Complete Poker Glossary A-Z

The Ultimate Poker Dictionary (A to Z)

Whether you are watching a high-stakes tournament broadcast or playing online Texas Hold'em, poker has its own rich vocabulary.

This comprehensive A-to-Z glossary explains all essential poker terms, slang, betting actions, and strategic concepts in plain language.

🅰️ A

• All-In: Wager all of your remaining chips in the current hand.
• Ante: A mandatory small bet posted by all players at the table before cards are dealt (common in tournaments).
• Auts (Outs): See Outs.

🅱️ B

• Backdoor (Runner-Runner): Needing two consecutive matching cards on both the Turn and River to complete a hand (e.g. holding 3 spades on the flop and needing spades on both turn and river).
• Bad Beat: When a heavily favored mathematical hand loses to an opponent who hits an extremely unlikely card on the river.
• Bankroll: The total amount of dedicated money or chips a player has allocated for playing poker.
• Big Blind (BB): The larger of the two forced bets posted by the player two seats left of the Button.
• Blank (Brick): A community card on the Turn or River that does not coordinate with the board and is unlikely to improve any player's hand.
• Blinds: Mandatory forced bets posted before any cards are dealt (Small Blind and Big Blind).
• Bluff: Betting or raising with a weak hand to force opponents holding better cards to fold.
• Board: The 5 shared community cards dealt face-up in the center of the table (Flop, Turn, River).
• Broadway: A straight made with the five highest cards (10-J-Q-K-A), or any high individual card from 10 through Ace.
• Bubble: In tournament poker, the threshold point just before players reach the guaranteed payout zone (In The Money). The elimination on the bubble receives $0.
• Button (BTN): The most advantageous seat at the table, representing the nominal dealer position. The button acts last on all postflop streets.

🅲️ C

• Call: To match the exact current highest bet made by an opponent.
• Check: To pass the action to the next player without betting any chips (only possible if no prior bet has been made in that round).
• Check-Raise: To check when the action is on you, and then raise after an opponent behind you places a bet.
• Community Cards: The face-up cards dealt in the center of the table shared by all active players.
• Continuation Bet (C-Bet): A bet placed on the flop by the player who made the initial preflop raise, continuing their aggressive initiative.
• Counterfeited: When a new community card duplicates or surpasses your holding, rendering your hand or kicker useless.
• Cutoff (CO): The position seated directly to the right of the Button; the second-best position at the poker table.

🅳️ D

• Dead Money: Chips sitting in the pot contributed by players who have already folded their cards.
• Dealer: The person dealing cards, or the nominal position marked by the dealer button.
• Dominated Hand: A hand that shares a card rank with an opponent's hand but holds an inferior kicker (e.g. A-3 vs A-K).
• Draw (Drawing Hand): An incomplete combination that requires one or more future cards to become a made hand (e.g. Flush Draw, Straight Draw).
• Dry Board: A community board texture with unconnected, rainbow cards (e.g. K♠ 8♦ 2♣) with very few potential draws.

🅴️ E & F

• Expected Value (EV): The mathematical average profit (+EV) or loss (-EV) of a specific poker decision over the long term.
• Fish: An inexperienced, loose, or weak poker player who makes mathematically unprofitable decisions.
• Flop: The first 3 community cards dealt face-up simultaneously in Texas Hold'em.
• Fold: To discard your cards into the muck and forfeit any claim to the current pot.
• Full Ring: A poker table format featuring 9 or 10 players.

🅶️ G & H

• Gutshot (Inside Straight Draw): A straight draw with 4 outs that requires a specific single card inside a four-card sequence (e.g., holding 7-8-10-J and needing a 9).
• Heads-Up (HU): A poker hand or match played between exactly two players.
• Hole Cards: The private down cards dealt to each player (2 in Texas Hold'em).

🅸️ I & K

• Implied Odds: An extension of pot odds that factors in the expected future bets you can win from an opponent if you complete your draw.
• In Position (IP): Acting after your opponent on a betting round, providing maximum strategic advantage.
• In The Money (ITM): The stage in a poker tournament where all remaining players are guaranteed a cash payout.
• Kicker: A side card used to break ties between players holding the same rank combination. Read our full Kicker Guide.

🅻️ L & M

• Limp: Entering the preflop pot by merely calling the minimum Big Blind instead of opening with a raise.
• Monster: An exceptionally powerful poker hand (like a Full House, Four of a Kind, or high Straight).
• Muck: The discard pile where folded and unrevealed losing cards are placed.
• Multiway Pot: A pot contested by three or more active players.

🅽️ N & O

• Nuts: The absolute best possible 5-card poker hand at any given moment on a specific board texture.
• Offsuit (o): Two starting cards of different suits (e.g., A♠ K♦).
• Open-Ended Straight Draw (OESD): A straight draw with 8 outs, open on both ends (e.g. 8-9-10-J, needing either a 7 or a Q).
• Out of Position (OOP): Acting first on a betting round before your opponents.
• Outs: The remaining unseen cards in the deck that will improve your hand to a winner.
• Overcard: A card in your hand with a higher numerical rank than any card on the community board.
• Overpair: A pocket pair higher than the highest card on the board (e.g., holding Q-Q on a 10-7-2 board).

🅿️ P & R

• Pocket Pair: Two starting cards of the same rank dealt as hole cards (e.g. 8♠ 8♥).
• Position: A player's seating location relative to the Button. Read our Positions Guide.
• Pot Odds: The mathematical ratio between the current pot size and the cost of a call.
• Rainbow: A board texture where every community card is of a different suit, preventing any immediate flush possibility.
• Raise: To increase the size of the existing bet in the current round.
• Rake: A small percentage commission fee taken by the poker room/house from cash game pots or tournament entry fees.
• River: The fifth and final community card dealt face-up.

🆂️ S & T

• Set: A Three of a Kind formed with a pocket pair in your hand plus one matching community card on board (e.g. holding 7-7 on a K-7-2 flop).
• Short Stack: A chip stack that is relatively small compared to the table average or blind levels (typically under 15 Big Blinds).
• Showdown: The final stage after all betting rounds are complete where remaining players reveal their cards to determine the winner.
• Side Pot: A separate secondary pot created when one or more players go all-in and active players with larger stacks continue betting.
• Small Blind (SB): The smaller forced bet posted by the seat immediately to the left of the Button.
• Split Pot: A tied showdown where the pot is divided equally among two or more players with identical winning 5-card hands.
• Suited (s): Two starting cards sharing the identical suit (e.g. A♥ K♥).
• Texas Hold'em: The most popular poker variant worldwide where players make the best 5-card hand from 2 hole cards and 5 community cards.
• Three-Bet (3-Bet): The third bet in a sequence (the first re-raise before or after the flop).
• Tilt: A state of emotional frustration or anger resulting in irrational, aggressive, and losing play.
• Top Pair Top Kicker (TPTK): Pairing the highest card on the board with an Ace kicker in hand (e.g. holding A-K on a K-8-3 flop).
• Trips: A Three of a Kind formed with two community cards on the board and one card from your hand (e.g. holding A-K on a K-K-4 board).
• Turn: The fourth community card dealt face-up.