Poker Glossary

A compact dictionary of 42 terms for beginners and news readers.

Ante

A small forced bet posted by all players before the hand.

All-in

Betting all remaining chips.

Bankroll

Money set aside specifically for playing poker.

Big blind (BB)

The larger forced blind posted preflop.

Bluff

Betting or raising with a weak hand to make opponents fold.

Board

The community cards shared by all players.

Button (BTN)

Dealer position; acts last postflop.

Buy-in

Amount required to sit in a cash game or enter a tournament.

Call

Matching the current bet.

Check

Passing the action when no bet is facing you.

Cut-off (CO)

Seat immediately before the button.

Draw

A hand that needs more cards to become strong (e.g. flush draw).

Equity

Your share of the pot based on chance of winning at showdown.

Flop

The first three community cards.

Fold

Discarding your hand and giving up the pot.

Freeroll

Tournament with no buy-in but real prizes.

GTO

Game Theory Optimal — a balanced, hard-to-exploit strategy.

Heads-up

Playing one-on-one.

Hole cards

Your private cards.

Implied odds

Extra money you expect to win on later streets if you hit.

Kicker

Side card used to break ties between similar hands.

Limp

Just calling the big blind preflop instead of raising.

MTT

Multi-table tournament.

Nuts

The best possible hand at a given moment.

Open-raise

The first raise preflop.

Outs

Cards that improve your hand to likely win.

Pot

Chips in the middle to be won.

Pot odds

Ratio of call cost to potential pot winnings.

Rake

Fee the poker room takes from pots or tournaments.

Rebuy

Buying more chips in a tournament that allows it.

River

The fifth and final community card.

Satellite

Tournament that awards seats to a bigger event.

Semi-bluff

Bet with a draw that can improve if called.

Showdown

Revealing cards to determine the winner.

Small blind (SB)

The smaller forced blind preflop.

Soft vs hard play

Collusion-like soft play is against rules; play every opponent fairly.

Starting hand

Your two hole cards before the flop.

Tilt

Emotional state that leads to poor decisions.

Turn

The fourth community card.

Value bet

A bet made to get called by worse hands.

Variance

Short-term luck swings around long-term expectation.

WSOP

World Series of Poker — major live tournament series.