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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    Snap call

    Also know as "insta call". The phrase refers to the action of a player calling very quickly an opponent's bet. Exam...

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    Shark

    A shark is a player who is a highly skilled and, usually, experienced poker player. They very rarely, if ever, make ques...

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    Soul read

    The phrase is used to describe the action of a player who has made the correct decision (most commonly the calling of a ...

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    Set

    A set is another term for Three of a Kind, but is usually referred to as such when a players' pocket pair matches one ca...

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    Small blind

    The small blind is the person sitting to the immediate left of the dealer/button. A small blind must put a compulsory pr...

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    Shortstack

    A shortstack is a players' amount of chips that is considerably smaller than the stacks of other players on the table. T...

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    Straight

    A straight is a hand with 5 cards that are in direct sequence. It is a stronger hand than three of a kind but weaker tha...

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    Straight flush

    A straight flush is a hand with 5 cards in direct sequence that are also of the same suit. It is the second strongest ha...

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    Satellite

    A satellite is a tournament where the top prize/s are a seat in another major tournament. The primary purpose of satelli...

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    Straight draw

    A straight draw is a hand where a played needs one card to make up the sequence for them to complete a straight. ...

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    Straddle

    A straddle is a pre-flop blind bet which is at least double that of the big blind of that hand. A player may straddle to...

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    Suited

    Suited refers to a player's starting hand that is of the same suit (Spades, Diamonds, Clubs or Hearts). A suited startin...

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    Stack

    A stack is the total amount of chips each player has on the table while playing poker. e.g "With 360,000 ch...

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    Split pot

    A split pot is when two players both win a hand, meaning that the pot must be split in two equal sums to be given to bot...

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    Suckout

    A suckout is where a vastly inferior hand ends up winning a pot against a player with a solid hand. e.g "I ...

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    Showdown

    A showdown is when two or more players show their cards to the table before a hand a completed. This is usually done whe...

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    Snapcall

    A Snapcall is when a player instantly calls a bet that is made during a hand. e.g "Ian made a snapcall whe...

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    Stealing the blinds

    Stealing The Blinds is where a player raises pre-flop, usually bluffing, in an attempt to win the blinds. e....

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    Slowroll

    A slowroll happens when a players thinks too much before calling an All In or a bet on the River with a hand that should...

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    Slow roll (alt)

    To deliberately delay the showing of a good hand in order to give other players false hope that their hand may be best. ...

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    Stop and go

    This is a play which is not used too much. It is only useful in tournaments when you have a short stack and you have a s...

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    Steal

    This is the name given to an open raise which has the objective of winning the pot preflop. As there is no way to know t...

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    Staking

    Staking happens when somebody pays for another player’s buy-in as an investment. Staking can be done for 1 or 2 games,...

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    Sit and go

    Is a tournament which starts when a previously stated number of players register. There are Heads-Up Sit and Goes, One-T...

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    Shootout

    It is a type of tournament, in which each table plays until only one player remains. Then, that player is sent to a new ...

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    Set up

    This is the way to describe a hand we lost that was impossible to avoid. For example, a set over set situation or an Ace...

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    Semi bluff

    This is a bet where we have a draw, but the main objective of beting is to pick up the pot right there. Said in other wo...

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    String bet

    A String Bet is a bet that is made in more than one movement without a player stating how much they intend to put in. St...

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    Slowplay

    To slowplay in poker is to play a very solid hand in a way that makes other players believe the hand is not as strong as...

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    Scoop

    The term coming from the hi/lo game variations, where there can be more than one winner. To scoop means to win the ...

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    Seven card stud

    Poker variation played with seven cards, using the standard rules. Best five card hand wins. Seven card stud used t...

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    Short-handed

    A game where there is fewer than 9 or 10 players; everything from 8 to 3 players can be considered short-handed, al...

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    Side pot

    When there is an all in player with two or more active players still in the hand, these players continue to play fo...

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    Slowroll (alt 2)

    Deliberately taking a long time to make the last call holding a very strong hand that you know is winning. Slowroll is s...

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    Snowmen

    Pair of Eights, called thus because of their likeness to a snowman (8 8).

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    Squeeze

    Raise, usually on the bigger side, made with a weak hand with intention of making the original raiser and the playe...

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    Suited connectors

    Cards of the same suit and close in value, like 6h7h or 9s10s.

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    Stand pat

    In draw games, player stays pat when he/she decides not to draw any cards for that round.

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    Scared money

    A player playing with the money that he is not comfortable with losing for whatever reason. If someone is considere...

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    Snap off

    Make a super quick call without any thinking about it (snap call).

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    Six Plus Hold'em

    Six Plus Hold'em is an action packed Hold'em variation played with a deck of 32 cards. Originating from Macau, this Hold...