When you start playing poker, you will encounter a new language.
Poker has hundreds of its own terms and sayings.
To make it easier for you, we have compiled a list of the most important and common terms and expressions.
Action: Any form of betting such as checking, betting, or raising.
All-in: When a player is faced with a current bet amount for which he has insufficient remaining stake to call, but he wishes to call, he he bets the remainder of his stake and declares himself “all-in”.
Ante: A small sum of money, placed in the pot by each player. Antes are used in Stud and Draw, but not in Hold'em or Omaha.
Big Blind: A bet that must be posted by the player two seats to the left of the button (identified by the letter “D”). It is equal to the amount of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a 10-20 game, the Big Blind would be €10. Players who enter an advanced game must post a Big Blind, but they may do it from any position at the table.
Blind: Forced bets placed in the pot by the first two players in front of the dealer button in Hold'em and Omaha. See also “Small Blind and "Big Blind."
Bluff: To bet when you hold a weak hand, hoping that the intimidation factor of your bet will cause other players to pass instead of calling.
Bring-in: In Stud, a bet that must be made on the very first betting round. Usually the player showing the lowest card is forced to make a bet; in some games, such as Razz, a variant of 7 Card Stud, the player showing the highest card is forced. The bring-in applies only on the very first betting round. On all further rounds, the player showing the highest hand on board has the option to bet first, but he is not required to do so.
Call: To match a bet that has been made (as opposed to check, raise, or fold).
Check: To have the option to bet, but decline. A player cannot check once another player has bet. In that case, the player must call, raise, or fold.
Check-raise: To check in order to feign weakness, with the intention of raising after another player bets. Check-raises are allowed in all casino poker games; in some home games, they are less welcome.
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Fifth Street: The fifth community card in Hold'em or Omaha (in these games, 5th street is often called "the river"). Also sometimes used to refer to the fifth card received in 7 Card Stud.
Flop: In Hold'em or Omaha, the first three community cards, turned up all at once.
Fold: To drop out of a hand.
Fourth Street: The fourth community card in Hold'em or Omaha (in these games, 4th street is often also called "the turn"). Also sometimes used to refer to the fourth card received in 7 Card Stud.
Hole cards: Cards that are face down and cannot be seen by the other players.
Kicker: Two possible meanings:
1) A single card kept along with a pair, in Draw, in an attempt to make two pair. For example, a player might keep 3-3-K, drawing two cards, in the hope that he might get either a three (for trips) or a King (making two pair, Kings-up).
2) The highest single card held by two players in Hold'em who each hold the same pair. For example, if the board in Hold'em is A-10-8-5-2, and Player One holds A-J as his hand, and Player Two holds A-Q, each player has a pair of Aces, but Player Two has a better kicker and would win the hand.
Narrowing the Field: To bet or raise in the hope that you will drive out some players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but who might improve if allowed to stay in.
Nuts (“the Nuts”): The best possible hand. This phrase is almost always used in the context of a particular hand (otherwise "the nuts" would just be a term for a Royal Flush). For example, in Hold'em, a player holding 8-9 would hold "the nuts" if the flop came 6-7-10. At that moment, the 6-7-8-9-10 straight is the best possible hand. However, if the turn card were a Jack, and the River a Queen, a player holding A-K would have the nuts-a 10-J-Q-K-A straight.
Poker face: In the game of poker, it would be foolish to show any emotional traits that might tell the other players anything about where you are standing in the game. Therefore a face on a person that shows no emotion is often called poker face.
Poker odds: The probability of each type of five-card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of that type among all possible hands.
Pot: The money in the centre of the table, being contested by the players still remaining in the hand.
Rake: The amount of money the casino takes from the pot to make money from the poker game. In low limit games, the casino usually rakes some percentage of the pot, or, in higher limit games, a fee for a certain game time.
River: In Hold'em or Omaha, the fifth and final community card (sometimes also called “Fifth street”).
Rock: A player known to be very conservative, who usually bets or raises only when he has a very powerful hand.
Small Blind: A bet that must be posted by the player one seat to the left of the button (identified by the letter “D”).
