Learn Poker Terms & Slang with definitions & explanations

 In order to play poker confidently, one must understand the poker terms and the poker slang to play it better. The poker terminology is very vast, so if you are a beginner and don’t know much about poker, then you need to learn more about poker moves and slang and then poker rules, poker tips and tricks, and poker hands that are the base of every poker game like Texas Hold’em, 3 card poker, 7 card stud, and Omaha poker. 

To strengthen your poker vocabulary, you need WSOP free chips where you can play any poker game in which you can chat with other players; in this way you will never forget any card terms of poker.

Poker Terms & Slang From Beginner To Advanced Level

I organized a poker terms list from A to Z where you can find any poker word, and some terms don’t need clarification. You can understand them easily by their names, while some terms need proper clarification. 

A:

• Add-On: If a player loses all of their chips during the first round of play, some casinos allow where you can buy more chips to continue your game called add-on. 
• All-In: If you bet all of your chips on your Turn, it is called All-In.
• Ante: A small forced bet made by every player before the dealing of cards called Ante. It is 0.5 to 1% of your total chips. 
• Action: There are two meanings of action in poker. 1- An aggressive player often betting and raising. 2- When it is your Turn to make a bet, raise, call or check. 

B:

• Bad Beat: If a player has strong cards and another player has even stronger cards, they both expected to win, but during the Turn and the River, the player having strong cards wins the pot because the scenario of the game changes during the Turn and the River. It is called a bad beat. 
• Blinds: The two players on the left side of the dealer have to make the forced bet called blinds. 
• Backdoor: If a player’s hand gets stronger by the addition of the Turn and the River to win the pot. It is called backdoor. 
• Big Blind: A player to the 2nd left of the dealer who has to raise the bet, usually double the amount of small blind, is called Big Blind. 
• Burn: To ensure fairness and randomness in the game and before the distribution of community cards, the practice of discarding the top card from the deck is called Burn. 
• Button: A small round disc that represents the position of the dealer called a Button. It is a very strategic position in determining the order of betting. 
• Buy-In: The amount of chips/money you need to sit on a table is called a Buy-In. It is the total amount of chips/money you come up with to play a poker game. 

C:

• Call: To match the previous bet instead of raising it called Call. 
• Check: If you feel you don’t have cards worthy of betting, then you can pass the action to another player instead of betting, which is called Check. 
• Check-Raise: A poker strategy in which you can pass the action to another player, and then you raise the bet. It is called Check-Raise. It’s a strategy to trap the other player. 
• Community Cards: The cards spread on the table face-up like in Holdem and Omaha for the use of every player to make a hand and to win the pot. It includes Flop, the Turn and the River. 
• Cut-Off: The position adjacent to the right side of the Button is called Cut-off. The player in this position has to play before the Button. 

D:

• Dealer: The player who manages the game and deals the cards is called the dealer. In a casino, the dealer is a professional employee, while in a home game, the position of the dealer rotates clockwise. 
• Draw-Out: It means that a player needs one card to make his hand stronger or to win the pot and he gets lucky during the Turn and the River. It is called Draw-Out. 
• Dealer-Button: The position of the dealer is called the dealer button. 

F:

• Four of a kind: Four cards of equal rank but of different suits called Four of a kind. 
• Fold: If you are underconfident in your holding cards, and you throw all your cards face down and lose all of your bets so far, it is called Fold.  
• Flop: After 1st round of betting, the table is covered with three community cards face up; it is called Flop. 
• Flush: A hand containing 5 cards of the same suit regardless of their rank and sequence.

G: 

• Gutshot: It is also called Inside Straight Draw, in which a player needs only one card to make a straight, and that card is in the middle of the table. 

H:

• Hand: It is a sum of community cards and hole cards. 
• Hole cards: Each player receives cards during the start of the game called Hole cards. 
• Heads-Up: It refers to a situation where only two players are left called Heads-Up. 

I:

• Implied Odds: It means the potential future winning a player can earn if he hits the draw, even if it’s not worth calling based on the current pot size. 

K:

• Kicker: A card that is used to decide the winner / break the ties between two players or among the players is called a kicker. It is also called a wild-card. 

L:

• Limit: It is a type of betting in which bets and raises are marked at fixed points called Limit. For example, Limit type Texas Holdem. 
• Live Bet: If a player has chips remaining in front of them and has the opportunity to make a bet, it is considered a live bet. 
• Lay Down: It is slang used to concede your hand or lose your hand. 

M:

• Muck: When a player folds their hand without showing their cards to other players, it is called Muck. 

N:

• No-Limit: It is a type of betting in which a player can bet whatever the amount of chips he has. That is why it is called No-Limit betting. 
• Nuts: The best / strongest hand that can be made, based on community cards on the table, is called Nuts. 

O:

• Off-Suit: If a player holds cards of different suits called Off-suit cards. 
• Outs: A card that will improve your hand from losing to winning hand called Outs. 

P:

• Pair: Two cards of an equal rank make a pair. 
• Pocket Cards: Each player receives cards during the start of the game called hole cards / Pocket cards. 
• Pot: It is the total amount of money/chips that players have wagered during a hand called the pot. 
• Pot-Limit: It is a type of betting in which bets are made according to the size of the pot. 

Q:

• Quads: It is Four cards of the same rank. 

R:

• Rake: A commission that a casino house takes from the hand called rake. 
• River: The 5th / last community card after the Turn is called the River. 
• Raise: When one player increases the amount of bet to force the other player either to fold, call or also increase the bet is called Raise. 
• Re-Raise: When one player raises the bet, and you also raise it, called Re-raise. 
• Rock: A slang used for the player who only bets when he gets the best hand. 
• Royal Flush: The strongest hand in poker to beat every other hand is called a royal flush. It consists of ( A, K, Q, J, 10 ). 

S:

• Satellite: A qualifying round to win a seat in a larger, prestigious tournament is called Satellite. 
• Showdown: If two or more players left after the final round of betting, then each player has to show their cards in order to decide the winner. The best hand wins the pot. It is called showdown. 
• Small Blind: The player immediately to the left of the dealer is called small blind. 
• Straight: A hand consecutively containing 5 cards not necessarily of the same suit called Straight. 
• Short-Handed: A slang used for fewer players as compared to normal is called Short-Handed. 
• Slow-Play: If a player is constantly checking or calling to Slow the process, it is called Slow-Play. 

T:

• Turn: The 2nd last / 4th community card before the River is called the Turn. 
• Trips: Slang used for three cards of the same rank. 
• Tell: A perception that comes into the other player’s mind to the player’s hand strength due to the nature of their gameplay is called Tell. 
• Tilt: When a player is losing constantly, it is a sign of frustration called Tilt. 

U:

• Under the gun: The player to the left of the big blind and is the first one to act in the pre-flop round called Under the Gun.

W:

• Whale: A player who is rich but doesn’t have experience playing the game is called Whale. 

Conclusion

This article is for those who are beginners and for those who want to learn some advanced terminologies related to poker.  By going through this article you will learn some famous words of poker and most of the words you were unaware of. Every game has its terminology, but in the case of poker, you have to learn poker lingo, and it is enough for all the poker games.