Poker vocabulary

Poker is spreading at a fast rate. It is now the most popular card game in the world with over 150 million players, a third of whom live in the United States. It is more popular than golf, billiards, or tennis. In addition, it’s a game where both men and women have an equal chance of winning. Because poker is 40% skill and 60% luck (as stated by the “godfather” of poker, Doyle Brunson,) anyone with the basic skills can win on any day.

Here is the vocabulary for the game of Texas Holdem poker, and as you learn the vocabulary, you will also get an idea of how the game is played.

Names of cards:

• Ace

• King

• Queen

• Jack

• Ten / Nine / Eight / Seven / Six / Five / Four / Trey / Deuce

Your position at the table:

• Dealer / On the button: The last person to act, except for pre-flop bets.

• Small blind: The first person to act, except for pre-flop bets.

• Big blind: The second person to act, except for pre-flop bets.

• Under-the-gun: The first person to act after receiving two hole cards.

• Under-the-gun-plus-one: The second person to act after receiving two hole cards.

• Hijack: The person 2 to the right of the dealer.

• Cut-off: The last person to the right of the dealer.

General vocabulary:

• the deck: all 52 cards

• your hole cards: your 2 cards that nobody else can see

• chips: the flat round things that represent money

• the button / dealer button: the round white disk that is in front of the dealer

• your hand: your 5 best cards

• your stack: all the chips that belong to you

• the blinds: the small blind of half a bet and the big blind of a full bet

• shuffle: mix up the cards

• cut: put the top cards of the deck on the bottom

• deal: pass out the cards to everyone at the table

• burn: put the top card in the deck face down on the table

• the flop: the first 3 cards put face up on the table

• pre-flop: before the flop

• the turn / 4th street: the 4th card put face up on the table

• the river / 5th street: the 5th or last card put face up on the table

• the pot: all the chips that have been bet

• bet: put the first chips into the pot

• all in: a bet of all your chips

• check / pass: not put chips into the pot

• call: put the same amount of chips into the pot as someone else

• fold: throw your cards into the middle of the table and not continue to play

• the muck: all the cards that players don’t want to play

• raise: bet double or more what another player bet

• re-raise / 3 bet: bet double or more what another player raised

• re-re-raise / 4 bet: bet double or more what another player reraised

• bluff: pretend that you have a good hand by betting

• suit: the kind of card – spade, heart, diamond, or club

Hands:

• high card

• one pair

• two pair

• three of a kind / trips / a set

• straight

• flush

• full house

• four of a kind

• straight flush

• royal flush

This is how a typical hand would go. As the dealer was shuffling, the small blind would put in a half blind of 300 in chips, and the big blind would put in 600 in chips. Then the player to the right of the dealer would cut the cards, and the dealer would deal the cards one at a time starting with the small blind to his left and going in a clockwise direction until everyone had 2 hole cards. The under-the-gun player would start the play by folding, and so would under-the-gun-plus-one. The fifth player would raise to 1500. The next two players would fold. The player in the hijack position would fold. The cut-off player would call, and so would the dealer. The small blind and the big blind would both fold. The dealer would gather all the chips in the middle into a nice pot, and put the muck all together. Then he would burn the top card and flop the next 3 cards. Then the fifth player would bet 3000. The cut-off would fold, and the dealer would call. These bets would be pushed into the pot. Then the dealer would burn the top card on the deck and put the turn card face up next to the flop. Then the fifth player would bet 5000, and the dealer would raise to 10,000. The fifth player would re-raise all in, and the dealer would call. Both players would turn their cards face up for everyone to see. Finally, the dealer would burn the top card and place the river card face up next to the turn card. The fifth player would have a flush, and the dealer would have a full house and win all the chips in the pot.

To read about the history of poker, click here.