Poker glossary

Plain-English definitions of the words you'll hear at the table. Terms in our lessons link here automatically.

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All-in: Betting every chip you have in front of you.
Ante: A small forced bet posted by every player (or by the big blind for the table) before a hand is dealt.

Bankroll: The money set aside only for playing poker.
Big blind: The larger of the two forced bets, posted by the player two seats to the left of the button.
Blocker: A card in your hand that reduces the combinations of certain hands your opponent can hold.
Bluff: A bet or raise made with a weak hand to make a better hand fold.
Board: The community cards dealt face up in the middle of the table.
Bounty: A cash prize for knocking a player out of a tournament. In progressive knockouts (PKOs), part of each bounty is added to the winner's own bounty.
Bubble: The point in a tournament just before the paid places begin.
Button: The disc marking the dealer position; the player on the button acts last after the flop.

Call: Matching the current bet to stay in the hand.
Check: Passing the action to the next player without betting, when no bet has been made on the current street.
Check-raise: Checking, then raising after an opponent bets on the same street.
Continuation bet (c-bet): A bet on the flop by the player who made the last raise before the flop.
Cutoff: The seat directly to the right of the button.

Dangler: A card in an Omaha hand that doesn't connect with the other three, reducing the hand's strength.
Domination: When your hand shares a card with an opponent’s hand that has a better second card.
Double-suited: An Omaha hand containing two cards of one suit and two of another, such as A♠K♠J♦T♦ — giving two possible flush draws.

Equity: Your share of the pot based on how often your hand will win from this point.
Expected value (EV): The average amount a decision wins or loses if it were repeated many times.
Exploitative play: Adjusting your strategy to take advantage of a specific opponent’s mistakes.

Flop: The first three community cards, dealt face up together.
Flush: Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.
Fold: Giving up your hand and any claim to the pot.
Freeroll: A tournament with no entry fee that still pays prizes — or, in a hand, a spot where you can only tie or win because you hold the same hand as your opponent plus a redraw.
Full house: Three of a kind plus a pair, also called a boat.

GTO: Game theory optimal: a balanced strategy that cannot be exploited by an opponent.
Gutshot: A straight draw that needs one specific rank in the middle, giving four outs.

ICM: The Independent Chip Model, which converts tournament chip stacks into prize-money equity.
Implied odds: The extra money you expect to win on later streets if you hit your draw.

Kicker: The highest unpaired card that breaks ties between hands of the same rank.

Muck: To discard a hand without showing it; also the pile of discarded cards.

Omaha: A poker game where each player gets four (or five) hole cards and must use exactly two of them with exactly three board cards.
Open-ended straight draw: Four cards in sequence that can be completed at either end, giving eight outs.
Outs: The unseen cards that will improve your hand to the likely winner.
Overpair: A pocket pair higher than every card on the board.

PLO5: Five-Card Pot-Limit Omaha: Omaha played with five hole cards instead of four. You still use exactly two.
Pocket pair: Two hole cards of the same rank.
Position: The order in which players act; being "in position" means acting after your opponent.
Pot odds: The ratio between the size of the pot and the cost of a call.
Pot-limit: A betting structure where the largest bet or raise allowed is the size of the pot.
Push-fold: A short-stack strategy of either going all-in or folding before the flop, usually below about 10–15 big blinds.

Raise: Increasing the size of the current bet.
Rake: The fee the operator takes from each pot or tournament entry.
Range: All the hands a player could hold in a given situation.
Redraw: A draw to an even better hand after you've already made a strong one, such as a straight with a flush draw.
Reshove: Going all-in over another player's raise, usually with 12–30 big blinds in a tournament.
River: The fifth and final community card.
Rundown: An Omaha starting hand made of connected cards, such as J-T-9-8.

Satellite: A tournament whose prizes are entries (seats) into a bigger event. Every seat is worth the same.
Semi-bluff: A bet with a drawing hand that is probably behind now but can improve to the best hand.
Set: Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching board card.
Showdown: When remaining players reveal their hands after the final betting round to decide the winner.
Side pot: A separate pot created when a player is all-in and others continue betting.
Small blind: The smaller forced bet, posted by the player directly to the left of the button.
Split pot: A pot shared equally between players with identical best hands.
SPR (stack-to-pot ratio): The effective stack divided by the pot on the flop. It shows how many bets are left and how strong a hand needs to be to commit.
Steal: An open raise from late position aimed mainly at winning the blinds.
Straight: Five cards in consecutive rank, in any suits.
Suited connectors: Two consecutive cards of the same suit, such as 8♥ 7♥.

Under the gun (UTG): The first seat to act before the flop, directly to the left of the big blind.

Wrap: An Omaha straight draw that uses three or four hole cards around the board, giving far more outs than an open-ended draw — up to 20.