A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IN POKER JARGON

Aces Up To be holding two pairs, one of which is aces

Action the betting activity

Add-on in a tournament, you may be offered the opportunity to add to your chips by buying extra chips after the first session of play

All-in to place all your remaining cards into the pot

Ante bet made before the cards are dealt on each hand

Back Door to make a hand you were not originally planning

Bad beat a hand where you lose to a player against the expected odds

Bankroll Current total betting funds available

Belly-buster also known as a Gutshot, is an inside straight draw

Bet to make the first movement of chips on any betting round

Big blind the bigger of the two ante bets placed before each hand of Texas Holdem

Blind a compulsory ante to open the betting

Bluff to attempt to steal the pot by representing a hand stronger than the one actually held

Board the community cards showing on the table

Broadway an Ace high straight – A K Q J 10

Bubble the bubble is the position one below the prize-winning positions, and is therefore the least enviable spot in which to be eliminated

Burn to discard; the dealer ‘burns’ the top card before dealing the ‘flop’, ‘turn’ and ‘river’

Button the dealer button which denotes the position of the dealer; also sometimes referring to the player in that seat

Buy-in the exchange of cash for chips; the amount required to sit at a given table

Call to match the highest bet made to date

Calling Station a player who often calls most bets

Calling the Clock To warn a player that he is under the clock (time limit) if he has taken excessive time in acting

Cards Speak A rule that states at showdown the hand values are determined by the cards and not the players’ declaration

Case Card the fourth and final card of a particular rank

Cash in to leave the table and exchange your chips for cash

Change Gears to change your style of play to suit the game

Check when no other player has bet, to check is to make no bet at that stage (sometimes indicated by tapping the table)

Check-raise a play that is usually strong. To check at first and then, once an opponent bets, to raise him

Chip, chips these are circular plastic or clay discs which represent different financial values and which are used instead of cash in almost all poker games

Community the “flop”, “turn” and “river” cards dealt cards face up in the middle of the table

Dealerthe player who deals (or for whom a paid dealer deals) the deck before this honour moves on to the next player in a clockwise direction

Dog short for underdog

Double through a chance to double your chips on one hand (usually by taking a bit of a gamble)

Down cards your “hole” or “pocket” cards

Draw to improve your hand with the community cards

Drawing Dead is when no cards that may come on the turn or river will help you win the hand

Early position the player positions closest to the left of the dealer; the first players to decide what to do

Fifth Street the fifth and final community card, also known as “the river” final table the last table of ten players (sometimes eight) in a tournament when all other players have been eliminated

Fish a player who stays in pots hoping to catch the right cards to create a winning hand – but against the odds

Flat Call to just call the minimum amount of a bet

Flop the first three community cards

Flush five cards of the same suit

Flush draw when you have four cards of the same suit and you are hoping that the subsequent card(s) will produce a fifth card to complete the flush

Fold to throw away, or muck, one’s cards

Fourth Street the fourth community card, also known as “the turn”

Freeroll a tournament, usually online, where there is o buy-in

Freeze-out a tournament where there is no option to re-buy or add-on

Heads-up head-to-head play at a table containing only two players

High-roller a player who competes for very high stakes

Hole cards the player’s two secret cards, dealt face down

Home game poker played at home

Hook a Jack

Housethe casino or club in which you are playing

Kicker card or cards not involved in the formation of a poker combination, but still part of the five-card poker hand

Late position player(s) closest to the dealer’s right, last to act on each round of the betting

Lay down to concede or give in; often a good play in poker if you feel that you are beaten

Limp in to call a small bet in “late position” when you are unlikely to be raised

Loose a loose player is likely to play too many hands, remain in pots for too long and make speculative plays which will result in chips being lost mid position in the middle of the table between the big blind and the dealer

Main Pot the primary pot where all active players participate

Misdeal a hand that has been dealt incorrectly and must be re-dealt

Muck a collection of cards, placed near the dealer, including burn cards and folded cards

No-limit a game with no maximum limits on the amount which can be bet

Nuts the best possible hand; a “nut” flush would be an ace-high flush, with no chance of a straight flush

Off Cards that are unsuited

Out, outs card or cards which will complete your hand and improve it, usually to winning status

Overcard or overcards which are higher than those showing among the community cards

Pocket rockets AA “in the hole”

Position a player’s location at the table, measured in terms of the order in which action must be taken on each round of the betting

Pot the collection of chips (sometimes cash) which will be awarded to the winner of the raise increase the size of the biggest bet at the table

Premium Hand the best possible starting hands such as a pocket pair or AK, AQ

Rags small to medium unsuited cards

Rake a small percentage of the pot taken by the house in order to cover costs and make profit in exchange for hosting the game

Re-buy in a tournament, when you lose all your chips early on, you may be offered the opportunity to pay the entry fee again for another chance and another set of starting chips

Re-raise as above, once a player has already raised; considered a very strong intimidating move

Ring Game a cash game where players can come and go at will

River the fifth and final community card, sometimes known as ‘fifth street’

Rock a player who chooses only the best hands to enter the action and bets only when he is sure that he is best

Rush a roll, a sequence of successful plays

Satellite a qualifying event for a big poker tournament

School a regular poker game, acknowledging that you never stop learning; a poker school

Set three of a kind, “trips”

Short-handed a poker game containing four players or fewer; the value of hands often changes as a result of having fewer players at the table

Short-stack when you have less than the average amount of chips in front of you

Showdown when a bet (or bets) is called after the river card, all players must show their hole cards; the best hand wins

Side pot a secondary (sometimes tertiary) pot, formed because one player is all-in and cannot bet any more into the pot, contested by the remaining players

Slow play to give the impression of weakness or uncertainty by checking or calling bets rather than raising them

Slow-rolling to turn over a winning hand slowly after another player believes that he has won; poor form at the poker table

Straight five cards of mixed suits in sequence

String Bet an illegal way of betting in different actions after gaining a reaction from other players

Stud 5-card an old variation of poker where you are dealt five cards and there is then betting. Not popular these days

Suited of the same suit

Super-satellite a satellite event from which the winner(s) gain a seat in a satellite tell an indication, often subconscious or unrecognised by the player himself, by which other players may gain an insight into the strength of a player’s hand

Tell a mannerism that gives away your hand to opponents

Tilt, on tilt usually a sign of frustration or anger, a player may go “on tilt” by playing too many hands of poor quality and subsequently showering opponents with chips

Top pair a pair formed by the highest card on the board and one in your hand

Trips a “set”; three of a kind

Turn the fourth community card, sometimes known as “fourth street”

Under the Gun The first person to act in a round of betting

Value Bet a small bet to get calls and increase size of the pot

Wheel also known as a Bicycle – a straight of A 2 3 4 5

WSOP the World Series of Poker – the World Championships of the game, held each summer in Las Vegas.