Poker Lingo
Poker lingo K - Q
Poker like all things has a unique language with words that have a meaning all of their own. To help you over come this hurdle we have compiled a useful user guide to the commonest phrases in use today. Download our free pdf booklet
K
Kansas City Lowball - Form of lowball poker in which the worst poker hand (2, 3, 4, 5, 7 of different suits) is the best hand. It’s also known
as Deuce to Seven.
Key Card - A card that gives you a big draw or makes your hand.
Key Hand - In a session or tournament, the hand that becomes a turning point for the player, either for better or worse.
Kicker - The highest unpaired side card in a players’ hand.
Kick It - Raise.
Kill Pot - A method to stimulate action. It is a forced bet by someone who has just won a pot(s).
Knock - Check.
Kojak - A hand that contains a King, Jack.
L
Ladies - Two Queens.
Late Position - Position on a round of betting where the player
must act after most of the other players have acted.
Lay Down Your Hand - When a player folds.
Lead - The first player to bet into a pot.
Limit Poker - A game that has fixed minimum and maximum betting intervals along with a set number of raises.
Limper - The first player who calls a bet.
Limp In - Enters the pot by calling rather than raising. (Usually a “Limp In” is when the first person to speak just calls the Big Blind.)
Live Blind - Where a player puts in a dark bet and is allowed to raise, even when no other player raises. Is also known as an “option”.Live Card(s) In Stud Games, cards that have not been seen and are presumed to still be in play.
Live Hand - A hand that could still win the pot.
Live One - A not so knowledgeable player who plays a lot of hands.
Look - When a player calls the final bet before the show down.
Loose - Is a player who plays a lot hands.
Lowball -Is a form of draw poker in which the lowest hand wins the pot.
M
Main Pot - The center pot. Any other bets are placed in a side pot(s) and are contested among the remaining players. This occurs when a
player(s) goes all-in.
Make or make the deck - is to shuffle the deck.
Maniac - An aggressive player who plays a lot of hands.
Middle Pair - In a flop game, when you make a pair with one of your face down cards and the middle card of the flop.
Middle Position - Somewhere between the early and late positions on
a round of betting (usually the 5th, 6th & 7th seats to the left of the
button).
Muck - To discard or throw away your hand. Also a pile of cards that are no longer in play.
Minimum Buy-In - The least amount you can start a game with.
Monster - A very big hand. In a tournament, a player who begins to accumulate chips after having a small stack is considered to be a
monster.
N = Nuts
N
No Limit - A game where players can bet as much as they like (as long as they have that amount in front of them) on any round of betting.
Nuts - The best possible hand at any point of the game. A hand that cannot be beat.
O
Odds - The likelyhood or probability that some thing will occur, in this
case the odds of making a hand from the cards dealt.
Offsuit - Cards of a different suit.
Omaha - A game in which each player is dealt 4 cards face down with 5 community cards. To make a hand, you must play 2 cards from your hand and 3 from the board.
Open - Make the first bet.
Open-ended Straight - Four consecutive cards whereby one additional
(consecutive) card is needed at either end to make a straight.
Open Card - A card that is dealt face-up.
Open Pair - A pair that has been dealt face-up.
Option - An option is a Live Blind made in the dark before the cards are dealt. If no one raises, the “option” player may raise the pot.
Out Button - A disc placed in front of a player who wants to sit out a hand(s) but stay in the game.
P
Paints - Face or picture cards (Jack, Queen and King).
Pair - Two cards of the same face or number value.
Pass - To fold.
Pay Off - To call on the final round of betting when you may or may not think you have the best hand.
Picture Cards - Face cards (Jack, Queen and King).
Play Back - To raise or re-raise another player’s bet.
Playing the Board - In flop games when your best hand is all five of the community cards.
Pocket - The down or hole cards.
Pocket Rockets - A pair of Aces in the pocket or hole.
Position - Where a player is seated in relation to the dealer, this establishes the player’s place in the betting order.
Post - When you post a bet, you place your chips in the pot. (You must post the Blinds.)
Pot - The money or chips in the center of a table that players try to win.
Pot Limit - This is a game where the maximum bet can equal the pot.
Prop - A person hired by the cardroom to start and maintain a card game see also shill.
Push - When the dealer pushes the chips to the winning player at the end of a hand. Can also mean when a dealer rotates to another table.
Put Down - To fold a hand.
Q
Quads - Four cards the same, i.e.4 Kings,
Qualifier - In High-Low games, it is a requirement the Low hand must meet to win the pot.