POKER GLOSSARY

A-C

• All-In – When a player bets all their remaining chips and cannot make any further bets in that hand.
  
  

• Ante – A small mandatory bet placed by all players before a hand begins (commonly used in tournaments).
  
  

• Bad Beat – Losing a hand despite holding a statistically strong or dominant hand.
  
  

• Bet – Placing chips into the pot to start or continue the betting round.
  
  

• Big Blind (BB) – A forced bet placed two seats left of the dealer; typically twice the small blind.
  
  

• Big Stack – A player whose chip count is significantly larger than most others at the table.
  
  

• Blinds – The forced bets (small and big) required to initiate betting.
  
  

• Bluff – Betting or raising with a weak hand to induce folds from opponents.
  
  

• Board – The collective five community cards dealing face-up in the center.

• BTN (BUTTON) – Marker that rotates clockwise to indicate dealer position and blinds order.
  
  

• Bust Out – Losing all your chips, resulting in elimination from a game or tournament.
  
  

• Buy-In – The amount required to enter a cash game or tournament.
  
  

• Call – Matching the highest bet to remain in the hand.
  
  

• Chip Leader – The player with the most chips at the table or in a tournament.
  
  

• Chips – Tokens representing money, used for betting and playing.
  
  

• Community Cards – Shared cards used by all active players to form their hand.

D-H

• Deal – Distributing cards to players at the start of each hand.
  
  

• Dealer Button (BTN) – Marker that rotates clockwise to indicate dealer position and blinds order.
  
  

• Deep Stack – A player with a much larger chip stack relative to the blinds.
  
  

• Fold – To discard your hand and forfeit the current pot.
  
  

• Flop – The first three community cards dealt after the pre-flop betting round.
  
  

• Hand – The player’s best five-card poker combination.
  
  

• High Card – A hand with no pairs or draws; determined by the highest card value.

I-P

• Kicker – A non-paired card used to break ties between similar hands.

• No Limit – A betting structure with no maximum bet; players can wager all remaining chips at any time.

• Pocket Cards – The two private, face-down cards dealt to players.

• Pot – The total sum of bets made during a hand.

• Pre-Flop – The betting round that occurs after pocket cards are dealt but before community cards are revealed.

• Raise – To increase the current bet amount.

• Re-buy – Purchasing more chips to re-enter a tournament or game after losing initial chips (while still seated).

Q-Z

• River – The fifth and final community card dealt.
  
  

• Showdown – When remaining players reveal their hands to determine the winner.
  
  

• Short Stack – A player with a relatively small number of chips compared to the table average.
  
  

• Side Pot – A separate pot created when a player goes all-in but others continue betting.
  
  

• Small Blind (SB) – The smaller forced bet placed immediately to the left of the dealer.
  
  

• Split Pot – When two or more hands are equally strong and divide the pot evenly.
  
  

• Straight – Five consecutive cards (e.g., 5–6–7–8–9).
  
  

• Street – Any stage of the deal: flop, turn, or river.
  
  

• Straddle – An optional, voluntary blind bet done before cards are dealt, often doubling the big blind for added action.
  
  

• Turn – The fourth community card dealt, after the flop.
  
  

• Upswing / Downswing – Periods of consistent winning (upswing) or losing (downswing) relative to expected results or volume of play.