Poker Terminology: Words Every Beginner Must Learn and Understand
No one is an expert in the beginning. A newbie in every endeavor, game, or sport will have to be ready to go through a learning curve, especially as far as the jargon and vernacular are concerned.
There’s nothing worse than pretending to understand what is being said when you actually don’t; and where poker terms are concerned, your “poker face” is for protecting your game and not for pretending you get the words being thrown about.
We get you: nobody wants to look stupid and ignorant. Besides, this could greatly affect your game and spell the difference between winning and losing big. So here’s a list of playing card terms or poker terms and definitions you need to understand as a first step to understanding the game (including Texas Holdem jargon and terminology).
Basic Terms in Poker
- Action
- One’s turn to act during a hand, an initial bet or raise
- Used to describe a game in which there’s a lot of betting and raising
- Ante
A small bet all players are required to make before a hand is dealt - Pot
The amount which will be won by the victor - Blind
An amount put in the pot by two players to the left of the dealer common in Texas Hold‘em
Note: A blind is played by two players. An ante is played by all at the table. - Small Blind
Played by the first player to the left of the dealer - Big Blind
Double the value of the small blind played by the player to the left of the small blind player - Tournament
A poker event involving one or more tables of players. Each begins with a fixed amount of tournament chips. - Bubble
The top finisher of the tournament who doesn’t get any winnings
Basic Terms in Betting
- Call
When a player contributes the minimum amount to the pot required to continue playing their hand - Check
You’re not betting for that round, but you can only do this if no bets have been placed for that round - Raise
Contribute the minimum amount plus wagering more - Fold
Give up by placing your cards down on the table, losing all you have bet so far
Tip: Fold only when you feel your hand is too weak to compete - Check-raise
When a player checks on the first opportunity to bet and then raises succeeding bets in the same round - All-in
A bet that places all of a player’s chips into the pot - Bluff
Betting on a weak hand to intimidate other players into folding
Basic Terms in Dealing
- Dealer
The person dealing the cards - Button
The position of the dealer marked with a plastic disk - Burn Card
Discarding the top card before each betting round to make sure the game is played fairly - Community Cards
Cards dealt face-up on the table that all players use in making a hand - Board
The table that all players use in making a hand - Flop
First three community cards dealt after first round of betting is done - Turn or Fourth Street
Fourth community card dealt face-up, by itself - River
Last of the five community cards
Basic Terms in Hands
- Poker Hands
The five cards you will play with - High-card Winner
Nobody got a substantial hand and the pot goes to the person with the highest card value in their hand - Pair
Any two matching cards - Two Pair
Quite self-explanatory; examples are having a pair of kings and pair of aces in one hand - Three of a Kind aka Trips
A hand consisting of cards having the same face value but in different suits - Straight
Five cards in sequence (5-6-7-8-9) - Flush
Five cards of the same suit but not in sequence - Full House
When you have three of a kind and a (different) pair - Four of a Kind aka Quads
When you’re dealt four cards of the same rank - Straight Flush
Five sequenced cards of the same suit (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of clubs)
Tip: If you get this hand, go all-in! - Royal Flush
An ace-high straight flush, the best possible hand in standard poker - Trivia: The odds of getting this hand are 649,740 to 1
Basic Terms in Player Behavior
- Tell
An indication that tells other players how strong or weak your hand is - Semi-Bluff
A bluff that can be improved should the first bluff be ineffective - Rock
Nope, this is not the former wrestler turned actor. This is a player who is considered “tight.” He won’t bluff and folds hand after hand without playing for a pot. - Slow Play
When you play your hand less aggressively than necessary - Time
A request so a player has more time to think - Clock
A call other players make when a player on time is taking too long and disrupts the game - Bad Beat
When a player who initially has the upper hand (pun intended) loses it after a flop, turn, or river
Learning, understanding, and mastering these terms will aid you in not getting lost while playing poker. Of course, language is a “living document” and new slang always get invented (the beauty of language!). Just accept that learning is a never-ending process.
But knowing all these words by heart is a good place to start.