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.