Poker, like so many other pastimes and professions, has developed its own terminology. This guide includes not just common poker terms, but also those specifically related to online poker.

Action – Signifies a high amount of betting and raising.

Active Player – Any player still in the hand.

Aggressive – Player who continually raises and re-raises. This player seldom folds or calls.

All-in – A player bets all of their remaining chips. 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.

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 you are dealt into every hand, posting blinds when it's your turn, and then fold 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".

Backdoor – Making a hand you didn’t intend to, for example: if you start off with two clubs and are looking for a flush and end up making a straight.

Bad Beat - When a player loses a hand despite having had the better odds on winning earlier in the hand.

Bankroll – Funds available.

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

Bicycle – A straight which is A-2-3-4-5

Big Blind – Player two to the left of the dealer who is automatically required to bet the ante that round.

Big Slick – Being dealt an Ace and King

Blank – A useless card.

Blind - The compulsory ante that the two people to the left of the dealer must pay. The player to the left of the dealer must pay the small blind which is half the ante and the person after him must pay the big blind or the whole ante. The betting will come round to both of them before the flop where they have the choice to fold (if someone else raised), check or raise

Bluff – Making the other players think you have something else than what you have.

Board - The community cards in Hold'em are collectively known as the board.

Boat – Full house.

Bottom Pair – Making a pair with the lowest of the three cards on the flop.

Bump – To raise.

Button – The dealers’ button which moves clockwise after every hand to indicate who the dealer is.

Buy-In - The minimum amount of money required to join a game or tournament.

Call – the amount bet.

Calling Station – A player who calls everything and will rarely raise or fold.

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 – No one has bet before you and you don’t either. If no one else bets the next card is turned over. If someone does bet the action will return to you where you can either fold, call or raise.

Check-Raise – You check in the hope that someone will bet, after which you will re-raise.

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.

Community Cards - The five cards in the middle of the table which everyone shares.

Drawing – Trying to improve your hand on the turn or river.

Drawing Dead – To draw on a hand that will lose to your opponent even if your required card is drawn, for example: to get a flush when your opponent has four of a kind.

Drawing Hand – A hand which needs help from the turn or river, such as a straight or flush.

Early Position – To be one of the first to act during a betting round.

Fish - A poor player.

Flop - The first three community cards placed on the table.

Flush – Any five cards of the same suit.

Fold – Throw away your cards and not take any further part in the hand.

Free Card – Everyone checks and so the next card appears for free.

Freeroll - This term applies to poker tournaments where the entry fee, the stakes, or both are waived. In some non-freeroll tournaments, the house may guarantee a minimum prize pool.

Full House – Three of a kind plus a pair.

Hand – A player’s best five cards. Also another word for a single round of shuffling, dealing, and betting.

Heads Up – When only two players are left in a hand.

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. Flushes do not disqualify low hands either.

Hole Cards – The two cards dealt face down to each player.

Hold’em - Also called Texas Hold'em. The most popular form of online poker. Each player gets 2 down cards and can use 3, 4, or 5 of the community cards to create the best possible 5 card hand.

In - A term for being an active player; one who has not folded.

Inside Straight Draw – 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."

Kicker – Cards which act as tiebreakers. If both players have two pair the kicker would be whoever had the highest fifth card.

Late Position – Playing towards the end of the betting circle.

Limit Poker- Poker with fixed bets. In a $1-2 limit game, all bets and raises are one dollar in the first two rounds (preflop and flop), and all bets and raises are two dollars in the last two rounds (turn and river).

Limp In – Calling the bet as opposed to raising.

Longhand- Seven or more players at the table

Loose – A player who plays a lot of hands.

Middle Pair – Pairing up with the middle of the three flop cards.

Muck – This refers to the pile of folded cards and discarded cards, as well as the act of returning a losing hand to the dealer facedown at showdown time.

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 depend on 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.

Nuts – The best possible hand which is unbeatable.

Odds - The probability of making your hand.

Omaha - A game in which each player receives four facedown cards and shares five community cards. The winning hand must use exactly two down cards and three 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 two down cards and three community cards. A player may use different sets of cards to make up the best high and the best low hands.

On the Button – Being in the dealer’s position and so the last to act.

Open Ended Straight – Also known as double-bellied. When you have four consecutive cards you can make a straight with one of two cards.

Outs- The amount of cards which can help you out. So if you need a heart to help you make your flush and there is one in your hand and three on the table. That gives you nine outs. If you have an open straight draw you will also have eight outs.

Overpair – A pocket pair higher than any of the community cards.

Pocket Cards – Your two hole cards.

Position- Your seat at the table relative to the dealer.

Pot – Amount of money in the middle of the table the winner of the hand gets.

Pot Limit - A variation on betting where each player may bet up to the current amount in the pot.

Pot Odds – The calculation that determines whether a bet is a good one or not.

Preflop- The stage between being dealt your hole cards and the flop.

Quads - Four of a kind.

Rags - Worthless cards.

Raise - Making an additional bet over a previous one.

Rake - The portion of each pot taken by the house or casino.

Re-buy - To get more chips during a game but not during a hand that you are in. This applies to cash games and tournament play.

Re-raise - raising another player’s raise.

Ring Game – A cash table.

River - Final community card dealt.

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.

Runner-Runner - Catching back to back cards on the turn and river to make your hand.

Satellite – A tournament which you play in to gain entry into a larger one.

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.

Semi-Bluff - Making a bluff with cards that could potentially become a winning hand.

Seventh Street - The seventh card dealt to each player in 7 Card Stud.

Set – Pocket pairs which match up with one of the community cards.

Shorthand - A poker game with six or less players.

Short Stack - A player with very few chips.

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 given an equal numbers of chips and play until 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. 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.

Slow Playing - To intentionally check or call with an excellent hand so to fool your opponents as to the strength of your hand.

Small Blind - In Hold'em and Omaha, this is the mandatory bet required of the player to the left of the dealer.

Stealing - Winning a hand with a bluff.

Straight - 5 cards in sequence, for example: 10,J,Q,K,A.

Straight Flush - 5 cards of the same suit, in sequence, for example: A,2,3,4,5 all of spades.

Tell - An action or reaction by a player that gives away information as to what their hand is.

Texas Hold’em - The poker game where each player gets two down cards followed by five community cards face-up.

Tight – A tag given to a player who only plays strong hands and folds often.

Tilt – Poor poker play which has resulted due to losing and bad beats, and therefore the player makes irrational bets.

Top Pair – Pair made with the top community card.

Tournament Buy-In - The cost to enter a tournament. All buy-in money is returned to the players via the prize pool.

Trips - Three of a kind.

Turn – The fourth community card.

Underpair – Pocket pair lower than any of the community cards.

Under the Gun - The player who is first to act and sits to the left of the big blind.

Wheel - A nickname for the best low hand: 5, 4, 3, 2, A.