Poker glossary: 50 poker terms explained simply
A quick A–Z of the poker words beginners hear most. Each term has a short, plain explanation; follow the links for full guides.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Add-on | Extra chips bought once at the end of a tournament’s rebuy period. |
| All-in | Betting all your chips. |
| Ante | A small forced bet from every player (or the big blind) before the deal, mostly in tournaments. |
| Bad beat | Losing a hand you were a big favourite to win. |
| Bankroll | Money set aside only for poker. |
| Big blind (BB) | The larger forced bet before the cards are dealt; also a unit for stack sizes. |
| Bluff | Betting with a weak hand to make better hands fold. |
| Board | The community cards on the table. |
| Bounty | Cash prize for knocking a player out of a tournament. |
| Bubble | The last place before the paid positions in a tournament. |
| Button (BTN) | The dealer position; acts last after the flop. |
| Buy-in | The cost to enter a tournament or the money you sit down with in a cash game. |
| Call | Matching the current bet. |
| Check | Passing without betting when no bet has been made. |
| Continuation bet (c-bet) | A bet on the flop by the player who raised before the flop. |
| Cutoff (CO) | The seat directly right of the button. |
| Draw | A hand that needs more cards to become strong, such as a flush draw. |
| Fish | A weak, usually recreational player. |
| Flop | The first three community cards. |
| Fold | Giving up your hand. |
| Freeroll | A tournament with no buy-in and real prizes. |
| Gutshot | A straight draw that needs one specific rank in the middle. |
| Heads-up | Two players only. |
| Hole cards | Your private cards. |
| ICM | Independent Chip Model: converts tournament chips into money value. |
| Kicker | The highest side card that breaks ties between equal hands. |
| Limp | Just calling the big blind before the flop instead of raising. |
| Muck | Fold your cards without showing them; also the pile of discarded cards. |
| Nuts | The best possible hand on the current board. |
| Offsuit | Two hole cards of different suits. |
| Outs | Cards that improve your hand to a likely winner. |
| Pot odds | The price of a call compared with the size of the pot. |
| Pot | All the chips bet in a hand, won by the winner. |
| Preflop | The betting round before the flop. |
| Raise | Increasing the current bet. |
| Rake | The fee the poker site takes from pots or tournament buy-ins. |
| Rakeback | Part of the rake returned to the player. |
| River | The fifth and last community card. |
| Satellite | A tournament where the prize is a seat in a bigger event. |
| Set | Three of a kind made with a pocket pair. |
| Showdown | Players show their cards to decide the winner. |
| Small blind (SB) | The smaller forced bet, left of the button. |
| Spin & Go | A fast three-player tournament with a randomly drawn prize pool. |
| Stack | The chips a player has. |
| Suited | Two hole cards of the same suit. |
| Tilt | Playing worse because of frustration or anger. |
| Turn | The fourth community card. |
| UTG | Under the gun: first to act before the flop. |
| Value bet | A bet made to get called by worse hands. |
| Variance | Short-term swings in results caused by luck. |
Learn more
Section titled “Learn more”What does ‘nuts’ mean in poker?
Section titled “What does ‘nuts’ mean in poker?”The best possible hand given the current community cards.
What is a kicker?
Section titled “What is a kicker?”The highest side card that breaks ties between players with the same pair, two pair or three of a kind.
What does UTG mean?
Section titled “What does UTG mean?”Under the gun: the first player to act before the flop.
What is tilt?
Section titled “What is tilt?”Playing worse because of frustration or anger, usually after a bad beat.