Texas Hold Em Terminology
All-In – The trademark declaration of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, all-in is the phrase used by a player to. Texas Holdem Glossary. Newcomers to Texas holdem often get confused by some of the colorful slang and jargon used at the tables. We’ve put together this lengthy and (hopefully) comprehensive Texas holdem terms page to provide definitions for some of the. Texas Holdem Vocabulary Terms. By esilatsie1977 Follow Public. The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game. The large forced bet mostly used in community-card games like Hold'em and Omaha. Nickname for the Hold'em starting hand Ace-King.
- Turbo Texas Hold'em Definition
- Texas Hold'em Poker Terminology
- Texas Holdem Glossary Of Terms
- Texas Holdem Terminology
Texas Holdem has become the darling of the poker scene, and many are rushing to find the rules for this popular poker game. If you aren’t familiar with some of the terms used in Texas Holdem, you may be at a loss for understanding its rules. To get a firm grip on the rules for Texas Holdem, it’s a good move on your part to be familiar with some of the terms used before jumping into the actual how to of the game.
First, let’s cover the types of Texas Holdem poker games. There are three main types, and depending on locality, there may be slight changes of the rules within each type of poker game. For the sake of simplicity, we will target the three main types of Texas Holdem.
Fixed Limit Texas Holdem is a game where the betting is set within a certain monetary range. As an example, you may see games played where the betting is limited from the five dollar, to ten dollar range. This would indicate that the bets are limited to five dollars in the pre-flop and flop, and limited to ten dollars in the turn and river.
Pot Limit Texas Holdem has a form of limited betting also, however it is not predetermined before the game. The limit in Pot Limit Texas Holdem is limited to the amount currently in the pot. This allows the betting limit to increase as the pot increases.
No Limit Texas Holdem is where you’ll find the betting is only limited to the amount the players are willing to bet. There are no set betting limits in this game. If played within a casino, players may be limited on how often they can raise within each game. No Limit Texas Holdem is most often played by the experienced players with high bankrolls.
Now that we’ve covered the types of Texas Holdem, let’s get down to the terminology used in all of those games.
Blind bet: The blind bet is the bet made by players before the cards are dealt for the round. Blind bets are usually made by the first two players on the left of the dealer.
- Call: When a player matches the bet of another player, it’s referred to as a call.
- Check: When a player “checks”, they are not placing a bet. When a player checks they are opting to not place a bet. A check can only occur if there have been no other bets placed in the round. Checking means that the player chooses not to bet, but still stays in the game.
- Fold: When a player folds, they are quitting the current game and will no longer be placing any bets on that game. They will continue play on the next deal.
- Raise: To raise simply means you’re betting more than the last player.
- All In: To go “All In” means the player is betting everything they have on your hand.
- Dealer Button: The dealer button is a token used to determine who the current dealer is and who is to place the blind bets. It is passed in a clockwise direction to the next player after each round.
- Pre-Flop: This is the very first round of Texas Holdem. The dealer gives each player two cards, which are called pocket cards.
- Flop: This is the second round of Texas Holdem poker, and is when the first three communal cards are placed face up on the table. These communal cards can be used by all the players to create the best five card hands.
- Turn: The third round of Texas Holdem is referred to as the turn. It’s this round in which a fourth communal card is placed face up.
- River: This is the last round of Texas Holdem. A fifth communal card is placed face up on the poker table in this round.
Now that you’re familiar with Texas Holdem terms, you’re ready to get down to the business of learning the rules. May Lady Luck be with you!
