Poker Glossary

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3oak
"Three of a kind". The starting hand AA makes a 3oak on a A37 board. The starting hand K9 does the same on a 994 board.

4oak
"Four of a kind" The starting hand AA makes a 4oak on a AA3 board. and of course a K9 hands makes a 4oak on a KKK board.

Ace High
A hand with no pairs and an Ace high card. This hand beats all other hands with no high cards, and is a possible winner in a heads-up or very short game.

Ace Rag
Ace with a weak kicker.

Aggressive
Someone is aggressive when he bets and raises more often instead of just calling.

All-In
A player is wagering all his Chips. At online-poker you have the same all-in effect when you loose your connection(although of course you won't wager all your chips)

American Airlines
A hand with two aces in the hole (AA). Also known as Pocket Rockets or Rockets.

Ante
Money, all players have to pay, before they get their cards. This sort of payment is only necessary for special poker versions like 7card stud. For Texas Hold'em you only have to pay the blinds.

AvgPot
shortcut for the average pot of the last 20 Hands

Backdoor
A backdoor flush or a backdoor straight do include 3 of the necessary 5 cards to complete your draw. So with a backdoor draw at the flop you need 2 "perfect" cards on the turn and river to complete your draw.

Bad Beat
If a good hand gets beaten by a worse hand, which became a good hand at the last streets with a lot of luck and if your opponent would've played correct had to fold earlier.

BB
Short for big blind or big bet. Often you will find something like 4BB/100Hands, for example at Poker Tracker. Most of the time this means Big Bets. A Big Bet in an $2/$4 Fixed Limit game is $4.

Belly Buster
An inside straight draw, synonym of gutshot. For example you hold QJ and the board is K29. So every 10 would make your straight complete.

Big Bet
The amount to wager on turn and river.

Big Blind
The larger of the two blinds typically used in a hold'em game. The big blind is a full first round bet. See also "blind" and "small blind."

Big Slick
A nickname for AK (suited or not). Its origins are unknown (to me, anyway)

Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand. If the flop is AJTrainbow, then a turn card of 2 would be considered a blank. On the other hand on a board like 5A3 a 2 wouldn't be considered as a blank.

Bluff
When a player bets or raises without a good hand. So he keeps the illusion of having a good hand.

Board
All the community cards in a hold'em game -- the flop, turn, and river cards together.

Boat
Another word for Full House.

Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.

Brick and Mortar
This refers to a land-based casino such as the ones on the Vegas strip. The opposit would be an online casino like PartyPoker.

Burn
To place a card down prior to dealing the flop,turn and river. This is made because of security reasons to avoid that somebody could see a marked card, which would be next.

Buy
a) Buy the pot - Win the pot with a bluff
b) Buy the button - Make all other players behind you fold with a raise. So you
are the last to act in the next round. What is normaly the privilege of the button.

Buy-In
An amount of money you pay to enter a tournament. Often expressed as two numbers, such as $100+9, meaning that it costs $109 to enter the tournament; $100 goes into the prize fund and $9 goes to the house.

Call
To put into the pot an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise.

Calling Station
A weak-passive player, who calls too much and only rarely raises. Calling Stations are the most profitable opponents.

Cap
The last possible raise in one round. In general at online poker you are allowed to bet and then raise 3 times.

Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop came J83; I've got pocket jacks, he's got pocket 8's, and then the case eight falls on the river, and he beats my full house."

Cash Game
When you have a direct game about money its called cash game. The opposite is a tournament game where you play for chips and so you are only playing indirect for cash.

Chase
To call in the hopes of hitting a draw. This word often connotes that someone is a calling station and will call even with bad odds.

Check
To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars

Check-Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets

Chop
An agreement between the two players with blinds to simply take their blinds back rather than playing out the hand if nobody calls or raises in front of them.

Clean Out
A card which would give you definitely the winning hand.

Close the betting
You close the betting when you are the last to act and after your move nobody else has the possibility to raise.

Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after that must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.

Collusion
Collusion is a form of cheating. Players will work in a team to try to gain an advantage over the other players. They will somehow signal to each other what their cards are. They will then use this information to gain an unfair advantage. Collusion is illegal. It is sometimes hard for brick and mortar cardrooms to detect colluders, but online poker rooms can track potential colluders because they can review hand histories.

