30+ Poker Terms & Slang Phrases You Need To Know

If you’re a new player of poker then it’s worth getting to grasp a couple of common phrases and slang to feel like an insider. 

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Knowing it won’t make you a pro player but at least you’ll be able to comprehend what others are talking about and will like the game much more as a result. 

A 

ABC Poker – A predictable and fundamental strategy where you only play and bet firm hands, and fold everything else. Also renowned as playing by the book. 

Airball – Airballing or Airball is when a player is bluffing with complete air, signifying no real hand and no realistic chance of enhancing. 

Ammo (Ammunition) – Cites a player’s chip collection. When you’re out of ammunition, it signifies that you no longer have chips. 

Angle Shooting – When a player intentionally attempts to take advantage of others utilizing tactics that aren’t against the rules but are thought of as unethical. 

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You’ll normally discover this term in the phrase shooting an angle. An instance would be a player who hides their large chip denominations or falsely proclaims their hand at showdown. 

B 

Big Blind Special – When the player is the big blind succeeds the pot or makes a firm hand, normally because they were able to see the flop for free. 

If you’re a lover of poker shows, you’ll likely have heard this phrase more often than not. 

Big Slick – Cites to Ace-King of any suit – the hand you surely wish to play. AK also has multiple famous names beginning with the initials, such as AK-47, Korean Airlines, and more. 

Bloodbath – Sometimes utilized by poker pundits to narrate a circumstance where 2 or more gamblers are about to get involved in a large pot. 

This is normally a scenario where all involved players have a big draw or a big hand, so all chips may go into the center, resulting in numerous players being eliminated from the tournament or having their stacks eradicated. 

Brick – Utilized to describe a card that doesn’t fulfill any likely draws and is of no importance to a present hand. 

Busted – Busting refers to losing all your cash or chips. It can be utilized in a couple of distinctive circumstances, for instance, you can be busted from the tournament as you lose all your chips. The same could be mentioned about money games if you lose all the funds and you can’t reload anymore. It can also cite to a circumstance where a player loses their whole bankroll and has no funds to play poker anymore, so they are busted. 

C 

Clicking Buttons – Utilized to describe actions that don’t make sense and are done just for the sake of doing something, mostly citing players who don’t comprehend what they’re doing. The term originated from poker online, but it’s also utilized in live games nowadays. 

Computer Hand – A nickname for the beginning hand Q7o. Modern-day poker depends greatly on numbers and maths. People have come up with all types of calculations, particularly for the beginning hands. 

Someone worked out that the hand Q7o was the worst beneficial beginning hand with slightly positive equity against a random hand, which got dubbed computer hand. 

Cooler – Recounts a situation where both players have an extremely firm hand and no matter how they play it, all of their funds are likely to end up in the center of the pot. A cooler is an occurrence that can’t be avoided and ends up costing one of the players a ton of cash. 

Crabs – When you’re given any merge of pocket threes, you’re dealt crabs. The nickname probably originates from the fact the number 3 on the cards looks slightly like a sideways crab. 

D

Donkey – Refers to an individual who doesn’t know how to play well. Although there’s no dedicated definition of a poker donkey you’ll likely know it when you see it. 

Ducks – Pocket deuces(2s) are frequently referred to as ducks, thanks to the number two’s slight likeness to a duck. 

Dirty Stack – Describes a chip collection that includes a random number of blended denomination chips. 

It’s excellent manners to organize your chips accurately in piles, with the larger denominations in front of other players to view. 

F 

Fist Pump –  A motion utilized to celebrate succeeding a pot or another positive result at a table. It’s become quite usual to refer to other circumstances such as fist-pump shove – being excited to move all-in after your competitor bets into your monster. 

G 

Gappers – The term gapper is utilized to describe hole cards that have the likeliness to make straights. The amount of cards required in the center is the gap so if you have a hand such as 5-7, you have a one-gapper. 

Gears – Describes a player’s capability to adjust to various circumstances and discover the finest play accessible to them on the spot. Such a player is capable of switching gears as needed, just as if they were driving a car. 

GG – An abbreviation of a decent game, frequently utilized online to express gratitude for a great match. Ironically, it can also be utilized to make fun of weaker players or when someone makes an extremely bad play. 

Going South – When a player goes south in a game of poker, it signifies that they removed a chunk of their chips from the table to lower their stake. This is against the rules in the majority of games and can even be known as an angle shoot. All the funds that you win have to stay in play until you decide to get up and leave, so be certain to refrain from going south – regardless of what. 