Progress Publishing Co. |
Texas Holdem Poker Glossary |
| HOME | Craps Home | Slots Home | Cards | Gambling History | Monte Carlo |
| Roulette History | Roulette Rules | Roulette Systems | Baccarat History | Baccarat Rules | Baccarat Systems |
| Keno History | Keno Rules | Keno Play | Blackjack History | Blackjack Rules | Basic Strategy |
| Expectations | Card Counting | Efficiency | Betting Spread | Shoe Penetration | New Blackjack |
| Bingo History | Bingo Basics | Bingo Rules | Bingo Games | Bingo Odds | Lottery History |
| Horse Racing History | Horse Racing Types | Horse Races | Horse Racing Betting | Handicapping | Horse Racing Glossary |
| Horse Racing Rules | Greyhound History | Greyhound Betting | Greyhound Program | Dog Handicapping | Greyhound Grading |
| Greyhound Rules | Greyhound Glossary | Jai Alai History | Jai Alai Rules | Jai Alai Betting | Jai Alai Glossary |
| Football History | Football Point Spread | Football Handicapping | Football Betting | Football Rules | Football Glossary |
| Poker History | Poker Betting | Poker Outs | Poker Pot Odds | Poker Position | Poker Free Card Strategy |
| Poker Overcards | Poker Overpair | Holdem Poker Rules | Holdem Poker Glossary | Hole Card | ORDER |
| Links |
Texas Holdem Poker Glossary
*******************************************************************
Texas Holdem Poker Glossary
Texas Holdem Poker betting terms
Texas Holdem Poker slang
*******************************************************************
American Airlines - A Texas Holdem poker slang for pocket aces
Ante - a certain amount of money contributed to the pot by every player at the start of the poker round
All-in - betting all the money the poker player has
Backdoor - the draws that need two cards(on the turn and on the river) to be completed
Bad Beat - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means an unlucky development resulting in the superior hand getting beaten by an inferior hand
Big Blind - the money that a poker player in second position has to put into the pot before the start of a poker round
Big Slick - a Texas Holdem Poker slang for AK
Blank - the card on the board that does not change the relative strength of the poker hands
Blind - an automatic bet that should be made by the first two players on the left of the button
Board - 5 community cards in Texas Holdem poker laid out on the flop, turn and river
Boat - a Taxes Holdem poker slang for a full house
Bottom Pair - a pair that includes the lowest card on the board
Burn the card - discarding the top card in the deck between each betting round
Bump - a Texas Holdem poker slang for raising the pot
Button - a white plastic disc that determines the position of a poker player who is last to act
Buying the pot – a Texas Holdem Poker slang meaning bluffing with an attempt to steal the pot
Buying the Button - a Texas Holdem Poker slang meaning raising on the flop with the purpose to make the players in later positions to fold their hands and getting an opportunity to act last on the next streets
Call – it means to make the same bet as the previous player has made
Calling Station - a Texas Holdem Poker slang describing the weak and passive player who call all the way to the river even with weak hands
Cap - to make the last available raise (usually the third raise)
Case - the case card is the last card of a specific rank left in the deck
Center pot - the same as the main pot
Check - a poker player checks when he chooses not to bet but has an option to call or raise later
Check Raise - checking first and then raising a player that has bet
Chop - the decision of the big and small blinds poker players to take their money back if nobody has bet
Cold Call - it means calling a raise as opposed to calling a bet and then calling a raise
Come Hand - a drawing hand
Complete Hand - a poker hand that is made of 5 cards like a straight, flush, full house etc.