Community Cards
(see Board) The Cards which are revealed in the middle of the table and which can be used from all players.

Complete Hand
A Hand defined through 5 cards

Connector
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76.

Connected
When your hole cards are consecutive, (89, 45, etc. When someone is suited and connected they are holding consecutive cards of the same suit, (QsJs, 2d3d) also known as suited connectors. But connected can also mean the board. A board like 9JK is somehow connected but a board like Q72 is unconnected.

Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9TJ, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless. Another example: You hold 22 and the board shows 9955X. Now your hand is completly worthless.

Covered
To have more chips than your opponent

Cowboys
Reference to holding pocket kings (KK) as a starting hand in Texas Hold'em.

Cripple
As in "to cripple the deck." Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.

Crying Call
A call that you make expecting to lose, but feel that you must make anyway because of the pot odds.

Cut Off
The Position (the player) who acts before the button acts.

Dead Money
(1) Money contributed to a pot by a player no longer in the pot. (2) A player in a tournament who has no realistic chance of winning.

Dealer
same as button.

Deal-making
An agreement of players (mostly made at the Final Table of a tournament) to share the price money.

Deep
also called Deep Money or Deep Stack and it means having a lot of money/chips compared to the blinds and other players.

Discounting Outs
Lets say you have an open ended straight draw with 8 outs but there are already 3 cards of the same suit on the board. So you have to discount your outs because every card which would give you the straight but is of the same suit could give another player a flush.

Dog
Shortage for "Underdog". Means a player whose chances to win are low.

Donkbet
A bet out of nowhere. If you don't expect a bet from your opponent because you showed strength and then suddenly he bets into you this is called a donkbet. Donkbets are another strategic element of poker. You can find an extra article in the intermediates section about Donkbets.

Dominated Hand
A hand which will lose against a stronger hand because it has a better kicker. So AK dominates AT but also KK dominates AK.

Double Belly Buster
Like the Open Ended Straight Draw you have 8 outs to complete your street but the card constellation is different. For example you have JT and the Board is QA8. So every K and every 9 would give you the straight, but you don't have 4 connected cards like an Open Ended Straight Draw.

Double up
To double the size of your chip stack on a single hand. (This is typically done by going All In against another player and winning the hand.)

Down Card
A card which is dealt to the player face down so that no other player can see it.

Downswing
A long term losing streak, although you are a winning player.

Draw
To play a hand that is not yet good, but could become so if the right cards come. Example: "I'm not there yet -- I'm drawing." Also used as a noun. Example: "I have to call because I have a good draw."

Drawing Dead
Trying to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you're drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are "drawing dead." Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.

Early Position
When you have to act as one of the first players you are in early position.

Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win.

Expectation
The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period. Suppose in 100 hours of play, you win $527. Then your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won't make that exact amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it's one measure of your anticipated earnings.

EV
EV = expected value. The amount you expect to gain on average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put $10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning $50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 = $20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a positive expectation of $5.

Extra Blind
A blind put in by a player just entering the game, returning to the game, or otherwise changing his position at the table. See also "blind" and "post."

Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop.

Fast Play
To play a hand aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible. Example: "When you flop a set but there's a flush draw possible, you have to play it fast."

Favorite
The hand with the best chances to win the pot.

Fifth Street
the so called "River"

First In
The first player who puts money into the pot. Blinds don't count as first in because they don't put the money into the pot voluntarily.

Fish
A weak player.

Flush
5 cards of the same suit.

Fold Equity
The extra value you get from a hand when you force an opponent to fold. That is, if you don't have to see a showdown, your hand has more value than if you do.

Fourth Street
the so called "Turn"

Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand (or because of your reputation with your opponents). For instance, if you are on the button and raise when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. If you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well, seeing the river card for "free."

Free Roll
1) Most often, a freeroll refers to a touranment with no entry free. These sorts of tournaments are generally promotions run by poker rooms to attract customers. For example, a $5000 freeroll means that the poker room is putting up $5000 in prize money for a tournament, and there is no entry fee into the tournament.

2) One player has a shot at winning an entire pot when he is currently tied with another player. For instance, suppose you have Ac-Qc and your opponent has Ad-Qh. The flop is Qs-5c-Tc. You are tied with your opponent right now, but are free rolling, because you can win the whole pot and your opponent can't. If no club comes, you split the pot with him; if it does come, you win the whole thing.

