Poker Slang

A - Z list of some poker slang.

add-on
1. A last buy-in optionally permitted in a rebuy tournament, usually with no minimum chip requirement. That is, at the point of the add-on, every player still in the tournament can get another buy-in, generally receiving for the add-on in a larger amount of tournament chips than any of the rebuys. The add-on usually comes after a predetermined amount of time, say one hour. 2. The act of adding on, or the point in a tournament at which players can add on.
agent
The partner of a thief in a cheating scheme.
aggressive
Pertaining to a style of play characterized by much betting, raising, and reraising. This is not the same as loose play. Some of the best players are very selective about the cards they play, but when they do get into a pot, play those cards aggressively.
Alcohol.
I'll call.
all in
Out of chips, due to having put one's remaining chips into the current pot, while other active players still have more chips and have the option of further betting. He can't call the whole bet because he's all in.
ammunition
Chips. Houseman, I need more ammunition is a request for more chips.
ax
The percentage of a pot kept by the management to pay expenses
barnburner
Very good hand
BB
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for big blind.
B-game
The second-highest game in a particular club. Compare with A-game, big apple.
big player
A big-limit player, or someone who plays in large no-limit games.
bluff
1. Bet a weak hand with the hope of driving the other players out. Sometimes done with the intention of losing (and thus being forced to show the hand), which makes it a form of advertising. See advertise. 2. The act of bluffing. That was a good bluff. For both meanings, also called snow.
bring-in
1. The amount required to open a pot. What's the bring-in is asked by a player who wants to know how much is the minimum he can bet, or how much is the required amount to open the pot. 2. The player who opened the betting.
bubble
The position just out of the money in a tournament
buck
1. A marker used in games with a house dealer to indicate the deal position. Once upon a time, an actual buck knife was used as the marker, hence the name. Usually found now as part of the phrase pass the buck, that is, refuse to deal when it is one's turn to deal, passing the deck instead to the next player to the left. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning shift responsibility to someone else, and has found a place in most collections of famous quotations and sayings with Harry Truman's well-known slogan, The buck stops here. 2. (vt) Go up against [(usually) a better hand], in the sense of an inferior hand trying to beat an obviously better hand. For example, a player who has, in seven-card stud, only a pair of jacks, playing against someone with an exposed pair of aces, is said to be in the process of bucking the aces. The term is also found as part of the phrase buck the odds. See also chase, worst of it.
button
1. The disk or other marker that indicates the dealer position in a game dealt by a house dealer. 2. The actual dealer position (or, usually, the player in that position) in a game dealt by a house dealer. I opened the pot, and the button raised.
caller
Someone who calls a bet or raise. I bet $100 and got five callers.
crab
Three (the card)
crabs
In hold 'em, 3-3 as one's first two cards. See crab.
crack
Beat
daub
Markings put on cards with paint, ink, or some other fluid. Also called cosmetics white on whiteis a form of daub. Compare with shading.
drum
What players sometimes compare a tight player to, as, He plays tighter than a drum.
end
1. A share given by a cheater to an accomplice. 2. Any share of a poker pot. I made a seven on the last card and I got the low end of the pot. 3. The bet made during the final round of betting, as, for example, $2-$4 hold 'em with $8 on the end permits a last round at double the stakes.
floorman
The employee who seats players, brings new decks, keeps order, settles disputes, and sometimes sells chips to players.
foot
Poor hand. I got a hand like a foot.
freeze out
Bet in such a way as to prevent another player getting into a pot. They bet so much that they froze me out of the biggest pot of the night.
g1
Shorthand for good one. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.
gap
1. A missing card in a hand, particularly in the middle of an inside straight 2. Empty seat. When a table has one or more empty seats, the dealer or one of the seated players may try to entice a prospective participant this way: Siddown. There's a gap in the trap for a sap.
gc
Shorthand for good call. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.
good
1. Not foul, that is, describing a legitimate, playable hand, one that has not run afoul of the house rules. 2. See make the blind good 3. In lowball, smooth I've got a good eight means the hand is probably an 8-5 or 8-4. 4. Describing a, or the, winning hand, often said by the loser of a pot with respect to the hand that has beaten him, before he has shown his own hand. Saying That's good essentially surrenders the pot. See Good hand.
good game
One in which you expect to win a lot of money, presumably because the game is full of worse players than you.
Good hand.
