CASINO POKER TERMS
 |
B
|
Is For ....
Doyle Brunson,
The Godfather Of Poker, It is hard for me to express the respect I have for Doyle, He is a good man - More important than poker in my book. |
|
 Bet: Initiating action by placing a bet. The next player has the option of calling, (matching the bet), folding, (throwing away their hand), or raising, (doubling the amount of the bet).
Blinds: Term used in board games to designate the 2 players in front of the dealer button and the amount that each player in that position must post. If the game is $20-40 limit, the small blind would be $10 and the big blind would be $20. The blind starts the pot and the action. On the first betting round...each player has the option of calling, folding, or raising. They cannot check as the blind is considered to be a bet to them. After each player has acted on their hand, the blinds have the option of raising their own bet. This is the only time during a poker hand that you are allowed to raise your own bet.
Board Games: Poker hands that are played with common cards, each player uses the cards on the board as part of their hand - Omaha, Holdem.
Back Door: A hand-made 'back door' is one made using both of the last two cards. A back door flush in Texas hold 'em is about 20-1.
Bankroll: Also known as 'roll' or 'wad' (colloq.) This is gambling money or risk money, as opposed to the money you live on.
Base Deal: Cheating by dealing from the bottom of the deck.
Belly Buster: An inside straight draw.
Berry Patch: (U.S) An extremely easy game.
Big Blind: In flop games, two bets are usually posted before any cards are dealt. The small blind by the player to the left of the dealer and the big blind (double the small blind) by the player to the left of the small blind.
Blind Bet: A pre-deal bet, or blind. In flop games it initiates the betting round.
Blinds: A forced bet in flop games like Hold 'Em, Omaha.
Bluff: A bet with a weak hand, usually intended to get other players to fold.
Boat: Nickname for a full house.
Bracelet: Winning a championship event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) earns the player a Gold Bracelet. Highly prized amongst poker professionals.
Brass Brazilians: The best hand, also known as 'the nuts.'
Broadway: (U.S) An Ace high straight.
Bullets: A pair of aces in the hole.
Bump: To raise.
Bust: To run out of money. 'Busted out' in competitions where its final.
Button: Big white marker in the shape of an ice-hockey puck the denotes the position of dealer in house dealt games.
Buy: To buy a pot is to make a bet large enough that other players would be unlikely to call.
|
|
|
Calling: See Bet.
Card Party: Term used to tell dealers that are going on break that they need to meet at a specific table and sort decks of cards into numerical order.
Check: A player may either check, bet, or fold, (although folding is one of the worst moves a player can make when there is not action in front of them), if there is no action in front of them. A check passes the action to the next player. If all players check, the next card is turned and the player's options repeat.
Chop: Player's in the blind position may take back their blinds in board games if everyone else has folded. In higher limit...2 players can split the pot if they both agree. Be careful of this move as it could mean collusion.
Community Card: In 7 card stud games too many players remain in the hand and there aren't enough cards left to give each player an individual card so a community card is placed face up on the board...the card plays in every one's hand as if it were their last and the hand that was high before the card came is still high.
Call: To call a bet is to equal it but not raise it.
Carpet joint: A big card room with comforts. The opposite of a ceedy joint.
Case Money: Emergency money.
Catch: When the cards are treating you well, you are said to be catching cards
Check: If no one has bet and it is your turn, you may 'check' to signify passing the initiate to the next player without risking money. (exception=7 card stud)
Checks: (U.S) Poker chips.
Chip: Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table.
Coffeehouse: Talking about a game you are in to misleadiother players, is coffeehousing.
Cowboys: (U.S) Kings.
Cut: Remove a number of cards from the bottom of the deck and place them on the top.
|
 |
D
|
Is For ....
Freddy Deeb,
? |
|
Dead Button: In board games, the button will remain with the same player to satisfy all blinds in front of the button.
Door card: The first up-card in seven card stud.
Drop: Money lost.
Down To The Felt: Totally out of money, broke.
|
 |
E
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Eight ball: $800.00
|
 |
F
|
Is For ....
Chris 'JESUS' Ferguson,
See That Headband? That's Right! WSOP Bracelets |
|
Fill: The dealer's bank needs to be refilled.
Folding: See Bet.
Fast: Aggressive.
Fast Company: Tough players. Sometimes meaning unscruppulous
Fifth Street: The fifth card dealt.
