Poker terms from A to Z
Updated: Diese Seite auf Deutsch
The most important poker terms, each in one to three sentences. Five words come up in every hand: to check is to bet nothing, to bet is to put chips in first, to call is to match the last bet, to raise is to put in more and to fold is to give up your cards. The explanations here are the same as in our poker rules and the hand rankings.
Every term has its own link, for example the kicker. That way you can send a friend exactly the one explanation they need. At the bottom of the page you can test yourself.
A
All-in
You bet all your chips. After that you can't bet anything more in this hand, but you stay in until the showdown. Nobody can push you out of the hand just because you have no chips left.
Ante
A small bet every player puts in before the hand. Some groups play with it on top of the blinds.
B
Bet
To bet is to be the first player in a round to put chips into the middle.
Betting round
A round in which everyone still in the hand can bet, call, raise or fold. A hand has four: preflop, after the flop, after the turn and after the river.
Big blind
The larger of the two forced bets. It is posted by the second player to the left of the button. With blinds of 10 and 20, that is 20 chips.
Blinds
Forced bets, so there is something in the pot in every hand: the small blind and the big blind. In tournaments they go up on a schedule.
Board
The face-up cards in the middle that belong to everyone. After the river there are five.
Burn card
The card the dealer puts aside face down before the flop, the turn and the river. That way nobody can spot the next card from its back.
Button
Short for the dealer button, see Dealer button.
C
Call
To call is to put in as much as the last player bet.
Check
To check is to bet nothing. That is only possible if nobody has bet yet in this betting round.
Cutoff
The seat directly to the right of the button. Together with the button it is called late position.
D
Dealer button
A disc that shows who is the dealer in this hand. It moves one seat to the left after every hand. At the kitchen table, the player with the button usually deals the cards too.
E
Equity
Your average share of the pot: how often your hand wins, plus your share of the pots that are split. How much equity your hand has right now is shown by the odds calculator.
F
Flop
The first three face-up cards, which come into the middle together. The second betting round follows.
Flush
Five cards of the same suit, in any order.
Fold
To fold is to give up your cards. You lose what you have already bet in this hand and don't have to pay anything more.
Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank.
Freeroll
A tournament with no entry fee. Play money sites like Replay Poker run such tournaments.
Full house
Three of a kind and a pair together.
H
Heads-up
Only two players. Then the player with the button posts the small blind, the other one the big blind. Before the flop the button acts first, from the flop on last.
High card
None of the hands higher up in the rankings. Then the highest card counts, then the next one.
Hijack
The seat to the right of the cutoff, so two seats before the button.
K
Kicker
The highest card that isn't part of the hand itself. If two players have the same hand, the kicker decides, but only if it is among the best five cards. Examples are in the rules on the kicker.
L
Limit
The bets are fixed, you can't bet as much as you like. The opposite is no-limit.
Lojack
The seat to the right of the hijack, so three seats before the button.
N
No-limit
There is no upper limit, you can bet all your chips at any time.
Nuts
The best possible hand with the cards that are in the middle right now. Whoever has the nuts on the river can't lose anymore, at most split the pot.
O
Offsuit
Two starting cards of different suits, "o" for short, for example AKo for ace and king of different suits.
Omaha
Plays almost like Texas hold'em, but everyone gets four cards face down. You have to use exactly two of them and exactly three from the middle.
One pair
Two cards of the same rank.
Outs
The cards that make your hand the best one. With four hearts after the flop you have nine outs for a flush. Rule of thumb: on the flop multiply your outs by 4, on the turn by 2, and you have roughly the chance in percent that one of them comes.
P
Position
Where you sit relative to the button, and so when you act. Whoever acts later has seen what the others did. The seats one by one are on our page about table positions.
Pot
All the chips bet in this hand. Whoever has the best hand at the end, or is the last one left, wins it.
Pot odds
What you have to pay for a call, as a share of the pot after it. With 40 in the pot and 10 to call, that is 10 out of 50, or 20%. If you win more often than that, the call pays off in the long run.
Pot-limit
You can bet at most what is in the pot. Omaha is usually played this way.
Preflop
The first betting round, after everyone has their two cards and before the flop comes. The player left of the big blind starts.
R
Raise
To raise is to put in more than the last player. The raise must be at least as big as the largest bet or raise before it in this round.
River
The fifth and last face-up card. Then comes the fourth betting round.
Royal flush
Ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit. The best hand in poker.
Run it twice
If all players are all-in before all five cards are in the middle, they can agree to deal the remaining cards twice. Each run decides half the pot. That is meant to make the swings from luck smaller. Everyone has to agree, and not every casino allows it.
S
Showdown
If two or more players are still in after the river, the cards are turned over. The best hand of five cards wins.
Side pot
A second pot next to the main pot. If a player is all-in, everything the others bet beyond that goes into the side pot, which only they play for. An example is in the rules on all-in and side pots.
Small blind
The smaller of the two forced bets, usually half the big blind. It is posted by the player directly left of the button.
Split pot
If two or more players have five cards of exactly the same strength at the showdown, the pot is divided.
Stack
The chips a player has in front of them. How many everyone gets at the start is under starting stack in the chip values.
Starting hand
Your two face-down cards at the start of the hand. Which ones to play is shown in the chart of starting hands.
Straight
Five cards in a row, suits mixed.
Straight flush
Five cards in a row and of the same suit.
Suited
Two starting cards of the same suit, "s" for short, for example AKs for ace and king of hearts.
T
Three of a kind
Three cards of the same rank.
Tilt
A player who is frustrated after a painful hand and plays worse because of it, often far too wild, is on tilt. The word comes from pinball machines, which show "TILT" when you tip them.
Turn
The fourth face-up card. Then comes the third betting round.
Two pair
Two different pairs.
U
Under the gun
The seat left of the big blind. Whoever sits there acts first before the flop.
Test yourself
The card shows an explanation from this page with the term left out. Tap one of the three terms. After ten questions you'll see which terms to look at again.
Which term is meant?
The highest card that isn't part of the hand itself. If two players have the same hand, the … decides, but only if it is among the best five cards.
No questions answered yet.
Questions and answers
What does call mean in poker?
To call is to put in as much as the last player bet. Putting in more is a raise, putting in nothing is a check.
What is the difference between check and fold?
When you check, you bet nothing and stay in the hand. That is only possible if nobody has bet yet in this betting round. When you fold, you give up your cards and you're out.
What does tilt mean in poker?
A player on tilt is frustrated after a painful hand and plays worse because of it, often far too wild. The word comes from pinball machines, which show TILT when you tip them.
What does run it twice mean in poker?
If all players are all-in before all five cards are in the middle, they can agree to deal the remaining cards twice. Each run decides half the pot.
What is a kicker in poker?
The highest card that isn't part of the hand itself. If two players have the same hand, the kicker decides, but only if it is among the best five cards.