A verbal acknowledgment by a player on the showdown that another player has the best hand.
hard-play
Show no mercy in one's play against another player, that is, do one's best to beat the opponent
h/e
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for hold 'em Also HE.
horse
Someone playing for you, with your money, or with money owed you. I'm losing, but I've got a horse in the 20 who's way ahead means that I have a part (or all) of someone's action (definition 4) in the 20-limit game.
Hit it!
1. Let's go. That might be, depending on the situation, I'll call your large bet, I'll draw cards, I'll play in this pot. 2. I raise.
horn
A drink. How about a horn? is a suggestion to join someone in a libation.
IGHN.
I go home now, in RGP speak. The expression is used in e-mail, and is also heard at the table. The implication is that a good hand held by the speaker just got beat, probably by a longshot. Also see YGHN.
LL
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for low limit. From an RGP posting: The Pastime Club has mostly LLHE.
load
A decent session's winnings. He's back for another load.
lollapalooza
1. A freak hand, often five specific, but random, cards, allowed to win once a night
looloo
lollapalooza.
loose
Playing liberally
loose juice
Booze.
loose player
One who plays loose.
loosey
A looseplayer.
loosey-goosey
1. A loose player. 2. (adv) Playing in a loose fashion.
loser
1. A losing player. 2. A player losing. (There is a distinction. Definition 2 may be just a temporary situation, while 1 implies permanency.) I'm loser today. (The implication here is that, yes, today I'm losing, but that will change.) 3. A losing session. I booked a loser my last three plays. 4. A hand that cannot (or probably cannot) win in a particular situation. I can't call
low
1. In a high-low splitgame, the low hand
luck
An illusory factor that losers think is the only reason for winning, and that winners know is the main determinant for winning only in the short run.
n1
Shorthand for nice one. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online.
nc
Shorthand for nice call. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.
nh
Shorthand for nice hand. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom. The usual response is ty.
nhwps
RGP shorthand for Nice hand
n/l
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for no-limit. You might see a posting on rec.gambling.poker that starts, I was playing n/l h/e at the Pasatiempo last night, and this hand came up...
NLH
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for no-limit hold 'em.
no-brainer
A hand so good that it can be correctly played even by someone with no brains. In lowball that would be a good 6 or better, and in high, aces full or better.
no gypsy
In the larger double-limit games, usually above 15-30, with a live blind, the situation in which players are not permitted to open by just calling the blind, that is, opening with a bet the same size as the blind. Thus, the minimum opening bet is always two bets. See gypsying in.
No room.
I have a full house.
No vacancy.
I have a full house.
nursing
1. Fondling one's cards. 2. Playing extremely conservatively, usually with a small stack
overpair
In hold 'em, a player's pair higher than any card among the community cards. For example, you start with J-J, and the flop is 9-5-2.
pace
The speed of a game, with respect to its action. Fast pace describes a game with a lot of betting and raising, performed by most of the players
philosopher
In English slang, a thief or cheat at cards.
piece
A portion of one's action given away in exchange for help on the buy-in
p/l
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for pot-limit. You might see a posting on rec.gambling.poker that starts, I was playing p/l h/e at the Pasatiempo last night, and this hand came up...
player
1. Any participant in a poker game. There are eight players at each table. 2. Any participant in a particular pot. Even after the raise, there were still five players in the pot. 3. Someone who knows what's going on in the cardroom milieu, and usually implying someone making his living playing cards. Who's that guy putting all the chips in the pot? Some live one? Nah, he's a player.
pocket
1. The first two cards in hold 'em, that is a player's private cards (as opposed to the community cards or flop). I had a king in the pocket. 2. The downcard or downcards in a stud game. 3. (adj) Pertaining to the first two cards in hold 'em, usually a pair, as, for example, a pocket pair or pocket rockets.
position
1. Where a player sits in relation to the others at the table. 2. Where a player sits in relation to the dealer, or, sometimes, in relation to the blinds. Position 1 is generally the position to the left of the current dealer, although, in a three-blind traveling blind game, position 1 could be the position to the left of the big blind, that is, position 1 is three positions to the left of the dealer. Mike Caro reckons position as the number of players remaining to act. Thus, in an eight-player game, the position to the left of the dealer is position 7, while the dealer position is position 0. The compiler of this dictionary has extended this in his writings to blind games, wherein the position immediately to the left of the big blind is position 7, the dealer is position 2, the middle blind is position 1, and the big blind is position 0 (because no players act after him). Also see early position, late position. 3. Where a player sits in relation to a particular player. Sitting to someone's left is generally termed good position, and to his right bad position. 4. Good position with respect to the other players at the table. You can open with a worse hand when you've got position. 5. Sitting in good position with respect to a particular player, usually sitting one or two seats to the player's left. I had position on the live one all night, but I never held any hands.
