GLOSSARY
On this page we have provided you with the definitions for a list of
some of the terms often used in poker, as well as a few computer related
terms.
- Add-on: Certain tournaments offer all players the option
to purchase additional chips at a specific period during the course of
the tournament. Generally an add-on purchase is offered during a rebuy
tournament, after the end of the rebuy phase (directly after the last
rebuy level has ended).
- Advance Action: To help keep the pace of the games moving
nicely, we have provided advance action capabilities. When you know
what you will do next, you can use these to indicate your next action
prior to the bet reaching you. These advance action options will
always present the correct options for the context of the play. Using
Advance Action buttons will help keep the pace of the game exciting.
- All-in: When you run out of chips during a hand, but don't
wish to fold, you are all-in. This means you have the potential to
win a share of the pot up to and including your last contribution to
that pot. You cannot share in any bets added beyond that point.
These bets form a side-pot. The all-in is also used for
situations where a player in a hand loses connection to the server.
- Ante: The small stake required from each player to
participate before a hand is dealt. The ante is used in 7 Card
Stud and 7 Card Stud High/Low on our site. In Hold'em
and Omaha, a blind is used as opposed to an ante. The
ante is not part of a player's bet whereas a blind is.
- Avatar: A term from computer gaming for an image or figure
used to represent a person.
- Away-from-table: In tournaments, you may not "sit out".
Rather, you may be "away-from-table" which means your are dealt into
every hand, posting blinds when your turn, and then folded when there
is a raise before the flop, or a bet after the flop. When you are in a
tournament and need to leave, time-out, or lose your connection, you
are automatically marked as "away-from-table".
- Bad Beat: to be a heavy favorite in a hand and lose to an
opponent who was a severe underdog statically speaking
- Bet the Pot: This term is used in pot limit games.
It means your bet matches the current amount in the pot. If, when
your turn to bet, the pot was at $217, and you bet the pot, your bet
is $217.
- Big Blind: In games using a blind to put money in
play, the big blind is generally equal to the lower amount of the
stakes for that game. In a $5/$10 game, the big blind is $5. The big
blind follows the small blind, which is put up by the first
player to the left of the dealer.
- Blind: This term refers to the required bets, called the
small blind and the big blind used to put money into
play. The blinds are mandatory bets and rotate around the table.
- Board: The community cards in Hold'em are
collectively known as the board.
- Bring-in: In ante games, the bring-in is a
mandatory bet, normally half the lower stake value. The player with
the lowest face-up card must either bet the lower stake, or the
bring-in to start the hand.
- Buddy List: A feature of our poker room allowing players
to identify other players, with permission, as buddies. Buddies will
be marked to reflect which table they are playing at, making it easier
for you to find the people you enjoy playing poker with.
- Burn: In physical poker rooms, the top card of the deck is
discarded prior to each round of dealing. The intent is to minimize
the risk of cheating by knowing the next card. There is no
possibility of this happening in our poker room, therefore we do not
burn cards.
- Button: A marker, usually disk-shaped, to indicate which
player is the virtual dealer. The button is used in games where
position relative to the dealer is important.
- Buy-in: There is a minimum chip value required to sit at
any given table. Normally the minimum is 10 times the higher stake
for that game. For some special games, that value may be higher. The
minimum value required to be seated is called the buy-in. The amount
of money you sit down in a game with. All games have a minimum buy-in,
typically 10 times the big blind.
- Call: When a player matches the prior bet on the table,
that action is termed the call.
- Cap: The last permitted raise in a betting round is
called the cap. We allow three raises beyond the initial bet in
limit games. The third raise is the cap.
- Check: If there is no bet on the table and you do not wish
to place a bet, that action is termed a check. You may only check
when there are no pending bets.
- Client: The term for the software that you download to
your computer, allowing you to interact with the poker room's servers.
- Collusion: A form of cheating where two or more players
attempt to gain an unfair advantage by sharing information. We do
not tolerate cheating.
- Community Cards: Face up cards on the table that
are shared by all players are termed community cards. Texas Hold'em
and Omaha always have community cards. In stud games, a
community card is dealt in place of the last down card when too
few cards remain in the deck for each player to receive a down card.
- Dead Blind: In a situation where you have missed your
blinds and wish to re-enter the game before your turn to post the
big blind. You must post both blinds and the small blind
is termed a dead blind, meaning it does not count towards calling a
bet.
- Dead Hand: A hand no longer in the game.
- Door Card: The first face-up card dealt with the
two down cards in 7 Card Stud games.
