Poker Glossary: 82 Poker Terms Explained

Every poker term you'll meet at a Texas Hold'em table, explained in plain English with examples — from suits and kickers to pot odds, 3-bets and ICM.

Cards & basics

• Community Cards — Community cards are the five shared cards dealt face up in Texas Hold'em: the flop, turn and river. Every player combines them with their own hole cards.
• Flop — The flop is the first three community cards dealt face up together in Texas Hold'em, followed by the second betting round of the hand.
• Hand Rankings — Poker hand rankings list the ten five-card hands from royal flush down to high card. A rarer hand always beats a more common one.
• Hole Cards — Hole cards are the two private cards dealt face down to each player in Texas Hold'em. Only you see them, and you combine them with the five shared cards.
• Kicker — A kicker is a side card that does not form part of a pair or set but still counts in your five-card hand, used to break ties between similar hands.
• Muck — The muck is the pile of folded and discarded cards. To muck means to fold or throw away your hand without showing it, including at showdown.
• River — The river is the fifth and final community card in Texas Hold'em. After it comes the last betting round and, if needed, the showdown.
• Showdown — The showdown happens after the final betting round when two or more players remain. Hands are revealed and the best five-card hand wins the pot.
• Split Pot — A split pot happens when two or more players tie with the same best five-card hand at showdown, so the pot is divided equally between them.
• Suit — A suit is one of the four card groups in a deck: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. In Texas Hold'em suits are never ranked; they only matter for flushes.
• The Nuts — The nuts is the best possible hand given the community cards at that moment. Holding the nuts means no other hand can beat you, though ties are possible.
• Turn — The turn is the fourth community card in Texas Hold'em, dealt alone after the flop betting round. It is also called fourth street.

Hands & draws

• Flush — A flush is five cards of the same suit in any order. It beats a straight and loses to a full house, and flushes are compared by their highest card.
• Flush Draw — A flush draw is four cards of one suit needing one more to make a flush. It has 9 outs: about 35% to hit by the river from the flop.
• Full House — A full house is three cards of one rank plus two of another, such as 8-8-8-K-K. It beats a flush and loses to four of a kind.
• Gutshot — A gutshot is a straight draw that needs one specific inside rank to complete, such as 9-8-6-5 needing a 7. It has 4 outs, about 16.5% from flop to river.
• Open-Ended Straight Draw — An open-ended straight draw is four consecutive cards that any of two ranks can complete into a straight. It has 8 outs, about 31.5% from flop to river.
• Overpair — An overpair is a pocket pair higher than every card on the board, such as Q-Q on J-7-3. It beats top pair but is still only one pair.
• Pocket Pair — A pocket pair is a starting hand where both hole cards share the same rank, such as 7-7 or A-A. You are dealt one about 1 in 17 hands.
• Set — A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair plus one matching card on the board. It is stronger and better disguised than trips.
• Straight — A straight is five cards in consecutive rank of mixed suits, such as 9-8-7-6-5. It beats three of a kind and loses to a flush.
• Suited Connectors — Suited connectors are starting hands with two consecutive ranks of the same suit, such as 8♥ 7♥. They make straights and flushes but rarely strong pairs.
• Trips — Trips is three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board. Because the board pair is visible, your kicker often decides the hand.
• Two Pair — Two pair is a hand with two cards of one rank, two of another rank and a fifth unrelated card, such as J-J-4-4-A. It beats one pair and loses to trips.

Actions & bets

• 3-Bet — A 3-bet is the first re-raise in a betting round. Preflop it's the re-raise of an open raise, because the big blind counts as the first bet.
• 4-Bet — A 4-bet is a re-raise of a 3-bet. Preflop it's the raise after an open raise has been re-raised, and it usually signals a very strong range.
• All-In — Going all-in means betting every chip you have in front of you. You can't be forced out of the hand, but you can only win what your chips cover.
• Call — To call in poker is to match the current bet so you stay in the hand. It's how you continue without raising when someone has already bet.
• Check — A check in poker means passing the action without betting. You can only check when no one has bet yet in the current betting round.
• Check-Raise — A check-raise is checking to an opponent and then raising after they bet in the same round. It's a strong play for value or as a bluff.
• Continuation Bet — A continuation bet is a bet on the flop by the player who made the last preflop raise, continuing the aggression whether or not they hit.
• Donk Bet — A donk bet is a bet made out of position into the player who had the betting lead on the previous street, before that player gets a chance to act.
• Fold — To fold in poker is to give up your hand and forfeit any claim to the pot. Folding costs nothing extra and is often the most profitable play.
• Limp — A limp in poker is entering the pot preflop by just calling the big blind instead of raising. It's common among beginners and usually a weak play.
• Overbet — An overbet is any bet larger than the current size of the pot. It's used to apply maximum pressure or to win a big pot with a very strong hand.
• Raise — A raise increases the current bet so opponents must add more chips to continue. In No-Limit it must be at least the size of the last bet or raise.

