Poker terms, explained
Every poker word you’re likely to hear, explained in plain English — 198 terms, from ante to wheel, with examples. Search the list, filter by category, or tap a part of the hand on the table to jump to it.
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The words in one hand
With A♥ J♥ you had a flush draw on the flop; the river’s Q♥ makes an ace-high flush — here, the nuts. Time to value bet.
Poker glossary, A to Z
The terms are grouped into 8 categories: cards & table (28), actions (29), hands (37), positions (12), betting & strategy (29), tournament (22), player stats (7) and slang (34). Definitions describe Texas Hold’em unless noted.
198 terms
#
- 3-bet Actions
- The first re-raise. Before the flop the big blind counts as the first bet and the opening raise as the second, so a re-raise is the third bet.UTG opens to 300 and you 3-bet to 900.
- 4-bet Actions
- A re-raise of a 3-bet.
A
- Add-on Tournament
- A one-time purchase of extra chips, usually offered when a tournament’s rebuy period ends.
- Aggression factor Player stats
- Bets plus raises, divided by calls, after the flop. Above 1 means you bet and raise more often than you call. Abbreviated AF.
- Air Hands
- A hand with nothing — no pair and no draw.
- All-in Actions
- Bet every chip you have left. If others keep betting, the extra chips go into a side pot you can’t win.
- Angle shoot Slang
- Using tricks that bend the rules or etiquette to gain an edge.
- Ante Betting & strategy
- A small forced bet from every player before a hand, used in many tournaments on top of the blinds.
B
- Backdoor draw Hands
- A draw that needs both the turn and the river to complete.
- Bad beat Slang
- Losing with a hand that was a big favorite when the money went in, because of the last cards.
- bb/100 Player stats
- Win rate in big blinds per 100 hands — how fast a player wins or loses chips, whatever the blind level.
- Bet Actions
- Put the first chips into a betting round. In No-Limit the minimum bet is the big blind.
- Big blind Positions
- The seat two to the left of the button, which posts a full forced bet before the deal and acts last before the flop.
- Big blinds Betting & strategy
- The usual unit for measuring stacks and bets, written bb.A stack of 10,000 with a 100 big blind is 100 big blinds deep.
- Big slick Slang
- Ace-king as a starting hand.
- Big stack Tournament
- A stack large compared with the others at the table, which lets its owner put pressure on shorter stacks.
- Blind level Tournament
- A period of a tournament at fixed blinds. When it ends, the blinds go up.
- Blind structure Tournament
- The full schedule of blind levels and how long each lasts. It sets how fast a tournament plays.FizzPoker’s levels last 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the speed the host picks, starting at 50/100.
- Blinds Betting & strategy
- The two forced bets posted before the cards are dealt: the small blind and the big blind. They give every hand a pot to play for.
- Blocker Hands
- A card you hold that makes certain opponent hands less likely or impossible.Holding the A♥ on a three-heart board means nobody else has the ace-high flush.
- Bluff Betting & strategy
- A bet or raise with a weak hand, made to get better hands to fold.
- Bluff catcher Hands
- A hand that beats only bluffs: good enough to call with, not to bet for value.
- Board Cards & table
- The community cards face up in the middle of the table, which every player can use.The board reads K♠ 8♥ 4♥ 2♣ Q♥.
- Bounty Tournament
- A prize for knocking a specific player out. Tournaments where everyone carries one are called knockouts.
- Broadway Hands
- The ace-high straight, A-K-Q-J-10. “Broadway cards” are the tens through aces.
- Bubble Tournament
- The point in a tournament with prizes where the next player knocked out is the last to win nothing.
- Burn card Cards & table
- A card the dealer discards face down before dealing the flop, turn and river, so nobody can glimpse the next card by accident.
C
- Call Actions
- Match the current bet to stay in the hand.
- Calling station Slang
- A player who calls far too often and rarely folds or raises. Don’t bluff them — bet your good hands.
- Check Actions
- Pass the action without betting. Only possible when nobody has bet in the current round.
- Check behind Actions
- Check when you’re the last to act, so the betting round ends without a bet.
