Poker Terms

All in
Usually if a player is willing to call but doesn't have enough credit to match the opponent's bet, he's allowed to go "All in" by increasing his bet by the remaining amount of his credit.
In no-limit poker, a player can also go "All in" instead of bet or raise.

Ante
Initial mandatory bet in which all players put an equal amount of money into the pot before the dealing begins. Typically used in poker variants where pre-flop isn't dealt.

Bet
First amount of money of first chips wagered to the pot during the betting round.

Blind
Initial mandatory bet in variants of poker involving a pre-flop. There are two types of blinds: a Small Blind and a Big Blind, where Big Blind is always greater, usually 2x Small Blind. A Small Blind is normally placed just before a pre-flop, and a Big Blind just after the pre-flop.

Bring in
A mandatory bet in Stud poker variants. For example, in the first round of 7 Card Stud poker, a player with the worst upcard must make a bring in bet. Usually the player can either place a minimum bring in amount, which is normally a fraction of a small bet, or the whole small bet.

Button
Also called a Dealer Button - a token used to denote the dealer.

Call
Match the bet of another player. A player normally "calls" in response to a Big Blind, a Bet or a Raise.

Check
Refuse to bet when betting or raising is optional.

Community cards
Cards which are dealt face up in the middle of the table and which are available to all players. They are shared so that each player can use any of these cards for his hand.
For example, if in Texas Holdem player 1 has hole cards Q-5, and player 2 has hole cards K-6, and community cards are Q-Q-Q-K-J, then the best hand of player 1 is Four of a Kind Q-Q-Q-Q, and the best hand of player 2 is Full House Q-Q-Q-K-K.
An alternative name for community cards is Board cadrs.

Dealer
A player denoted by a button, often physically dealing the cards. In poker rules, the first player to act is often defined relative to a dealer.

Equity
A player's share of the pot according to his chance of winning the hand. For example, if there are $500 in the pot and your chance of winning is 25%, then your equity is $125.

Flush
A poker hand consisting of any five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Fold
Abandon a currently played hand loosing all the money already bet. This action is normally taken in response to the opponent's Bet or Raise. This is a wise choice for a player who realizes that his hand is so weak that he's likely to loose, therefore, by refusing to accept the opponent's bet he avoids even bigger loss.

Four of a kind
A poker hand including any four cards of the same rank. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Full house
A hand in poker consisting of any three cards of the same rank combined with any two cards of the same rank. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Hand

A stand alone part of a poker game usually comprised of a number of betting rounds.
A set of five cards available to a player which are compared against the sets of other players to determine the winner.

Heads up
A poker hand played by two players. This can be either because there were just two players in a hand from the start, or because all the players but the last two have folded.

High card
The worst hand in poker. See Poker Hand Ranking for more information.

Hole cards
Also called pocket cards, these are the cards which are dealt face-down to the player. For example, in Texas Holdem each player receives 2 hole cards and in Omaha poker each player receives 4 hole cards.

Idle card
A hole or community card which isn't a part of a best available hand at a showndow. For example, if your hole cards are A-J, and the communicty cards are A-A-K-K-6, then your best hand is Full house A-A-A-K-K, while J and 6 are idle.

Kicker
A hand in poker is made of 5 cards, however, only some of them are used to determine the rank of a hand. The rest of the cards, called kickers or side cards, may be used to brake a tie between the hands of the same rank.
For exanple, in case of a Three of a Kind A-A-A-J-8, J and 8 are kickers.

Limit
Variant of betting rules setting the size of bets or raises to a fixed amount, ususally a multiple of the size of a big blind.

Muck
All the discarded cards in a hand.

No-limit
Variant of betting rules setting a lower limit, but not an upper limit on the size of bets and raises.

One pair
A poker hand including any two cards of the same rank. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Pot
Aggregated bets from all betting rounds in the hand. Awarded to a winner of the hand or split between multiple winners.

Pot-limit
Variant of betting rules limiting the size of bets and raises by the size of the pot.

Quads
Same as Four of a kind.

Quint
Same as Straight flush.

Quint major
Same as Royal flush.

Raise
Inrease the bet in reponse to the opponent's Call, Bet or Raise. The resulting bet will be always higher than the opponent's bet.

Royal flush
The best hand in poker: a sequence of five cards of the same suit from ace to ten. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Showdown
A stage of the game following the last betting round. At showdown, each player remaining in the hand turns his hole cards face up in order to determine the winner, i.e. the owner of the best hand.

Straight
A poker hand consisting of any five consecutive cards which are not of the same suit. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Straight flush
A poker hand consisting of any sequence of five cards of the same suit. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Three of a kind
A poker hand including any three cards of the same rank. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Two pair
A poker hand including a pair of cards of the same rank combined with another pair of cards of the same rank. See Poker Hand Ranking for an example.

Glossary of Poker Terms