How to Play poker

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Poker Glossary:

Learn the lingo and chat like a pro!

Action: A player’s turn to play
Ante: A small portion of the bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the beginning of a new hand
All In: When you run out of chips during a hand but do not want to fold, you can go all-in. This means that you have the potential of sharing in the pot up to and including your last bet to that pot but that you are not entitled to anything after that
Avatar: This is a computer gaming phrase that has been adapted for online gambling – it refers to an image or figure that is used to represent a person
Away from Table: When playing a Poker tournament, you are not allowed to ‘sit out’ a hand but you can be ‘away from table’. This is for when you leave the table, have a time-out or lose your internet connection
Backdoor: Catching both the turn and the river card to make a drawing hand
Bad Beat: Wild luck – when a large underdog hand beats a heavily favoured hand
Bet the Pot: This term is used in Pot Limit games and is when your bet matches the current amount in the pot.
Bear: A conservative player
Big Blind: The larger of two blinds used in a Texas Hold’Em or limit game
Big Slick: A nickname for the Ace and King whether suited or not
Blind: A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt
Blank: A board card which does not affect the standings in the hand
Board: All community cards in a Texas Hold’Em game
Bottom: A pair with the lowest card on the flop
Bubble: The point at which a player must bust out before all of the other players can win money
Burn: To discard the top card from the deck face down. This is done between the betting rounds and is security against any player seeing the next card.
Button: The marker, usually a white acrylic chip, that is used to indicate who is the dealer
Buy In: Amount of money needed to enter a tournament
Call: To put in an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise
Calling Station: The player who calls a lot but who does not raise or fold much
Cap: The last raise permitted on a betting round
Chop: An agreement between two players with blinds to take their blinds back
Check: This is when there is no bet on the table and you do not wish to place a bet – you may only check if there have been no prior bets
Clean Cut: A card which will make your hand the best
Collusion: This is a form of cheating where two or more players join together to get an unfair advantage by sharing information. This is not acceptable at African Palace Poker
Come hand: A drawing hand
Complete Hand: A set of five cards – a straight flush, full house, four of a kind or a straight flush
Community Cards: These are the face up cards that are shared by all players in Texas Hold’Em and Omaha games
Crack: To beat a big hand
Cripple the Deck: A player who has most or all of the cards wanted
Cut Off: A position or player who acts before the button
Dead Blind: This occurs in a situation where a player has missed their blinds and wishes to re-enter the game before another player posts the Big Blind. The player wishing to re-enter the game must post both of the blinds. The small blind is then referred to as a dead blind and it does not go towards calling a bet
Dead Money: The money contributed by a player who is no longer in the pot
Dog: A bad hand or a bad card
Down Cards: These are the face down cards that are dealt to the players round the table – they are also called hole cards
Draw: To play a hand that is not good yet but which may be in of the right cards come along
Draw Dead: To try and make a hand that will not win the pot – this is not a good position to be in
Drop: To drop your hand means that you decide not to go any further with it – similar to mucking the cards
Duck: Deuce or two
Extra Blind: A blind put in by a player entering the game or change position at the table
Face Down: These are dealt cards that are face down on the table and not visible to other players
Face Up: These are the cards that are dealt face up on the table and which can be seen by the other players
Fast Play: To play aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible
Fish: A poor, unskilled or new player. This has led to the expression ‘Don’t tap the aquarium’
Flop: The first three community cards that are put out face up all together
Flush: Any five cards in a hand that are all from the same suit
Fold: To withdraw from a hand
Fold Equity: The extra value you get from a hand when you force an opponent to fold
Forced Bet: This is a mandatory bet
Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank – a good hand
Foul: A hand that may not be played for one reason or another
Free Card: A turn or ricer card that does not have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand
Free Roll: A Poker tournament term, where the entry fee, the stakes or both are waived. In some non-free roll tournaments, the house may guarantee a minimum size pool
Full House: A hand with a combination of three of a kind and a pair
Gap Hand: A starting hand with cards that are more than one rank apart
Gunshot Straight: A straight filled inside
Hand: A set of cards used by a player during a single round. This term also refers to a single round of shuffling, dealing and betting
Heads Up: A pot that is being contested by two players
Head to Head: A game where only two players may participate
High Card: The card with the highest rank
High / Low: A variation of a game where the pot is split between the best hand and the worst hand (hand of the five lowest cards). This is often five, four, three, two and one (also called the wheel) as the lowest possible hand
Hold’Em: Also called Texas Hold’Em. This is one of the most popular Poker games
Hole Cards: The down cards in a player’s hand
