The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.
A ace in the hole One of the hole cards is an ace ace-to-five, ace-to-six Methods of evaluating low hands. See lowball. act To make a play (check, bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time, compare to in turn. acting out of turn A player in poker that either announces their actions or physically plays before their turn (checks, folds etc.). Sometimes players act out of turn intentionally to get a read out of other players. When done intentionally, this is often referred to as "angle shooting." See angle shooting. action A player's turn to act; a willingness to gamble; or a bet, along with all the calls of that bet. action button A marker similar to a kill button, on which a player places an extra forced bet. In a seven-card stud high-low game, the action button is awarded to the winner of a scoop pot above a certain size, signifying that in the next pot, that player will be required to post an amount representing a completion of the bring-in to a full bet.
action card In Texas hold 'em, and other community card poker games, a card appearing on the board that causes significant betting action because it helps two or more players. action only In many cardrooms, with respect to an all-in bet, only a full (or half) bet can be reraised. Anything less than a full (or half) bet is considered to be action only, that is, other players can call the bet but not raise it. Compare with full bet rule and half bet rule. active players Any players still involved in the pot. In hand histories often referred to as hero and villain.Acevedo (2019), p. 17–21 In side pots, an all-in player may be active in some pots, but not in others. add-on In a live game, to buy more chips before busting. In tournament play, a single rebuy for which all players are eligible regardless of their stack size. This is usually allowed only once, at the end of the rebuy period. The add-on often offers more chips per dollar invested than the buy-in and rebuys. Compare with rebuy. advertising To make an obvious play or expose cards in such a way as to deliberately convey an impression to opponents about the advertising player's style of play. aggressive, aggression The tendency for a player to open betting or raise rather than call or check. See main article: aggression. Compare with loose, tight, passive. aggression factor (AF) A measure of a player's aggression, either in a particular betting round or over all betting rounds. air A hand that has a very low value against an opponent's such as "9 high." In lowball, giving air is when a player lets an opponent who might otherwise fold know that they intend to draw one or more cards, to induce them to call. all-in When a player bets all of their chips in the current hand. See main article: all-in. angle A permitted, but borderline unethical, play. angle shooting Intentionally using an angle to exploit an opponent such as obscuring the size of their chip stack or acting out of turn. See acting out of turn. ante A forced bet required, in some types of poker, of all players before the hand begins. See main article: ante. ante off In tournament play, to force an absent player to continue paying antes, blinds, bring-ins, and other forced bets so that the contest remains fair to the other players. Also blind off.
B baby A prefix for (one of) the lowest-ranking possible of any particular made hand on a particular board. For example, the lowest-ranking full house possible for a paired board in hold 'em (i.e. one that would be beaten by any other possible full house) is the baby full house. backdoor A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill; a hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. back in To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else's open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like jackpots, meaning to enter without openers. back into To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. backraise A reraise from a player who previously called in the same betting round. bad beat To lose a hand where one hand is considerably ahead of the eventual winning hand. See main article: bad beat. balance Playing very different hands in the same way, with the aim of making it more difficult for an opponent to gain useful information about the cards a player has. bank Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game. bankroll The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of their poker career; to fund someone's participation in a game. Compare with staking. bankroll management Choosing the correct stakes and game type to avoid exhausting a bankroll during downswings. barreling When the preflop raiser continuation bets the flop, then bets again on the turn. Sometimes called firing a second barrel or a double barrel. Betting the flop, turn and river is referred to as triple barreling.Brokos (2020), p. 128 behind Not (currently) having the best hand; money on the table but not currently in the pot, which can be bet later in the hand; money in play but not visible as chips in front of a player. belly buster A straight draw needing one specific card in the middle. bet Any money wagered during the play of a hand. The opening bet of a betting round. In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. betting structure The complete set of rules regarding forced bets, limits, raise caps, and such for a particular game. See main article: betting. big bet The larger of two bet amounts in a fixed limit game. See main article: big bet. big bet game A game played with no limit or a pot limit betting structure. big blind The larger of two forced bets in certain types of poker. See main article: blind. big blind special A hand won by the big blind playing very weak pocket cards because there was no raise pre-flop. big full The best possible full house in community card games. A stronger hand than the underfull. big stack A stack of chips that is relatively large for the stakes being played. Also called deep stack. Also the biggest stack at the table. Compare with short stack. blank A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. Compare with rag, brick, bomb. blaze A non-standard poker hand of five face cards that outranks a flush. bleed To consistently lose chips through bad play, possibly resulting from tilting. blind A type of forced bet. See main article: blind. In the dark. blind defense To call or raise an opponent's raise when in the big blind, rather than folding an otherwise weak hand, in order to exploit overly aggressive players.PokerStrategy Glossary blind steal A raise from a late position with a weak hand when all other players have folded, with the intention of winning the blinds and antes. blind stud A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there. blind off, blinded To ante off. When a player's stack is reduced by paying ever increasing blinds in tournaments. blocker In community card poker, holding one of the opponent's outs, typically when the board threatens a straight or straight draw. A blocker is also having a combination of cards that turn an opponent's outs into one's own. Compare with dry ace. blocking bet An abnormally small bet made by a player out of position intended to discourage a larger bet by an opponent. bluff A bet made with a hand that is mathematically unlikely to be the best hand, either to make money or to disguise play patterns. See main article: bluff. bluff catcher A hand that can only beat a bluff. bluff induce To make an action with a strong hand that represents a weak hand with the intention of encouraging an opponent to try to bluff off of the hand with a big bet. board The set of community cards in a community card game. The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. boat Another name for a full house. bomb pot A hand where each player agrees to place a predetermined bet amount into the pot before the hand is dealt. A hand, usually in a game with a blind structure, which is instead played with antes and which goes straight to the second round of betting. both ways Both halves of a split pot, often declared by a player who thinks they will win both low and high. bottom dealing Trick or cheating deal where a card or cards are dealt from the bottom of the deck rather than the top. See main article: bottom dealing. bottom end The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. Also idiot end. bottom pair, bottom set In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one's private hand. Compare second pair, top pair. bounty An aspect of some poker tournaments that rewards players for eliminating other players with a cash prize for each player they eliminate, separate from the tournament payout structure. See main article: bounty. box The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer's position at the table. boxed card A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it does not exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal. break In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a better one. In a jacks-or-better draw game, a player breaking a high pair must keep the discarded card aside, to prove they had openers. To end a session of play. brick A blank, though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential. Also known as a bomb. Compare with rags. brick and mortar A brick and mortar casino is a real casino based in a building, as opposed to an online casino. This refers to many real world locations as opposed to their Internet counterparts. bridge order Poker is neutral about suits, but in determining the dealer at the start of a game, or in determining the bring in bettor in a stud game, bridge rank rules are used: spades beat hearts beat diamonds beat clubs. bring in To open a betting round. A forced bet in stud games. In the first betting round, the holder of the worst (lowest or highest, depending) upcard must post a bring-in bet. The bring-in bet is typically a quarter to a third of a small bet. The bring-in bettor may look at their cards, and place a full bet if they choose. broadway A 10 through ace straight. Can also include any group of cards from 10 to ace. brush A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, hence the name). To recruit players into a game. bubble The last finishing position in a poker tournament before entering the payout structure. bubble factor The factor by which the odds in chips differ from the odds in dollars. See also main article: expected value. buck Marker to indicate which player is dealer (or last to act). See button. bug A limited wild card. See main article: bug. Compare with wild card. bully