Full Table
A table with 9 or 10 players.

Gap Concept
The gap concept is a term coined by David Sklansky. It is a tournament strategy concept relating to the idea that it takes a stronger hand to call a raise preflop than to make the original raise. In essence, there is a "gap" between the hands that can make a raise and hands that can call a raise.

In a tournament, stealing the blinds holds a lot of value. Thus, one can be fairly liberal with raising the pot pre-flop in order to make a steal. However, to call a bet requires a much better hand because you can not win the hand preflop uncontested.

Gap Hand
A starting hand with cards more than one rank apart. For instance, T9 is a one-gap hand. 86 is a two-gap hand.

Gutshot
A straight filled "inside." If you have 98, the flop comes 752, and the turn is the 6, you've made your gutshot straight.

Hand
A hand with the five best cards from one player OR a whole round of acting from preflop til river.

Hand-for-Hand
At the end of a tournament hands are played simultaneous at every remaining table. This is to avoid that a player slowplays every hand just to get "into the money". Most of the time Hand-for-Hand starts at the Bubble.

Hand Protection
To protect a made Hand with aggressive play. You try to bet or raise so the other players have to pay to see the next card. So they won't be able to get a freecard.

Heads-Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players. Example: "It was heads-up by the turn."

Hero
A shortage for the player who is posting his hand into our sample hand forum. Most converters use this term automatical for the player.

Hole Card
A Card you get dealt face down so nobody can see the value of the card. In Texas Hold'em you get dealt 2 hole cards at the beginning.

High Cards
Ever card which is higher then 9.

Hit
"to hit the flop" means that the flop improves your own holding.

Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.

In position
When you are the last to act during a betting round you are in position. Being in position is always an advantage.

Induce a Bluff
When you check to somebody and he will bet although he would have folded against a bet is called induce a bluff. We are showing some weakness which leads the other player to bet with crap although he wanted to fold against a bet.

Inside Straight Draw
The same like a Gutshot Straight Draw.

ITM
Shortage for "In the money". A finishing position in a poker tournament high enough to have a payout.

Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten. In hold'em, the "loser" must typically get aces full or better beaten. In some of the large southern California card clubs, jackpots have gotten over $50,000. Of course, the jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the rake.

Key Card
The Card you need to get a made hand.

Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your opponent has AQ. If the flop has an ace in it, you both have a pair of aces, but you have a king kicker. Kickers can be vitally important in hold'em.

Late Position
The last two seats called Cut-Off and Button.

Ladies
The Hold'em starting hand with two queens (QQ).

Leak
A weakness in your game that causes you to win less money than you would otherwise. Example: "She takes her pocket pairs too far; it's a leak in her game."

Limit Poker
A game with fixed betting amounts each round. (Fixed-Limit = FL)

Limp (in)
To call. Generally the term refers to pre-flop action. For instance: "He limped in early position with 77."

Live
Cards that are not duplicated in an opponent's stronger hand. For example, if you have A9 and your opponent has AJ, then your ace is not "live" because making a pair of aces won't do you any good. The nine, however, is live; making a pair of nines gives you the better hand.

Live One
A fish who will call and raise a lot. A live one is a bad player who is either a calling station or a maniac. They play almost all of their hands and enjoy seeing showdowns.

Loose
Somebody playing too many starting hands.

Made Hand
A hand to which you're drawing, or one good enough that it doesn't need to improve.

Maniac
A player who does a lot of hyper-aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing. A true maniac is not a good player, but is simply doing a lot of gambling. However, a player who occasionally acts like a maniac and confuses his opponents is quite dangerous.

Micro-Limit
Games so small that they couldn't be profitably dealt in a real cardroom. They exist only at online poker sites. You might arbitrarily call games $.25-.50 and smaller "micro-limit."

Middle Pair
A pair in combination with the second highest card of the Board. You have K9 and the Board is Q95 gives you middle pair.

Middle Position
At a Full Ring table the seats Nr 6,7 and 8.

Minimum Buy-In
The minimum amount you can take a seat at a table.

Muck
The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Example: "His hand hit the muck so the dealer ruled it folded even though the guy wanted to get his cards back." Also used as a verb. Example: "He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."

Multiway Pot
3 or more players at the flop

MTT
Multi Table Tournament.

