Poker Glossary

General Poker Terms

Aggressive: A player that raises and Bets often, trying to buy pots and intimidate players.
Bad beat: When a player with a weaker hand, hits a fluke card to beat a far superior hand.
Bluff: A bet or raise by a player holding nothing, to make his opponent(s) think he's holding a good hand.
Boat: Full Boat (Full house)
Capped: When the betting has a maximum number times players can bet. Usually 3 after the initial raise.
Check-raise: When a player checks and then raises after another player bets in later position. also Sandbag.
Fish: A poor poker player, who throws its money away at the tables.
Free card: When a player sees the next card without paying a bet to do so.
Gut-shot draw: When a player needs an exact card in order to make a straight.
Loose: A player who plays many hands, and isn't frightened of throwing money away.
No-limit: A player can move all in with all the chips at any betting stage of the game.
Open-ended straight draw: When a player needs either of two cards in order to make a straight, such as an 7-8-9-10.
Outs: The number of cards you can catch that will make your hand into a winner.
Passive: A player who bets and raises infrequently.
Pay off: Calling a bet when you think you are unlikely to have the best hand, but have a chance to catch a bluff.
Pot-limit: The players may bet any amount between the size of the big blind and the size of the pot.
Quads: Four of a kind.
Sandbag: To check and then raise a bet from a later position.
Shark: A good strong player taking a lot of money from poorer players.
Showdown: After all betting rounds are completed, when two or more players show their hands and determine the winner of the pot.
Slowplaying: Playing meekly with a hand on one betting round in order to allow players to make second-best hands so that you can win more from them on later betting rounds.
Tight: Players who fold most of their hands and wait for premium cards to get involved in a pot, and will fold if the action indicates they are beaten.
Tilt: When a player is not playing his best game because of factors such as desperation to get even, or suffering a bad beat, where the players mind gets in the way of his game..
Trips: Three of a kind.
Wired: Starting with a pair in the hole in stud or hold 'em. Three of a kind in 7-stud is also known as 'wired trips'.

Hold'em Glossary

Bullets: Two Aces in the hole. Also called Pocket Rockets and American Airlines
Big slick: A-K offsuit.
Cowboys: Two kings in the hole.
Doyle Brunson: T-2. Doyle won two world championships with this hand.
Fifth street: The river card (fifth community card on board)
Flop: The first three community cards dealt. Also used as a verb. (i.e. if you have an 8-5 as your hole cards and the flop comes 8 - 5 - 5, you "flopped a full house")
Fourth street: The turn card (fourth community card on board)
Nuts: The best possible hand given the five community cards on board. If the board includes a 10 - Jack - Queen - King - 6 of four different suits, the "nuts" is an Ace-high straight, and any player with an Ace in his hand has the nuts. If the board is King - 7 - 7 - 7 - 3, the nuts is four 7s, and a player who has the remaining 7 will win the pot. Also used in combination with hand rankings: "nut straight", "nut flush", etc. all refer to the best possible straight or flush.
Overpair: Pocket pair higher than all the community cards. Q-Q on a J-7-4 flop is an overpair.
River: The fifth and final community card. Also used as a verb for being beaten by a hand that an opponent makes on the river card (i.e. "I got rivered when that Ace hit!").
Set: When a player has a pair in the hole and a third card of the same rank appears on the board, giving him three of a kind, he has a "set". If the third card comes on the flop, he is said to have "flopped a set."
Top pair: When a card in your hand pairs the top card on board.
Turn: The fourth community card.