Poker Glossary
Call - If a player wants to call, they must match the size of the current bet. In games such as Stud, it was common for the phrase ‘see’ to be used instead, but this is now considered dated.
Calling Station - The name given to a player that tends to call most hands, seldom making a raise or a fold.
Case - A term used to refer to the last card, of a specific rank, still left in the deck. For instance, if one player has trip 9’s and the other trip 7’s, the player with 7’s will be hoping to hit the ‘case’ 7.
Center Pot - Another name for the main pot in a particular hand. Only used if there is also a ‘side pot’.
Check - If no previous bet has been made, a player can decide to check, meaning that they want to stay in the hand but don’t want to invest any more chips at this point. If a player bets after them, they must either fold, call or raise (see below).
Check Raise - A strategic move, in which a player checks (see above), hoping that someone after them will make a bet. The player then counters that bet with a raise.
Cold Call - A term used to describe when a player calls two separate bets made before them.
Community Cards - The five cards dealt face-up in Hold'em and Omaha, available for all players to use. Also known as ‘the board’
Complete Hand - The name given to any hand that uses all five cards. Examples include flushes, straights and a full house.
Connector - Refers to cards that are only one apart, 8-9 for instance.
Counterfeit - When a card appears on the board that dramatically reduces the strength of a hand.
Crack - When a strong starting hand, usually a high pair, is outdrawn be a lower hand.
Dealer - The person who ‘deals’ the cards. As dealing in online poker is automatic, the ‘dealer’ button is used simply to denote who the nominal dealer is, so that the blinds are posted by the correct players.
Dog - Short version of ‘underdog’.
Dominated Hand - A starting hand, usually in Hold’em, that is significantly behind that of an opponent, especially if both have one of the same ranked hole cards. For instance, a player with A-9 is dominated by an opponent with A-Q.
Draw - If a player is trying to draw, it means they are hoping to improve their hand by hitting certain cards. For example, if a player has two hole cards of the same suit, and there are also two cards of that same suit on the board, the player is ‘drawing’ to a flush. Draw is also a term used to describe certain types of poker game, such as 5 Card Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw.
Draw Dead - If a player is drawing dead, there are no cards left in the deck that will help them beat the hand of their opponent.
A-B | C-D | E-I | J-O | P-R | S | T-Z |
Back to top
