EARLY POSITION - Being one of the first players to act in a betting round.
EXPOSED PAIR - An exposed pair, as opposed to a split pair or a hidden pair.
FACE CARD - A jack, queen or king.
FILL - To draw a card that makes a five-card hand (straight, flush, full house, straight flush).
FILL UP - To fill a Full House.
FISH - A player who loses money. An old saying is "If you can't spot the fish at the table, *you* are the fish."
FLAT CALL - To call a bet. Emphasizes that the caller did not raise.
FLAT LIMIT - A variant of fixed limit where all bets are the same amount.
FLOORMAN - The casino representative in charge of the card room or a section of a card room.
FLOP - In Hold'em, the first three community cards, dealt simultaneously.
FLUSH - A poker hand consisting of five cards all one suit.
FOLD - To decline to call a bet, thus dropping out of a hand.
FORCED BET - In some stud games a player may be required to make a bet to start the action on the first card.
FOUR FLUSH - Four cards to a Flush.
FREE CARD - A card dealt after all players checked in a betting round.
FREEROLL - Having a lock on part of a pot.
FREEZE-OUT - A table-stakes game that continues until a small number of players (possibly only one) has all the money.
FULL BARN - Slang for Full House.
FULL BOAT - Slang for Full House.
FULL HOUSE - A hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind and a pair.
GRIFTER - A cheat
GUT SHOT - A draw to an inside Straight, as in 2-3-4-6.
HEAD(S) UP - Playing a single opponent.
HELP CARD - One that improves one's hand.
HIGH-LOW SPLIT - Forms of poker in which the pot is split between the best hand and best lowball hand.
HOLE CARDS - In stud and Hold'em, the face-down cards dealt to each player.
HOOK - A Jack. So named because the "J" resembles a hook.
HOUSE CUT - Generic term for how the house profits from hosting the game.
IGNORANT END - The lower end of a straight in a game that has community cards.
IMPLIED ODDS - A refinement to Pot Odds which includes money not yet, but expected to be in the pot.
INSIDE STRAIGHT - Four cards to a straight, where only one rank will complete the hand. ( 4-5-6-8.)
JACKS OR BETTER - Draw poker in which a pair of jacks is the minimum hand permitted to start the action.
J HOOK - A Jack
JAM - A pot where several players are raising.
JOKER - A 53rd card in the deck, distinct from the others, used as a wild card or as a Bug.
KICKER - A single high card usually held with a pair of another denomination in draw poker.
KICKER - The highest side card that is not part of the basic final hand.
LADY - A Queen.
LATE POSITION - For a particular betting round, a player who does not have to act until most of the other players have acted.
LAY ODDS - To give favorable odds to an opponent.
LEAK - To show one's hole cards (often unknowingly).
LID - The top card of the deck.
LIMIT POKER - A poker game wherein the amount to be bet is fixed, or at most variable within a prescribed minimum and maximum.
LIMP IN - To call along as cheaply as possible.
LINER - A face card. (Because you can see a line when the card is face down and the lower right corner is lifted).
LIVE CARD - In stud, a card that has not been exposed.
LIVE BLIND - The last and largest blind bet may or may not be Live. If Live, the blind bettor has the option of "raising" his own blind in the event the bet is called around to him.
LIVE ONE - The best kind of opponent, a poor player with a lot of money to lose and in a hurry to lose it.
LOCK - A hand that cannot be beaten. Also called the NUT.
LOOSE - Playing more hands than the norm.
LOWBALL - Generic term for poker where the lowest hand wins.
MAIN POT - The main pot, as related to one or more side pots, when there are one or more all-in player(s). The main pot is the one in which all active players participate.
MANIAC - A player who bets, raises and reraises without much regard to the quality of his hand.
MARKED CARDS - Cards that have been (illegally) altered so that their value can be read from the back.
MECHANIC - A cheat who can manipulate the cards to deal himself or another player agood hand.
MIDDLE POSITION - Betting positions approximately halfway around the table from the first player to act.
MISDEAL - A hand dealt incorrectly that must be re-dealt.
MITES AND LICE - A hand consisting of two pair, threes over twos.
MUCK - A collection of face-down cards near the dealer composed of discards and burn cards.
MUCK - To throw one's cards into the muck, thus folding.
