Poker LEXICON

A

Add-on: Some tournaments allow the addition of chips for a price set in advance and for a certain time limit (often until the first break). These extra chips are called an add-on. This is an optional and, in most cases, one-time only option. 

Aggressive: An aggressive player is a very active player, playing a lot of moves and having a tendency to bet and raise often.

Air: In the first sense of the word: nothing, just air. Used to express the fact that a player has nothing, at best a simple high card.

All-in: The action of betting all of your chips.

ANJ : Created on January 1, 2020, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) replaces Arjel, with enhanced powers to regulate gambling.

Ante: This is the mandatory minimum bet placed by all the players at the table before the cards are dealt. Antes can appear in tournaments after a certain number of levels have been played.

Average: The average amount of stacks based on the number of players remaining in the tournament.

B

Backdoor: Refers to a poker combination that happens to be completed with the turn and the river, therefore with less probability. Hitting your backdoor draw means you got the cards you needed on the turn and the river.

Bad Beat: A term often (or even too often) used to express the fact that one lost a hand when the odds at the start were in one’s favor.

Bad Run: Just like the bad beat is a bad hand, the bad run is a bad series. It's when bad luck seems to follow you and you face a string of defeats.

Bankroll: This is a player’s monetary capital. Bankroll management is knowing how to manage your money in order to avoid bankruptcy.

Bet: This is the act of betting in a hand.

Big Blind: This is the largest mandatory bet, placed by the second player to the left of the button.

Blind: The minimum bet placed by the two players to the left of the button before the cards are dealt. This rule is valid in most poker variants.

Bluff: The most famous term in poker worldwide. The real question is: will you be able to do it?

Board: These are the community cards that are “shared” by all players and visible on the table, namely the flop, the turn and the river.

Bounty: When a special bounty is placed on a player’s head for their elimination. Celebrity bounty tournaments, for example, can be organized with rewards for their elimination.

Brag: When a player particularly likes to publicly brag about his exploits. Does it remind you of anyone?

Brick: Term used for a card, usually on the turn or on the river, which brings no change in the hand and no improvement for anyone.

Bubble: Moment of the tournament when there is only one player left to eliminate to reach the paid places. Bubble-boy means the player who fails in this dreaded place, since they are the last to leave without money. 

Bust: when a player loses all their chips and finds themself eliminated from the tournament.

Button: The button is used to designate the position of the dealer and the direction in which the hand will take place. The button is often represented by a large plastic disk with “dealer” written on it.

Buy-in: In tournaments, this is the amount to pay to participate, its entry fee. In cash games, the buy-in represents a stack, in general it is the amount of 100 big blinds.

C

Call: Refers to the fact of simply paying the bet of one’s opponent to continue the play of the hand, without betting further.

Cash Game: Game of poker which is played directly in money. As opposed to tournaments, where all players pay the same amount and play until they are eliminated, cash players can “re-buy” by taking out money that will be converted into chips, and entering and exiting the game when they wish.

C-Bet or Continuation Bet: When a player has already bet preflop and continues to bet on the flop, this is called a continuation bet.

Check: When a player decides to pass and does not bet. The action then passes to his opponent.

Chip leader: Term referring to the player with the greatest number of chips of the tournament, or of the table.

Chip Tricks: these are the more or less stylistic chip manipulations that players have fun doing, like rolling chips around their fingers or mixing them perfectly with one hand.

Chip: A small disk used in place of money. You will often hear the legendary phrase “A chip and a chair”, meaning that as long as a player has at least one chip, they can still win the tournament.

Clubs: Another of the four suits that make up the card deck, represented by a black clover.

Connectors: Connectors are two cards that follow one another, e.g., 7h8d. We also use the term suited connectors for cards that follow one another and are also of the same suit, e.g., 7h8h

Courchevel: A fairly unusual variant of poker that is played like a five-card Omaha game and the first card of the flop is exposed.

Croupier: The croupier is also called the dealer. They are the person designated at a gaming table to assist in the conduct of the game, for example throwing the ball at roulette, or dealing cards in poker and managing the course of the hand.

Cut-Off: Refers to the position of the player just before/to the right of the button.

D

Dealer: The one who deals the cards, determined by the position of the button. Employed by the gaming circle or the casino, they ensure compliance with the rules and the distribution of chips at each hand.

Deep stack: Means that the game takes place with a great stack depth, in other words with a lot of chips. In deep stack tournaments, the starting stack is generally twice as high as in a classic tournament.

