Poker has a unique language of its own, and it can be a little intimidating when you hear a seasoned pro talk about gut shot draws and drawing dead on the river.
No reason to worry though, we've compiled an alphabet of poker terms for you, so whether you are a rank beginner or you have a World Series of Poker bracelet here is a list of commonly used words at the table to help improve your Poker IQ.
All In to Outs
A is for All In: When you commit all of your chips on one hand you are considered to be all in. If you lose the hand you are out of the game unless it offers a rebuy.
B is for Big Blind: This is the person sitting next to the small blind. It is a forced bet of the minimum bet for the round for example on a $1/$2 table the big blind is $2.
C is for Check-Raise: This is when a player who usually has a very strong hand checks on their turn, hoping that someone else will bet. When the turn comes back to them, they raise the bet to try and get more value from the hand.
D is for Drawing Dead: When a player catches a card on the turn or the river that completes the hand for them, but they lose to a better hand, for example, catching a King and 2 Aces on the flop, going all in and losing to 4 Aces. It's very similar to a bad beat.
E is for Early Position: The first three players to act after the big blind are referred to as early position.
F is for Fish: A fish is an inexperienced player who plays at a table that they aren't ready for.
G is for Gut Shot Draw: This is another term for an inside straight draw, meaning you have 4 of the 5 cards needed to make a straight but you are missing the inside one, for example 65x32.
H is for Heads Up: When you are down to 2 players at a table or the final two of the tournament, it is considered heads up.
I is for In the Money: In a tournament, anyone who gets past the bubble is considered in the money, meaning they will get cash when they run out of chips.
J is for Jamming the Pot: When you try and get as many of your chips in as possible, usually used in Limit Hold Em.
K is for Kicker: When two players have an equal hand, like a pair of Kings, their second card is the deciding card as to who wins; the higher kicker wins.
L is for Limping In: When a player calls instead of raising, generally when a player doesn't have a good hand and doesn't have to pay much to see the flop or the next card.
M is for Maniac: This is a style of play that is very hard to play against. A maniac is just as likely to fold four of a kind as they are to play a garbage hand with no value and try to bluff their way to a win.
N is for Nuts: This is the best possible hand at any given point in a round.
O is for Outs: The outs are the number of cards that you need to make a given hand. If your hole cards are 23 and the flop comes 45J then you have 8 outs, the four aces and the four sixes .
Pocket Rockets to Value Bets
P is for Pocket Rockets: A pair of aces, this is the strongest hand you can have preflop.
Q is for Quads: Four of a kind.
R is for Rake: This is the amount that the house takes. A rake will usually have a maximum amount regardless of how large the pot gets.
S is for Slow Play: This is when a player with a very strong hands bets minimally on the flop and the turn, to try and increase the pot.
T is for Trips: When you have three of a kind. Similar to the Set but Trips is when the majority of your three of a kind is on the board.
U is for Under the Gun: Being Under the Gun simply means having to bet first.
V is for Value Bet: When a player bets an amount to force a call, betting just enough to increase the pot.
WXYZ: There are little if any poker terms for these. If you know of some, let us know.
