Poker Glossary - Learn all poker terms here

The most complete, human-friendly poker glossary on the web. Browse A–Z, or use the search to jump straight to a term. Where helpful, we link to deeper guides on Poker.ug.

A

Action: The opportunity to act (check, bet, call, raise, fold). “It’s your action.”
Add-on: Extra chips you may buy during a break in some tournaments.
Aggression: Playing with bets/raises more than calls; a key winning style when timed well.
Air: A very weak hand; often used for pure bluffs.
All-in: Betting all remaining chips. Side pots created if others cover you.
Angle shooting: Unethical tricks that bend rules (not allowed). See Table Etiquette.
Ante: Small forced bet paid before the deal to seed the pot. In Hold’em you often see blinds, sometimes antes too. See Hold’em Rules.

B

Backdoor: A draw needing both turn and river (e.g., backdoor flush needs two suited cards to come).
Bad beat: Losing despite being a favorite, often after getting all-in ahead.
Bankroll: The money set aside only for poker. Manage it well: see Bankroll Management.
Big blind (BB): Larger forced bet before the deal. Many sizes in this wiki use “x” of the BB.
Big slick: Nickname for A-K.
Blank: A turn/river card that doesn’t change the board texture meaningfully.
Blinds: Forced bets (small blind, big blind) that drive preflop action.
Blocker: A card in your hand that reduces combos of strong hands your opponent can have (e.g., holding A♠ blocks nut flushes).
Bluff: Bet/raise with worse hand hoping better hands fold. Math: see Odds & Outs.
Board: The community cards on the table.
Boat: Slang for full house. See Hand Ranks.
Button (BTN): Dealer position; acts last postflop — the best seat. See Position.

C

Call: Match the current bet to continue.
Cap: Maximum number of raises in a fixed-limit street; also the rake cap in cash games.
Capped range: A range unlikely to contain the strongest hands (e.g., caller rarely has AA/KK).
Case card: The last remaining card of a rank (the “case Ace”).
C-bet (Continuation bet): Raiser’s follow-up bet on the flop/turn. Sizing: see Bet Sizes.
Check: Decline to bet when no bet is facing you; pass action.
Check-raise: Check, then raise when an opponent bets; strong value or semi-bluff.
Chop: Split the pot when hands or best five cards are identical.
Cold call: Call facing a raise without having invested chips previously in that round.
Combo: A specific two-card combination (e.g., A♠K♦ is one combo of AKo).
Community cards: Shared board cards used by all players.
Complete: Small blind calling to the full big blind amount when unopened.
Connector: Consecutive ranks (J-T, 9-8). “Suited connectors” are the same suit.
Cooler: Strong hand vs slightly stronger hand (set vs higher set) that is hard to avoid.
Cutoff (CO): Seat to the right of the Button; a powerful late position.

D

Dead money: Chips in the pot from players who have already folded; also weak callers’ chips that are easy to win.
Deal: Distributing cards to players.
Deep stack: Large effective stacks (e.g., >100bb) enabling multi-street play.
Deuce-to-seven: Lowball variant where 7-5-4-3-2 (off-suit) is best. See Variants.
Donk bet: Out-of-position player leads into the preflop aggressor. Situational tool.
Draw: Hand that can improve to a strong one (flush draw, straight draw). See Odds & Outs.
Dry board: Few draws available (e.g., K-7-2 rainbow). Good for small c-bets.

E

Effective stack: The smaller of the involved stacks; the max you can win/lose in that hand.
Equity: Your chance to win the pot at showdown vs a range. Learn the math in Odds & Outs.
Equity realization: How much of your theoretical equity you actually realize (position increases it; being OOP lowers it).
EV (Expected Value): Long-run average profit of a play. Positive EV decisions win over time.

F

Family pot: Many players see the flop.
Favorite: The hand or range ahead in equity.
Fold equity (FE): The chance your opponent folds to your bet/raise.
Fifth street: Another name for the river.
Flat call: Call without raising in a spot you could have raised.
Float: Call a street with the plan to bluff later.
Flop: First three community cards.
Flush: Five cards of the same suit. Tie-breakers by highest cards. See Hand Ranks.
Fold: Release your hand; you cannot win the pot.
Four-bet (4-bet): The next raise after a 3-bet.
Freeroll: Tournament with no buy-in or a bonus situation where only you can improve to the nuts.
Full house: Trips + a pair. Compare trips first, then the pair. See Hand Ranks.

G

Gap concept: You need a stronger hand to call a raise than to make the first raise.
Gutshot: Inside straight draw; 4 outs.
GTO (Game Theory Optimal): Balance of value/bluffs to avoid being exploited. A north-star, not a must for beginners.

H

Hand history: Record of actions in a hand; great for study.
Hand ranks: Order of hands from Royal Flush to High Card. See Hand Ranks.
Heads-up (HU): Two players in the hand or match.
High card: No pair; top five ranks decide. See Hand Ranks.
Hijack (HJ): Seat two to the right of the Button.
Hit and run: Win a big pot and leave immediately; frowned on in some rooms.
Hole cards: Your private cards. Hold’em deals two; Omaha deals four. See Hold’em and Omaha.

I

ICM: Independent Chip Model; tournament $EV model for pay jumps.
Implied odds: Extra chips you expect to win later when your draw hits. Learn more in Odds & Outs.
IP (In position): Acting after your opponent on postflop streets. See Position.
Isolation raise (iso): Raise larger to play heads-up vs a limper. See Preflop Basics.

J

Jam: Shove all-in.
Jackpot: Casino bonus (e.g., bad beat jackpot) funded by a small drop from pots.

K

Kicker: Side card that breaks ties with the same pair/trips. See examples in Hand Ranks.
Knockout (KO): MTT format where you earn a bounty for eliminating players (PKO = progressive KO).