- Check-raise Actions
- Check, then raise when an opponent bets in the same round — usually to build the pot with a strong hand or as a bluff.
- Chip leader Tournament
- The player with the most chips.
- Chips Cards & table
- The tokens used to bet. On FizzPoker they are play chips with no cash value.
- Coin flip Hands
- An all-in where both hands have close to a 50-50 chance, classically a pair against two higher cards.7-7 against A-K before the flop.
- Cold call Actions
- Call a raise when you haven’t put any chips in yet this round.
- Community cards Cards & table
- The five shared cards dealt face up: three on the flop, one on the turn and one on the river.
- Connectors Hands
- Two hole cards of consecutive ranks, such as 8-7. Suited connectors are the same, in one suit.
- Continuation bet Actions
- A bet on the flop by the player who made the last raise before the flop. Often shortened to c-bet.
- Cooler Slang
- A hand where two very strong hands meet and the loser couldn’t reasonably have avoided losing a lot.Kings against aces before the flop.
- Cowboys Slang
- A pair of kings as a starting hand.
- Cutoff Positions
- The seat directly to the right of the button, the second-best seat. Abbreviated CO.
D
- Dead man’s hand Slang
- Two pair, aces and eights — the hand Wild Bill Hickok is said to have held when he was shot in 1876.
- Dead money Betting & strategy
- Chips in the pot from players who have already folded.
- Dealer Cards & table
- The person or program that shuffles and deals. In home games without a dedicated dealer, the job rotates with the button.
- Deck Cards & table
- Hold’em uses one standard 52-card deck: four suits of thirteen ranks, no jokers.
- Dominated hand Hands
- A hand that shares a card with a stronger hand and has a weaker second card, so it rarely wins when they collide.A-Q is dominated by A-K.
- Donk bet Actions
- A bet into the player who had the betting lead on the previous street, made by someone acting before them. The name is a joke; it can be a sound play.
- Donkey Slang
- A player who makes poor plays. Often shortened to donk.
- Draw Hands
- A hand that isn’t made yet and needs more cards, such as four cards to a flush.
- Ducks Slang
- A pair of twos, from the shape of the 2.
E
- Early position Positions
- The first seats to act before the flop — under the gun and the seats just after it. Play tight here.
- Effective stack Betting & strategy
- The smaller of two players’ stacks — the most either can win or lose against the other in the hand.
- Equity Betting & strategy
- Your share of the pot on average if all the cards were dealt out now — your chance to win, counting ties as partial wins.
- Expected value Betting & strategy
- The average result of a decision if you made it many times. A +EV play wins chips in the long run. Abbreviated EV.
- Exploitative play Betting & strategy
- Deliberately moving away from balanced play to take advantage of a specific opponent’s mistakes.
F
- Fast play Actions
- Bet and raise a strong hand right away to build the pot.
- Felted Slang
- Lost all your chips — down to the felt.
- Final table Tournament
- The last table of a multi-table tournament, once everyone left fits at one table.
- Fish Slang
- A weak, inexperienced player.
- Fixed-Limit Betting & strategy
- A betting format where bets and raises come in fixed amounts, usually with a cap on raises per round. Often just called Limit.
- Float Actions
- Call a bet with a weak hand, usually in position, planning to take the pot away with a bet on a later street.
- Flop Cards & table
- The first three community cards, dealt together after the first betting round — and the betting round that follows them.“I flopped a set” means the flop gave you three of a kind.
- Flush Hands
- Any five cards of the same suit. Flushes are compared by their highest card, then the next.
- Flush draw Hands
- Four cards of one suit, needing one more. It has 9 outs.
- Fold Actions
- Give up your hand and any chips you’ve already put in the pot.
- Fold equity Betting & strategy
- The extra value a bet or raise gains from the chance that your opponent folds.
- Four of a kind Hands
- Four cards of the same rank. Also called quads.
- Freezeout Tournament
- A tournament with no rebuys: when you lose your chips, you’re out. It’s the format FizzPoker plays.
