he is certain he will lose.

Drawing dead: A draw hand that will lose even if it hits its draw.

Draw hand: A hand that needs to improve on the turn or the river in order to win.

Edge: In the long run luck evens out and only skill remains as a deciding factor between players. Edge is the slight advantage one player has over another through more skill, larger stack or better position.

Freeroll: A multi-table tournament that is free to enter but still has a real money prize pool.

Grinder: A player that consistently plays for hours on low limits with the intent of slowly and carefully building a larger bank roll.

Heads up: A game or situation where players face each other one-on-one.

Kicker: If a player makes a pair with one of his hole cards, the other is called the kicker. If another players holds the same pair, the highest kicker wins the pot.

Nuts, the: The best possible hand a player can have at any given time.

Outs: The total number of possibilities a player has to win a pot based on the current situation. If he holds 99 and needs another 9 to win, then he would have a total of two outs.

On the Button: Being in the dealer's position and thus acting last.

Over cards: Pocket cards that have a value higher than the highest card currently on the board. An ace and a king are over cards to a 57J flop.

Over the top: Re-raising another player's raise with a substantial amount.

Pot odds: A strategic comparison between the amount of money needed to call a bet, the total amount in the pot and the chance of actually winning the hand.

Position: Where a player is seated in relation to the dealer, establishing that player's place in the betting order.

Rags: Low community cards that ought to have no effect on the outcome of a hand.

Rake - The rake is a small percentage of each pot that the poker rooms take as commission. The rake percentage is not the same on all poker rooms and it differs depending on which level you play at. The rake is however always capped and it typically ranges from $0.05 to $3. Rake usually concerns cash games when it comes to tournaments and sit and go's it is called tournament fee. The tournament fees are typically 10% of the buy in. For example in a $10 sit and go, the fee is usually $1.

Rakeback - Rakeback is a percentage of the rake that you get back through a rakeback program. Either you get this directly from the poker room, but the most common way is to get it from a poker affiliate like RakeBrain. Not all poker rooms offer rakeback deals and the percentage you get back can differ a lot for different poker rooms. The most common rakeback percentage is 30%.

Read: The art of identifying another player's tells and analyzing his play in order to determine his pocket cards.

Re-buy: A tournament feature that, for a limited time only, allows players who bust out of a tournament to buy their way back in again.

Runner-Runner: Improving your hand by hitting on both the turn card and the river card and thus winning the pot.

Sandbagging: Playing a very strong hand passively in the hope of inducing more action and provoke costly bluffs.

Satellite: A tournament where players can qualify for much bigger events.

Scoop: To win both the high and the low pot in a hi/lo game.

Shootout: A tournament format where players face each other in parallel ten-player tournaments and the winners of each then face off in another round of ten-player tournaments. Until only one winner remains.

Streak: To be "in the zone" and win with whatever cards you are dealt.

Suited: Starting hand in matching suit – hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds.

Tell: A clue, hint or mannerism that reveals the true strength of a player's hand. In live games often detected through body language. Online, clues are discovered by observing a player's betting patterns.

Tilt: Playing recklessly and badly due to frustration from having lost.

Trap: To play a very strong hand weakly in order to induce costly raises from other players.

Under the Gun: The position to the immediate left of the big blind.