L

Late position: CO and BTN; most profitable seats. See Position.
Limp: Just call the big blind preflop instead of raising.
Linear range: Value-heavy range with hands in order of strength (as opposed to polarized).
Live cards: Cards unlikely to be dominated by opponents’ cards.
Loose: Playing many hands; the opposite of tight.

M

Made hand: A complete hand (pair+). Contrasts with a draw.
Maniac: Very aggressive player; wide bets/raises.
Medium-strength hand: Top pair weak kicker / second pair—often checks or small bets for pot-control.
Mixed game: Rotates variants (e.g., H.O.R.S.E.). See Variants.
MTT: Multi-table tournament.

N

Nit: Very tight player; plays too few hands.
NLHE: No-Limit Hold’em — the most popular format. See Rules.
Nuts: The best possible hand at the moment.

O

Offsuit (o): Two cards of different suits (KQo).
Omaha: Four hole cards; must use exactly two with three board cards. See Omaha Rules.
Open limp: First player enters the pot by calling the BB; usually weak.
Open raise: First raise when pot is unopened. Sizes in Bet Sizes.
OOP (Out of position): Acting before your opponent. Harder to realize equity. See Position.
Outs: Cards that improve you to a likely winner. Math tricks: Odds & Outs.
Overbet: Bet > pot size; strong when you have nut advantage. See Bet Sizes.
Overcall: Call after someone already called the same bet.
Overpair: Pocket pair higher than the top board card.

P

Pair: Two cards of the same rank. See tie-breaks in Hand Ranks.
Passive: Calling far more than betting/raising.
Pay jump: Tournament increase in prize money between places.
PFR: Preflop raise — stat or action indicating you raised before the flop.
Polarized range: Strong value + bluffs; few medium hands. Often used for big sizes.
Position: Where you act relative to others; acting last is powerful. See Position.
Pot: Chips being played for. Also side pot when stacks differ.
Pot odds: The price you’re getting to call; compare to your equity. See Odds & Outs.
Pot-limit: Bet/raise cannot exceed the current pot size (e.g., PLO).
Preflop: All action before the flop. See Preflop Basics.
Probe bet: Bet from the player who was OOP on the prior street after the aggressor checks back.
Push/fold: Short-stack tournament strategy of shove or fold only.

Q

Quads: Four of a kind. See Hand Ranks.

R

Rag: Low, uncoordinated card.
Rainbow: Board with three different suits (no flush draw on flop).
Rake: House fee taken from pots or tournament entries.
Range: All possible hands a player can have; core concept in modern poker.
Rebuy: Buy more chips after busting or dropping below a threshold (events with re-buys only).
Redraw: Draw to an even stronger hand after improving (e.g., turn a straight with a flush redraw).
River: Fifth community card; last betting street.
Rock: Very tight player (nitty).
Runner-runner: Hitting both turn and river to complete a hand (back-to-back).

S

Satellite: Qualifier tournament that awards seats/tickets to bigger events.
Small blind (SB): Smaller forced bet to the left of the dealer.
Semi-bluff: Bluff with drawing equity (e.g., flush draw).
Set / Trips: Set=pocket pair + one on board; Trips=board pairs + one in hand.
Short stack: Small effective stack (e.g., <25bb). Strategy changes a lot.
Showdown: Players reveal hands after the final betting round.
Side pot: Extra pot created when one player is all-in and others keep betting.
Squeeze: Re-raise after a raise and one+ calls; puts big pressure on callers.
SPR (Stack-to-Pot Ratio): Effective stack divided by pot size; guides commitment.
Staking: Backing a player for a share of results; agree terms in writing.
Straddle: Optional blind bet posted before cards are dealt; increases pot size (room-specific rules).
Straight: Five cards in sequence. A can be high (…-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5). See Hand Ranks.
Suited (s): Two cards of the same suit (AJs, 98s).
Suited connectors: Consecutive, same suit (JTs, 98s). Play well deep, especially in position.

T

TAG: Tight-aggressive style; solid baseline for beginners.
Tell: Physical/behavioral clue that hints at hand strength (don’t angle shoot).
Three-bet (3-bet): Re-raise preflop or postflop. Sizing rules in Bet Sizes.
Three of a kind: Also “trips” or “set”. See tie-breaks in Hand Ranks.
Tilt: Playing poorly due to emotion. Take breaks. See Play Safe.
Time bank: Extra thinking time (common online; sometimes live clock extensions).
TPTK: Top pair, top kicker.
Trap: Slowplay a strong hand to induce bets.
Turn: Fourth community card; big inflection street.
Turbo: Fast tournament structure with short levels.

U

UTG (Under the gun): First to act preflop; tightest opening range. See Preflop Basics.
Uncapped range: A range that can still include the strongest hands.

V

Value bet: Bet to be called by worse hands.
Variance: Normal ups/downs due to luck. Manage with Bankroll rules.
Villain: Shorthand for your opponent in hand histories.
VPIP: “Voluntarily Put $ In Pot.” Online stat showing how loose a player is.

W

Walk: Everyone folds to the big blind preflop.
Weak-tight: Tight preflop, folds too much to pressure postflop.
Wheel: Five-high straight (A-2-3-4-5).
Window card: Top card seen when the flop is spread.

X

x / x-bet / x/r: Shorthand in notes: x = check; x/r = check-raise.

Y

YTD: Study note: your results so far this year; useful for bankroll review.

Z

Zero-equity bluff: Bluff with almost no outs; used on scare cards when fold equity is high.
Zoom / Fast-fold: Online fast-fold pool format; new table each hand.

Site Directory

Strategy

Play in Uganda

Resources

About

Information only. We do not run games or accept bets. In Uganda, casinos and most betting are 25+.