Whether you’re playing online poker in the US or you might have popped down to your local poker room, you’ve probably come across terms that you’ve never heard before. Poker is one of those unique games where it feels like there’s more slang involved than actual words.
Don’t worry though, we’re here so you can learn your Fish from your Sharks and your Backdoors from your Runner Runners, so all you need to do is focus on the game at hand.
Here is a list of some of the most important poker terms and words you’ll need to know if you’re playing the game.
Action: Any developments at the table, such as betting, raising or folding.
Add-On: An optional purchase in a poker tournament break for more chips.
All-in: Betting all of your chips at once. We have a guide on going all-in when playing poker here.
Angle or Angle Shooting: Unethical behaviour that may or may not break the rules, often in an attempt to get a read on other players at the table.Ante: A certain amount you have to pay at the start of each hand before the cards will be dealt.
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Backdoor: A combination of cards on the turn and river to complete a hand, such as backdoor flush.
Backing: Financially supporting a player to buy in to a tournament, in return you would receive a percentage of their win.
Bad Bead Jackpot: A consolation prize for if you lose with a particular high-ranking hand, such as quads.
BB: The big blinds, usually used to estimate how many more big blinds you can afford before your stack runs out e.g. I’ve got 25 BBs left.
Boat: A full house hand.
Bounty: A prize you win for knocking somebody else out - bounty tournaments are quite popular.
Bubble: The place before the money starts - most tournament players will take a percentage from their win to pay the bubble.
Burn: A burn card is a card the dealer places face down, before revealing the turn and river.
Busted: When a player is knocked out of a tournament.
Buy-in: The initial amount required to be paid to enter a tournament or cash game.
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Call: Joining in on the betting my matching the amount placed by the others on the table. If seat one bets $10, and seat two wants to continue playing, they would call $10.
Calling Station: Somebody who calls bets too often, even when they don’t have good hands. Similar to a Fish.
Chasing the Rabbit: When the dealer reveals what the next card would be. Otherwise known as Hunting the Rabbit.
Check in the Dark: Checking before the next community card is revealed.
Check Raise: When somebody checks (weak action), then raises (strong action) when it comes back around to them. Often seen as humorous.
Chip in a Chair: The hope that somebody can return back to win the tournament, even if they’re sat in their chair with one chip in their hand.
Community Cards: The cards in the middle of the table revealed by the dealer, often referred to as the flop, (first 3), turn (4th card) and river (5th card).
Dealer’s Choice: A game type when the dealer picks which poker variant happens that round.
Dead Man’s Hand: A two pair made from Aces and Eights.
Dirty Stack: When somebody has chips of different denominations in different stacks. Chips should be stacked by color, without mixing, with the largest denomination at the front.
Donk: Betting out of turn.
Double-Up: Doubling your stack after going all in and winning.
Drawing Dead: When you have no chance to win, no matter what community cards come out.
Ducks: Pocket Twos!
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Equity: The chances of a hand winning.
Expected Value: How much you can expect to win in the long term e.g. the expected value of only playing offsuited hands is low.
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Face Card: A card with a person on it, such as Jacks, Queens on Kings.
Family Pot: When everyone at the table calls and makes it to the flop stage together.
Fifth Street: The river card e.g. I need a flush on Fifth Street
Fish: Somebody who loses a lot of money at the table.
Flat: Another word for calling, e.g. a flat call
Free Roll: A tournament that is free to enter.
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Heads up: A poker game between two people only, usually the final two left in the tournament.
Hero Call: A call that feels very unlikely to win, but ends up making it e.g. calling an all-in with pocket twos, but it turns out that the villain was bluffing.
High Roller: A player who is known for playing in high-stakes games.
Hole Cards: The cards dealt to players.
Jam: Another term for going all-in and betting all of your chips at once.
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Limp: Another term for calling e.g. limp call. It’s seen as slightly derogatory, but often in a joking manner.