Nuts
The best possible hand according to the board

Odds
The propability to get the best hand with the next card against the propability to not get the best card.

Offsuit
A Hold'em starting hand consisting out of 2 different suits

Open-ended Straight (draw)/OESD
Four consecutive connected cards where you need a card at one of these both ends to complete your straight. Example: You are holding JT and the board is KQ2. So every 9 or A will make your straight.

Out
A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."

Out of position
To be the first to act in a betting round.

Overbet
In a No Limit game, to make a bet that is larger than the size of the pot.

Overcall
To call a bet after one or more others players have already called.

Overcard
A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.

Overpair
A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.

Pair
A pair. With A8 or K5 you have a pair on a board like 358

Passive
someone who doesn't raise and bet much.

Play Money
Every beginner should start at Play Money tables to get used to the software

Pay Off
To call a bet when the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but I had top set so I paid him off."

Play the Board
To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have 22, and the board is 4499A (no flush possible), then you must "play the board": the best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you can do is split the pot with all remaining players.

Pocket
The 2 hole cards you get dealt at the beginning of the round.

Pocket Rockets
The Hold'em Starting Hand AA.

Pocket Pair
A Pair dealt to you right at the beginning. For example if you start with 2 Aces they are called Pocket Aces.

Post
To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a cardroom game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds. Example: a player leaves one seat at a table and takes another in such a way that he moves farther from the blinds. He is required to post an extra blind to receive a hand. See also "extra blind."

Pot-Commited
A state where you are essentially forced to call the rest of your stack because of the size of the pot and your remaining chips.

Post-flop
the phase from flop to river. The opposite is preflop which only includes the betting sequence before the flop is dealt.

Pot-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act. Like no-limit, this is a very different game from limit poker.

Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least 1 out of 12, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.

Pot Equity
look at Equity

Pre-flop
The betting phase before the flop is dealt.

Protection
(a) To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer. b) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted." Example: "He'll always protect his blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."

Put On
To mentally assign a hand to a player for the purposes of playing out your hand. Example: "He raised on the flop, but I put him on a draw, so I re-raised and then bet the turn."

Quads
Four of a kind.

Rag
every Card beneath 9. So cards like 2,3,4,...8.

Ragged
A board which in general won't help a player because it is unconnected and consists mainly out of low cards/ragged cards.

Rainbow
A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.

Rake
An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. This is the cardroom's income.

Raked Hands
When you are sitting at the table you achieve a raked hand for every hand you are dealt into where a rake is contributed.

Rank
The value of a card

Read
To determine the possible holdings of your opponent

Rebuy
An option to buy back into a tournament after you've lost all your chips. Tournaments may offer one or more rebuys or (often) none at all.

Reload Bonus
A reload bonus is a bonus that a poker room gives to its existing players. Like a signup bonus, a reload bonus is typically a percentage of a player's deposit.

Represent
To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.

Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips.

River
Also called "5th Street" The last betting round.

Rock
A tigh-passive player. Someone playing very careful and only playing a few selective hands.

ROI
ROI is short for "return on investment." This is a poker term that is used to measure the profitability of one's play in poker tournaments.
ROI is calculated as (100 * total profit/total buy-in). Thus, if one received a prize of $150 in a tournament with a buy-in of $100+$9, one's ROI is calculated as 100 * $41/$109= 37.61%.
ROI is used for tournaments though because tournaments always have a fixed buy-in in relation to the prize pool. ROI is not useful for ring game play.
Some people keep track of their ROI for ring games based on their buy-in and how much they cash out. This is silly. Hourly rate is the measuring stick for ring game play.
For example, if one wins $10 at $.50-$1 limit over 5 hours, that person's hourly rate is $2/hour. It will not matter if that person buys in for $100 at that game or $1 million, he or she made $2/hour.
However, that person's ROI drastically changes. At a buy-in of $100, that person's ROI is 10%. At a buy-in of a million, that person's ROI is .001%.
You can keep track of your own ROI for free at www.checkyourbets.com.

Rounder
A rounder is synonymous with a grinder. These are players who make their living or a significant amount of their income from playing poker. They tend to play mid or low stakes games and win money bit by bit. Rounding is often considered to be a difficult way to make money because rounders tend to not make much money per hour.

Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. Example: "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "backdoor."

Running Pair
When Turn and River card are the same card.