In: The term for an active player, one who has not folded
Inside Straight: This term refers to when a player has four of the five kinds needed for a straight, with the missing card being inside the sequence rather than at either end. The player then gets the missing card, making the ‘inside straight’
Jam: To move ‘all in’ in a no-limit game
Kicker: An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near equivalent hands
Leak: A weakness in a player’s game that causes them to win less money
Limp: To call
Live Blind: A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. They can then raise when the action gets round to them.
Maniac: A player who does hyper aggressive raising, betting and bluffing
Made Hand: A hand to which you are drawing
Main Pot: The initial pot of money
Minnow: A player who jumps into the game without any money
Monkey: A player who gets taken easily
Muck: The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. It also refers to the act of returning a losing hand to the dealer face down
No Limit: The player that can bet any amount, depending on how many chips he or she has
Nuts: The best possible hand given to the board
Offsuit: A Texas Hold’Em starting hand with two cards of different suits
On the Button: This term means that you are in the dealer position in Texas Hold’Em and Omaha games
Out: A card that will make your hand win
Outrun: To beat
Overcard: A card higher than any other card on the board
Overpair: A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop
Pass: This can be used in place of saying check or fold, depending on the context
Pat: A hand that a player makes on the flop
Playing the Board: This means that you have used all of the community cards in a game of Hold’Em as your best hand
Pocket: The unique cards that only the player can see
Pocket Pair: A Texas Hold’Em starting hand with two cards of the same rank making a pair. Also called Pocket Cards
On Tilt: Playing while emotional
Quads: Four of a kind
Rabbit: A player who is like a fish but is more timid and who asks a lot of questions
Rainbow: A flop that contains three different suits, therefore no flush can be made on the turn
Rake: The amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer
Raked Hand: A rank hand is one in which the player has been dealt two cards and the game then produces a Rake. Irrespective of whether the player has decided to wager or not, he or she is recognized as having taken part in the hand and therefore qualifies
Rank: The value of a card
Re-Buy: This refers to the act of getting more chips during a game. This cannot be done during the hand and only applies to Real Money and tournament play
Reducing: This is the act of removing chips from a table and then returning with fewer chips. This is considered to be poor Poker etiquette
Registration: This is the process of joining African Palace Poker, where you are asked to select a screen name and a password and provide your location and email address.
Ring Game: A regular Poker game played with money instead of chips
River: The fifth and final community card put face up by itself
Rock: A player who plays tightly but creatively
Royal Flush: The best possible high hand – this is a straight flush from ten through to Ace of the same suit
Satellite: A tournament that does not award cash but rather a seat to another tournament
Second Pair: A pair with the second highest card on the flop
Showdown: This happens after the final bet where all of the players show their hands or muck
Side Pot: This a pot that is created separately from the main pot when a player goes all-in. The side pot is the pot that is available to those players who have not gone all-in and there can be more than one side pot in a game
Single Table Tournament: This is a Poker table at which you may have to buy-in a set. All of the seat buy-in money foes into the prize pool and this is then returned to the top finishers per the payout table on the tournaments page. A fee is also normally required to play at this table. Players are staked an equal number of chips and play until one player has won all of the chips. These types of tournaments begin as soon as all of the seats at the table have been filled.
Sit Out: African Palace Poker allows you to hold your seat while not participating in some hands. We may limit the amount of time that you may sit out and in blind games, you will be asked to post the equivalent of a blind if you return to that game prior to the blind reaching you.
Slow Play: To play a strong hand weakly so that more players stay in the game
Small Blind: The mandatory bet that has to be posted by the player to the immediate left of the dealer in Texas Hold’Em and Omaha games
Straight: This is a hand in which the player has five hands in rank order. The suit does not matter
Straight Flush: A straight of cards all in the same suit
Stud: This is a generic terms for when the players receive their first card or cards followed by the dealing of some up cards which are solely for the use of the player.
Suited: A Texas Hold’Em starting hand
Tell: A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about his cards or his game
Three of a Kind: A hand consisting of three cards of the same rank
Toke: A small amount of money that is given to the dealer by the winner of the pot
Tournament Buy-In: The coast to enter a tournament, which is usually returned to players via the prize pool
Tournament Fee: The small fee that the house charges to enter a tournament
Trips: Three of a kind
Turn: The fourth community card
Two Pair: A hand in which the players has two pairs of cards
Under-raise: This occurs when a player raises a prior bet but then has to go all-in to do so with an amount that is less than a full raise
Wheel: A straight from Ace through to five