Poker Glossary

If you don't know your buy-ins from your bubble plays, you might need our expert glossary.

With our list of top terms you won't be at a loss next time you're playing a SNG or cash game online.

As the chatbox warriors might say, wp...gg....

ABC - A solid, tight game plan with minimal risks
Action - Your turn to act in a hand
Add-On - Additional chips in a re-buy tournament
All-in – Betting every chip you have on the table
Ante - Compulsory bet before a hand; usually found in Stud games and in the latter stages of tournaments
Bad Beat – Loss against the odds
Bankroll - Total cash available to play with
Big blind - Compulsory bet made when seated two seats to left of dealer
Blind - Compulsory bet
Bluff - Betting when holding a poor hand against a superior hand
Board - Community cards in Texas Hold'em/Omaha used by all players
Bounty - Extra cash prize awarded for eliminating a player
Bring-In - First player to bet in a Stud / Razz game
Bubble – Being knocked out one place before the money places
Burn - Discarded card before flop, turn or river is dealt
Bust - Going broke / knocked out of a tournament
Button - Seat 1, or the Dealer
Buy-in - Entry price for a tournament or cash game
Call - Equal another player's bet
Calling Station - A fishy player who calls the majority of hands, regardless of the strength of their hand
Cashier - Area of online site where you can make deposits and withdrawals
Chatbox - Area where you can talk to other players and follow the action
Check - Not making a bet
Chinese Poker - Version of poker involving 13 cards formed into three separate poker hands
Continuation Bet / C-Bet - An opening post-flop bet made after a pre-flop raise, regardless of how good your hand is
Crack - Beating a better hand (e.g. 'I cracked aces')
Croupier - Dealer
Cut-Off - Player sat to the right of the dealer (seat 1)
Dealer - Player on the Button
Deuce - The 2 card
Draw - A game where cards are discarded and redrawn (e.g. 5-card draw); needing a good turn or river card to complete a hand
Drawing Dead - Unable to win a hand, regardless of any cards left to come
Early Position / EP - One of the first players to act after the flop (small blind, big blind)
Expected Value / EV - Amount a player expects to win or lose in a hand or session.
Fish – Poor player who doesn't understand how to play and bets recklessly
Fifth street - The river card, last card dealt on the board
Flop - First three cards dealt on the board
Flush - Five cards of the same suit
Fold - Discard your hand
Fourth street - Turn card
Full house - Three of a kind and a pair
Freeroll - Tournament with no buy-in
Freezeout - Tournament with no rebuys
gg - Online chatbox term meaning 'good game'; said to players after they've been knocked out
Grinder - Solid online player making a steady living
Gutshot - A straight where the middle card is yet to be dealt to complete it (e.g. 2-3-5-6, with a 4 to come)
Heads-up - Contest between two players; two players left in a hand
Hold'em - Texas Hold'em; community card game with two hole cards per player
Hole cards - Hidden cards
HUD - Heads-Up Display; software that lets cash players assess opponents
Implied Odds - Pot odds yet to exist. Odds are calculated dependant on an opponent who might yet commit all their chips later in a hand. You may find you have 'implied odds' to call based on future events Kicker - Card used to decide the winner between two similar hands.
LAG - Loose-Aggressive player; a wild player who bets a lot of hands
Late Position / LP - One of the last positions to make a bet (seat 9 or 10, or the Button)
Limp - Simply call the previous bet
Loose – Betting or calling the majority of hands
MTT - A multi-table tournament
Muck - Fold at showdown without showing your opponent or table your hand
No Limit – Poker variants where there's no limit imposed on betting
NLHE - No Limit Hold'em
Nuts - Best hand
Off-suit - Two hole cards with different suits
Omaha – Four-card variant of Texas Hold'em. Players MUST use two of their hole cards
One-Outer - One card in the deck needed to win a hand
Open - Start betting
Open-Ended Straight Draw - Four-card hand that needs the adjoining low or high card to complete it (e.g. 3-4-5-6 would need a 2 or 7 to complete the straight)
Open-Face Chinese Poker / OFCP - Variation of Chinese Poker where players take turns to complete three poker hands
Out of Turn - Make a bet before it's your turn
Overpair - A pocket pair that's higher than any of the community cards
Play the Board - Using all five community cards for your hand
Pocket pair - A pair in your hole cards
Pot - Cash in a hand
Pot Limit – Popular form of Texas Hold'em and Omaha, normally played in cash games. The maximum raise is the amount of cash to complete the raise PLUS the amount in the pot
PLO - Pot Limit Omaha
Pot Odds - The pot amount compared to the size of the bet needed in order to call
Position - Player's seat
Post - Place a blind
Post-flop - Action after the flop has been dealt
Pre-flop - Action before flop cards have been dealt
Prizepool - Total tournament prize money
Push - Move all-in
Quads - 4-of-a-kind
Rags - Poor hole cards
Rainbow – A flop with three cards of different suits
Raise – Betting at least double the previous bet
Rake - Fee taken by cardroom/poker site in a cash game or tournament
Re-Buy - Tournament that allows players to buy back in if they lose all their chips
Re-Entry - Tournament where players can buy back in at a later stage or different day
Ring game – Cash game
River - Fifth community card
Royal Flush - Hand with five consecutive cards of the same suit, e.g. 10s-Js-Qs-Ks-As
Runner-Runner - Hitting two cards on turn and river to complete a winning hand
Satellite - Qualifier online or live into a bigger event with a much higher buy-in
Set - Three of a kind where both hole cards are used
Short Stack - Player with least chips in a tourney
Showdown - Revealing cards at end of a hand
Side pot – Extra pot contested by remaining players once someone has moved all-in
Sit ‘n’ Go / SNG – Single-table or Multi-table tournament which begins as soon as all seats have been filled
Sit Down - Take your seat
Small blind - Compulsory bet by the player to the left of the dealer /button before a hand starts
Split pot - Tied hand
Straight - Hand containing five consecutive cards (e.g. 3-4-5-6-7 of different suits)
Straight Flush - Hand with five consecutive cards of same suit (but not 10-J-Q-K-A)
STT - Single-table tournament; a Sit 'n' Go played on one table
Trash Talk - Abusing a player to make them go on tilt
Tell - Physical or verbal clue made by an opponent which gives away the strength of their hand
Texas Hold’em – Poker variation played with two hole cards
Tilt - Distress caused by going broke or receiving a bad beat or being a victim of trash talk
Top pair - A hand containing one hole card and the highest community card
Trips - Three of a kind that includes one of your hole cards
Turn - Fourth community card dealt, before river
UL - Chatbox term meaning 'unlucky'. Used to console players after a bad beat or to taunt an opponent
Under the Gun / UTG - Player to act after the big blind
WP - Chatbox term meaning 'well played'. Can be used to congratulate a player who's beat you or as a sarcastic comment against a fish