Round of Betting
Hold'em consists of 4 betting rounds: preflop, Flop, Turn, River)

Satellite
A mini tournament, where you can qualify for a bigger tournament.

Scare Card
A card that may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd-Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.

Second Pair
A pair in combination with the second highest card of the Board. You have K9 and the Board is Q95 gives you second pair.

Semi-Bluff
A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play. Example: you have Ks-Qs, and the flop is Th-5s-Jc. If you bet now, it's a semi-bluff. You probably don't have the best hand, and you'd like to see your opponents fold immediately. Nevertheless, if you do get callers, you could still improve to the best hand.

Set
Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.

Shark
A very strong player.

Short-handed
A table with 2-6 players

Short Stack
A small amount of chips compared to the stack sizes of the other players.

Showdown
The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over and determine who has the best hand -- i.e., after the fourth round of betting is completed. Of course, if a final bet or raise is not called, there is no showdown.

Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Carl calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Al or Beth can win, but not Carl. Carl, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.

Sit and Go
Also called SNG. Most of the time it is a one table tournament. It starts when every seat has a player. For beginners SNG's are very very dangerous because it takes a lot of practice to beat them.

Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.

Small Bet
The amount you can wager on Fixed Limit games preflop and at the Flop.

Small Blind
The smaller of two blind bets typically used in a hold'em game. Normally, the small blind is one-third to two-thirds of a first round bet. See also "big blind" and "blind."

Smooth Call
To call. Smooth call often implies slow playing a strong hand. Example: "I flopped the nut flush but just smooth called when the guy in front of me bet -- I didn't want to scare anybody out."

Split Pot
A pot that is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.

Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is 9-5-5.

Stack
The money you have at the table.

Steal
A raise in late position to steal the blinds without any resistance.

Stop-and-go
A play where you call (rather than re-raising) a raise, but then come out betting on the next card.

Straight
Five connected cards. The Ace can also be used as a "1". So A2345 is possible. But it is not working like a wheel so QKA23 is NOT possible.

Suited
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play J-3 -- it was suited."

Table Image
The image the others have from you at the table.

Table Stakes
A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. All casino poker is played table stakes. The definition sometimes also includes the rule that a player may not remove chips from the table during a game. While this rule might not be referred to as "table stakes," it is enforced almost universally in public poker games

Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc. May originally be from "telegraph" or the obvious use that he "tells" you what he's going to do before he does it.

Thin
As in "drawing thin." To be drawing to a very few outs, perhaps only one or two.

Tight
A player is tight when he only plays quality hands and only keeps playing with them when the are made hands on the flop.

Tilt
To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.

Time
a) A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. Simply, "Time, please!" If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has folded. b) An amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the cardroom. This is another way for the house to make its money (see "rake").

Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair. See "second pair."

Top Set
The highest possible trips. Example: you have Tc-Ts, and the flop comes Td-8c-9h. You have flopped top set.

Top Two
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the two highest cards on the board.

Top and Bottom
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the highest and lowest cards on the board.

TPTK
=Top Pair Top Kicker. Short for top pair top kicker. An example is if you hold AK in the hole and the board is AQ4. You hold top pair with the best possible kicker.

Trap Hand
A hand like KJ, KT or QT, which can become quickly to a dominated hand because of the bad kicker so you cant get rid of it and it will cost you a lot.

Trips
Trips means three of a kind, holding three cards of the same rank.

Turn
The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."

Two Pair
2 pairs. The Hand JT makes a Two Pair on a board like 4JT.

Under the Gun (UTG)
The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are under the gun before the flop.

Unconnected
A board like Q72 is the best example. Not even a gutshot straight draw is possible here.

Underdog
A person or hand not mathematically favored to win a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river (that is, you will make your flush about one in three times). See also "dog."

Upswing
A long term lucky streak.

Value
As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw that, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.

Variance
A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.

Villain
Synonym for your opponent when you talk about hands in our forum.

VPIP
Poker Tracker shortage for "Voluntarily put money in the pot" (flop seen rate minus checked hand in the blinds)

wa/wb
Way ahead or way behind. A Situation where you have a very good hand or your hand is not worth anything but at least you can't tell. The most typical WA/WB situation is when you raise prelflop and you get 3bet by another player and your holding is AT for example and the board shows A25 so you can be ahead against pocket pairs like KK, QQ, JJ or you are way behind against AK, AQ, AJ.

