Did
you know terms like “ace up
one's sleeve”, “beats
me”, “poker face”,
“wild card”, “ace
in the hole”, “pass
the buck”, “blue chip”,
“call one's bluff”,
“cash in”, “up
the ante” etc. that we use
without even giving them a thought,
really originated from poker?
Explore our
Poker Lingo Glossary and find out
which other words that you use come
from poker. |
| A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R S T
U V W X Y
Z |
| K |
|
Kamikaze:
|
There are two usages of this
word. One, it refers to a person
who is so on tilt that they throw
away their money at the game. Two,
it refers to the starting hand with
two Ks. |
Kicker: |
The highest card
that is not related to the poker
hand one has is called a kicker.
For instance, if you have AKKQ54,
then, the ace is the kicker. Kicker
is used to break ties. Simply put,
a High Card.
|
King Crab: |
Well, don’t get excited
by the name. This refers to a starting
hand of King and 3. What will you
do with this hand? |
| Kojak: |
Guess what?
A King and a Jack as starting hand
in Hold’em is called a Kojak.
Don’t know who came up with
this word! |
| L |
|
Ladies:
|
Now, this should be obvious to
everyone who ever saw a deck of
cards. Two Queens! |
Late Position: |
If you come late
to the game, you are in late position.
Of course, not. If you are sitting
away from the dealer of the dealing
button, then your turn for betting
comes late. Such a position is called
late position. |
| Leak: |
If you keep
on giving the same tells again and
again even after losing some games,
you got a “leak”. This
is something that you need to correct. |
| Leather
Butt: |
Sit for a stretch of 10 games
at a time and feel your butt. That’s
a leather butt. This label goes
to players who play for a long period
of time or a wide range of games. |
Limp
In: |
If you just call
the big blind, it is called limping
in. |
| Limp
Raise: |
This
could probably be used as a technique
when you have a strong hand. Limp
Raise is to make a small raise before
just to fool others into thinking
that you might have a weak hand. |
| Live
One: |
If
you have some of these “live
ones” around your table, you
got to make some good money. They
play every stupid hand and just like
to see the showdown. They even call
and raise frequently. Call a maniac
as well. |
| Lotto
Player: |
This
is another fish, playing every hand
just to stay in the pot expecting
a lottery like miracle to happen and
gobble the pot. |
| Luckbox: |
If
a fish, live one, or a lotto starts
winning big pots around the table,
you do not have another option but
to call that fish a luckbox. |
| M |
|
| Maniac:
|
If
someone is playing too aggressively,
you call that player a maniac. |
| Mechanic:
|
Well,
your mechanic might repair your car.
But a mechanic in poker is one who
cheats by the sleight of his hand
while shuffling or arranging the deck. |
| Mid-Life
Crisis: |
A
pocket fours is called mid-life crises
due to the resemblance of these 44s
with your age. |
| Mommas
and Poppas: |
If
you get a pair of Queens and Kings,
obviously it’s going to be Mommas
and Poppas. |
| Motown:
|
If
you get a Jack and fives, then, it’s
Motown. |
| N |
|
| Near
Nuts: |
This
is almost the best possible hand.
However, there is a slight possibility
that one hand can beat it. |
| Newlyweds:
|
If
you get a King and a Queen as your
pocket hands, then, you got a set
of Newlyweds. |
| Nickel:
|
This
is the poker slang for five hundred
dollars. If someone lost a nickel,
they lost $500. |
| Nit:
|
If
a player is playing tight but remains
passive and does not like confrontations,
then, you can call him a Nit. |
| Nut-Nut:
|
This
is the best possible hand, both low
and high when you are playing a high-low
split game. |
| O |
|
| Octopus:
|
Take
a guess! Well, if you get a pocket
pair of 8s, it’s octopus. |
| Offsuit:
|
If
you get a pocket pair of cards of
different suits, then, it is called
Offsuit. This is a bad hand because
the chances of Flush are also less. |
| Open-Ended:
|
If
you have a possibility of a 4-card
straight draw that can be completed
at either end such as a 5-6-7-8 as
opposed to 5-6-8-9 that can be completed
only from inside, it is called an
open-ended hand. |
| Outs:
|
Cards
that can improve your hand are called
Outs. Depending on your pocket cards
and the flop, you will know which
cards would make your hand stronger.
These cards are called Outs. |
| Overlay:
|
In
a guaranteed-prize-amount tournament,
if the overall pot is less than the
prize money, then, the poker room
will add money to fill in this deficit.
This is called overlay. |
| Overpair:
|
If
you have a card that is higher in
rank than any other card on the board,
it is called an Overpair. For example,
if you have Q in your hand and the
flop is 7, 9, 2, you got an Overpair. |
| P |
|
| Post-Oak
Bluff: |
If
someone bets very less amount when
compared to the pot size, just to
fool others into thinking that he
has an uncertain hand, it is called
Post-Oak bluffing. |
| Prop:
|
Prop
is the curtailed form of proposition
player. A prop is one who gets paid
to play poker so that the games are
going on in the poker room. However,
prop will play with his own money. |
| Q |
|
| Quads:
|
If
you have four-of-a-kind, then, you
call them Quads. |
R
|
|
| Rabbit
Hunt: |
In
a poker game, if one player wins the
pot before reaching the showdown,
some players will ask (don’t
ask why) to see the next cards to
know if they would have won in case
they waited a bit longer in the game
before folding. Rabbit hunting is
to bug the dealer to show the cards. |
| Rags
to Riches: |
Let’s
say you had a pocket pair of 3,4 off-suit
and you almost want to fold. But because
you are in the Big Blind, you just
check and the Flop turns out to be
A, 2, and 5. Wow! Your Rags (useless
cards) became Riches. |
| Railbird:
|
Simply
put, a railbird is one who stands
by the railing. When someone wants
to just see a poker game, they are
allowed to do so from behind a railing.
And someone who constantly does this
is called a Railbird. |
| Rainbow:
|
A
Rainbow is a situation when the board
is comprised of cards from all different
suits. For example, a Flop with 2
of Clubs, King of Spade, and 4 of
Diamonds can be called a Rainbow. |
| Ram-and-jam:
|
Just
like the word suggests, it is raising
and re-raising the bets aggressively
just to intimidate the opponents. |
| Ratholing:
|
Ratholing
refers to leaving a game and then
coming back into it with less amount
of money than you left the game with.
You do this when you have more money
and do not want to risk the all-in
corner. |
| Rockets:
|
If
you have got a pocket pair of AA,
then, due to the resemblance of shape,
it is called Rockets and sometimes
American Airlines. |
| Rope-a-dope:
|
This
is a bluffing technique when you start
playing slow and raise your bets low
feigning as if you have very weak
hand. |
| Rounder:
|
Rounder
is one who plays poker to make money
for living and hence regularly plays
at low and middle stakes. This is
same as Grinder. |
| Route
66: |
Well,
you should guess this. A pocket pair
of 6s is called Route 66. |
|
