Thursday, 24 May 2012
Wednesday, 04 June 2008 22:14

Poker Jargon

Some common poker jargons.


Since the beginning of poker games, the terms have evolved and developed into widely-used words, phrases, and jargons that until now are very useful to poker players. They precisely capture a poker situation so that such condition may be concisely and correctly expressed. Here is a list of the poker jargons commonly used today to help a participant converse with co-players and other people in the house.


1. a-b-c  -- (1) a series of cards with the lowest value in an underestimated game (e.g., the hand 9-4-3-2-A can be expressed nine-four-a-b-c); (2) unproductive and expectable game.

2. ace-to-five or ace-to-six --  a manner of assessing the front or low hand

3. act -- placing or doing a call, raise, bet, or fold during the period set by the rules

4. action -- (1) the chance of the participant to place or do a call, raise, fold, or bet; (2) the eagerness of a participant to risk a wager

5. all in --  if the participant's whole poker bankroll (money and chips) is put into the stake pot for the bet

6. ante -- the smallest amount of bet a participant should wager to be able to play in the poker game

7. baby -- a card with the lowest ranking, commonly applied during an underestimated game

8. bad beat -- if a participant's hand possesses a big possibility of winning, but unexpectedly loses the game

9. blinds -- (1) another word for ante; (2) required bets. The participant on the poker dealer's left should provide a small blind, while the next player should give a big blind

10. board cards -- cards that are placed in the center of the poker table, which all participants share

11. call --  when a participant puts an amount at stake that is equivalent to the current bet's value

12. cap -- the time when a participant can no longer make a raise in a certain poker round

13. calling station -- an incompetent participant who always calls and checks, yet infrequently raises

14. deuces --  combination in pair; two per pair

15. draw -- expecting to improve the starting hands in poker by obtaining the right cards from the board cards

16. equity -- the recent deal's expected result using computations; the value of pot times the winning probability

17.  fifth street -- betting's third round

18.  flop -- the initial three cards

19. fold -- when a participant discards and eliminates himself from the ongoing game

20. fourth street -- betting's second round

21. flush -- when the participant's five cards have similar suit

22. garbage -- the hand of no value or possibility of winning

23. hammer -- assertively making a raise or placing a bet

24. implied odds -- similar to poker pot odds only implied odds is related with future betting; thus, a participant can wager or call a bet simultaneously with the initial three cards, however, he has implied odds of placing bigger amount of bet if he hits draw on the later rounds.

25. jam -- raising or opening the highest amount permitted

26. kicker -- card with no pair but with the highest value; a participant holds this card from the pocket cards or hole

27. laydown -- a difficult decision to discard or eliminate oneself from the game due to expected stronger opponent

28. muck -- when a participant reaches the game's last round and loses the showdown, but prefers not to show his cards

29. nuts -- a hand which no one can defeat in a particular level; best set of cards one can possibly get

30. open -- initial betting of a participant

31. preflop -- when a participant has two cards, and the poker table has no cards at the moment

32. river -- the last or fifth card from the board

33. shorthand --  poker game with few participants, usually six players or below

34. turn -- fourth card or the card next to flop


The aforementioned are only few of the words that can guide a player as he participates on the poker table. Although they may have one or more meanings, jargons can easily be understood and used with a player's continuous practice. They may be difficult to remember for a new participant, but as he plays the game and makes use of the terms, he will soon be able to grasp them well.