Hold'em Poker

All-in: This is what a player says to announce that he or she is betting all of his or her chips on a single hand.

Back Door: A lucky hand formed with the last cards to be dealt in the game.

Bankroll: The amount of money a player has to wager.

Bet = Bid: To post a bid

Blind: A forced bet imposed on two players at the table in order to kickstart the action.

Bluff: A bluff is an attempt to convince your opponents that you are holding a hand that is completely different to the one you are actually holding in an effort to make them fold or bet incorrrectly.

Board: Refers to the cards placed face up in the middle of the table. As these cards are common to all of the players, they are also known as “community cards”.

Button: Represents the table’s fictional dealer. The Button moves round in a clockwise direction after each hand. The players to the left of the Button post the blinds.

Community card: Card placed face up in the middle of the table and visible to all players.

Check: To stay in the hand while not betting. This is only possible if no bets have yet been posted.

Deal: To distribute the cards.

Draw: 1) To take a card from the deck. 2). To play a hand that is not yet good, but might become so if the right cards come along. 3) Used as a noun to mean a hand that is missing a card to form a straight or a flush.

Flop: The first three community cards, placed face up in the middle of the table.

Fold: To refuse to call or raise an opponent’s bet. This means that the player drops out of the game and forfeits any interest in the current pot, i.e. he or she loses the money that has already been bet.

Four of a kind: 4 cards of the same suit.

Hand: A player’s best combination of 5 cards.

Hole card: private card dealt face down and visible only to the player. Also known as a “pocket” card.

Kicker: An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands.

Muck: A function which allows you to hide your cards from the other players when you have a losing hand.

Nuts: The best possible hand given cards on the board.

Overplay: To bet or raise with a weak hand in order to mislead your opponents into thinking that you’re holding a strong hand.

% of players / flop: Average percentage of players who make it through to the flop.

Post Now: Question put to a new player at the table. The player can choose whether to post a blind immediately, in which case he or she may take part in the game straight away, or wait until he or she is in the “Big Blind” position to play.

Pot: The total amount of bets made by the different players, representing the winner’s prize.

Pot-limit: In Pot-limit Poker, players may only bet or raise up to the amount of money in the pot.

Raise: To bet above the level of the most recent bet or raise.

Re-raise: To raise a raise.

Royal flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10: all in the same suit.

Stack: Quantity of chips held by a player.

Steal the pot: To bet a large sum of money to prevent other players from calling and thus winning the pot. This is possible when you have a hunch that none of the other players has good enough hands to match a large bet.

Straight: 5 cards of different suits in sequence.

Straight flush: 5 cards of the same suit in sequence.

Three of a kind: 3 cards of the same suit.

Turn: Fourth card on the board.

Wheel (or bicycle): The lowest ranking straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).

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• Online Poker Jargon and Terminology

Avg Pot: Average pot.

BB: Big Blind.

Call: To match the most recent bet or raise.

Check: To opt not to bet but to remain in the hand.

Fold: To discard your hand and drop out of the game.

H/hrs: Number of hands played per hour.

Raise: To bet above the level of the most recent bet.

Waiting List: Allows a player to join a table as soon as a place becomes available.

WSOP = World Series Of Poker: The most famous of the major poker circuits.

Cards:

A: Ace.
K: King.
Q: Queen.
J: Jack.
T: Ten.
s: Spades.
h: Hearts.
d: Diamonds.
c: Clubs.
E.g. the abbreviation for the Ace of Hearts = Ah

CU: See You.

NC: Nice Call.

NH: Nice Hand.

TY or TK: Thank You.

TYVM: Thank You Very Much.

VNH: Very Nice Hand.

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