Poker glossary & must-know terms

Poker is one of those games that you can pick up quickly, but it can take a long time to master, with many different elements to becoming a successful player. A good starting point is to learn poker language or terms that you might not be familiar with.

Our poker glossary will explain most-know terms like all-ins, options, bubbles and and provide you with links to further articles on key topics you will find around the real money gambling scene – both offline an online.

A-Z of poker terms and live 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.

Bluff: One of the most talked about terms in poker, a bluff is when one player attempts to buy, or psyche their opponent out of a hand. For instance a player might be holing 4-5 on a dry Texas Hold’em Board, but bet like they have hit the high pair. A well-time bluff is an essential skill in your poker strategy.

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.

Meta-game: The meta-game in poker is talking about all of the stuff that happens at a table that doesn’t involve the game. For instance, does a player have a glaring tell, like tapping their foot when they have a good hand? Or is a player susceptible to getting bluffed out of borderline hands?

No-Limit: A betting structure of poker which allows players to bet any amount up to the entirety of their stack. You can learn more about the different betting structures in poker in our guide.

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).

Tourneys: Tourney is just short for tournament, you will often hear chatter about whether a player is a tourney or cash game player. For example, the World Series of Poker is a major tournament.

Under the gun: This simply means you are the first player to act after the deal, or the player sitting immediately to the left of the big blind. Its important to have a strong under the gun strategy.

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.

Do you have a poker term you are unsure about? or want clarification on? Drop us a message in the box below or email us at contact@worldgamblinglist.com and we will update our glossary.