Destacking: Taking the whole stack from an opponent.

Diamonds: One of the four suits in the deck, in this case the red diamond.

Door Card: Term used in stud poker to designate a players' first visible card.

Double Pair: When you have two different pairs.

Draw: A player is said to be drawing if they have an incomplete hand that needs one or two cards to make it valuable.

Drawing Dead: The chances of winning are zero even if other cards remain to be drawn on the board.

E

Equity: The equity of your hand represents its percentage of chance of winning against the opposing hand and according to the amount of the pot if you went to a showdown.

EV: Stands for Expected Value. It is your expectation of profitability, which your action will earn or cost you in theory. We can talk about EV+ if it seems profitable, or on the contrary, EV-.

F

Face-to-face, or Heads Up: when it's a game with only two players, or when only two players are left in the tournament.

Family Pot: When the majority of the players at the table are involved in the hand, usually when the pot has not been raised preflop.

Flashed: Said live, when a hidden card is accidentally turned over or seen. In this case, the dealer must then show it to all the players at the table and deal another card.

Flip: Refers to a coin flip, that is to say, a situation where two players have gone all-in and have about a 50% chance of winning the hand, such as an AK vs. QQ situation for example.

Floor Manager: In casinos or gaming circles, the floor manager is the adjudicating person in the event of a dispute at a table, the dealer will call on them to settle the situation.

Flop: Term referring to the first three cards placed faceup on the board.

Flush Draw: When a player needs one card to form a flush.

Fold Equity: Or FE, this represents the probability that your opponent will fold their hand.

Fold: Abandoning the hand and returning your cards to the dealer.

Four of a kind: A very strong poker combination of four cards of equal rank, for example four queens.

Freeroll: Poker tournament with no entry fee. Freerolls usually come with prizes like tournament tickets, freebies, or a small cash prize.

Freezeout: Tournament formula that does not allow rebuys or add-ons.

Full Ring: Said for tournaments which are played with full tables, i.e., with 10 players.

Full: Short for Full House, a strong combination made up of a three of a kind (three cards of equal rank) and a pair (two cards of equal rank).

G

Gamble: The act of starting off in a “go-for-broke” way, without taking into account the probabilities, and risking everything on luck.

Gaming Club: Spaces dedicated to holding non-banking and banking games.

GG: Stands for Good Game, a compliment used to tell a player that they have played a hand well.

GL: Stands for Good Luck, to wish players good luck at your table or before a final table.

Good Run: Every poker player's dream, when the poker gods are on your side and allow you to string together a series of successes and rack up the winnings. The kind of time you never want to end!

H

Heads Up, or face to face: This is the final phase of a tournament when there are only two players left, or a game played with two players only.

Hearts: Another card suit in the deck, the red heart.

Hero Call: When a player calls a bet on the river with a weak hand, or simply a highcard, hoping to catch their opponent in a bluff.

High Roller: Refers to a tournament with a very high entry fee.

High: Means the highest card. On the board, the high card is used to indicate the highest of the five cards, e.g., K-high board for 538KT. Or, regarding your hand, it serves to indicate your highest card in case you haven't got a combination.

High-Low: Game variant in which the final pot is shared between both the player with the highest combination (high) and the one with the lowest combination (low).

Hijack seat: Refers to the position of the player sitting two seats before the button.

I

ICM: Stands for Independent Chip Model. Method of calculating potential winnings in proportion to the amount of chips of each of the players remaining in a tournament. Usually used once the paid places have been reached.

In Position: The concept of position is very important in poker. Being in position means you are in an advantageous position as you are the last player to speak in the hand.

In the Dark: Means playing without having looked at one’s private cards, therefore blindly.

In the Money or ITM: When players reach the paid places in a tournament, we say that they are ITM.

J

Jinx: This brings us to an ancestral (and, at the very least, ironic) practice of the poker player: superstition. A jinx is the idea that an action, or a word, will bring bad luck to a game or a tournament.

K

Kicker: If you have a combination of less than five cards, the kicker is the card that goes with your hand. In the event of an equal pair with your opponent, for example, the highest kicker will determine the winner of the hand.

Knock Out: Tournament in which each elimination of a player also results in the payment of a bounty, but the price of which remains fixed.

L

LAG: Refers to a loose-aggressive player, who both plays a lot of hands and plays them aggressively.

Last longer: Term generally used for side bets between several players, whereby the sum of the bets will go to the player who is eliminated last in the tournament.

Limp: Said during the first betting round, preflop, when a player is content to simply “call”, pay the amount corresponding to the big blind.

