- "I decided to three-bet my pocket kings while in the cutoff position against a player who opened from early position.\"
- "Can you believe he actually called my bet after I fired three times on a board that only had one card that could help him, and he held just the bottom two pair?\"
- “I’m firing my fourth bullet.”
Phrases that seem straightforward, like \"I’m stuck,\" can actually be somewhat misleading, as they indicate a player is currently experiencing losses.
The silver lining is that despite its initial complexity, picking up poker terminology quickly turns into an engaging and almost effortless process.
Absolute beginners can learn poker talk in no time!
For those who are seeking to speed up their learning, here’s a comprehensive guide tailored just for you.
Category #1: Creative Names for Starting Hands
As masculine as poker It's quite fascinating how many playful names there are for different poker cards. These nicknames are widely recognized: poker hands :
- Pocket Pair: This occurs when the dealer gives you two of the same cards, like a pair of twos, threes, or even higher like aces or kings.
- Pocket Rockets/American Airlines/Bullets: All these names refer to the best starting hand in poker—Aces! Most players affectionately call these powerful cards \"pocket rockets.\"
- Cowboys : You're dealt a pair of kings.
- Ladies : You're dealt a pair of queens.
- Fishhooks: This refers to a pair of jacks in your hand, named because the letter \"J\" resembles a fishhook.
- Snowmen: When you get a pair of eights, this term comes from how the number \"8\" visually resembles a snowman.
- Ducks: A pair of twos is often nicknamed this because the number \"2\" looks a bit like a duck.
- Big-Slick: This term describes being dealt an Ace and a King together.
The starting hand known as 7-2 (or seven-deuce) holds the title for the least desirable combination in poker.
If both cards share the same suit, they’re called “suited.” For instance, if you hold a nine and a ten both of diamonds, you might say they’re “nine-ten suited.”
Conversely, if the cards are of different suits—like a nine of clubs and a ten of spades—you might hear the phrase “nine-ten off-suit.”
Learning the various nicknames for hands is one of the most enjoyable aspects of acquiring poker vocabulary.
Who wouldn’t want to chat about pocket rockets?
Category #2: Betting Rounds
No Limit Texas Hold‘em Texas Hold'em—the most widely played variant of poker—operates through a series of distinct betting rounds.
- Preflop : The dealer hands out two concealed cards to each player. If you think your cards have potential, you can start placing chips. (Here's a tip: Don’t feel obligated to play every single hand. Many professional players fold approximately 80% of their hands before the flop. This approach fosters discipline. Discard your cards preflop unless they are exceptional, like pocket rockets!)
- Flop : Next, the dealer reveals three community cards that everyone can use to create the best hand possible.
- Turn : Then the dealer lays down a fourth community card on the table.
- River : Finally, the dealer reveals the fifth and last community card.
Players often turn some poker-specific phrases into verbs. Imagine you hold a pocket pair of kings, but the dealer shows an ace on the flop.
You might exclaim, “Oh no! Did you out-flop me?”
If an opponent completes a flush by the river, you might hear, “You rivered me!” (You can also hear players express their discontent by saying someone “sucked out” against them).
Category #3: Poker Vocabulary on How to Play
You may have already grasped the basics like betting, folding, and raising, which will certainly get you started. However, to truly elevate your game, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with a host of advanced terminology.
- Blinds: The blinds are mandatory bets that players must make without seeing their cards first, similar to an ante. In No-Limit Texas Hold’em, there is a small blind and a big blind .
Don't stress too much about it—if you're unsure, the dealer is there to guide you on when to place your blinds. It’s a common occurrence.
- Straddle : This is when a player opts to make a third preflop bet, essentially acting as a third blind. For example, in a game with $1/$2 stakes, the small blind puts in $1, while the player to their left, in the big blind position, contributes $2.
Sometimes, the subsequent player will choose to \"straddle\" and double the blind amount (in this example, $4), which raises the stakes and allows them to act last before the flop.
- Three-bet/Four-bet/Five-bet: This aspect can get pretty intricate; you could use the more general term \"re-raise\" instead. But to master poker language and get technical, it helps to understand this terminology:
- Technically, the blinds are considered the first bet.
- When someone makes a raise, that counts as the second bet.
- If another player re-raises, that’s identified as the third bet, commonly called a “three-bet.”
- If yet another player re-raises once more, that’s referred to as a “four-bet,” and so forth.
- Let’s illustrate this: Assume the blinds are set. Robert raises with a pair of tens, Samantha responds with a three-bet holding a pair of queens, Dan adds a four-bet with a pair of kings, and Eleanor closes it out with a five-bet of aces.
- If this seems overwhelming, just remember you can always use the term “re-raise.” For instance, instead of saying “Samantha three-bet him,” you can simply say, “Samantha re-raised him.”
For the advanced poker enthusiasts out there, here's an additional tidbit:
- As the blinds are counted as the first bet, whenever a player puts more chips in preflop, it’s considered a raise. You're effectively raising the blind bet.
- Once the flop occurs and you wager chips, that counts as a bet—not a raise—since you are not increasing an existing amount.
Lastly, if no previous raises occurred before your turn, your bet will be referred to as an “open raise.” It designates that you were the first player to raise in that round.
- Donk : As the stakes increase, it’s more common for players to “check to the raiser.” Even if a player ends up with a pair, they still check and await the original raiser's action. Conversely, if someone places a bet into the pot instead, it's known as a “donk” or a “donk bet.”
