Poker Terms Glossary

On this page, we have listed some of the most common terms used in poker today. We've even included some typical online phrases you will find at good poker sites in 2024 .

Why waste time getting the hang of the lingo when you can brush up on your glossary and start taking down pots even quicker?

ABC	Playing tight, conservative poker to ensure long-term profits
Action	Player's chance to act
Add-On	Extra chips given to tournament players at the end of a re-buy period
All-in	Moving all your chips into the pot while calling, betting or raising
Ante	Compulsory bet on top of the blinds
Backdoor	Hitting the turn and river cards to complete a hand
Bad Beat	Unlucky loss by a player
Bankroll	Player's total cash to play poker with
Big blind	Compulsory bet made by player sitting two seats to the left of the dealer
Boat	A full house
Blind	Compulsory bet made before a hand
Bluff	Bet made while holding an inferior hand
Board	Community cards shared by all players
Bounty	Special prize awarded for eliminating a tournament playe
Bring-In	Used in Stud games: first player to make a bet
Bubble	Player knocked out one place before the money in a tournament
Burn	Card discarded by dealer before the flop, turn and river
Bust / Busto	Gone broke or knocked out of a tournament
Button	Indicates where the 'Dealer', or Seat 1 player, is sitting; button player is last to act
Buy-in	Tournament or cash game entry
Cage	Area of casino where poker players can cash in chips
Call	Match another player's bet
Calling Station	A weak player who calls, but who doesn't raise their hands much. They won't fold much but they can catch you on the river if you let them.
Cashier	Online poker site area to deposit and withdraw funds
Chatbox	Area of online poker screen to talk to other players
Check	Option not to act in a pot without any previous bets
Chinese Poker	Popular variant of poker where players have to form three separate poker hands from 13 cards; infamous for high-stakes side action among professional players.
Continuation Bet (C-Bet)	Following a pre-flop raise with a strong post-flop bet, regardless of whether it improved your hand
Crack	Beat a dominant hand
Croupier	Dealer overseeing a game
Cut-Off	Last player to act before the dealer (Button)
Dealer	Player on the Button or the croupier overseeing a live game of poker.
Deck	Pack of cards used in a game
Deuce	Term for the '2' card
Draw	Complete a hand with a specific range of cards
Drawing Dead	Player cannot win hand, whatever cards are left to be dealt
Draw Poker	Form of poker where players improve 5-card hands by changing cards during the hand
Early Position (EP)	Sitting in one of the first seats to make a decision (Small Blind, Big Blind etc)
Expected Value (EV)	Amount a player expects to win or lose in a hand or session.

What is Expected Value?

EV is the amount a player expects he will lose or win on a given hand. This figure can be positive (+EV) or negative (-EV) with -EV decisions ones to avoid.

For example, let's say a player puts $20 into a pot of $100, and your chance of the hand hitting is 25 percent. 75 percent of the time (or 3 out of four times), the player will lose, meaning he will lose 3x$20=$60 in total. On the fourth attempt he makes it, winning his $100.

The difference here is $100-$60=$40, or a win of $10 each hand ($40 divided by 4). Calling the $20 means his "expectation" is $10. Therefore, the move is +EV.

Expected value can be worked out quickly using pot odds; money already in the pot compared to the size of the bet needed to make the call. This can then be used to make a correct decision to call or fold.

