Poker terms: what players actually mean

Cards and hands

Backdoor

A draw that needs both the turn and the river to hit.

Bad beat

Losing a pot when you were a big favorite.

Board

All the shared cards on the table.

Boat

Slang for a full house.

Broadway

The highest straight, ace to ten. Any card from ten up is called a broadway card.

Community cards

The five cards dealt face up that everyone shares.

Connectors

Two cards next to each other in rank, such as 8-7.

Flop

The first three community cards, dealt together.

Flush draw

Four cards of one suit, needing one more. It has 9 outs.

Gutshot

A straight draw missing one card in the middle. It has 4 outs.

Hole cards

Your two private cards.

Kicker

The side card that breaks a tie between two equal hands.

Monster

A very strong hand.

Nuts

The best possible hand on the current board.

Offsuit

Two cards of different suits.

Open-ended

Four cards in a row, open at both ends. It has 8 outs.

Overcards

Cards higher than anything on the board.

Overpair

A pocket pair bigger than every card on the board.

Pocket pair

Two hole cards of the same rank.

Quads

Four of a kind.

River

The fifth and last community card.

Set

Three of a kind made with a pocket pair.

Street

One round of cards and betting: preflop, flop, turn or river.

Suited

Two cards of the same suit.

Top pair

A pair made with the highest card on the board.

Trips

Three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board.

Turn

The fourth community card.

Wheel

The lowest straight, ace to five.

Seats

Big blind

The larger forced bet, posted two seats left of the button.

Button

The dealer's seat, which acts last after the flop.

Cutoff

The seat just before the button.

Full ring

A table of nine or ten players.

Heads-up

Just two players.

Hijack

Two seats before the button.

In position

Acting after your opponent on the flop, turn and river.

Out of position

Acting before your opponent.

Position

Where you sit compared with the button, which decides when you act.

Short-handed

A table of six players or fewer.

Small blind

The smaller forced bet, posted just left of the button.

Under the gun

The first player to act before the flop. Often written UTG.

Betting

3-bet

The first re-raise before the flop.

4-bet

A re-raise of a 3-bet.

All-in

Putting every chip you have into the pot.

Ante

A small forced bet from every player, or from the big blind for the whole table.

Bet

The first chips put in on a round.

Blinds

The two forced bets posted before the cards are dealt.

Bluff

A bet with a weak hand, made to get a better hand to fold.

Call

Matching the current bet.

Check

Passing when nobody has bet.

Check-raise

Checking, then raising after someone bets.

Cold call

Calling a raise when you have no chips in the pot yet.

Continuation bet

A bet on the flop by the player who raised before it. Also called a c-bet.

Donk bet

Betting into the player who raised on the previous round.

Fold

Giving up your hand.

Limp

Calling the big blind instead of raising.

Min-raise

The smallest legal raise.

Muck

Throwing your cards away face down. Also the pile of discarded cards.

Open

Making the first raise of a hand.

Overbet

A bet bigger than the pot.

Raise

Increasing the current bet.

Re-raise

Raising after someone else has raised.

Semi-bluff

A bet with a hand that is behind now but can improve.

Shove

Moving all-in. Also called a jam or a push.

Slow play

Checking or calling with a strong hand to trap someone.

Squeeze

A big re-raise after one player has raised and another has called.

Steal

A raise from a late seat that mostly hopes to take the blinds.

Straddle

An optional blind posted before the deal, usually double the big blind.

Value bet

A bet you want a worse hand to call.

Math and strategy

bb/100

Big blinds won per 100 hands, the usual way to measure a win rate.

Blocker

A card in your hand that stops an opponent from holding a certain hand.

Combo

One exact pair of cards, such as the ace of spades and king of hearts.

Effective stack

The smaller of two stacks, which is the most either player can win or lose.

Equity

Your share of the pot if the hand were played out with no more betting.

EV

Expected value: what a decision makes on average over many tries.

Exploit

To change your play to punish an opponent's mistake.

GTO

Game theory optimal, a balanced way of playing that leaves nothing to attack.

Implied odds

Counting the money you expect to win later if you hit.

MDF

Minimum defense frequency, how often you have to continue so bluffs don't print money.

Outs

The cards left in the deck that make you the winner.

Polarized

A range of very strong hands and bluffs, with little in between.

Pot odds

The price of a call compared with what you can win.

Rake

The cut the house takes from each pot.

Range

All the hands a player could have in a spot.

Solver

A program that works out a balanced strategy for a poker situation.

SPR

Stack-to-pot ratio, the money left behind divided by the pot.

Variance

The swings in your results that come from luck.

Win rate

How much you win on average over many hands.

Players and table talk

Angle shoot

Using a rule loophole or a trick that's within the letter of the rules and against the spirit.

Buy-in

The money it costs to sit down or enter a tournament.

Calling station

A player who calls too much and rarely folds.

Fish

A weak player. It's rude to say it to their face.

Hollywood

Acting out a long decision to fool the table.

Maniac

A player who raises and bluffs far too often.

Nit

A very tight player who waits for great cards.

Reg

A regular, someone who plays the same games all the time.

Shark

A very good player.

Slow roll

Waiting to show a winning hand to needle someone. It's bad manners.

Tell

A habit that gives away information about a hand.

Tilt

Playing badly because you're upset.

Tournaments

Blind level

One stage of a tournament, after which the blinds go up.

Bubble

The point where one more player out means everyone left gets paid.

Final table

The last table of a tournament.

ICM

Independent Chip Model, a way to turn stacks into a share of the prize money.

In the money

Far enough along to win a prize. Often written ITM.

M

Your stack divided by the cost of one round of blinds and antes.

Rebuy

Paying to get more chips, in the tournaments that allow it.

Satellite

A cheaper tournament where the prize is a seat in a bigger one.