Poker jargon – W

March 11th, 2010

wash
To mix the deck by spreading the cards face down on the table and mixing them up. A dealer may wash the deck before shuffling.

weak ace
An ace with a low kicker (e.g. four). Also “small ace,” “soft ace,” “ace-rag.”

whipsaw
When a player is caught in the middle between two [...]

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Poker jargon – V

February 16th, 2010

vig, vigorish
The rake.

vnh

Abbreviation for “very nice hand”, used in online poker chat.

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Poker jargon – U

January 9th, 2010

under the gun
The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold ‘em or Omaha . The player who is under the gun must act first on the first round of betting.

underfull
In a community card game, a full house that is one of the lowest full [...]

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Poker jargon – T

December 25th, 2009

third man walking
A player who gets up from his seat in a cash game, after two other players are already away from the table, is referred to as the “third man walking”. In a casino with a “third man walking rule”, this player may be required to return to his seat [...]

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Poker jargon – S

November 14th, 2009

satellite
A tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to another (larger) tournament.

scare card
A card that comes that may have improved an opponent’s hand. The Jack of spades on the turn was a scare card because it put both flush and straight possibilities on the board.

scoop
In [...]

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Poker jargon – R

October 5th, 2009

rabbit hunt
After a hand is over, a rabbit hunt means to reveal the last card that would have come up in a community card game with a fixed number of cards. Such activity is usually prohibited in casinos.

rack
1. A collection of 100 chips of the same denomination, usually arranged [...]

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Poker jargon – Q

August 29th, 2009

quarter
To win a quarter of a pot, usually by tying the low or high hand of a high-low split game. Generally, this is an unwanted outcome, as it seldom wins enough money to cover the amount bet during the hand.

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Poker jargon – P

August 10th, 2009

paint
The face cards, Jacks, Queens, and Kings, in a deck. In Texas hold’em, a flop can be said to be “all paint” if it consists of only these cards.

passive
A style of play characterized by checking and calling.

pat
Already complete. A hand is a pat hand when, say, a straight comes on [...]

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Poker jargon – O

June 25th, 2009

offsuit
Cards that are not of the same suit. The ace of clubs and the king of spades are called ace-king offsuit

open
To bet first.

open ended, open ended straight draw
An outside straight draw. Also “two-way straight draw”.

openers
The cards held by a player in a game of “jackpots” entitling him to [...]

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Roll your own

May 4th, 2009

Roll your own is poker jargon used for a particular ruleset in certain poker variants, particularly in stud poker.In traditional stud poker games, cards are simply dealt to each player, either face up or face down according to the rules of the game being played, followed by betting. In roll your own [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Poker jargon – F

July 15th, 2008

family pot
A deal in which every (or almost every) seated player called the first opening bet.
fast
Aggressive play. I was afraid of too many chasers, so I played my trips fast.
feeder
In a casino setting, a second or third table playing the same game as a “main” table, and [...]

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Poker jargon – D

July 6th, 2008

dark
Describing an action taken before receiving information to which the player would normally be entitled. I’m drawing three, and I check in the dark. Compare to “blind”.
dead blind
A blind that is not “live”, in that the player posting it does not have the option to raise if other players [...]

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Poker jargon – C

July 4th, 2008

calling station
A weak player who frequently checks and calls, but rarely raises.

cap
A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round. Typically three or four (in addition the opening bet). In most casinos, the cap is removed if there are only two players remaining either (1) at the [...]

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Poker jargon – B

June 29th, 2008

baby
A low-ranked card, usually used in lowball games. Also “spoke” when between ace and five.
backdoor

A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of seven-card stud or Texas hold ‘em to fill a straight or flush.
A hand made other than [...]

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Poker jargon – A

June 28th, 2008

A-B-C, A-B-C-D

A sequence of the lowest cards in a lowball game. For example, the hand 8-6-3-2-A might be called an eight-six-a-b-c.
Uncreative or predictable play. He’s an a-b-c player.

ace-to-five, ace-to-six
Methods of evaluating low hands.

act
To make a play (bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time. It is Ted’s turn [...]

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