- Full house Hands
- Three of a kind plus a pair. Also called a boat. Named by the three of a kind first.J-J-J-4-4 is “jacks full of fours”.
- Full ring Cards & table
- A full table, usually nine or ten players.
G
- Gapper Hands
- Two hole cards with one or more ranks missing between them.9-7 is a one-gapper.
- Grinder Slang
- A player who puts in long hours, winning steadily with solid, low-risk play.
- GTO Betting & strategy
- Game theory optimal: a balanced strategy that opponents can’t profit from by adjusting to it. Players study computer approximations of it.
- Gutshot Hands
- An inside straight draw that needs one specific rank to fill a gap — 4 outs.9-8 on a J-7-2 flop needs a 10.
H
- Heads-up Cards & table
- A pot or a game with only two players. Heads-up, the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop.
- High card Hands
- A hand with no pair or better, named by its highest card.
- Hijack Positions
- The seat two to the right of the button. Abbreviated HJ.
- Hole cards Cards & table
- Your two private cards, dealt face down. Also called your hand or pocket cards.
- Hollywood Slang
- Putting on an act — sighing, hesitating, staring — to mislead opponents.
- Hooks Slang
- A pair of jacks as a starting hand. Also called fishhooks.
- HUD Player stats
- Heads-up display: a panel of statistics about how a player plays, such as VPIP and PFR. FizzPoker never shows stats at the table; signed-in players see their own numbers after their games on the account Stats tab.
I
- ICM Tournament
- Independent Chip Model: a way to convert tournament chip stacks into shares of the prize pool, used to judge risky decisions near the prizes.
- Implied odds Betting & strategy
- Pot odds plus the chips you expect to win on later streets if your draw hits.
- In position Positions
- Acting after your opponent on the current street — an advantage, because you see their move first.
- Isolate Actions
- Raise after a player limps in, aiming to play the pot heads-up against them.
K
- Kicker Hands
- The highest card outside a pair, trips or quads, used to break ties.A-K beats A-Q on an A-9-5-3-2 board: both have a pair of aces, and the king kicker is higher.
L
- Ladies Slang
- A pair of queens as a starting hand.
- LAG Slang
- Loose-aggressive: plays many hands and plays them aggressively.
- Late position Positions
- The cutoff and the button: the seats that act last after the flop.
- League Tournament
- A running series of games among the same group, with standings that carry over from game to game.A FizzPoker league gives its members their own tables and all-time standings.
- Limp Actions
- Just call the big blind before the flop instead of raising.
- Lojack Positions
- The seat three to the right of the button, the first of the middle positions. Abbreviated LJ.
M
- M-ratio Tournament
- Your stack divided by the cost of one orbit (small blind + big blind + all antes): how many orbits you could survive without playing a hand.
- Made hand Hands
- A hand that’s already complete — a pair or better — as opposed to a draw.
- Main pot Betting & strategy
- When a player is all-in, the part of the pot every remaining player can win.
- Maniac Slang
- A player who bets and raises wildly with almost any hand.
- Middle position Positions
- The seats between early position and the cutoff, such as the lojack and hijack. Sometimes abbreviated MP.
- Min-raise Actions
- The smallest legal raise: the current bet plus the size of the last bet or raise.
- Monotone Cards & table
- A flop with all three cards of the same suit.
- Monster Hands
- A very strong hand.
- Muck Cards & table
- The pile of folded cards. To muck your hand is to throw it away without showing it.Beaten at the showdown, he mucked instead of showing.
- Multi-table tournament Tournament
- A tournament spread over several tables, which are merged as players bust. Abbreviated MTT.
N
- Nit Slang
- An extremely tight player who only plays premium hands and takes very few risks.
- No-Limit Betting & strategy
- A betting format where you may bet or raise any amount up to your whole stack. It’s the most popular form of Hold’em and the one FizzPoker deals.
- Nuts Hands
- The best possible hand on the current board.On K♥ 8♥ 4♥ 2♣ Q♠, the ace-high heart flush is the nuts.
O
- Offsuit Hands
- Two hole cards of different suits, written with an o.AKo is ace-king of two suits.
