Poker Language - Some Common Poker Terms and Language and What They Mean

Poker uses a number of distinct terms and phrases. When playing at a table it is often helpful to understand these. There are almost enough to write a poker language dictionary! Some of the more common terms are listed below:

• Flop - most commonly associated with Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker, this poker language term refers to the first 3 open cards which are dealt.
• Turn - this is the fourth open card which is dealt in Texas Hold'em or Omaha poker.
• River - the final card which is dealt in a game of poker.
• Nuts - at a given point in a poker game, this refers to the strongest possible hand.
• Big blind - usually payable by the player sitting 2 spaces clockwise from the dealer, regardless of his cards. Blind refers to the fact that the player has to make it regardless of his cards, or as though he hadn't even seen them.
• Small blind - the amount payable by the player sitting next to the dealer, in a clockwise direction. It is often half the amount of the big blind.
• Bluff - in poker language, the art of representing (usually through betting patterns) that a player has a stronger hand than he actually does.
• Call - remaining in a hand by matching the previous bet.
• Raise - increasing the bet which has been made by the previous player. Other players then need to call or re-raise in order to remain in the game.
• Re-raise - the act of raising a previous raise.
• Fold - in poker language, this is the procedure followed by a player who does not wish to continue with his hand (he does not want to pay to stay in the hand - usually because he has weak cards or believes another player has stronger ones).
• Pot - this is the amount of chips / money which has been put into the center of the table and which the winning player will receive (subject to the rake).
• Rake - this is a commission taken out of the pot by the casino. Lower the rake, the more you make. The lowest rake is currently at PKR
• Straight - in poker language, a poker hand containing 5 consecutive cards.
• Flush - a poker hand containing 5 cards of the same suit.
• Pair - two cards of the same value.
• Trips - three cards of the same value.
• Quads - four cards of the same value.
• Kicker - the highest card in a player's hand which is not in a pair. It is quite often used to determine close hands - for example, a pair of Kings with an Ace kicker beats a pair of Kings with a 2 kicker.

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