Loose: A style of play that involves playing many hands preflop, or sticking with the hand despite relatively weak hands.

Luckbox: A player enjoying a string of good luck despite the odds. Ironically, both what every player dreams of being while also being a phrase used to criticize an opponent who wins too often.

M

Main Event: The main and most prestigious tournament during a poker festival.

Middle: Refers to the player in the middle position, between the places UTG and UTG+1 and the players at the end of the position.

Monster: Word (overly?) used to express the fact that you have an extremely strong hand. You will see ...

Move: The thought-out action of raising or betting.

MTT: Stands for Multi-Table Tournament, a tournament taking place with several tables simultaneously.

Muck: This is the pile of cards that have been discarded or burnt. When you give up and return your cards to the dealer, they go into the muck.

N

NLHE or No Limit Hold'Em: This is quite simply the best known and most played variant of Texas Hold’em in the world, two hole card poker with no bet limit.

Nosebleed: The nickname given to very high stakes cash games in which only very few players participate, and in which losses can be particularly painful.

Nuts: Term referring to the best hand. If a player has the nuts, then they have the best possible combination.

NYBR: Stands for New York Back Raise. A complex game technique that involves first calling an opponent’s raise in order to push for a strong re-raise from another player in the blinds in order to re-raise again and create a high pot.

O

Offsuit: Two cards that are not of the same suit, e.g., 6d7h, are offsuit cards.

Omaha: Another very popular variation of poker, Omaha is played with the same basic rules as Texas hold’em, but each player has four private cards in hand and must achieve the best possible combination with only two of their cards.

Option: This is a play option permitted in certain games, generally cash games, allowing the player sitting after the big blind to place a bet double the amount of the big blind before the cards are dealt. It brings even more action to the game.

Orbit: Refers to a full rotation of the table. If a player receives a penalty orbit, they are therefore not allowed to play during a full rotation of the table.

Out of Position: A player is out of position when they must speak before their opponent(s) in a hand, which is a strategic disadvantage.

Overbet: Represents a bet particularly greater than the amount of the pot. Technique sometimes used during a bluff, or to suggest a bluff.

Overpair: When you hold a pair higher than the highest card visible on the board, you have an overpair, e.g., JJ in hand on a 47T board

P

Package: Represents a prize won at a tournament, which includes the tournament entry fees, travel expenses and hotel nights.

Pair: This is the combination that includes two cards of the same value, e.g., 88

Passive: Refers to a player who is the opposite of an aggressive player, content to check or call the opposing bets, almost never raising.

Position: Refers to a player’s placement in the betting round. Being “in position”, for example, means that they are the last to speak, which is advantageous.

Postflop: Refers to the action taking place after all three cards in the flop have been revealed.

Pot control: The act of controlling the total amount of the pot, for example by checking, so as not to make the pot too big.

Pot Limit: This is a betting format that limits the maximum possible bet to the amount of the pot. Mainly used in the Omaha variant.

Pot: Represents the sum of the various bets and raises made in the betting rounds.

Preflop: Conversely, preflop play is the action taking place in the first betting round, before the flop cards are dealt.

Prize pool: The prize pool for a tournament is the total amount of money that will be paid out to players who reach paid places.

Progressive KO: Type of tournament in which half of the buy-in goes to form the prize pool, while the other half represents the player’s bounty, the price for their elimination. The more a player eliminates others, the more the value of their bounty increases.

Push or Fold: Said in tournaments when a player has a stack too small to be able to play normally, and finds themself in a situation where they can only either go all-in or fold.

R

Rainbow: Term used for a flop where all the cards are of different suits.

Raise: Increasing an opponent's initial bet to see the next card. To be correct, the raise must be at least double the player's bet.

Range: Refers to a selection of possible cards that a player might be holding.

Razz: A form of Stud poker played with seven cards, the aim of which is to form the lowest hand.

Rebuy: Some tournaments offer the possibility for a fixed period of time to buy more chips if you get knocked out. Rebuys can be authorized once or for an unlimited number of times.

Reg: Diminutive of regular, designates a player accustomed to a gaming circle or a casino, a rather good player.

Re-Raise: The act of betting even more chips than the player who raised before you.

Resteal: A preflop action which designates a bluff by re-raising a player who is thought to also be bluffing.

Result Oriented: A player is result oriented when their opinion is influenced by the result of a hand, which is in fact bad reasoning because they may have played a move badly mathematically-speaking, even though they won the chips.

