Poker Terms and their meanings

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When you first start thinking about playing poker it can feel like everyone knows more than you. We’ve put together a list of some of the terms you might come across and what they mean so you won’t have to feel quite such a novice when you are first learning to play.

Bluff – when a person pretends to have better cards than they do and plays and bids as if they have.

Hand – the cards dealt to you, and the cards that you play using. So a complete hand will include cards that are visible only to you and others dealt face up which are visible to everyone.

Fold – to decide that your hand isn’t good enough and to stop playing that round.

Community cards – Cards which are placed face up on the table during a deal, and which all players in the game can use to help make their final hand.

Pot – the money which is bet by players in the game. This is the money which the winner of the round will take.

Chips – the round pieces which players are given in exchange for cash money before a game begins. Each chip represents a fixed amount of money.

Ante – a fixed amount that all players have to place in the pot. Antes are only used in some variants of poker.

Dead Money – money put into the pot by players who have folded.

Small blind – a small bet placed by the first player in a game where there is no ante. The amount is normally half of the amount that will be the size of the minimum bet on the first betting round.

Big blind – a blind bet which is normally a raise of an earlier blind called the small blind. In poker with limits set the big blind is normally the size of the minimum bet on the first round of betting.

Call/See – to put the minimum bet necessary into the pot to allow you to continue playing.

Raise – to raise the amount of money being played into the pot.

Hole – these are the cards which are dealt into your hand at the beginning – they are the cards which are dealt face down.

Flop – in Hold’em poker these are the first three community cards which are dealt at the same time.

Pot Limit – A game where the maximum bet is set by the size of the pot at the time.

Pot Odds – The amount of money in the pot at the time divided by the amount of money you must bet in order to call. Players often use this to decide if a pot offers enough reward to make it worthwhile to call.

River – the last card dealt in a hand of Hold’em or Stud poker.

Wild Card – A joker or other card chosen by agreement by the players (or by the dealer) as a card which can be used to represent any other card desired.

House – the casino or poker room hosting the event.

Rake – An amount of money taken from the pot and given to the house. Usually a percentage of the pot up to a maximum amount.

Table Charge / Seat Fee – a fee paid periodically by all players at the table – usually set as every half an hour or hour, and taken where the house doesn’t take a rake.

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