- Down Cards: The face-down cards dealt to a player.
- Drawing Dead: This describes the situation when a player
is trying to draw a card to complete a hand when there is already a
hand that will beat it, even if made.
- Drop: To drop your hand when you decide not to go further
with your hand; to return your cards to the muck. Same as fold.
- Face Down: Dealt cards that are not visible to other
players.
- Face Up: Dealt cards that are visible to all players.
- Fifth Street: The term for the fifth card in 7 Card
Stud and the fifth board card in Hold'em.
- Flop: In Texas Hold'em, the set of 3 face-up
community cards; the first three cards on the board, all dealt at
the same time.
- Flush: Any 5 cards in one hand that are all the same suit.
- Fold: Withdraw from further participation in the current
hand. Also see drop.
- Forced Bet: A mandatory bet. In certain games, a player
is required to bet, having sat-in the game. Also see bring-in.
- Four of a Kind: A great hand ... all 4 of one rank. For
example, 4 Tens.
- Fourth Street: The term for the fourth card in 7 Card
Stud and the fourth board card in Hold'em.
- Freeroll: This term applies to poker tournaments where the
entry fee, the stakes, or both the entry fee and stakes are waived. In
some non-freeroll tournaments, the house may guarantee a minimum prize
pool.
- Full House: A hand in which you have a combination of 3
of a kind, and a pair.
- Graphics: The term for the artwork used to present you
with the images of a poker room, including the table, chairs, avatars,
cards, and chips.
- Hand: A set of cards used by a player during a single
round. Another word for a single round of shuffling, dealing, and
betting.
- Heads Up: A game where only two players remain in
contention for the pot.
- Head to Head: A game where only two players may
participate.
- High Card: The card with the highest rank.
- High/Low: A variation of a game where the pot is
split between the best hand and the worst hand. The worst hand is
comprised of the 5 lowest cards. Most poker rooms, including this
one, consider 5, 4, 3, 2, A (the wheel) as the lowest possible
hand, despite it also being a straight.
- Hold'em: Also called Texas Hold'em. One of the
most popular poker games. Each player gets 2 down cards and can use
3,5, or 5 of the community cards.
- Hole Cards: The down cards in a player's hand.
- In: A term for being an active player; one who has not
folded.
- Inside Straight: The term applied when a player has 4 of 5
cards needed for a straight with the missing card being inside
the sequence rather than at either end, and gets the missing card.
For example, a player holding 3, 4, 5, 7 needs a 6 to complete the
straight. Getting that 6 is termed "making the inside straight."
- Jackpot: A bonus opportunity to win under specific
circumstances set by the poker room.
- Kicker: The term for the card used to break ties between
two of a kind or between Two Pair.
- Live Blind: A blind that counts towards any bet you
call or raise.
- Main Pot: The initial pot of money. When one or
more players go all-in, a side pot is created for each all-in player.
- Muck: As a noun, this refers to the pile of folded cards
and discarded cards. As a verb, at showdown time, the act of
returning a losing hand to the dealer face-down.
- Multi-Table Tournament: A tournament where players at more
than one table compete, starting with equal numbers of chips, until
one player has won all the chips. Prize payouts are a function of the
number of entrants, and are posted on the tournaments page.
Multi-table tournaments have a posted start time, and require
registration in advance.
- No Limit: A variation of the betting rules in which each
bet is unlimited up to the number of chips a player has on the table
(NL).
- Omaha: A game in which each player receives 4 face-down
cards and shares 5 community cards. The winning hand must
use exactly 2 down cards and 3 community cards. This game also has a
High/Low variant.
- Omaha High/Low: This game allows players to compete for a
pot split between the highest and the lowest hands using 2
down cards and 3 community cards. A player may use
different sets of cards to make up the best high and the best low
hands.
- On the button: This term means you are in the dealer
position in Texas Hold'em and Omaha games. The dealer position is
marked by a "button" with a "D" in the center.
- One on One: See head to head.
- Option: This term refers to the option given the big
blind player the option of raising before the flop.
- Overcard: In stud, if you assume your opponent has
a pair of sevens, then every card above seven in your hand is
considered an overcard.
- Pair: Also called two of a kind. This is a hand
where the player's best hand is made up of 2 cards of the same rank.
- Pass: Can be used in place of either pass or
fold depending on the context.
- Play Chips: The chips used for play money games. Play
chips have no monetary value.
- Playing the Board: Using all the community cards in
Hold'em as your best hand.
- Pocket Cards: The term for the two down cards at
the start of the hand.
- Pot: The chips available to win in any given hand.