First to Speak: In a stud game, either the high or the low card must make a bet.
Fish: A poor player. A sucker. A 'pidgeon'.
Fishhooks: (U.S) Jacks.
Flop: The first three communual cards in Hold 'Em, Omaha. (Flop games)
Fold: Pass your hand.
Four Flush: A hand with four cards of the same suit.
Four Of A Kind: Four cards of the same rank.
Fourth Street: The fourth card dealt in a hand of poker.
Freezeout: A poker tournament in which only the initial entry is permitted, i.e. no re-entry once all your chips are lost
Full House: A five card hand consisting of 'trips' and a 'pair'.
|
|
G
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
George: (U.S) A poor player.
Give the office: (U.S) To give a warning regarding cheating.
Glimmer: Money
Goulash joint: A restaurant or bar that runs a regular card game hidden in a back room.
Greek dealer: A cheating dealer. A mechanic.
Grinder: An un-ambitious player who only hopes to win a little money each day. Also known as a 'leather ass.'
Gutshot: One card that will complete an inside straight draw.
|
 |
H
|
Is For ....
Phil Hellmuth, Jr.,
|
|
Hanger: A card that juts out conspicuously when a cheater is dealing.
Heads Up: A game or a hand between two players.
High Hand: Top traditionally rated hand. (As opposed to Low Ball hands)
High Society: The highest denomination of chips in a card room.
Hold 'Em : Poker where the players have only two cards, both face down. A flop of five communual cards gives the player a choice of five from seven to make the best possible hand.
|
 |
I
|
Is For ....
Phil Ivey,
|
|
|
|
 |
J
|
Is For ....
Jennifer Harman
|
|
Juice: (U.S) See 'Vig'. Money taken as the rake in a game.
|
|
K
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Kansas City: Kansas City lowball is Low Ball with the ace as high. Best hand is 23457.
|
 |
L
|
Is For ....
Love,
Hey Life Can't Be Just About Poker |
|
Lammer: Small buttons with numbers on them that mark the amount of money taken from a dealer's rack while chips are being purchased for the rack..
Ladies: Queens.
Live card: A card that has not been seen.
Live game: A game with lots of betting action. A 'loose' game.
Lock: A hand that is guaranteed to win at least part of the pot.
|
 |
M
|
Is For ....
Mike Matusow ,
|
|
Must Move Game: Usually applies to higher limit poker...the original game is the 'main game' and is protected from breaking up when another game of the same limit begins. The new game would be titled a must move game and the players entering that game are kept on a list in order of seating. When a seat opens in the main game, the next player on the list in the must move game is forced to move the main game.
Mechanic: A cheating player, often by marking cards or using false deals.
Mechanic's grip: The way a cheater holds a deck to make it easy to deal 'seconds'.
Mitt joint: (U.S) A club where the house cheats the players, or one that turns a blind eye to cheating in general.
|
 |
N
|
Is For ....
Scotty Nguyen |
|
No limit: Blinds are set by the players of the game. A player may bet anything they have in front of them, (table stakes), at any time.
Nuts, the: The best hand.
Nut straight: The highest possible straight.
|
|
O
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Omaha: Omaha is a flop game dealt as Hold ' em but with four down-cards each. A hand is made using five from a possible nine, but two and only two must be used from the players hand.
On the finger: (U.S) Money given on credit.
On tilt: Going 'on tilt' is a bad reaction to an unlucky hand. The result is wild play.
Outs: Ways of improving your hand to win the pot.
|
 |
P
|
Is For ....
Poker Tells Bob
|
|
Playing behind: Chips that are in transit from a house person, (player wants $500 in chips and a house person is bringing those chips, they are in play and will play in the hand), also the amount of money that players in higher limits have agreed will be guaranteed by the player 'playing behind'. This is not a guarantee by the casino but a guarantee by the player that he has chips in 'action' and will pay if he loses the hand.
Pot Limit: The betting structure of a game. Usually 3 blinds...the next player to act has the option of calling the big blind, (i.e. $5-5-10), or calling and raising to $40. The 2 $5 blinds are considered a full bet which would bring the pot to $40 thus the option of putting a $40 raise on the pot, the next player would be forced to call $80, fold, or raise.
Paint: A Jack, Queen or King. Picture card. Face card
Pair: Two cards of the same rank.
Pasadena: Fold.