Felted	Knocked out of a tournament
Fish	Weak/loose player; fish are usually new players or who gamble recklessly Fifth street - River card
Flop	First three community cards dealt
Flush	5-card hand all the same suit
Fold	Ditch your hand and stop playing in a hand
Fourth street	Turn card; fourth community card dealt
Full house	hand consisting of three of a kind plus a pair
Freeroll	Free-to-enter tournament; can sometimes carry small cash prizes
Freezeout	game without rebuy option
FPP	Frequent player points; reward points for online play
GG	'Good Game' in online chatbox jargon; used at the end of a game or to needle recently-knocked out players
Grinder	Player who makes a steady, regular income playing solid poker
Gutshot	Straight with the middle card needed to complete it. (e.g. a starting hand of 10-J seeing a flop of A-K-3 needs a Queen to complete a gutshot straight 10-J-Q-K-A)
Hand Odds	Chances of a player hitting the cards he needs to complete a hand; can be compared with Pot Odds to gauge whether to continue in a hand
Heads-up	Two players remaining in a hand; a straight-up contest between two players.
Hold'em	Poker variant played with two hole cards and five community cards (also see Texas Hold'em)
Hole cards	Hidden cards dealt to players
HUD	Heads-Up Display; allows online players to assess opponents
Hyper-Aggressive	Maniac player who bluffs and raises the majority of the time
Implied Odds	Similar to Pot Odds (see below), but refer to odds that have yet to exist in the game. If you're confident of winning against a player on the river after making your full house, your Implied Odds are good
Kicker	Card used to decide the winner between two similar hands. For example, Player A has 10-10-2-2-A, and Player B has 10-10-2-2-K. Player A wins with the higher "kicker" of an ace as his fifth card
LAG	Loose-Aggressive player; a player who raises the majority of hands Late Position (LP) - Sitting in one of the last seats to make a decision (Cut-off or Button)
Limp	Call the big blind pre-flop
Loose	An aggressive or fishy player's style of play. Loose-aggressive players (LAG) will raise most pots, while Loose-Passive players will call and bet most hands
Maniac	See Hyper-Aggressive
Mississippi Straddle	Every cash game player at the table posting a blind bet before cards are dealt
MTT	Multi-Table Tournament
Muck	Fold at showdown without revealing cards if a player has lost; also the pile of discarded and burned cards on the table
No Limit	Games with no limit on the level of bet; players may move all-in for all their chips, regardless of the bet in front of them
NLHE	No Limit Hold'em (abbrev.)
Nuts	The best hand
Off-suit	hole cards of different suits
Omaha	Hold’em game with four cards each instead of two. Players MUST use two of their hole cards to form a hand
One-Outer	Hitting the one card in the deck needed to make a winning hand
Open	Starting the betting
Open-Ended Straight Draw	A hand that needs a lower or higher card to complete a straight, e.g. a player has 10-J, the board is 3-Q-K, and they can complete a straight with either a 9 or Ace
Open-Face Chinese Poker (OFCP)	Popular variant of Chinese Poker where players have to form three hands in ascending value. Starting to be introduced into tournament schedules
Out of Turn	Acting before it's your turn to bet
Overpair	Pocket pair higher than the community cards
Play the Board	All players in hand share the five community cards
Pocket pair	Hole cards containing one pair
Pot	Amount of cash in a hand
Pot Limit	Game where the maximum raise is the amount of the pot; Pot Limit Omaha and Hold'em are popular variants
PLO	Pot Limit Omaha (abbrev.)
Pot Odds	Money in the pot compared to the size of the bet needed to call; can be compared with Hand Odds to gauge whether to continue in a hand
Position	Player's seat around the table, or order that they make a decision
Post	Place a blind at the start of the game
Post-flop	All action taking place after the flop has been dealt
Pre-flop	All action taking place before the flop is dealt
Price	Odds needed to call a bet (good price means good enough odds to make the call)
Prizepool	Total prize money in a tournament
Push	Move all your chips in
Quads	Four of a kind
Rags	Bad hole cards
Rainbow	Flop containing three cards of different suits
Raise	To at least double the previous bet
Rake	Percentage of pot taken by cardroom in a cash game or tournament
Re-Buy	Tournament allowing players to buy more chips if they run out
Re-Entry	Popular tournament variant allowing players to re-enter the game after they've bust
Represent	Bluff or continue betting to give the impression you hold a strong hand
Ring game	Cash poker game
River	Fifth and final community card
Royal Flush	Hand containing five connecting cards, 10-J-Q-K-A
Runner-Runner	To catch the two cards needed to make a winning hand, on both the turn and river
Satellite	Online or offline tournament with a low buy-in that awards seats into bigger tournaments
Set	Three of a kind that includes both hole cards
Shark	Experienced players who hunt out fish
Short Stack / Shortie	Player with lowest chips in the tournament
Showdown	Players reveal cards to decide the hand
Side pot	Extra cash amounts decided by remaining players after a short-stacked player has moved all-in
Sit ‘n’ Go (SNG)	Tournament that begins as soon as all available seats are filled. Normally single-table
Sit Down	Take your seat at a table
Small blind	Compulsory bet made by player sitting one seat to the left of the dealer
Split pot	Tied hand which awards players equal amounts
Straddle	Cash game term for a player posting an extra big blind before cards have been dealt
Straight	Hand containing five connecting cards (e.g. 10-J-Q-K-A of different suits)
Straight Flush	Hand containing five connecting cards of same suit
STT	Single-table tournament
Super Straddle	Second cash game player posting an extra big blind
Table Talk/Trash Talk	Riling an opponent with abuse or making fun, usually to induce a reckless bet
Tell	Physical clue about the strength of a hand; can be physical, verbal or deduced by patterns made by online players
Texas Hold’em	Poker game played with two hole cards and five community cards
Tilt	Psychological distress after a losing streak or bad beat
Top pair	Pair which includes a hole card and a community card
Tracking software	Program used to take notes on opponents
Trips	Three of a kind that includes one hole card
Turn	The fourth community card drawn
UIGEA	Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, introduced in 2006 in the USA
UL	'Unlucky' in online chatbox jargon; can be used to taunt losing players
Under the Gun (UTG)	First to act after the blinds
WP	'Well Played' in online chatbox jargon; used by busted players