Poker Jargon

Poker has vocabulary all of its own. We have an extensive list of poker words and expressions at our Poker Terms Page but here are some of the more commonly used phrases and expressions. It is presumed that you already know the basic rules of Texas Hold'em.

Blinds (Small blind and big blind) - Instead of an ante blinds are a compulsory bet paid by the two players to the left of the dealer. The first pays a small blind and the second a big blind equal to twice the small blind.

Board Cards - These are to community cards lying face up on the table which can be used by any player to make up their hand.

Drawing - A Drawing Hand is one that on its own is worthless on its own but would be a winner if the right cards came on the Turn or River. e.g. extra cards for a Flush or Straight.

Flop - This is the dealing of the first three community cards.

Pot Odds - This is a way of calculating whether it is worthwhile betting on a Drawing Hand. It involves comparing the probability of Drawing your hand to the return on your bet if you won the pot. Imagine you have just had the Flop and Turn. You have a potential flush Draw with two Hearts on the Board and two in your hand. There will be nine other Hearts that could make your hand somewhere in the pack. There are four community cards and two in your hand leaving 46 unknown cards 9 of which are Hearts or roughly 1 in 5 is a Heart. Imagine there is $100 in the pot and you would need to bet $10 to see the River card $10 to $100 is a greater return  than your 1 in 5 probability of getting a winning hand so it is worth taking the risk because you would increase your money ten fold and had a one in five chance of winning. On the other hand if the previous player had just bet $300 and you would also have to bet $300 to see the River card you would woul be betting $300 to $700 which is a poorer return than your probability of Drawing your winning hand.

Implied odds - These are very similar to Pot Odds except that you compare your probability of Drawing your hand to the some of the pot plus plus whatever else you think will be added to the pot before the end of the hand.

Limit Poker - This is when all the bets and raises are at a predetermined fixed amount. In a $2/$4 game all the bets and raises are in $2 steps pre and post flop but at $4 after the Turn and River cards have been dealt.

Longhand - Is a game with seven or more players.

Outs - An Out is a card that will improve your hand that has not been revealed to you in either the Board cards or your own Hole cards, for example if you need an 8 or a 3 to make a straight there will be four of each somewhere in the deck making eight outs. Outs are used to calculate pot odds.

Position -  This defines your turn to bet. The player to the left of the dealer is in the earliest position and bets the small Blind, this is the worst position as you do not know what the other players will do. The Dealer is the last to bet and is said to be in the latest position. The dealer has the benefit of knowing how everyone else has betted and is thus able to judge how strong/weak their hand is in comparison to the other players.

Pre-flop - This is the round of betting before the first of the community cards are dealt the so called Flop.

Turn - The fourth card dealt to the Board.

River - The fifth card dealt to the Board in Texas Holdem.

Shorthand - A Poker game with six players or fewer.