River, or Fifth Street: The fifth community card on the board following the betting round played on the turn.

Royal Flush: The highest combination in poker is the straight 10 to Ace, and of the same suit. The chances of hitting it are very rare.

Run: The run of a player in a way means their form or performance, they can be on a good run if they go far in a tournament, or a bad run if they have bad luck and get a lot of bad hands.

Runner Up: Term that designates the player who finishes in second place in the tournament.

S

Satellite: A tournament in which the prize is access to another (larger) tournament of a higher value for the players in the paid places.

Scared money: Gambling with fear of losing the money invested.

Semi-bluff: This is a bluff, but with a hand still having a probability of improvement, such as a draw. The idea is to increase your chances of winning the pot.

Set-up: Refers to an often inevitable confrontation between two players both having very strong hands, for example a three of a kind against a higher three of a kind.

Shootout: Tournament format where only the winners of each table qualify for the next level, usually in paid places.

Shorthanded: Said for tournaments being played with 5 or 6 players per table.

Shove: The action of going all-in, betting all of your chips.

Showdown: When the players involved in the move reveal their hole cards after the last betting round has been completed.

Side pot: This is when a pot separate from the main pot is created, if one or more players are already all-in in a current hand and other players involved want to continue betting.

Sit and Go, also SnG: Tournament with a limited number of places which starts once the expected number of players has been reached.

Slow roll: Action that is seen as poor etiquette because it’s unethical, consisting of intentionally taking time to call an opponent's stack or to show one's cards when one is sure to have the best hand.

Small blind: The compulsory bet paid by the player located just after the dealer before the two pocket cards are dealt to players.

Spades: One of the four suits of cards in the deck, represented by a black upside-down heart on a pointed base.

Split pot: When the players are tied in a hand and collect their bets.

Squeeze: The squeeze consists of a strong preflop re-raise when one player has already raised and another player has only called, usually with the goal of winning the preflop pot.

Stack: A player’s stack designates the total amount of their chips. A player who announces “all-in” bets all the chips they have left.

Stack: The amount of a player's chips.

Stop and Go: A technique used by small stacks in tournaments, which consists of simply paying an opponent's pre-flop raise leaving you with very few chips, with the intention of going all-in on the flop regardless of the cards that get dealt.

Straight Flush: Just like the straight, the straight flush combines not only five consecutive cards but also cards belonging to the same suit, e.g., 4s5s6s7s8s

Straight: Combination of five consecutive cards, e.g., 789TJ

Streaming: When a tournament, or a final table, is filmed with a live broadcast on the internet or on television.

Suited: Having two cards of the same suit. For example, two diamonds or two spades.

T

TAG: Diminutive of tight and aggressive. Used to denote a player with a tight style of play, playing few hands and playing them aggressively.

Tell (or tells plural): These are behavioral clues that can betray a player's hand and style of play.

Three of a kind: this is the combination formed by three cards of equal rank, such as three jacks or three eights.

Tilt: Be careful, nothing is going well! Expression used when someone is experiencing nervousness or losing their temper, “After that hand I went on tilt”.

TPTK: These are the initials for Top Pair Top Kicker, and are used when you have the highest pair with the best kicker.

Trash can: A pretty telling expression, having a trash can means having hole cards of no value.

Trash talking: You know? The type of player who tries to make fun of you at the table, or in an online chat, and tries to provoke you with his words? Well, he’s trash talking you. Whatever his intentions, patience and composure will be your best weapons, good luck!

Turn: This is the fourth community card revealed on the board, in Texas Hold’em and in Omaha

U

UTG or Under The Gun: Refers to the position directly to the left of the button, considered dangerous because the player is the first to speak from the flop and therefore to state their intentions.

V

Value Bet: Bet made by a player when they think they have the best hand, aiming to maximize their winnings.

Variance: The enemy of players, variance designates the fluctuation between the expected results with regard to the probabilities, and the actual results. It is the part of chance which comes to shake up the game and can create bad financial situations.

VGG: Very Good Game, an expression used to congratulate a player for their game.

W

Whining: A favorite activity of many players. A word of great importance in poker jargon, it expresses the fact of a player complaining about the course of a hand and their incredible bad luck.

Winner takes all: Designates a tournament or a game where the winner takes all the money involved.

WPT: Stands for the World Poker Tour, one of the oldest circuits in live poker.

WSOP: World Series of Poker, in other words the World Championships in Las Vegas, the long-awaited event for any poker player, taking place every summer in the gaming capital of the world.