possible
1. (In high poker, a hand that needs one card to be completed, as four cards to a flush or straight. For example, in seven-card stud, after the last card is dealt, you have face up three spades in sequence, possibly even four. Together with your three downcards, there exists a great possibility that you have a straight or better. A player may have board cards that rank higher than yours, such as a pair, but that player is afraid of your possibilities. When it is his turn to initiate the betting, he might say, Check to the possible. 2. (adj) In stud games, the description, often by the dealer of the hand, of a hand that could, based on its exposed cards, be part of a complete hand, such as a flush or straight. For example, in a five-card stud game, one player has four spades showing
post
Put up a missed blind. If you miss playing the blind in a particular round, probably because you were away from the table or because you just came into a game and the blind has already passed you, the house dealer asks if you want to post, that is, put in as many chips as are in the blind you missed. When the action gets to you, you have already called one bet, and, if the pot has not been raised, you do not have to put any more chips in the pot. (You can, of course, raise in turn.) This is not the same as an overblind or kill, in which the action temporarily skips the player who has put the blind chips in the pot, and which causes the limit to increase.
rabbit
1. A weak player. 2. Short for after the rabbit or follow the rabbit. A form of draw, usually lowball, in which a player gets a bonus from the other players for winning two pots in a row. For example, in a $4-to-go no-limit lowball game, each player puts up $20, which goes into a kitty. Whoever wins two pots in a row gets the kitty. This tends to stimulate action, because when a player wins a pot, she is likely to loosen her requirements for the next pot to try to get the kitty. She may kill the next pot to try to increase her chances of winning the next pot and to keep out the two-card draws.
raiser
Someone who raises. Check to the raiser.
sax
6 (the card, or the lowball hand).
say
1. Announce in turn whether one is betting or passing. 2. (n) Such an announcement
SB
Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for small blind.
sponsor
1. Someone buying you a drink or meal. If someone offers you a drink at the table, when you call the cocktail waitress, you can say, Bring me a drink
squeezers
Special cards with suit and rank printed at the corners, so these can be seen by just barely squeezing back the corners. (This is the ordinary card format now, but many years ago, cards had no markings in their corners.)
street
In stud (and sometimes hold 'em), the dealing of a round of cards, usually preceded by its number, as third street, fifth street, and so on.
super-bluff
A successful bluff against the holder of a strong hand. For example, I have a pat 7-4 in no-limit lowball. You and I both have a lot of chips. Someone opens for $4, I raise $40, and you come in cold behind me. The first player does not call. After the draw, I bet $80. With only a momentary hesitation, you raise $200. I think you must have been slow-playing (see slow-play) a monster, and fold for the raise. You chuckle, and show a flash of paint in your hand as you muck it. You have just run a super-bluff.
Time!
1. A request by a player for more time to contemplate his action. In some clubs, unless a player calls time, others may act behind him, and if they do, his hand may become dead. 2. The verbal request by a house employee for the players to pay their time.
Treedlededee
Three cards, please. This is heard at the time of the draw in a draw poker game.
tx
Shorthand for thanks. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom. Usually typed in response to nh.
ty
Shorthand for thank you. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an onlin cardroom. Usually typed in response to nh.
tyvm
Shorthand for thank you very much. Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.
up
1. Winning. How much you up? 2. In high poker, two pair, when referring only to the higher pair
ups
In high (draw, usually), the top pair in a two-pair hand. If two players have two pair, one might say, What are your ups? wanting to know whether the other has, for example, aces up or kings up.
Up scope!
I raise.
Upstairs!
I raise
Up the slope!
I raise
yo
yoleven.
Yoleven
11, in respect to the size of a bet. Probably comes from craps dealers who pronounce the word clearly, loudly, and distinctly to distinguish amid all the casino noise from the similar sounding seven. Often they drag it out to eeyoleven, and this is sometimes shortened to eeyo. Also, yo.
Z-game
The smallest game in a cardroom or casino. Opposite of A-game.
zombie
A poker player with no tells (see tell), one who has a poker face, shows no emotion, and otherwise exhibits no behavior to give away his holdings.
zuke
toke. This term is generally used only by dealers.

From: The Online Pokers

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