Poker

These terms will help you to understand more about poker, and will allow you to understand what the sections after this are talking about. If you do not know what a word means in a defintion - finish reading all of the definitions first. If you still don't understand the word after reading all of them, email me about it, and I will further elaborate. Or if a word is used somewhere else in the poker section, or even if it comes up when you're playing poker, and you don't know what it means, email me and I will explain it here.

The terms are arranged alphabetically; to understand a term you will often have to scroll up and down to read the definition of another term.

All-in: This is a phrase which means that you are betting all of your remaining money left on the table. This is most often done in a no-limit game.

Ante: A small mandatory bet at the beginning of the game. This is in place as incentive for people to not fold all of the time, so the antes don't "eat their chipstack."

Ante Up: A phrase often said at the beginning of a game to remind people who may forget to place their ante in the pot.

Betting: One of the most basic concepts of poker is the bet. This generally happens multiple times in a game, and it is when you wager money on the value of your cards, or that you think that you will have the best cards of the people playing.

Big Blind: See blinds.

Blinds: A system of betting in which two people to the left of the dealer are designated the small blind and the big blind. The small blind is to the left of the dealer, and the big blind is two to the left. The big blind is required to put down the minimum bet on the table, and the small blind is required to put down a set smaller bet, generally half of the big blind. Betting then begins with the person to the left of the big blind. This is common in Hold 'em games. This is in place to keep the game moving and so you don't fold all the time and have the blinds "eat your chipstack."

Bluffing: This is when you bet money on your cards just to make other people think you have a good hand, when in reality you are just trying to make them fold when you don't have a good hand.

Bullying: When someone who has a high chip-stack is playing against someone who is short-stacked, they will often bully them. This means to make larger than normal bets to try and force the short-stacked person out of the game.

Burn Card: A card that is discarded face down before dealing out cards. This is done to prevent cheating, and is generally used in Hold 'em games.

Buying In: The opposite of cashing out, it is when you exchange however much money you want to play with for that amount in chips. There is often a minimum or maximum buy-in amount, and especially in tournament style games a set amount which you have to buy in for.

Buying the Pot: This phrase refers to making a large enough bet which makes all of the other players fold. Since you are not required to show your cards when everyone else folds, buying the pot can be done with a bluff, or if you actually had a good hand.

Call: If someone before you has placed a bet, to call their bet means to place an equal bet to match theirs. To stay in the game, you have to at least call the last bet placed.

Cashing out: When you cash out, you exchange the amount of chips you have on the table for their monetary value. Generally when you cash out you are done playing, though you are sometimes able to just cash out some of your money and continue playing. There are often rules set to prevent you from cashing out right after you win a big hand. For example you may have to announce to the table a set number of minutes before you are going to cash out.

Chip stack: Your chip stack refers to how much money you have left compared to other people. If you have $20 in chips, and the average is $10, then you have a high chip stack. But if the average is $50, then you would have a low chip stack. This is used the same as chip count.

Check: When it is your turn to bet, and nobody before you has made a bet, you have the option to check. What this means is that you are placing a bet of zero. If everyone checks, then the bet for the round is zero, however if someone bets after you check, then you must match their bet to stay in the game.

Chip leader: If you have the most money on the table out of everyone, you are the chip leader.

Community cards: These cards are in the middle, face up, and are for everybody to use.

The Flop: In Hold 'em (a type of poker game discussed later), the flop are the first three community cards exposed.

Fold: If you someone before you has placed a bet, and you don't want to match that bet. You can fold your cards, which means you sit out for the duration of that game, and you throw your cards to the middle.

Hole cards: These cards are dealt face down to you. You are able to see these cards, but other people are not.

In the money: This phrase refers to tournament-style play, and means that there are equal to or fewer people left with chips as compared to the amount of people who get paid. For instance, if 1st, 2nd and 3rd place recieve money, and there are 3 people left - these people are 'in the money'. If there are five people left, then everyone is 2 people away from the money.

Kill cards: A kill card is dealt face up in the middle. For example, if the kill card was a Seven, then anybody who had a Seven in their hand would have to discard it. This applies to community cards as well. Using the same example, if a Seven were present as a community card, it would no longer be a community card.

Limit: The limit is the maximum bet allowed. The limit usually takes the form of a maximum amount bet allowed in addition to a maximum number of raises.

Lowball: A type of game in which the worst hand wins the pot. This is explained in much more detail later.

The Nuts: If you have 'the nuts', then you have the best hand possible. In a game where community cards are present, the nuts will depend on which cards are present. Otherwise, in a game without wild cards, the nuts refers to a Royal Flush, and in a game with wild cards, five Aces are the nuts. Another way to explain would be to say that having the nuts is having the unbeatable hand.

No-limit: In playing no-limit games, there is no maximum as to how much you can bet; at any time you are able to go All-in.

The Pot: The Pot is how much money has been bet that game. If you win the game, you get whatever money is in the pot.

Pot-limit: Another form of limit in which the maximum allowed bet is the amount of money that is currently in the pot.

Prize Pool: Usually referring to tournament style play, it is the amount of money which was exchanged for chips, and is to be distributed among the top winners of the game.

Raise: When someone before you has placed a bet, you have the option to raise them. This entails betting the amount equal to theirs, plus however much you want to raise. Say someone bets $2. If you want to bet $5, you would say 'I raise by $3.' You can also say: 'I raise it to $5.'

Raising the blinds: This means to raise the amount of both the small blind and the big blind, usually keeping the small blind at about half of the big blind. Blinds are often raised after a set amount of time, or after a set number of people have been eliminated. Though people can elect to do this at anytime if the game is going to slow.

Ring Style: This is non-tournament style play also referred to as cash games, in which you are able to cash out, and play does not have to continue until there is only one person left with chips.

The River: In Hold 'em (a type of poker game discussed later), the river is the fifth and last community card exposed.

Short-stacked: This means to have a low-chip stack.

Small blind: See blinds.

Split-pot: If you are playing a game in which there is a split pot, or if two people have identical winning hands, then the money in the pot is divided equally between the winners.

The Turn: In Hold 'em (a type of poker game discussed later), the turn is the fourth community card exposed. This is also referred to as 4th Street.

Tournament Style: A style of play which means that everyone starts with the same amount of money, and play continues until everyone except one person is left. Often times an equal amount of chips are distributed to everyone, which do not have to equal the amount which was bought in for. For example in a tournament, $15 may buy you $800 in chips. There may be a set payout structure in which 1st place takes 75% of the prize pool, 2nd place takes 20%, and 3rd place takes 5% for example. In tournament style play you are unable to cash out at any time.

The Wheel: In a game where there is a high-low split, a hand which wins both sides of the pot.

Back to Poker.