Pineapple: A variation on Hold'em where players receive three cards each and are forced to discard one of them after the flop is dealt. Thus reverting to Hold'em.
Play on your belly: (U.S) Playing honestly.
Poker Hand: A collection of exactly five cards that constitute a hand according to the accepted list of hands.
Pushka: (U.S) An arrangement between two or more of the players to share part of the pots win, or more precisely, the container into which the shared chips are played.
|
|
Q
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Quads: Four of a kind.
|
|
R
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Rack Count: Dealers must verify the amount of money in their banks every 8 hours and report to their supervisory.
Raising: See Bet.
Rabbits: Weak players.
Rack: Plastic, wooden or metal tray to place rows of poker chips.
Rag: A card, usually a low card, that, when it appears, has no apparent impact on the hand.
Railbirds: Spectators. Kibitzers.
Railroad bible: Deck of cards.
Rainbow: Three or four cards of different suits. Applied to flops.
Raise: Increase the previous bet.
Rake: The percentage of a pot that the house keeps.
River: The final (seventh) card dealt in a poker hand. (the fifth flop card in flop games)
Road gang: Team of cheats.
Rock Garden: A game of tight players.
Rolled Up: In Seven Card Stud, three of a kind with the first three cards is known as being 'rolled up'.
Round: A round can refer either to a round of betting or a round of hands.
Rounder: (U.S) A player who knows all the angles and earns his living at the poker table.
Royal Straight flush: An ace high straight flush.
|
 |
S
|
Is For ....
Erik Seidel
? |
|
Setup: Two decks of cards (2 different colors) that are sorted by suit and changed by request in some games and by dealer change in others.
Sleeper: A blind placed from any position at the table, in any game, that may be taken back by the player that placed it if...there's a raise in front of them, if there isn't, the sleeper has the option of raising the bet when the action comes to them.
Soft Break: A player buying into a game wants cash and chips for a large bill instead of all chips.
String Bet: Unless a player states, "Raise!", they must place at least half or more of the bet limit out with the call, they cannot set out the amount to call and then reach back for more chips unless making it known before hand that they intend to raise.
Structured Bet: The bet is an exact amount according to the limit unless a player is going all in. In $3-6 limit holdem the bet would be $3 on the first 2 betting rounds and $6 on the last 2 betting rounds.
Stub: The cards left in the deck after the hand has completed.
Sweater: Someone sitting behind an active player, watching the player's hands and the game.
Seconds: Cheating by dealing the second card instead of the top card.
Semi-bluff: A bluff where there is a chance that your hand can make a winning hand.
Seven Card Stud: Popular variant of stud. Seven cards each, dealt two down, four up, one down.
Slow rolling: An annoying habit that means you slowly reveal that you have the winning hand.
Small Blind : See Big Blind
Soft: Easy
South: (U.S) Fold.
Spikes: (U.S) A pair of aces.
Splash the pot: Loosely put chips into a pot to obscure the actual amount. Not good.
Stack: All your chips.
Straighten Out: (U.S) To introduce an acquaintance to an underground poker club.
Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
|
 |
T
|
Is For ....
Dewey Tomko,
Ex-Teacher ... Still Teaching |
|
Table Stakes: The amount of money on the table in front of each player is what plays in each hand. All money in play, must stay in play until the player leaves the game.
Toke: A monetary tip.
Tap: Tap the table means to check. Also (U.S) betting all your opponents money, forcing him to go 'all in' if he calls the bet.
Tapioca: (U.S) Out of money.
Tell: An unconscious gesture that reveals information about your hand.
Texas Hold'em: See Hold'em. (The usual term)
Tight: Conservative.
Trips: Three cards of the same rank.
Turn: The second to last, (sixth), card dealt in Hold 'Em. Fouth communial card, also known as "4th street".
|
 |
U
|
Is For ....
Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott,
? |
|
Underdog: When two hands face off, the underdog is the one that's less likely to win than the other.
|
|
V
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
Vig: Vig is short for the word 'vigorish'. Also referred to as 'juice'(US). This can be either; the tax that the house takes (rake) in each hand of poker or the up-front fee.
|
 |
W
|
Is For ....
Jason "John w Galt" Writer
|
|
White Meat: Profit.
|
|
X,Y&Z
|
Is For ....
???,
Who Do You Think Should Be Here? |
|
|
|