Turbo Texas Hold'em Definition
Connector - a Texas Holdem starting hand that is made of two cards adjacent in rank like J10
Counterfeit - any card that shows up on the board and makes your hand weaker, counterfeits your hand
Crack - a Texas Holdem Poker slang that means beating a very big hand with initially weak hand
Crying Call - a Texas Holdem poker slang for making a call with a little hope of winning
Dog - the same as an underdog or a weak poker hand that has small chance to win
Dominated Hand - a poker hand that has a weaker kicker
Draw - a poker hand that needs the right cards to come to become a good hand
Drawing Dead - a Texas Holdem Poker slang that means having a hand that can not possibly win even if it will get better. For ex. a poker player drawing to the flush can’t possibly win if a another player has a full house (unless he is drawing to a straight flush)
Equity - the share of the pot that a poker player expects to win on average on the basis of the winning chance
Expectation - the average win in certain situation on the basis of the poker player’s odds to win the pot and the odds laid by the pot
Extra blind - an additional blind money put into the pot by a poker player who is the new player, or a player who has changed the seat or missed his blinds
Family pot - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning a big number of poker players participating in the pot
Fast play - a Texas Holdem Poker slang meaning an aggressive play
Fish - a Texas Holdem poker slang for a bad player who does not understands the game
Flop - the first 3 community cards of Texas Holdem poker that show up on the board face up
Free Card - the turn or river card that a poker player can see for free because all other player have checked
Free Roll - a Texas Holdem Poker slang that means that a poker player who is tied at the moment with another player can’t possibly lose but can still win. For ex if two poker players on the turn have the same straight but one player has also a flush draw, then he can’t lose but can win if the flush card will come on the river
Gutshot Straight draw - a straight draw that can be completed by a card of one rank only. For ex. a poker player has 109 and the board is 672. Only 8 will make that draw
Heads Up play - there are only two poker players left in the pot
Hit - for ex. to hit the flop means for a poker player to get the cards on the flop that improve his hand
Hole - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning two initial cards
House - the same as the casino
Implied Odds - pot odds increased by the possible future win in the later streets when a poker player makes his hand
Jackpot - a reward paid by a casino to a losing player who had his very strong hand beaten by a better hand
Kicker - a second card from the starting two cards that was not paired or the one that accompanies an Ace in the situation when an Ace high is the best hand on the river. A pair or an Ace with a lower kicker lose
Limp - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means to call pre-flop a minimum bet without raising
Maniac - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means a very loose and very aggressive poker player who likes to raise and bluff a lot
Muck - a bunch of burnt and folded cards in front of the dealer. To muck the hand also means to fold the hand
No-Limit - a type of a Texas Holdem poker game where a poker player can bet all the money he has on the table
Nuts - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means the best possible poker hand, which is a guaranteed winner
Offsuit - a starting Texas Holdem poker hand that is made of two cards of different suits
One-Gap - a Texas Holdem poker starting hand that is made of two cards with one card’s rank higher than the other by two. For ex 86 is a one-gap
Outs - the cards that will improve a poker player’s hand. For ex. 8 cards will improve a straight draw to a straight, so a poker player has 8 outs in this example
Overcall - to call a bet that has been called already by few other players
Overcard - a card in a poker player’s hand that is higher than any other card on the board
Overpair - a pair made of cards that are higher than any other card on the board
Paying off - a situation when a poker player knows that he is beat but calls a bet (pays off) anyway because he has a very good hand
Play the board - a poker player plays the board when the board contains the hand better than a player’s hand. For ex. a poker player has two pairs but the board shows 5-card flush. A player checks and hopes that other players will also play the board and he’ll split the pot with them instead of losing
Poker face - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning no facial expressions
Pocket cards – first two initial cards of a poker player that nobody can see as opposed to community cards seen by everybody
Pocket rocket - a Texas Holdem poker slang for pocket aces
Pocket pair - a Texas Holdem poker starting hand consisting of the two cards of the same rank
Post - to post means to put a blind bet when a new poker player enters the game or changes the seat
Pot-Limit - a type of a Texas Holdem game where a poker player can make a bet up to the current size of the pot
Pot odds - the ratio of the size of the pot to the size of the bet necessary for staying in the pot and continuing to play