- One pair Hands
- Two cards of the same rank.
- Open Actions
- Make the first raise before the flop, after everyone before you has folded.“I opened on the button” means you raised first in from the button.
- Open-ended straight draw Hands
- Four cards in a row that make a straight with a card at either end — 8 outs. Often called an OESD.9-8 on a 7-6-2 flop: any 10 or 5 completes it.
- Orbit Cards & table
- One full trip of the button around the table, in which every player posts each blind once.
- Out of position Positions
- Acting before your opponent, so you have to decide without knowing what they’ll do.
- Outs Hands
- The unseen cards that would improve your hand to a likely winner.A flush draw has 9 outs: the remaining cards of your suit.
- Overbet Betting & strategy
- A bet larger than the pot.
- Overcall Actions
- Call a bet after another player has already called it.
- Overcards Hands
- Hole cards higher than every card on the board.
- Overpair Hands
- A pocket pair higher than every card on the board.Q-Q on a J-8-3 flop.
P
- Paired board Cards & table
- A board with two cards of the same rank, which makes full houses and four of a kind possible.
- PFR Player stats
- Preflop raise: the share of hands in which you raised before the flop. The gap between VPIP and PFR shows how often you just call.
- Pocket pair Hands
- Two hole cards of the same rank.
- Pocket rockets Slang
- A pair of aces as a starting hand.
- Polarized Betting & strategy
- A range made of very strong hands and bluffs, with few medium hands in between.
- Post Actions
- Put in a forced bet, such as a blind or an ante.
- Postflop Cards & table
- The betting rounds on the flop, turn and river.
- Pot Cards & table
- All the chips bet in the current hand. It goes to the best hand at the showdown, or to the last player left if everyone else folds.
- Pot control Betting & strategy
- Keeping the pot small with a medium-strength hand, often by checking instead of betting.
- Pot odds Betting & strategy
- The price of a call: the call divided by the pot after you call. You need at least that much equity to break even.Facing a 50 bet into a 100 pot, you call 50 to win a 200 pot: 50 ÷ 200 = 25%.
- Pot-Limit Betting & strategy
- A betting format where the largest bet or raise allowed is the size of the pot.
- Pot-sized bet Betting & strategy
- A bet equal to the chips already in the pot. Calling it needs 33.3% equity.
- Preflop Cards & table
- Everything before the flop: the blinds, the deal and the first betting round.
- Push/fold Tournament
- A short-stack strategy: either go all-in or fold, with no smaller raises or calls.
R
- Rainbow Cards & table
- A flop with three different suits, so no flush draw is possible yet.K♠ 8♥ 3♦ is a rainbow flop.
- Raise Actions
- Increase the current bet. In No-Limit a raise must be at least as big as the previous bet or raise in the same round.Facing an opening bet of 200 on the flop, the smallest raise is to 400.
- Rake Betting & strategy
- The fee a casino or card room takes from each pot. Games among friends usually have none.
- Range Betting & strategy
- All the hands a player could have in a given spot, based on how they’ve played.“His range here is big pairs and ace-king.”
- Re-entry Tournament
- Registering again after being knocked out, with a fresh starting stack.
- Re-raise Actions
- Raise after someone else has already raised in the same round.
- Rebuy Tournament
- Buying another starting stack after losing your chips, allowed during a set period in some tournaments.
- River Cards & table
- The fifth and final community card, also called fifth street. The last betting round follows it.
- Rivered Slang
- Beaten by the last card.“I got rivered” — the river card gave my opponent the winning hand.
- Rock Slang
- A very tight, predictable player — when a rock bets big, they almost always have it.
- Royal flush Hands
- A, K, Q, J and 10 of the same suit — the best hand in poker.
- Run good Slang
- To get lucky over a stretch of hands. Running bad is the opposite.
- Run it twice Slang
- An agreement, mostly in cash games, to deal the remaining board cards twice when players are all-in and split the pot by the two results.
S
- Satellite Tournament
- A tournament whose prizes are seats in a bigger tournament.
