Poker Glossary

The poker glossary below is a useful resource for players to use as a reference when playing poker online or offline. Featuring all the terms you are likely to see in online chat or hear in a land based environment when playing poker.

All In

A player who runs out of chips during the course of a hand is said to be “all-in.” He may be entitled only to win that portion of the pot which existed at the time he went all-in (see also Main Pot and Side Pots).

Betting Limits

The amount a player may bet or raise on any turn is set by the betting limits of the game. For example, a 3-6 table requires bets or raises to be $3 for the first two rounds of betting, and $6 for the last two rounds of betting. Likewise, a 4-8 table requires bets or raises to be $4 and $8 for the first two and last two rounds respectively.

Betting Round

One round of betting. There are four betting rounds in a given hand: before the flop, after the flop, after the turn, and after the river.

Big Blind

The big blind is made by the player immediately to the left of the small blind, and is equal to the minimum bet. For example, the big blind in a 3-6 game is $3, and in a 4-8 game, $4.

Blinds

The blinds are required bets made by the two people to the left of the dealer button before any cards are dealt, and serve to get money into the pot initially.

Burn Cards

In a live game, the dealer is required to deal one card off the top of the deck face down into the muck immediately prior to dealing the flop, the turn card, and the river card. These are called “burn cards.”

Buy-in

When a player first sits down at the table and buys chips, it is called a “buy-in”. The minimum buy-in for True Poker is 10 times the small bet or small blind in Pot/No limit. For example, in a 3-6 game, the minimum buy-in is $30. After a player has bought his initial chips and wishes to buy more, he can then purchase any quantity of chips provided it is $10 or greater. However if a player goes all-in and runs out of chips, they must purchase a full minimum buy-in amount.

Call

Once a bet has been made in a given round, if a player matches the bet (i.e. does not raise or fold), it is a “call.”

Check

If there has not been a bet made in a given hand, a player can “check,” which means he is not betting and is letting his turn pass without increasing the amount in the pot.

Chips

Circular color-coded discs used for betting, chips are available in denominations of $1, $3, $5, $25, $100, $500.

Fold

If a player elects to fold, he withdraws from the hand and forfeits all bets he has placed up to that point in the hand. Typically a player will fold when he does not want to call a bet in order to stay in the hand.

Hand

One complete game beginning with the posting of the blinds and concluding with one or more players winning the pot.

Main Pot and Side Pots

If a player runs out of chips in the course of a hand, (i.e. he goes “all-in”) the pot is split into a “main pot”, which is the pot that existed up to the point any players went all in, and a “side pot”, which is that portion of the pot to which the all-in player does not participate, and cannot win.

Muck Cards

All discarded cards lying face down in front of the dealer, consisting of all folded cards and all “burn cards.”

Pot

The total number of chips that are bet in a given round and any prior rounds. Once betting in a round is complete, the total chips bet are moved into a pile near the centre of the table.

Raise

Once a bet has been made in a given round, any subsequent increases to the amount bet is called a raise. If the bet is increased after it has been raised, this is called a re-raise.

Rake

The house charges a commission — the “rake” — as a percentage of the total pot won at the end of most hands. This represents the only source of revenue for the house, since all winnings go to the players. The rake amount is never more than $3 and is determined by the number of players at the table, and the amount in the total pot. .

Small Blind

The small blind is made by the player immediately to the left of the dealer button and is equal to half of the minimum bet, rounded down to the nearest dollar. For example, the small blind in a 3-6 game is $1, and in a 4-8 game, $2.

Split Pot

If two or more players have the same hand at the showdown, the pot is split equally between them. If the pot cannot be split equally, the odd dollar is paid to the player next in line for the Blinds.

Table Stakes

A convention of poker, followed in most card rooms , which dictates that a player can only play with those chips he has at the beginning of the hand. In other words, a player is not allowed to buy more chips during the course of a hand nor may they remove chips from the table during or between hands, unless they exit the game. (A player similarly may not exit and quickly return with out less chips.)