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Poker terms
The words you'll hear at the table and see in the app, in a sentence or two each.
A
- Add-on
- A one-time chance, usually at the break, to buy extra chips. It adds to the prize pool too.
- 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.
- 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.
B
- Bet
- Putting chips in when nobody has yet in this round. Everyone after you must call, raise or fold.
- 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.
- 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.
C
- Call
- Putting in enough chips to match the current bet and stay in the hand.
- 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.
- Check
- Passing without putting chips in. You can only check when nobody has bet yet in this round.
- Chip up
- Another way to say color up: trading small chips for bigger ones of the same value.
- 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.
- 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.
- Co-host
- Someone the host adds to help run the night. In Pokr Club they can do almost everything the host can.
- 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.
D
F
- Final table
- When a game played on several tables is down to one, that table is the final table.
- Flop
- The first three shared cards, dealt face up in the middle of the table together.
- Flush
- Five cards of the same suit, not in a row. The highest card decides between two flushes.
- Fold
- Giving up your cards and your share of the pot. The chips you already put in stay in the pot.
- Four of a kind
- Four cards of the same rank, plus any fifth card.
- Freezeout
- A game with no rebuys and no add-ons. Once your stack is gone, you're out.
- Full house
- Three of a kind and a pair together. This one is kings full of sevens.
H
- 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.
- Heads-up
- Down to two players. Heads-up, the dealer button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop.
- High card
- No pair or better. The highest card plays, then the next, and so on.
- 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.
K
- 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.
- Knockout
- Putting a player out of the game by winning their last chips. Every knockout counts, rebuys included.
L
- 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.
M
- Muck
- The pile of folded cards. To muck your hand is to give it up without showing it.
N
- Nuts
- The best possible hand with the shared cards on the table at that moment.
P
- Pair
- Two cards of the same rank, plus three others.
- 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
- Pot
- All the chips put in during a hand, in the middle of the table. The winner of the hand takes it.
R
- Raise
- Making the current bet bigger. Everyone after you must at least match the new amount to stay in.
- Rake
- A cut a cardroom takes from each pot or buy-in. Home games usually have none, and Pokr Club never takes one.
- Re-raise
- Raising again after someone else has raised. It is also called a 3-bet.
- Rebuy
- Buying back in after you're knocked out, while the host allows it. It adds to the prize pool like a buy-in.
- Regulars
- The players who come back night after night. They are usually the first ones invited.
- River
- The fifth and last shared card. One more round of betting follows it.
- Royal flush
- Ace, king, queen, jack and 10, all the same suit. Nothing beats it.
S
- Season
- A league's run of games with its own standings, from the first game to the champion.
- Seat draw
- Assigning seats at random at the start, so nobody picks their spot.
- 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.
- Square up
- The end of the night: the host collects what's owed and pays the places, so everyone leaves even.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- Straight flush
- Five cards in a row, all the same suit.
T
- Three of a kind
- Three cards of the same rank, plus two others.
- 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.
- Turn
- The fourth shared card, dealt after the betting on the flop.
- Two pair
- Two different pairs, plus a fifth card.
W
- 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 runs the game. What you play for is up to you.