- Scare card Cards & table
- A turn or river card that makes a strong hand much more likely, such as a third heart or a card that completes a straight.
- Semi-bluff Betting & strategy
- A bluff with a draw: it can win right away if your opponent folds, or later if the draw hits.
- Set Hands
- Three of a kind made with a pocket pair plus one matching board card. Sets are well hidden.You hold 7-7 and the flop is K-7-2.
- Shark Slang
- A strong, experienced player.
- Short stack Tournament
- A stack small compared with the blinds or the other players — often 20 big blinds or less.
- Short-handed Cards & table
- A table with six or fewer players. You play more hands, and the blinds come around faster.
- Shove Actions
- Go all-in, usually as a big raise. Also called jamming or pushing.
- Showdown Cards & table
- The end of a hand, when the players still in show their cards and the best five-card hand wins the pot.
- Showdown value Betting & strategy
- A hand strong enough to have a fair chance of winning at the showdown without betting.
- Side pot Betting & strategy
- A separate pot for chips bet after a player is all-in. Only the players who put chips into it can win it.
- Sit and go Tournament
- A tournament that starts as soon as its seats are filled, rather than at a scheduled time. Abbreviated SNG.
- Slow play Actions
- Play a strong hand passively — checking or calling — to hide its strength and let opponents keep betting.
- Slow roll Slang
- Deliberately taking a long time to show a winning hand at the showdown. Considered very rude.
- Small blind Positions
- The seat to the left of the button, which posts half a forced bet before the deal and acts first after the flop.
- Snap call Actions
- Call instantly — usually with a very strong hand.
- Snowmen Slang
- A pair of eights, from the shape of the 8.
- Splash the pot Slang
- Throwing chips messily into the pot, so nobody can count the bet. A live-game faux pas.
- Split pot Betting & strategy
- A pot shared equally between players with exactly equal hands. Also called a chop.
- Squeeze Actions
- A 3-bet after one player has raised and one or more others have called.
- Stack Cards & table
- The chips a player has in front of them.Everyone starts a FizzPoker game with a stack of 10,000.
- Stack-to-pot ratio Betting & strategy
- The effective stack divided by the pot on the flop. Low ratios make it easy to commit all your chips. Abbreviated SPR.
- Starting stack Tournament
- The chips every player gets at the start of a tournament.FizzPoker games start everyone with 10,000.
- Steal Actions
- A raise from the cutoff, button or small blind after everyone before you has folded, made mainly to win the blinds.
- Straddle Actions
- An optional extra blind, usually twice the big blind, posted by the player under the gun before the deal. It works like a bigger big blind.
- Straight Hands
- Five cards in a row of mixed suits. The ace can be high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A), but a straight can’t wrap around.
- Straight flush Hands
- Five cards in a row, all of the same suit.9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥
- Street Cards & table
- One betting round. Hold’em has four: preflop, flop, turn and river.
- String bet Slang
- Putting chips in the pot in more than one motion without announcing the amount. Not allowed in live games; impossible online.
- Suckout Slang
- Winning a hand as the underdog thanks to a lucky turn or river card.
- Suit Cards & table
- Spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs. In Hold’em suits only matter for flushes — no suit outranks another.
- Suited Hands
- Two hole cards of the same suit, written with an s.AKs is ace-king of one suit.
T
- TAG Slang
- Tight-aggressive: plays few hands, but bets and raises with them. A solid default style.
- Tank Actions
- Take a long time to make a decision.She tanked for a minute, then folded.
- Tell Slang
- A habit or change in behavior that gives away information about a player’s hand.
- Texas Hold’em Cards & table
- The most popular poker game: each player gets two private cards, five community cards are shared, and there are four betting rounds.
- Three of a kind Hands
- Three cards of the same rank. Players call it a set or trips, depending on how it was made.
- Tilt Slang
- Frustration that leads to worse decisions, usually after a bad beat.“He’s on tilt” — he’s playing badly because he’s upset.
- Top pair Hands
- A pair made with the highest card on the board.
- Trips Hands
- Three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board.You hold K-9 and the board is 9-9-4.
