Poker Terminology and Definitions: Essential Poker Lingo

If you’ve ever felt that listening to others use poker terms is like trying to understand a new language… Buzz Bingo is here to help!

Poker terminology is very distinct from other online casino games, with unique words and phrases often used to describe certain actions. This may understandably make learning how to play poker feel quite daunting. 

That’s why the Buzz Bingo team has assembled this poker game terms glossary. By using this comprehensive poker terminology guide, you can get up to speed with even the most common poker terms that every player will need to know.

Essential Poker Terms and Phrases Every Player Should Know

Ready to master common poker jargon? Glance over these poker phrases before taking a seat at your next game.

Poker Betting Terms

From common phrases to niche terms, poker betting is full of diverse language. Although these phrases often make little sense at face value, you’ll soon discover that each term accurately reflects the action in question.

First, check out a round-up of the most-used poker terms when it comes to betting.

• Ante: A small, mandatory bet paid by all players before the first betting round.
• Blind: Mandatory bets placed by two different players at the start of each new hand.
• Big Blind: The larger blind bet paid by the player sitting two seats to the left of the player carrying the dealer button.
• Small Blind: The smaller blind bet paid by the player sitting one seat to the left of the dealer button.
• Straddle: An optional blind bet typically placed by the player immediately to the left of the small blind, which allows the person straddling to act last before community cards are shown. This is often worth double the amount of the small blind.
• Check: Checking in poker moves the action to the player next to you, without placing a new bet. This is only possible if there are no bets to call.
• Call: Calling is one of the most common poker terms, and refers to any move where you match another player’s bet.
• Raise: Any bet that exceeds the value of earlier wagers within a hand is known as a raise.
• Fold: Voluntarily throw away your current hand, forfeiting any opportunity to win.
• All-In: By going all-in, you are placing a bet using each of your available chips.

You may find that these terms naturally become part of your vocabulary while playing poker, such is their prevalence.

Poker Hand Terms

Now that you know how to call, fold, and raise your way through a poker round, it’s time to explore various common terms associated with your poker hand.

• Kicker: A side card used to break a tie if players carry the same highest-ranking hand.
• Nuts: The strongest possible hand during any given round. Every poker player wants to hold the nuts!
• Bad Beat: When a strong hand is beaten by a statistically weaker hand, it is known as a bad beat.
• Draw: Any hand that is one card away from becoming stronger.
• Drawing Dead: If your hand cannot win regardless of which cards are drawn next, you are drawing dead.

As you can see, these poker hand phrases effectively use one or two words to describe situations that would otherwise require a full sentence to get across!

To learn more about how your poker cards might apply to any given situation, why not check out our complete Poker Hand Rankings Guide?

Poker Table Positions

You’d be forgiven for assuming your poker table position is quite arbitrary – but the opposite is true. That is why each position at the table has been given its very own name:

• Dealer Button: A marker used to show who acts last during a betting round holds the Dealer Button. This player sits immediately to the right of the small blind. 
• UTG: Also known as Under the Gun, this refers to the player first to act after the blinds have been paid.
• Cut-off: The Cut-off sits to the right of the Dealer Button, and is the final player to act before action returns to the Dealer Button.
• Hijack: The player who acts immediately before the Cut-off is known as the Hijack.

These positions can be divided into three categories:

• Early Position: Under the Gun
• Middle Position: Hijack
• Late Position: Cut-off and Dealer Button

Remember, traditional-style poker tables move all positions clockwise throughout the game – so it’s important to get up to speed with each of the above before starting a round.

Poker Etiquette and Slang

Poker is both a game of skill and a test of wit, as players pull any information possible to predict what hand their opponent might hold.

This psychological battle emerges in several different formats, with poker jargon used to describe certain behaviours and table etiquette:

• Slow Roll: Slow Rolling occurs when a player is confident or certain they have won a hand, and then takes a long time to show their cards after the round has ended. This is generally considered poor etiquette.
• Slow Play: When a player holds a strong hand – often the nuts – and deliberately pretends to hold a weaker hand by playing passively, it is known as Slow Playing.
• Bluff: A popular poker term used to describe when a player fakes a hand to encourage others to take a certain action, such as fold or raise.
• Tell: Typically refers to habits players may have built during certain actions. Opponents look for “tells” to determine the actual strength of someone’s hand.
• Tilt: Inspired by angry vending machine customers, a player whose decisions are driven by emotion is “Tilted” or “On Tilt”.
• Fish: An obviously brand-new or unskilled poker player.
• Shark: The opposite of a fish; a Shark is a highly skilled and experienced player.
• Muck: Folding a hand without showing your cards is known as Mucking.

Playing Makes Perfect at Buzz Bingo

Use this glossary ahead of your next poker session to brush up on common poker terminology, table positions, slang and etiquette. 

These phrases will quickly become second nature. And who knows, perhaps you’ll soon catch yourself bluffing into raises under the gun after catching tells among tilted fish!