Live Poker: This will refer to in-person tournaments in a casino, rather than online tournaments. We have a guide on what to learn before your first live poker tournament here.
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Misclick: When someone makes an action by accident, such as raising or folding. This is often said in a joking manner at live tables.
Muck: Where the pile of discarded cards go each hand, usually directly in front of the dealer.
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Nit: A player who plays very reluctantly and will only play premium hands.
Nuts: The best possible combination of cards in that hand.
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Offsuit: When two cards don’t have matching suits, such as the 2 of Spades and the 3 of Hearts.
Open Raise: The action of raising when everyone else has only called so far.
Overpair: The highest pair in the hand.
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Play the Board: A situation where the community cards are better than the player's cards e.g. there’s a flush on the flop, turn and river.
Pot Committed: The feeling where a player feels like they’ve bet so much into the pot that they can’t back out now.
Rainbow: When the cards are all different suits.
Rake: A certain amount that the casino will take for running the game.
Rakeback: A scheme that gives back to the players, such as vouchers.or free drinks.
Range: The kind of cards or hands that a player could be holding.
Ratholing: The act of leaving a cash game with your chips, then rebuying at a lower amount so you can pocket the difference. Seen as very unethical.
River Rat: A player who wins because of the river card.
Run Good or Bad: Running Good means that all the cards are coming down in your favor, while Running Bad means that you’re doing poorly.
Running it Twice: Most often seen in Omaha, this is when the board is run two separate times, giving players the chance to hit either board.
Runner Runner: When someone makes a hand due to the specific cards on the turn and river e.g. I need a Runner Runner flush.
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Satellite: A tournament, usually much cheaper to enter, which can reward you with entry to a much bigger tournament.
Set or Set over Set: Three of a kind, and set over set is when two players each have three of a kind but someone has the stronger hand.
Shark: A player who is very strong and has a reputation for winning a lot and winning often.
Short Handed: When a table has less players on it, sometimes requiring the poker room supervisor to move someone over to this table.
Shove: Another term for going all in and betting all your chips at once.
Showdown: When hands are revealed to determine who the winner is.
Side Pot: A separate pot designated for somebody who has gone all in, but there remain additional players in the hand who will continue betting.
Sit and Go: A style of poker tournament which starts as soon as a certain amount of entrants sign up.
Slowplay: When a player has a very good hand, but makes no signs of having such e.g. no raising, no tanking etc.
Slowroll: When a player takes a long time to act, even though they have the nuts. Can also mean turning their cards over slowly to reveal the winning hand. Either way, it’s seen as bad etiquette.
Soft Play: Often frowned upon, when two players will play in a friendly ‘soft’ manner towards one another, such as letting them win pots or not raising.
Snap Call: The act of calling very fast, often seen as being a little too keen.
Splash Pot: When something other than chips goes into the pot. Almost always not allowed by management, but they’ll sometimes put a drinks voucher in there.
Split Pot: If people have hands of equal ranks, the pot will be divided and shared among them.
Straddle: The opportunity to blind raise double the amount of the big blind. We have a full guide on the poker straddle here.
String bet: The action of betting multiple times in one go, which isn’t allowed. The first bet will be the one accepted by the dealer.
Suited: When two cards match in suits.
Tank: If someone takes a really long time to take their turn.
Tell: A giveaway in somebody’s behaviour, such as playing with their hair whenever they have good cards.
Tilt: This is when somebody gets angry at the table.
Turn: The fourth card to come out on the table, which is after the flop.
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Under the Gun: Whoever acts immediately after the big blind.
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Value Bet: The idea that the bet will be called by people with worse hands e.g. you think you have the nuts, so you value bet $20 hoping everyone will call.
Video Poker: A style of poker where you play against a computer. You get dealt five cards, pick which ones to keep and which ones to redraw as you try to make the best hand. We have a guide on how to play Video Poker here.
Villain: Your opponent at the table.
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Whale: Somebody who loses a lot of money, like a Fish but much worse.