H 

Hero –  If you see poker training videos, you’ll frequently come across the term hero. This refers to the player whose hand is being reviewed or the one you are concentrating on. 

High Society – a collection of high society refers to the collection of the greatest denomination chips accessible in the casino. Although the term is utilized by bettors in general, it was made popular in poker circles thanks to cult films. 

Hit & Run – this is when you determine to leave the game immediately after winning a large pot or numerous banks in a row. A few players use this to secure their profits but it’s thought of unethical behavior and shouldn’t be something you practice a ton. 

Horse – A player who is being backed by someone else to play in a money game or a particular tournament. The Horse offers their skills and the backer offers part of or the complete buy-in. Any surpluses are distributed as agreed between both parties. 

I

Idiot End – Refers to a straight or draw. When a player has a draw to a straight where they can only make the lowest straight possible, with 1 or more alternatives for larger straights, they are said to be drawing to the idiot end of the draw. 

J 

Jam – Another name for raising all-in, jam describes a circumstance where you put all your funds in the center of the pot. 

L 

Live One – Matching to a donkey, poker players utilzie the term live one to describe a player who’s not good at poker and is thus a simple target at the table. A live one normally plays a ton of hands has a considerably big bankroll, and doesn’t mind losing as long as they’re entertained. 

M 

Muck – Another name for folding is Muck. However, mucking is mostly utilized to describe a circumstance at a showdown where your competitor shows a better hand than you, so you determine to fold without presenting your holdings. 

N 

Nitfest – A term utilized to describe a game where all players are playing extremely cautiously and tightly. It normally has negative connotations, as a nitfest table offers extremely little excitement. 

Nosebleeds – In the poker universe, there are medium and low stakes, there are elevated stakes, and then there are the nosebleeds. The term is utilized to describe ultra-high stakes games where large sums of cash are on the line all the time. 

P 

Pwned – Another term originating from the online universe, pwned signifies pretty much the same thing as owned – but it’s slightly more than that. When you get pwned it signifies that you were either severely outplayed, or the other player got extremely lucky. Either way, a portion of your chips will be shifting across the table. 

R 

Rags – Utilized to describe bad and unplayable cards. This signifies anything that has an extremely small chance of improving and should be swiftly folded pre-flop. 

Runner Runner – This refers to a circumstance where you had to hit both cards on the river and the turn to make your hand. For instance, you have 2 clubs in your hand and there’s only 1 club on the flop, so to make your flush, you have to hit a club on the turn and another one on the river. Thus you have a runner-runner flush draw. 

Robusto – You’re possibly familiar with the term busto utilized when a player busts out of the tournament or loses all their funds. Robusto has a contrasting meaning. It describes someone who broadly hiked their poker bankroll by playing a ton or by winning a major tournament, so you’d say from Busto to Robusto. 

S 

Sailboats – Slang for pocket 4 as the number 4 looks similar to a sail. 

Set Mining – This phrase is when you can with a pocket pair with the only intention of flopping the set. 

Snowmen – Slang for pocket 8s, as the number eight looks like a snowman. You might also hear this hand being known as infinities and octopussy. 

Suicide King – This is slang utilized for the King of Hearts. If you glance closely, you’ll notice this card represents a king with a sword drawn through his head or heart. The term was also hyped thanks to the popular book The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King, which narrates elevated-stake games that poker elites played against the wealthy banker Andy Beal. 

T 

Tanking – Refers to a player who is analyzing and taking time ahead of making a decision. The name comes from the term time bank. You’ll frequently view players tanking when they’re faced with a large bet on the river or the turn where the decision can have a significant financial impact. 

W

Walking Chips – When a player has a big collection of chips in a tournament and takes a break to walk around the tournament area, they have walking chips as they have enough to be able to take a stroll and miss a couple of hands. Strategically, this isn’t a great decision. The only period it makes sense to do this is if you playing in a satellite (a tournament where all successors get a ticket to another event) and are warranted a win due to your significant stack. But even then, sticking at your table makes sense as you never know what might come up. 

Whiff – To whiff signifies to miss entirely on your draw. It’s just another term for missing out on the card you require. When you call a bet from another player holding a flush draw, for instance, but the turn card doesn’t assist you at all, you’ve whiffed.