The World Series of Poker has sprouted
many followers in the last couple of years.
Amateur tables are popping up all over
the world and friendly cash games are
everywhere come Friday night. Whether
it is for thrill or profit the so called
sport of poker has the attention of many
onlookers year round. While Amateurs know
the basics of the game they usually get
lost in all the poker lingo spoken at
the casino poker tables. While some is
lingo is made up by experienced players
to throw off the amateurs, some are actually
well known terms in the poker world that
any amateur trying to make it big should
know. Below is a guide to all the poker
lingo you could ever want to impress your
friends or intimidate an experienced opponent.
Take a look.
Ante: The initial money thrown into the
pot to induce betting. This is done before
the flop.
All In: When a person decides to put
all his chips in to bet on a certain hand.
No Limit Hold’Em is the most popular game
and All Ins are allowed as many times
as a player wants. In Limit Hold’Em you
cannot bet more then the pot itself.
Backdoor: Backdoor is a reference to
when players are chasing a card that has
not come up yet but has a good chance
to. Having 4 cards of the same kind is
a backdoor flush draw, having four cards
in a row is a backdoor straight draw.
Bad Beat: A Bad Beat occurs when a player
has a large advantage over the other and
the last card beats the big hand by luck.
Bad beat is usually used to imply that
the player with the weak hand should not
have been in the hand at all and it was
by mere luck that he won his underdog
hand.
Blind: In Texas Hold’Em, the game uses
blinds instead of antes. The blinds are
forced bets to induce some money in the
pot by the two people sitting to the left
of the dealer. The first person to the
left of the dealer is the “small blind”
and bets a smaller amount. The second
person to the left of the dealer is the
“big blind” and bets twice what the small
blind has.
Bottom Pair: The lowest pair out of the
cards out on the table.
Check: When a player decides to not bet
he calls “Check”. This is the option of
betting zero dollars.
Check Raise: When a player checks with
a strong hand hoping another opponent
will raise. The player then re-raises
with his strong hand thus getting more
money out of his opponent in the pot.
Drawing Dead: When a player is trying
to make a hand that will still not win
the pot.
Flop: The first three cards that are
“flopped” onto the table. These are also
called community cards.
Heads Up Play: When there are only two
players playing a certain hand they are
considered “heads up”.
Muck: A pile of unused cards usually
in front of the dealer. These come from
folded or burned cards. To “much your
cards” is to fold them by throwing them
into the muck pile.
The Nuts: Likely the favorite expression
of any poker player. The Nuts indicates
a hand that is mathematically unbeatable
with the cards on the table.
Offsuit: When the two cards you are dealt
are of different suits.
Pocket: The two cards dealt to you in
Texas Hold’Em that only you can see.
Rake: The total amount of money that
the casino’s dealer takes out of every
pot.
The River: The last card to be flopped
on the board. The 5th card to come out
in a Texas Hold’Em game.
Short Stack: The short stack is referring
to the player with the least amount of
chips at the table.
Tell: A tell refers to a players action
when he or she has a good or bad hand.
Some players take off their sun glasses
when they have a bad hand. Other players
tend to itch their right hand when they
have a good hand.
The Turn: The fourth card to be flopped
onto the table in a Texas Hold’Em game.
These are the necessary terms in order
to keep up with the pros. There are hundreds
of other terms in the world of poker,
yet they are much less needed or too experienced
for the amateur. Learn this lingo and
impress your friends or play at experienced
tables and wow the crowd. Lastly, poker
is a great game, but the greatest player
in poker knows one this: When to know
you’re beat. Everyone likes to hold’em,
but sometimes you get that feeling and
you just have to fold’em.
This article was posted on October
28, 2005
