Poker Terms and Glossary - Online Poker Dictionary
Action - Refers to the decisions that a player can make. For instance, if a player decides to bet, they are taking an ‘action’.
Ante - A small, enforced bet, posted by all players at the start of each hand. Antes are used mainly in Stud games. Variants such as Hold’em use ‘blinds’ instead.
All-In - To commit all of your chips, when making a bet or call.
Backdoor - To hit the cards needed to make a straight or flush, on the turn and river. Also see ‘Runner’.
Bad Beat - When a hand with a mathmatically high chance of winning loses to one that is a massive underdog. Often, it can be argued that the person with the underdog hand should not have played it in the first place.
Big Blind - The larger of the two forced ‘blind’ bets used in games like Hold'em and Omaha. The big blind is usually the size of a full first round bet. Also see ‘blind’ and ‘small blind’.
Blank - A card dealt on the board that doesn't improve a player’s hand in any significant way.
Blind - A forced bet (used to ensure there is always something in the pot to play for), posted by players before any cards are dealt. Usually posted by players to the left of the dealer button.
Board - Another name for the five community cards dealt in Hold’em and Omaha.
Bottom Pair - Term for when a player pairs a hold card with the lowest community card.
Burn - To discard the top card from the deck, face down, before each new community card is dealt. This is used to prevent cheating, by ensuring that players do not catch a glimpse of the next card.
Button - A white disc, used to signify which player is the nominal dealer. If a player is described as being ‘on the button’, it means that they are the dealer for that hand.
Buy - If a player is trying to ‘buy’ the pot, it usually means they are attempting a bluff, with the intention of making others fold.
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