Positions & table

• Ante — An ante is a small forced bet every player (or one player for the table) puts in before the deal. It grows the pot and encourages more action.
• Big Blind — The big blind is the larger forced bet posted two seats left of the button before the deal. It sets the minimum bet and is the last to act preflop.
• Button — The button is a disc marking the nominal dealer in Hold'em. The player on the button acts last after the flop, making it the best seat at the table.
• Cutoff — The cutoff is the seat directly to the right of the button. It's the second-best position at the table and a prime seat for raising to steal the blinds.
• Effective Stack — The effective stack is the smallest stack among players in a hand: the most chips that can actually be won or lost between them.
• Hijack — The hijack is the seat two places to the right of the button, just before the cutoff. It's a middle-to-late position for opening a moderate range.
• In Position — In position (IP) means you act after your opponent on each postflop street. You see their decision first, which makes every choice easier.
• Out of Position — Out of position (OOP) means you must act before your opponent on each postflop street, which gives them extra information and makes your decisions harder.
• Position — Position in poker is where you sit relative to the button, which decides when you act. Acting later gives you more information and more control.
• Small Blind — The small blind is the forced bet posted by the player directly left of the button, usually half the big blind. It's also the name of that seat.
• Straddle — A straddle is an optional blind bet, usually twice the big blind, posted before the deal. It acts like a third blind and buys the last preflop action.
• Under the Gun — Under the gun (UTG) is the seat directly left of the big blind. It acts first preflop, so it calls for the tightest range of starting hands.

Poker math

• BB/100 (Big Blinds per 100 Hands) — BB/100 is a poker win rate: the number of big blinds a player wins or loses on average per 100 hands, letting results compare across stake levels.
• Combos (Hand Combinations) — Combos are the specific card combinations that make up a starting hand. Pocket pairs have 6 combos, suited hands 4, and offsuit hands 12.
• Equity — Equity is your share of the pot based on how often your hand would win if all remaining cards were dealt, expressed as a percentage.
• Expected Value (EV) — Expected value (EV) is the average amount a poker decision wins or loses if repeated many times. Good players choose the option with the highest EV.
• Fold Equity — Fold equity is the extra value you gain from the chance your opponent folds to your bet or raise, winning the pot without a showdown.
• Implied Odds — Implied odds count the extra chips you expect to win on later streets when you hit, making some calls profitable despite poor direct pot odds.
• Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF) — Minimum defense frequency (MDF) is how often you must continue against a bet so bluffing with any two cards cannot profit: pot ÷ (pot + bet).
• Outs — Outs are the unseen cards that will improve your hand to the likely winner. Counting them is the first step in working out your odds on a draw.
• Pot Odds — Pot odds compare the cost of a call to the size of the pot you could win, telling you the minimum equity you need for a call to be profitable.
• Rule of 2 and 4 — The rule of 2 and 4 estimates your chance of hitting a draw: multiply outs by 4 on the flop (two cards to come) or by 2 on the turn (one card to come).
• SPR (Stack-to-Pot Ratio) — SPR (stack-to-pot ratio) is the effective stack divided by the pot on the flop. It shows how committed you are and which hands can play for stacks.
• Variance — Variance is the short-term swing between your actual poker results and your expected results, caused by the luck of the cards.

Strategy & players

• Bankroll Management — Bankroll management means keeping money set aside only for poker and choosing stakes small enough that normal swings cannot wipe you out.
• Bluff — A bluff is a bet or raise with a weak hand that aims to make better hands fold. It wins when your opponent gives up the pot.
• Exploitative Play — Exploitative play means adjusting your strategy to target a specific opponent's mistakes, such as bluffing players who fold too much.
• GTO (Game Theory Optimal) — GTO (Game Theory Optimal) is a balanced poker strategy that cannot be exploited: no opponent can gain an edge against it by changing how they play.
• Range — A range is the full set of hands a player could hold in a given spot. Thinking in ranges instead of single hands is the core of modern poker strategy.
• Semi-Bluff — A semi-bluff is a bet or raise with a drawing hand that is behind now but can improve. It wins if opponents fold or if you hit your draw.
• Slow-Play — Slow-playing means checking or calling with a very strong hand to hide its strength, hoping opponents bet or catch up enough to pay you later.
• Table Image — Table image is how your opponents perceive your playing style, based on what they have seen you do. It changes how they react to your bets.
• Tight-Aggressive (TAG) — Tight-aggressive (TAG) is a playing style that plays a selective set of strong hands and plays them assertively with bets and raises.
• Tilt — Tilt is a state of frustration or emotion that makes a poker player abandon good decisions, usually after bad beats or a losing run.
• Value Bet — A value bet is a bet made with a strong hand that you want worse hands to call. It is the main way winning players build pots they expect to win.
• VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money In Pot) — VPIP is the percentage of hands in which a player voluntarily puts money into the pot before the flop. It shows how loose or tight someone plays.

Tournaments

• Bubble — The bubble is the stage of a tournament just before the paid places, when one more elimination means everyone left wins money.
• Deep Stack — A deep stack is a chip stack that is large relative to the blinds, often 150 big blinds or more, allowing more postflop play and bigger implied odds.
• Final Table — The final table is the last table of a poker tournament, formed when the remaining players can all fit at one table. Pay jumps grow with each elimination.
• Freezeout — A freezeout is a poker tournament where each player buys in once and is eliminated for good when they lose all their chips, with no rebuys allowed.
• Heads-Up — Heads-up means a poker hand or game with only two players. Ranges get much wider, and the button posts the small blind and acts first preflop.
• ICM (Independent Chip Model) — ICM (Independent Chip Model) converts tournament chip stacks into their real prize-money value, showing why chips you lose matter more than chips you win.
• Rake — Rake is the fee a cardroom takes for running a poker game, usually a small percentage of each cash-game pot or a fee added to a tournament buy-in.
• Rebuy — A rebuy lets a tournament player buy more chips during a set early period, usually after busting or dropping low. In cash games it means adding chips.
• Satellite — A satellite is a poker tournament whose prizes are entries (seats) into a bigger, more expensive tournament instead of cash.
• Short Stack — A short stack is a chip stack that is small relative to the blinds, often under about 20 big blinds, leaving little room beyond shoving or folding.