Poker glossary

All in: When a player has their entire chip stack in the pot.

Ante: A predetermined forced bet amount which every player at the table must pay prior to receiving cards.

Action: When a player must make a decision as to what to do with their hand.

Bet: Chips or cash put into a pot as a first action during a betting round.

Big Blind: The larger amount of the forced bets known as “blinds”.

Blinds: Forced bets of a predetermined amount to induce action.

Board: The community cards which are shown to all players on the table.

Bring-in: In Stud Poker, the player with the worst value card showing must begin the action with a forced bet.

Bubble: Usually refers to the point where the prize money starts in a tournament.

Burn card: The card which the dealer deals face down before dealing any community cards.

Buy-in: The initial outlay of money to receive chips in a cash game or to enter a tournament.

Call: Matching a bet amount made by a player.

Cap: A predetermined limit to how many bets are made. In fixed limit games, the betting can be “capped” for a round.

Cap game: A game of either No-Limit or Pot-Limit poker which have a limit of how much money can be bet per hand.

Cash game: A game of poker where players can buy-in and rebuy as they wish.

Check: A player who chooses not to bet and sends their action to the next player in line.

Chip: A token used in place of cash to represent real money or a tournament cash value.

Community card: A card dealt faced up on the table which can be used by any and all players.

Completion: Usually in Stud Poker, a completion is where an incomplete bet is completed by a player yet to act.

Deal: Where each player receives cards.

Dealer: Either the person physically dealing the cards or the player with the “dealer button”

Dealer Button: A small disk or token which represents where to begin the deal.

Deuce: A two (2).

Deuce-to-Seven: A form of lowball poker in which straights and flushes are high hands and the ace is always high.

Discard: Cards which players must throw away before receiving replacements.

Door card: The first card which is shown face up in stud games.

Down card: A card which is dealt face down to players.

Eight-or-Better: A qualification rule in the lowball poker half of a high-low split game. In these games a low hand must not feature any cards with a higher value than eight.

Felt: The playing surface on a poker table.

Fifth Street: The fifth card dealt in a community card game (also known as the river) or the fifth card dealt in a stud game.

Final Table: The last table to play in a poker tournament before a winner is decided.

Fixed-Limit: A betting structure in which betting and raising amounts are predetermined.

Flop: The first three cards dealt face-up in a community based poker game.

Fold: Throwing away your poker hand and ending your involvement in that specific hand.

Forced bet: A bet which a player or all players are required to make such as a blind or ante.

Fourth Street: The fourth card dealt in a community card game (also known as the turn) or the fourth card dealt in a stud game.

Full Ring: A poker game which features a full table of 9 or 10 players.

Hand: 1. The cards which players are dealt; 2. Everything that occurs between one deal and the next.

Heads-Up: When only two players are playing against each other.

Hi-Lo (or High-Low): A poker game which features split pots, with one pot awarded to the best high hand and one pot awarded to the best low hand.

Hole Cards: The player’s cards which are face down.

Home game: A poker game run out of a home as opposed to a card room or casino.

Kicker: The highest-ranked card in a players hand not used in pair or trips. A Kicker is used to determine the winner in hand where two or more players hold the same hand.

Level: In a poker tournament, a level is the current size of the blinds and/or antes.

Limit: The minimum and/or maximum bet amount allowed.

Low: The worst possible poker hand.

Lowball: A form of poker in which the best ranked poker hands are determined by low cards.

No-Limit: A betting structure of poker which allows players to bet any amount up to the entirety of their stack.

Open: The first player to make an action during a hand.

Option: When the action is on a player.

Pocket cards: The cards which a player holds face down in their hand.

Position: Where the player is located at the table in comparison to the betting player or the button.

Post: To pay a required amount in order for the hand to begin.

Pot-Limit: A betting structure where the maximum possible bet is determined by how much is currently in the pot.

Pre-Flop: All actions which happen prior to a flop being dealt.

Qualifier: The requirements for a hand to be eligible to win a hand. Usually refers to eligibility to win half the pot in a High-Low split game.

Raise: The bet of a player who increased the total amount of a previous bet.

Rake: Money taken from each pot by the operator of a game.

Rebuy: To buy more chips after buying an initial amount. Some tournaments also allow rebuys.

Ring game: See “cash game” above.

River: The fifth card in a community card game and the seventh card dealt in a stud game – The final card dealt.

Scoop: Winning both halves of the pot in a High-Low split poker game.

Side Pot: A separate pot which is present when one or more players are all in and there are still players with chips and cards remaining in the hand.

Small Blind: The smaller amount of the forced bets known as “blinds”.

Stack: 1. The total amount of chips a player has; 2. A collection of usually exactly 20 chips of the same denomination.

Stand pat: Drawing zero cards in a draw poker game. Keeping all five cards and skipping the next draw round.

Straddle: An extra blind bet made before any cards are dealt by the player to the left of the big blind.

Turn: The fourth card dealt face up in a community poker game (also known as Fourth Street).

Upcard: Any cards dealt face up – usually in stud games.

Window card: The first card which can be seen when dealing the flop in a community game.