The term is derived from “donkey,” which implies actions that are unconventional and somewhat silly. Against experienced players, a “donk bet” can indicate that you're an inexperienced novice.
- Barrel: This term in poker slang signifies placing a bet or a continuation bet across two or three consecutive betting rounds. If you “triple-barrelled” against an opponent, it means you placed a bet on the flop, followed by another on the turn, and yet another on the river. Double-barrelling refers to betting twice—typically on the flop and the turn.
- Nuts: In poker lingo, the “nuts” describes the strongest possible hand at any given point in the game. No hand can surpass it! If you have the nuts, you have an unbeatable hand. For instance, if you flop a combination of a jack and a ten on a board showing 7-8-9, you’re in a great position!
On the contrary, encountering the 'second nuts' while your opponent holds the actual 'nuts' can be exceptionally unfortunate. It signifies that only one possible hand in the deck can beat yours—one that just so happens to be held by your opponent.
- Bonus: In poker slang, if you find yourself facing the unfortunate scenario of losing your second nuts to someone holding the nuts, that's referred to as a ‘cooler.’ You might say, \"That’s a cooler!\"
Category #4: Final Key Phrases to Know
Here are some essential poker terms to keep in your arsenal:
- Board: In poker, the 'board' consists of the community cards dealt by the dealer face-up. If a player feels their hand doesn’t match well with these board cards, they might comment, “That’s a bad board for me.”
- Street: In the early days of Texas Hold’em, players referred to betting rounds as “streets.” So, a “three-street bluff” implies someone made three bets as a bluff, while a “two-street hand” indicates that your hand is only strong enough to warrant two bets.
- Rainbow: This expression signifies that all community cards are of different suits. For example, if the dealer lays down a three of clubs, a four of diamonds, and a five of spades, you might say, “The flop was three, four, five rainbow.”
Should the turn card be the six of hearts, you could casually say, “The turn card completed the rainbow.” Typically, players discuss a \"rainbow flop.\"
- Set: Having a pocket pair while hitting three-of-a-kind with the help of the community cards means you’ve got a set. You might say you “flopped a set” or “turned a set.”
- Trips: This term can often be mixed up with a set; however, they refer to distinct situations! While both terms mean three-of-a-kind, 'hitting a set' specifically requires a pocket pair. Conversely, making trips means achieving three-of-a-kind without having a pocket pair.
- For instance, if your pocket cards are queens and the flop shows Ace-Queen-Three, you've flopped a set of queens.
- However, if you have a king and a queen in hand and the flop reveals Queen-Queen-Three, then you have ended up with trip queens.
- Thin/Thin Value: This modern jargon refers to the strategy of ‘betting thin for value.’ You possess a hand that you suspect is winning, but there’s a slim chance it could be beaten. A bet in this instance carries more risk. When someone states, “That’s thin,” it generally means they are taken aback by the value bet that seems risky given the circumstances.
Conversely, this phrase can also be a compliment if your judgment pays off, as in saying, “Nice thin value bet!” which indicates you made a savvy move and squeezed out every potential dollar.
- Backdoor/Runner-Runner: This happens when a player requires two sequential cards to complete a winning hand. Scoring a “backdoor flush” means you needed both the turn and river cards to finalize your flush.
- Position: After each hand is dealt, the sequence of play rotates, affecting everyone’s relative position around the table. Each position has its own terminology:
- Under-the-Gun/UTG: This is the term for the first player to act before the flop.
- UTG1 or Under-the-Gun + 1: This designates the second player to act preflop.
- UTG2 : The third person to act preflop.
- Lojack/MP (Middle Position): This refers to the fourth player to act, or the fourth player from the button preflop.
- Hijack: The fifth person to act or the third from the button preflop.
- Cutoff: This is the sixth person to act or the second from the button preflop.
- Button: The player sitting in this position acts seventh and has a button placed in front of them prior to the cards being dealt.
- Small Blind: This is the position of the eighth player to make a move before the flop, located to the immediate left of the dealer button.
- Big Blind: Occupying the ninth slot, the Big Blind is positioned to the left of the Small Blind and acts after them during the preflop betting round.
In situations where there are only eight players instead of nine, the seat known as UTG2 is typically omitted. It’s quite uncommon for people to reference UTG2 or the Lojack position.
Common poker jargon you might encounter includes terms like blinds, button, Under-the-Gun (UTG), and Cutoff.
Players often group seating positions using terms like 'early position', 'middle position', or 'late position' to indicate when they'll act in the betting sequence.
Poker Lingo Strategy
For those looking to enhance their poker vocabulary, understanding the rationale behind certain positional names can be insightful.
- When seated on the button, you are encouraged to play a wider array of hands. Consequently, the player in the Cutoff can make a stronger move and raise before the player on the button acts.
Moreover, the individual sitting in the Hijack position has the ability to disrupt this strategy and raise prior to both the Cutoff and the Button!
- If this all seems a bit overwhelming, don’t worry. The complex jargon relates to the optimal 'range' of hands that you should ideally play from differing positions, which is a concept that can be explored at a later date.
Learning poker lingo As you continue to play, these concepts will become more intuitive. Delving deeper into poker will reveal a plethora of unique and precise terms, but there's no need to overwhelm yourself with every single one.
Many poker players Even seasoned players can be puzzled by terms like 'triple barrel', and many often misuse the terminology discussed above.
Mastering the essential vocabulary will already put you at a significant advantage in your poker journey.
Kudos to you, 'crusher!' (a term for a highly skilled player).