Weak-thight.
The same as tight passive.

Wheel
A straight from ace through five.

The position at the poker table

The position of a player at Texas Hold'em is a measure for the amount of seats that are between the player and the current dealer. To determine the position at the table you should start at the dealer and count counter-clockwise.
The position of a player at the table depends on the position of the dealer button.
In order to determine your own position, you start at the dealer button and count the positions counter-clockwise.

• The dealer himself as well as the player to his right hand side are sitting in the late position.

• The next three players are sitting in the middle position.

• The following three seats are making up the early position.

• The table is rounded up by the two blinds.

In case there are only nine players at the table, the first of the early positions is left out. If there are eight players, the second early position is left out as well.

Side cards / Kicker

Let's regard the following situation:

1st player have: A K
2nd players have: A 6

Community cards: A 2 9 J 4

Both players obviously have a pair of aces, but the winner of this hand is player A. The question why is easy to answer once you have started building the best combination of five out of the seven available cards, their so called poker hands.

1st Player have: A A K J 9
2nd Player have: A A J 9 6

We have already established at the beginning that a hand consists of five cards. This is a fact that is often ignored by many beginners. They see a pair of aces at the flop and forget that their opponent might also have a pair of aces, in which case the side card, the kicker, counts and elects who wins.

The cards which do not determine the rank of a hand are called kickers.

In the above example, the rank of both the hands of player A and B are determined by the two aces. The third, fourth and fifth card are side cards, or kickers, which are important when both players have the same hand as in this case.

If two players have the same hand, meaning the hands have the same rank and value, the value of the side cards/kickers determines the winner and loser. The highest side cards are compared. If they have the same value, the second to the highest side cards are compared.

Conclusions:
One of the most important and also one of the easiest rules at Texas Hold'em is: A hand consists of five cards. Keep this in mind and remember that not only the rank of a hand is important, but also recognize the value of the side cards/kickers. This can help you find out whether your hand is in fact good, or maybe just mediocre.

Many of the mistakes beginners make lie in this area. They do not pay attention to the kickers or the ways a hand can be improved using community cards. If you simply pay attention to them, you are already ahead of most beginners.

The Poker Hands

The rank of a hand is measured by its rarity. The rarer a hand is, meaning the less likely it is to occur, the more it is worth, and the more other hands it can beat. A royal flush, e.g., is very rare. It is hence the strongest hand a player can have.

A hand can beat another hand when it has a higher rank. In case two hands have the same rank, the value of the cards determines who wins. The cards with the highest rank are used to determine the value. Suits do not have any value.

Combinations:

• Royal Flush - Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in one suit.
  

• Straight Flush - Five connected cards in one suit. In case there are two straight flushes, the straight flush with the higher valued cards wins.
  

• Quads - Four cards of a kind. If there are two quads, the quad with the higher valued cards wins. In case both have the same value, the value of the fifth card, the side card, determines the winner.
  

• Full House - Three of a kind and a pair. If there are two full houses, the one with the highest three of a kind wins. In case the three of a kind are equal, the one with the highest pair wins.
  

• Flush - Five cards of the same suit. In case there are two flushes, the one with the higher valued cards wins. The suit does not matter as suits do not have a value.
  

• Straight - Five consecutive cards. If there are two straights, the one with the higher ranked cards wins.
  

• Three of a kind - Three cards of the same rank. If there are two three of a kind, the one with the higher ranked cards wins. If they are both the same, the rank of the two side cards determines the winner.
  

• Two Pair - Two pair. If two two pairs compete, the one with the higher ranked pairs wins.
  

• Pair - Two of a kind. If two pairs compete, the one with the higher ranked pair wins. In case the pair is the same, the rank of the three side cards determines the winner.
  

• High Card - If there was neither a pair nor a hand better than the other, the rank of the highest cards determine the winner.

What is a poker hand?

A poker hand is always a combination of five cards.

In Texas Hold'em every player receives two cards at the beginning of each round. During the course of the round, five additional cards are put on the table face up, the so called community cards.

A player can use the five community cards as well as his/her own two cards, for a total of seven, to build his/her hand. This is a combination of five out of the seven cards which are available to the player.

As long as there are a total of five cards, it does not matter how many of his/her own cards or community cards a player uses to build his/her hand.