- Pot Limit: A variation on betting where each player may
bet up to the current amount in the pot (PL).
- Profile: A term describing the information a player may
enter about himself/herself that may be available, at the player's
option, to other players in the poker room. Your profile may include
your favorite hobby, favorite web site, favorite quote, and more.
- Rake: The amount of money, in chips, taken by the house as
the service fee.
- Raise: The act of increasing the amount bet by a prior
bettor.
- Rank: The value of a card. The rank of the 2 of Spades is
2. The rank of the Queen of Hearts is Queen. Rank value increases
from 2 through 10, followed in order by Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.
In High/Low games, the Ace may be used both for its high rank
and as the lowest rank card.
- Rebuy: To get more chips during a game but not during a
hand that you are in. This applies to real money and tournament play.
- Reducing: The act of removing chips from a table and
returning immediately with fewer chips. Reducing is considered poor
etiquette, and is not permitted in our poker room.
- Registration: We ask you to select a screen name to
serve as your poker room identity, a password, and to provide a
location and email address to create an account. This is your
registration.
- River: The fifth and final community card. This
card is also known as fifth street.
- Round: This refers to the dealing of a set of cards and
associated betting. For example, the dealing of the river and
the bets that follow are a round.
- Royal Flush: The best possible high hand. This is a
straight flush from 10 through to Ace of the same suit.
- Screen Name: The identity you select by which you are
known in the poker room. We only allow one player to use a screen
name so please understand if the one you have selected is already
taken.
- See: This is a synonym of call. It is often used
in conjunction with the term raise, as in "I'll see your $10 and raise
you $10."
- Self-install: The term used to describe how the file you
download from our web site is automatically installed and configured
on your computer when you double-click on the file.
- Server: The computer, or set of computers, providing a
service to client computers. In this case the service is the poker
room.
- Showdown: After the final bet, when all players show their
hands or muck, is known as the showdown.
- Side Pot: This is a pot created when a player goes
all-in. The side pot is the pot available to those players not all-in
at that point. There can, on occasion, be more than one side pot.
- Single Table Tournament: A poker table at which you may
buy-in to a seat. All buy-in money goes to the prize pool. The prize
pool is returned to the top finishers per the payout table on the
tournaments page. A fee is normally required to play at this table.
Players are staked to equal numbers of chips and play one player has
won all the chips. Single table tournaments begin as soon as the table
has filled.
- Sit Out: We permit you to hold your seat at a table while
not participating in some hands. Under most conditions, we limit the
time you may sit out to a small number of hands. In blind
games, you may be asked to post the equivalent of the blind if you
return to your seat prior to the blind reaching you. To sit out you
click a check box on the table screen. To return, you unclick the "sit
out" check box.
- Small Blind: In Hold'em and Omaha, this is
the mandatory bet required of the player to the left of the dealer.
- Stakes: See buy-in.
- Straight: A hand in which the player has five cards in
rank order. Suit does not matter. For example, 8, 9, 10,
Jack, Queen.
- Straight Flush: A straight all of the same suit.
- Stud: The generic term for poker games where players
receive the first card(s) down followed by some up cards where those
up cards are exclusively for the use of that player. There may
be a further down card as in 7 Card Stud.
- Suit: One of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades (in rank
order).
- Table Stakes: The value of the chips with which a player
sits down at a table. Also a term for no-limit poker.
- Texas Hold'em: The poker game where each player gets two
down cards followed by five community cards face-up.
- Third Street: The nickname for the third card in any game
of Stud.
- Three of a kind: A hand consisting three cards of the same
rank.
- Tournament Buy-In: The cost to enter a tournament. All
buy-in money is returned to the players via the prize pool.
- Tournament Entry-Fee: A small fee the house charges to
enter a tournament.
- Trips: A nickname for three of a kind.
- Turn: The nickname for the fourth community card in
Hold'em and Omaha.
- Two Pair: A hand in which the player has two pairs of
cards.
- Under-raise: This occurs when a player raises a prior bet
but has to go all-in to do so. If the player under-raising · going
all-in to raise · has less than ¸ of the expected raise for that
betting round, the betting round is locked. The term locked here
means that any player who has already acted in the round (checked,
called, or raised) may no longer raise. They may only call or fold.
However, players who have yet to act (betting has not reached them yet)
may raise the expected raise for that betting round, after calling.
If the under-raise is ¸ or more than the expected raise, the lock rule
does not apply.
- Up Card: A card dealt face up, so that all players
may see it.
- Wheel: A nickname for
|
|
American
Roulette