Poker terms, in plain English
6 min read
A glossary for new players and hosts: the basics, the actions, the hands from best to worst, running a game, home game words and Pokr Club words.
New to the game, or hosting your first night? Every word you'll hear at a home game, one or two plain sentences each. Tap a term to get a link straight to it.
The basics
A to Z.
- Ante
- A small amount every player puts in the pot before the deal, on top of the blinds. It gives every pot something worth playing for.
- Big blind
- The larger forced bet, posted by the player two seats left of the button. It sets the smallest amount anyone can bet in that hand.
- Big blind ante
- One ante for the whole table, paid by the player in the big blind, instead of everyone paying their own. It keeps the game moving.
- Flop
- The first three shared cards, dealt face up in the middle of the table together.
- Hand
- One deal, from the blinds to the pot being pushed to the winner. It also means a player's cards, and the best five they can make.
- Kicker
- A side card that breaks a tie between equal hands. If two players both have a pair of aces, the one with the higher next card wins.
- Nuts
- The best possible hand with the shared cards on the table at that moment.
- Pot
- All the chips put in during a hand, in the middle of the table. The winner of the hand takes it.
- River
- The fifth and last shared card. One more round of betting follows it.
- Showdown
- After the last round of betting, the players still in show their cards. The best hand wins the pot.
- Small blind
- The smaller of two forced bets, posted by the player just left of the dealer button before the cards are dealt. It is usually half the big blind.
- Turn
- The fourth shared card, dealt after the betting on the flop.
Actions
A to Z.
- All-in
- Putting every chip you have into the pot. You stay in to the showdown, but you can only win as much as you matched from each player.
- Bet
- Putting chips in when nobody has yet in this round. Everyone after you must call, raise or fold.
- Call
- Putting in enough chips to match the current bet and stay in the hand.
- Check
- Passing without putting chips in. You can only check when nobody has bet yet in this round.
- Fold
- Giving up your cards and your share of the pot. The chips you already put in stay in the pot.
- Muck
- The pile of folded cards. To muck your hand is to give it up without showing it.
- Raise
- Making the current bet bigger. Everyone after you must at least match the new amount to stay in.
- Re-raise
- Raising again after someone else has raised. It is also called a 3-bet.
- Straddle
- An optional extra blind, usually twice the big blind, posted before the deal by the player left of the big blind. That player then acts last before the flop.
Poker hands, best to worst
From best to worst.
- Royal flush
- Ace, king, queen, jack and 10, all the same suit. Nothing beats it.
- Straight flush
- Five cards in a row, all the same suit.
- Four of a kind
- Four cards of the same rank, plus any fifth card.
- Full house
- Three of a kind and a pair together. This one is kings full of sevens.
- Flush
- Five cards of the same suit, not in a row. The highest card decides between two flushes.
- Straight
- Five cards in a row, in any suits. An ace can be high (A K Q J 10) or low (5 4 3 2 A).
- Three of a kind
- Three cards of the same rank, plus two others.
- Two pair
- Two different pairs, plus a fifth card.
- Pair
- Two cards of the same rank, plus three others.
- High card
- No pair or better. The highest card plays, then the next, and so on.
Running a game
A to Z.
- Add-on
- A one-time chance, usually at the break, to buy extra chips. It adds to the prize pool too.
- Blind levels
- The schedule the blinds follow. Each level lasts a set time, and the blinds go up when it ends.
- Bounty
- A set prize for knocking out a player. It is collected with the buy-in and paid once, through the host at the end of the night.
- Break
- A pause between levels for a stretch, a snack and any add-ons. The clock stops until play starts again.
- Bubble
- The last place before the paid places. Going out on the bubble means finishing one spot short of a prize.
- Buy-in
- What each player puts in to play. It buys a starting stack and goes into the prize pool.
- Cash game
- A game where the chips stand for their value, the blinds never go up, and players can sit down or leave at any time.
- Chip up
- Another way to say color up: trading small chips for bigger ones of the same value.
- Chop
- Splitting the prize pool between the players left, by agreement, instead of playing to the end. The split can be even or follow the chip counts.
- Color up
- Taking the smallest chips out of play once the blinds no longer need them, and swapping them for bigger chips of the same value.
- Final table
- When a game played on several tables is down to one, that table is the final table.
- Freezeout
- A game with no rebuys and no add-ons. Once your stack is gone, you're out.
- Heads-up
- Down to two players. Heads-up, the dealer button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop.
- Knockout
- Putting a player out of the game by winning their last chips. Every knockout counts, rebuys included.
- Rebuy
- Buying back in after you're knocked out, while the host allows it. It adds to the prize pool like a buy-in.
- Tournament format
- Everyone buys in for the same stack, the blinds go up on a clock, and play goes on until one player has every chip. Places are paid from the prize pool.
Home game words
A to Z.
- Co-host
- Someone the host adds to help run the night. In Pokr Club they can do almost everything the host can.
- Host
- The person running the night: the invites, the structure, the clock and the money at the end.
- House rules
- The rules this table plays by, agreed before the first hand: the buy-in, rebuys, how the prize pool is split, and what happens when a card is shown by mistake.
- Rake
- A cut a cardroom takes from each pot or buy-in. Home games usually have none, and Pokr Club never takes one.
- Regulars
- The players who come back night after night. They are usually the first ones invited.
- Seat draw
- Assigning seats at random at the start, so nobody picks their spot.
- Square up
- The end of the night: the host collects what's owed and pays the places, so everyone leaves even.
- Waitlist
- The line for a seat once a game is full. When someone drops out, the next person on the list gets the seat.
Pokr Club words
A to Z.
- Chips
- Pokr Club's achievements, drawn as real poker chips and earned by playing. The chips in front of you at the table are your Stack.
- Levels
- Tonight's blind levels: Level 1, Level 2 and so on, shown on the clock. In Pokr Club, a level always means the blinds.
- Pokr Hand
- Your career in Pokr Club: ten tiers named for poker hands, from High Card to Royal Flush. Each tier is a milestone, and a tier never drops.
- High Card: play your first game
- Pair: play 5 games
- Two Pair: finish in the money
- Three of a Kind: make it heads-up (finish 1st or 2nd)
- Straight: win a game
- Flush: win 5 games
- Full House: win a league season, or win 15 games
- Four of a Kind: win 25 games
- Straight Flush: win 50 games
- Royal Flush: win 100 games
- Season
- A league's run of games with its own standings, from the first game to the champion.
- Stack
- The chips in front of you at the table. Counted in big blinds, like 24 BB, it shows how long your stack will last.
Related guides
Run it in Pokr Club
Your chip values, blinds and payouts, set once. The clock and the square-up follow from there.
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