Poker Terms

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I

Ignorant End
The low end straight.

Implied Odds
The amount of money you expect to win if you make your hand versus the amount of money it will cost you to continue playing.

In
A player is "in" if he or she has called all bets.

In the Air
When the tournament director instructs the dealers to get the cards in the air, it means to start dealing.

In The Dark
To check or bet blind, without looking at your cards.

Inside Straight
Four cards requiring one in the middle to fill a straight.

Insurance
Selling the actual outcome of the hand for its mathematical equity.

Isolate
To raise with the intention of reaching a heads up between yourself and a single other player.

J

Jackpot Poker
A form of poker in which the cardroom offers a jackpot for particularly bad beats. Typically you must have aces full or better.

Jacks Or Better
A form of draw poker in which a player needs at least a pair of Jacks to start the betting.

Jam
To bet or raise the maximum.

Jammed Pot
The pot has been raised the maximum number of times, and may also be multi-way.

Joker
The fifty-third card in the deck, used as a wild card or a bug.

K

Kansas City Lowball
A form of lowball poker played for a deuce to seven low.

Keep Honest
To call an opponent on the river, even though you believe he has a better hand than you do.

Key Card
The one card that will make your hand.

Key Hand
In a tournament, the hand that proves to be a turning point, for better or worse.

Kibitzer
A non-playing spectator; a railbird.

Kick It
To raise.

Kicker
The highest unpaired side card.

Kill
A kill game is one in which a player may place an extra bet, causing the betting limits to go up for just that hand. The player posting the bet is the "killer," and the hand is considered a "kill pot." The player is said to have "killed the pot" for the amount of the kill.

Knave
A Jack.

L

Late Position
A position on a round of betting in which you act after most of the other players have acted.

Lay Down
To reveal one's hand in a showdown.

Lay Down Your Hand
To fold.

Lay The Odds
To wager more money on a proposition than you hope to win.

Lead
To be the first to enter the pot after the blind.

Leak
To lose back part or all of one's winnings through other gambling habits.

Legitimate Hand
A strong hand that is not a bluff.

Limit Poker
A game with fixed minimum and maximum betting intervals.

Limp In
To enter the round by calling a bet rather than raising.

Limper
A player who enters the pot for the minimum bet.

Live Blind
When the player is allowed to raise even if no one else raises first; straddle.

Live Card
In stud games, a card that has not yet been seen in an opponent's hand and is presumed likely to be still in play.

Live Hand
A hand that is still eligible to win the pot.

Live One
An inexperienced, bad or loose player who apparently has plenty of money to lose; a rich sucker.

Lock
A hand that cannot lose; a cinch hand.

Long Odds
The odds for an event that has a relatively small chance of occurring.

Look
To call the final bet (before the showdown).

Loose
Playing more hands than the norm.

Loose Game
A game with a lot of players in most pots.

Lowball
A form of poker in which the lowest hand wins.

M

Main Pot
When a player goes all-in, that player is only eligible to win the main pot - the pot consisting of the bets they were able to match. Additional bets are placed in a side pot and are contested among the remaining players.

Make
To make the deck is to shuffle.

Make A Move
To try a bluff.

Maniac
A very aggressive player who plays hands that more conservative players would probably not consider.

Mark
A sucker.

Marker
An IOU.

Mechanic
A cheat who manipulates the deck.

Meet
To call.

Middle Pair
In flop games, a middle pair is made by pairing with the middle card on the flop.

Middle Position
A position on a round of betting somewhere in the middle.

Miss
To be unable to make your drawing hand when the final cards are dealt.

Monster
A hand that is almost certain to win.

Move In
To go all-in.

Muck
To discard a hand; also the discard pile in which all cards are dead.