Introduction
Development
Introducing Poker
Ranking Hands
Chips
The sequence of play
Shuffling
Dealing
Betting Interval
Betting Small and Big Blinds
Table stakes
Using wild cards
Probability of holding
First betting interval
Strategy-1
Strategy-2
Seven-Card Stud
Other forms of poker
Texas Hold'em Basic Hand
Five - Six card Omaha
Poker Sense
Slow Playing
Other Gambling Card Game
Blackjack
Brag
Seven-card Brag
Gin Rummy
Glossary

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GLOSSARY

Where no game is mentioned, the terms relate to play poker.

Aces up - Two pairs, the higher being Aces.  Also Kings up, etc.

All-in – To have all one’s chips in the pot.

Ante - A compulsory stake made before the deal.
Back door (Hold’Em and Omaha) – To complete a flush or straight with the last two board cards, when this was not the primary objective.

Betting intervals - The periods in a deal when players must bet, raise, call check or fold.
Blind - Compulsory bets made by the first two players to the left of dealer before the deal.  The first is a ‘small blind’, and the second, usually of twice or three times the amount, a ‘big blind’.  They count as active bets.

Blind – Compulsory bets made by the first two players to the left of dealer before the deal.  The first is a ‘small blind’, and the second, usually of twice or three times the amount, a ‘big blind’.  They count as active bets.

Board - The set of communal cards turned up on the table.

Bug - A single wild card, usually the Joker.

Burn -   To remove from play the first down-card before dealing (to prevent cheating).

Bust (Blackjack and Pontoon) To reach a total of over 21.

Call - To match the previous bet.

Case card - The fourth card of a rank, when the other three are already in play.

Cash in – To cash one’s chips and retire from the game.

Check- To stay in the game without betting.  Sometimes indicated by tapping the table (but all must agree this convention).  A player who checks may later bet or call.

Chips - The counters of various colors used to bet with, each color representing a different amount of money.

Community cards - Those cards in games like Hold’Em which are common to all players’ hands.

Declarer (Napoleon) - The highest bidder who plays against all other players.

Deuce – A card of the 2 rank.

Double Down (Blackjack) - to double the stake on a hand and receive a third card.

Draw - The exchange of some cards in a poker hand for others.

Fifth street – The fifth and final community card in Hold’Em and Omaha.  Also known as the river.

Flop – The first three community cards in Hold’Em and Omaha.

Flush – Five cards of the same suit.

Fold – To take no further part in a deal.

Fourth street – The fourth community card in Hold’Em and Omaha.  Also known as the turn.

Freeze–out -  A game in which all players start with equal chips and play until one player has won all the chips.

Full house - Three cards of the same rank and two of different rank.

Go gin (Gin Rummy) - To go out without any unmatched cards.

Go out (Gin Rummy) – To lay down one’s hand.  (Rummy) To get rid of all one’s cards.

Hand (a) – The five cards that form a player’s holding.  (b) The action from deal to showdown.

Hard hand (Blackjack rules) A hand which counts the Ace as one.

Heads up – A hand in which only two players remain in the action.

Hole-cards - Concealed cards.  A player’s first card in stud, first two in Hold’Em and first four in Omaha.

Inside straight – A holding such as 8,7,6,4 that requires a card to fill a gap to make a straight.

Kicker – (a) A card retained with a pair at the draw in Draw Poker, e.g. the Ace in A, 10, 10(b) The lower of the two hole-cards in Hold’Em e.g. the 8 in A, 8.

Limits – The minimum and maximum amount or number of chips a player is allowed to bet.

Loose player – A player who bets in defiance of the odds.

Main Pot – If a side-pot (q.v.) is formed by a player going all-in (q.v.) the original pot is called the main pot.

Meld (Rummy and Gin Rummy) – A set of three or more cards (a) of the same rank (b) of the same suit and in sequence.

Nap (Napoleon) – A bid to make all five tricks.

Natural (Baccarat) - A point of 8 or 9.  (Blackjack) a count of 21 with two cards, an Ace and 10 –count.

No-limit – A game in which players may bet as many chips as they have on the table.  See also ‘Table stakes’.

Off-suit – Cards of differing suits, particularly in describing the two hole-cards in Hold’Em.

Open-ended straight – A holding such as 8,7,6,5, where a card at either end (9 or 4) will complete a straight.

Openers – The cards required to open the betting, e.g. a pair of Jacks in Jackpots.

Pass – To fold.  In the USA it can also mean to check.

Pat hand – A hand in Draw Poker to which no cards need be drawn.

Point (Baccarat) – The pip-count of a hand.

Pontoon (Vingt-et-Un) - (a) The common English name for vingt-et-un.  (b) a count of 21 with two cards, an Ace and 10-count.

Pool (Red Dog) – The amount in the centre of the table which players add to or take from.

Position – Place at the table in relation to dealer; place in the betting order.

Pot – The chips or money at stake on the table.

Pot Limit – A game in which the maximum raise is the total in the pot at the time of betting.

Prial (Brag) A hand of three of a kind.

Quads – Four of a kind; four chards of the same rank.

Raise – To call and increase the previous bet.

River – The last community card on the board.

Round of betting- A betting interval.

Royal Flush – The highest hand in Poker, the A, K, Q, J, 10, of the same suit.

Run – A straight.

See – To call.

Semi-bluff – To bet with a hand not worth much, but with the potential to improve.

Showdown - The display of cards at the end of a hand to determine the poker winner.

Side-pot - A separate pot contested by the other players when one player is all-in.

Slow play - To bet small or check with a good hand in order to entice others to bet ad enlarge the pot.

Soft hand (Blackjack) A hand which counts the Ace as 11.

Split Aces (Vingt-et-Un) – To use a pair of Aces as the first cards of two separate hands.

Split pairs (Blackjack) – To use a pair as the first cards of two separate hands.

Split pot – A pot that is shared because hands are equal.

Stand (Blackjack and Vingt-et-Un) – To play with the cards dealt and not buy or twist another.

Stand pat – To decline to exchange cards at the draw.

Stay – To remain in a pot by calling.

Straddle – The last blind before the deal.

Straight flush – Five cards of consecutive rank and of the same suit.

Table stakes – A game in which a player’s bet is limited to the amount of money or chips he has on the table before him.  No-limit and pot-limit games are played this way.

Tap out – To bet all one’s chips.

Tight player – A player who bets only on strong hands.

Trey – A card of the 3 rank.

Trips, triple, triplets – Three of a kind, three cards of the same rank.

Turn – The fourth communal card at Hold’Em or Omaha, also called fourth street.

Twist (Vingt-et-Un) – To take an extra face-up card.

Undercut (Gin Rummy) – To win a hand by having a lower count than the knocker.

Wild card – A card that by agreement can represent any other card in the pack.