Protecting the hand - means protecting your cards for ex. with a chip from accidental muck or defending the blinds or raising by a poker player with the purpose of knocking out few opponents and increasing the chances for his hand
Putting on - as putting a poker player on a possible hand that he might have
Quads - the same as four of a kind
Rainbow - a rainbow flop means three cards of a different suit; a rainbow board means a board without a possibility for a flush
Rag - a Teaxs Holdem poker slang meaning a worthless card
Ragged - an uncoordinated rainbow flop with mostly small cards
Rake - a percentage from the pot taken by a casino
Rank - a numerical value of the card
Read - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning guessing a poker player’s hand
Represent - to represent a certain hand is to play in a way characteristic of that hand. For ex. if a poker player raises and caps pre-flop he represents a big pair
Ring games - poker cash games as opposed to the tournaments
River - the fifth and last community card on the board. Another name for the river is the fifth street
Rock - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means a very tight poker player
Rush - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning a hot streak of few winning hands
Runner-Runner - means that a poker player hit two necessary cards – on the turn and river – that helped him to win a hand
Sandbagging - a Texas Holdem poker slang, the same as slow playing
Scare Card – a card that can kill currently best hand. For ex. a poker player has a straight on the turn. On the river a third card of the certain suit shows up making a flush possible
Second Pair - a pair made with the second highest card on the board
Semi-Bluff - a poker player bets without the best hand but have outs to improve to the best hand
Set - a three of a kind when a poker player has two cards and the third is on the board
Short Stack - a poker player has a short stack of chips when the number of his chips is considerably less compare to the other players in the game
Showdown - a moment when remaining in the game poker players show their cards to see who has the best hand
Side pot - the part of the pot, which a poker player is not entitled to, because he ran out of chips prior to the end of the betting
Slow play - a poker player slow plays when he has a very strong hand but plays like he has a weak hand
Small blind - the smallest of the two blind bets that a poker player has to make before the start of the poker round
Smooth Call - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means that a poker player just calls a bet in front of him when the strength of his hand justifies raising the bet
Splashing the pot - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means throwing the poker chips into the pot instead of placing them in front of the player
Splitting the pot - dividing the pot equally between few poker players because they have the same hand
Straddle - an additional blind bet, which is two times bigger than a big blind
String Bet - a situation when a poker player does not put all the chips out in one motion when raising. In that case the raise will not be allowed. It is allowed if a poker player announces his raise
Stuck - a Texas Holdem poker slang for losing money
Suited cards - a starting poker hand that contains two cards of the same suit
Table stakes - a poker player can use only money on the table for betting purposes, he can go into his pocket or to ATM machine
Tell - an information that a poker player may give out about his hand due to the displayed physical, verbal or emotional mannerisms
Thin - a Texas Holdem poker slang - drawing thin means that a poker player was drawing having only very few outs to improve his hand
Tilt - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means that a poker player has started to play badly below his usual level of play because of an emotional upset
Time request - a poker player requests time when he needs more than usual time to make his decision
Toke - a tip to a dealer given by a winning poker player
Top Pair - a pair that includes the highest card on the board
Top Set - a set that includes the highest card on the board
Top two - a poker player has two pair made with two highest card on the board
Top and bottom - a poker player has two pair made with the highest and the lowest cards on the board
Under the gun - a Texas Holdem poker slang meaning a poker player’s position at the table first after the big blind. A poker player under the gun acts first
Underdog - a poker hand that has a small chance to win
Texas Hold'em Poker Terminology
Value betting or raising - a poker player, who has a good hand, bets or raises because he wants more money in the pot
Wheel - a Texas Holdem poker slang that means A,2,3,4,5 straightess
Copyright Progress Publishing Co.
Texas Holdem Glossary Of Terms
Selected References:
| David Sklansky Mason Malmuth Holdem Poker | Phil Hellmuth Jr Play Poker Like the Pros |
| Ed Miller David Sklansky Small Stakes Holdem Poker | Doyle Brunson Super System - A Course in Power Poker |
| David Sklansky The Theory of Poker | Dan Harrington Harrington on Poker |
| Lee Jones Winning Low Limit Texas Holdem Poker | John Vorhaus Killer Poker |
| Ken Warren Ken Warren Teaches Taxas Holdem Poker Gide to | Bobby Baldwin Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets |