Poker Terms and Definitions

Full A-Z of poker terms and poker lingo, So you'll never look like the fish at the table!

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    Board

    The 'board' is essentially another way to describe the community cards as a collective. It can be used to describe the f...

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    Boat

    Alternative name given by players to a Full House.

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    Big blind

    The Big Blind is the player seated immediately to the left of the Small Blind. A Big Blind must put a compulsory pre-flo...

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    Bullets

    Bullets is a term for the pocket aces hand. As pocket aces are the best starting hand one can have, they are often refer...

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    Burn card

    A burn card is the card that is discarded before the flop, turn and river of every hand. It is almost never shown to pla...

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    Bet

    A bet in poker is the initial amount of chips/money put at stake by a player during play. Other players can call, raise ...

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    Buy-in

    A buy-in is the amount of money required for a player to enter a tournament or cash game. A small number of online tourn...

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    Bounty

    A bounty is a status given to a player in a tournament which gives other players incentives to knock them out. Such ince...

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    Bad beat

    A bad beat occurs when a player has a solid hand, but still loses against another player. e.g "Charlie had p...

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    Big blind special

    A Big Blind Special is when a big blind unexpectedly hits the board and wins the hand. A Big Blind Special almost always...

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    Backdoor

    A hand made with both the Turn and the River. For example, a player holding two diamonds in a flop with only one diamond...

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    Bankroll (alt)

    Is the money a player has top lay Poker. Usually, players keep their bankroll separated from their living money.

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    Blank

    This ter mis used to name a Turn or River card that is very unlikely to have improved a player’s hand given the action...

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    Blocker

    Is a card we hold that would be an out for our opponent, or that make it unlikely for him to have a certain hand. For ex...

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    Blocker bet

    Is a bet made by a player out of position with the intention to prevent a larger bet from another player acting after him.

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    Broadway

    This name is given to TJQKA straight. Also, it is said that a player holding two cards between a Ten and an Ace has “B...

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    Bubble

    Is the stage of a Tournament or Sit and Go where the next player to be eliminated will be the last one to receive no pri...

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    Bubble boy

    Is the player eliminated just before entering the prized positions. For example, if 20 players cash in a certain event, ...

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    Bad beat story

    A Bad Beat Story is a story told, usually ad nauseum, by a player about a time they lost a hand which they were widely e...

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    Blinded out

    Being Blinded Out is when a player loses all of their chips to the blinds. This usually happens in online poker tourname...

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    Blank (alt)

    A Blank is a term given to a card on the board that does not benefit a player in a hand. e.g "No action on t...

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    Bust

    When a player is eliminated from a tournament, it is said that he just “busted”.

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    B & M

    Short for 'brick and mortar', detonating real life casinos and venues, as opposed to online casinos....

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    Back to back

    Refers to doing something twice in a row, without interruptions; usually winning a tournament or a title of some so...

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    Backdoor straight

    Term from Hold'em and Omaha games played with the hole cards. Refers to having three cards of the consecutive order...

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    Bet in the dark

    Put a bet out before the cards are dealt out, most often before the flop or turn is seen. Dark bet is usually used ...

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    Bike

    Bike or bicycle is a term used in high / low poker variations and sometimes in Hold'em to denote lowest possible st...

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    Big pair

    Usually a pair of 10s or higher (Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces).Example: If you can get your big pai...

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    Big Slick

    Different name of Ace - King hand in Hold'em games. (AK)

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    Bet Sizing

    The term 'Bet Sizing' is most commonly used in a strategic sense to determine what the best size of players bet should b...

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    Bluff

    A bluff is where a player raises with an inferior hand or no hand at all in an attempt to lie their way into winning a p...

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    Bankroll

    A bankroll is the amount of money a player has aside for the purposes of playing poker. e.g "Johnny has a ba...

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    Barrel

    This name is given to the bets of the original raiser. For example, after the original raisers bets the Flop and the Tur...

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    Backdoor flush

    Term from Hold'em and Omaha games played with the hole cards. Refers to having three cards of the same suit on the ...

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    Belly buster

    Also known as an inside straight draw, meaning that player can catch only four cards to complete his straight, inst...

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    Big Chick

    Although not used as often as the big slick term, this expression stands for Ace - Queen hand in Hold'em games (AQ)...

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    Blaze

    A hand that is not actually found in the standard poker ranking system, but is sometimes used in home games, consis...

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    Bottom pair

    Weakest possible pair created by the combination of a hole card and a community card.Example: I raised w...

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    Bring-in

    Forced bet in the Stud games. In high / low variation, the bring-in is the lowest card showing on the table after t...

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    Button

    Different name for a dealer position, coming from the small (usually round) object put in front of the player in de...

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    Bubble factor

    Somewhat complicated term showing the difference between your odds in chips and the actual cash value of your stack...

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    Bottom dealing

    A form of cheating at cards, where a person dealing pulls the cards from the bottom of the deck to create a more fa...

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    Bounty hunter

    A special form of tournaments, mostly found online. Unlike the usual bounty tournaments, bounty hunters feature a s...

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    Bankroll management

    Is the administration of the money a person has to play Poker. Serious player follow a strict bankroll management to pla...