Poker jargon - M
April 10th, 2009
M-ratio
In no-limit or pot limit games the ratio of stack to the blinds and/or antes. For example 8-way in a no limit game hold’em game with blinds of $50/$100 and an ante of $10 a stack of $23,000 has an M-ratio of 100. To further clarify, M = $23,000 / [$100 [...]
Poker jargon - L
March 30th, 2009
laydown
A tough choice to fold a good hand in anticipation of superior opposition.
limit
The minimum or maximum amount of a bet.
limp, limp in
To enter a pot by simply calling instead of raising.
live
1.Still raisable. A live bet is one which a player can raise even if they’ve already bet and [...]
Poker jargon - K
March 19th, 2009
keep (a bettor) honest
To call a final bet while not expecting to win, for the primary purpose of discouraging future bluffs.
kitty
A pool of money built by collecting small amounts from certain pots, often used to buy refreshments, cards, and so on. The home-game equivalent of a rake.
Need an [...]
Poker jargon - J
March 5th, 2009
jack it up
To raise.
jackpot
A game of “jackpot poker” or “jackpots”, which is a variant of five-card draw with an ante from each player, no blinds, and an opening requirement of a pair of jacks or better.
A large pool of money collected by the house and awarded for some rare [...]
Poker jargon - I
February 14th, 2009
idiot end, ignorant end
The bottom end of a straight.
immortal
Unbeatable; often said of a hand that a player knows cannot be beaten under the circumstances of play. Also “lock”, “nuts”.
improve
To achieve a better hand than one currently holds by adding or exchanging cards as provided in the rules of the [...]
Poker jargon - H
February 4th, 2009
half bet rule
In some casinos, the rule that placing chips equal to or greater than half the normal bet amount beyond the amount required to call constitutes a commitment to raise the normal amount. For example, in a game with a $4 fixed limit, a player facing a $4 opening bet [...]
Poker starting hand
January 25th, 2009
In poker, the starting hand is the initial set of cards dealt to each player before any voluntary betting takes place. For example, in Seven-card stud this is two downcards and one upcard; in Texas hold’em it is two downcards; in Five-card draw it is five cards.The one decision made by every [...]
Pocket Aces
January 19th, 2009
Pocket Aces refers to a starting poker hand that contains two Aces. The most common context is a game of Texas Hold’em.Other names for Ace-Ace include American Airlines, bullets, and rockets.
In a conventional game of hold’em, Ace-Ace is the best possible starting hand. It is the best hand before the flop, is [...]
Nut hand
November 30th, 2008
In poker, the nut hand, or just the nuts, is the strongest hand possible in any particular situation. The term applies mostly to community card poker games to mean the individual holding that makes the strongest hand possible with the given board of community cards. By extension, the term is used [...]
Non-standard poker hands
November 27th, 2008
A♦ K♦ Q♦ 10♦ 8♦
Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are created by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house [...]