- Turbo Tournament
- A tournament with short blind levels, so the blinds climb quickly and the game ends sooner.FizzPoker’s turbo speed raises the blinds every 3 minutes.
- Turn Cards & table
- The fourth community card, also called fourth street.
- Two pair Hands
- Two different pairs. Compared by the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
U
- Under the gun Positions
- The seat to the left of the big blind, first to act before the flop. Abbreviated UTG.
V
- Value bet Betting & strategy
- A bet made to get called by worse hands.
- Variance Slang
- The natural swings of luck in poker. Over a few hands, anyone can win or lose.
- VPIP Player stats
- Voluntarily put money in the pot: the share of hands in which you called or raised before the flop. Posting a blind doesn’t count.A VPIP of 25% means you played one hand in four.
W
- W$SD Player stats
- Won at showdown: of the hands that reached a showdown, the share you won.
- Wet board Cards & table
- A board with many possible draws — connected cards and two or more of a suit. A dry board is the opposite.J♥ T♥ 8♣ is wet; K♠ 7♦ 2♣ is dry.
- Whale Slang
- A weak player who plays for high stakes.
- Wheel Hands
- The lowest straight, A-2-3-4-5, where the ace plays low.
- WTSD Player stats
- Went to showdown: of the hands in which you saw the flop, the share that reached a showdown.
Terms beginners mix up
| Pair | The difference |
|---|---|
| Check vs call | Checking puts no chips in and is only possible when nobody has bet. Calling matches a bet that has been made. |
| Bet vs raise | A bet is the first wager in a round. A raise increases a bet someone else already made. |
| Set vs trips | Both are three of a kind. A set uses a pocket pair plus one board card; trips use one hole card plus a pair on the board. |
| Board vs flop | The board is all the community cards. The flop is only the first three of them. |
| Button vs dealer | The button marks the dealer position for betting order. Who physically deals — a person or the software — doesn’t change it. |
| Pot odds vs implied odds | Pot odds count only the chips in the pot now. Implied odds add what you expect to win later if your draw hits. |
| Bluff vs semi-bluff | A bluff can only win if your opponent folds. A semi-bluff has a draw, so it can also win when the draw hits. |
| VPIP vs PFR | VPIP counts every hand you chose to play before the flop. PFR counts only the ones you raised — it can never be higher than VPIP. |
| Nit vs rock | Both are very tight. “Nit” is usually a jab at someone too cautious; “rock” stresses how predictable they are. |
Seeing the words in action makes them stick. Walk through a full hand in how to play Texas Hold’em, learn who sits where in poker positions, and check what beats what in the hand rankings. Then deal a game: on FizzPoker you can practice against bots at five skill levels — from a calling station to a tight-aggressive bot guided by game-theory strategy tables.
Questions people ask
What are the basic poker terms every beginner needs?
Start with the actions — check, bet, call, raise, fold and all-in — and the parts of a hand: hole cards, the blinds, the flop, turn and river, the pot and the showdown. With those, you can follow any Texas Hold’em hand.
What does “the nuts” mean in poker?
The nuts is the best possible hand on the current board. It can change as more cards come: the best hand on the flop may no longer be the nuts after the turn or river.
What is a 3-bet in poker?
A 3-bet is the first re-raise in a betting round. Before the flop the big blind counts as the first bet and the opening raise as the second, so re-raising that open is the third bet. A re-raise of a 3-bet is a 4-bet.
What does it mean to be on tilt?
Tilt is frustration that makes you play worse, usually after a bad beat or a long losing stretch — calling too much, bluffing too much or chasing losses. Taking a short break is the classic cure.
What is the difference between a set and trips?
Both are three of a kind. A set is made with a pocket pair and one matching card on the board; trips are made with one card in your hand and a pair on the board. Sets are harder for opponents to spot.
Where can I practice using poker terms?
Play a few hands. FizzPoker deals free No-Limit Texas Hold’em in the browser for 2–9 players with no real money: open a private table for your friends, or practice against bots — one with no account, more with a free one.