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GLOSSARY
On this page we have provided you with the definitions for a list of
some of the terms often used in poker, as well as a few computer
related terms.
- Advance Action:
To help keep the pace of the games moving nicely,
we have provided advance action capabilities.
When you know what you will do next, you can use these
to indicate your next action prior to the bet reaching
you. These advance action options will always
present the correct options for the context of the
play. Using Advance Action buttons will help
keep the pace of the game exciting.
- All-in: When you
run out of chips during a hand, but don't wish to
fold, you are all-in. 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.
- Ante: The small
stake required from each player to participate before
a hand is dealt. The ante is used in 7 Card
Stud and 7 Card Stud High/Low on our site.
In Hold'em and Omaha, a blind
is used as opposed to an ante. The ante is not
part of a player's bet whereas a blind is.
- 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 your are dealt into every hand, posting
blinds when your turn, and then folded 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".
- Bad Beat: to
be a heavy favorite in a hand and lose to an opponent
who was a severe underdog statically speaking
- 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.
- Big Blind:
In games using a blind to put money in play,
the big blind is generally equal to the lower amount
of the stakes for that game. In a $5/$10 game, the
big blind is $5. The big blind follows the small
blind, which is put up by the first player to
the left of the dealer.
- Blind: This term
refers to the required bets, called the small blind
and the big blind used to put money into play.
The blinds are mandatory bets and rotate around the
table.
- Board: The community
cards in Hold'em are collectively known
as the board.
- Bring-in: In
ante games, the bring-in is a mandatory bet,
normally half the lower stake value. The player
with the lowest face-up card must either bet
the lower stake, or the bring-in to start the hand.
- Buddy List:
A feature of our poker room allowing players to identify
other players, with permission, as buddies.
Buddies will be marked to reflect which table they
are playing at, making it easier for you to find the
people you enjoy playing poker with.
- Burn: In physical
poker rooms, the top card of the deck is discarded
prior to each round of dealing. The intent is
to minimize the risk of cheating by knowing the next
card. There is no possibility of this happening
in our poker room, therefore we do not burn cards.
- Button: A marker,
usually disk-shaped, to indicate which player is the
virtual dealer. The button is used in games
where position relative to the dealer is important.
- Buy-in: There
is a minimum chip value required to sit at any given
table. Normally the minimum is 10 times the
higher stake for that game. For some
special games, that value may be higher. The
minimum value required to be seated is called the
buy-in. The amount of money you sit down in
a game with. All games have a minimum buy-in,
typically 10 times the big blind.
- Call: When a player
matches the prior bet on the table, that action is
termed the call.
- 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: If there
is no bet on the table and you do not wish to place
a bet, that action is termed a check. You may
only check when there are no pending bets.
- 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.
We do not tolerate cheating.
- Community Cards:
Face up cards on the table that are shared
by all players are termed community cards. Texas
Hold'em and Omaha always have community
cards. In stud games, a community card
is dealt in place of the last down card when
too few cards remain in the deck for each player to
receive a down card.
- Dead Blind:
In a situation where you have missed your blinds
and wish to re-enter the game before your turn to
post the big blind. You must post both
blinds and the small blind is termed a dead
blind, meaning it does not count towards calling a
bet.
- Dead Hand:
A hand no longer in the game.
- Door Card:
The first face-up card dealt with the two down
cards in 7 Card Stud games.
- Down Cards:
The face-down cards dealt to a player.
- Drawing Dead:
This describes the situation when a player is trying
to draw a card to complete a hand when there is already
a hand that will beat it, even if made.
- Drop: To drop your
hand when you decide not to go further with your hand;
to return your cards to the muck. Same as fold.
- Face Down:
Dealt cards that are not visible to other players.
- Face Up: Dealt
cards that are visible to all players.
- Fifth Street: The term
for the fifth card in 7 Card Stud and the fifth
board card in Hold'em.
- Flop: In Texas
Hold'em, the set of 3 face-up community cards;
the first three cards on the board, all dealt at the
same time.
- Flush: Any 5 cards
in one hand that are all the same suit.
- Fold: Withdraw from
further participation in the current hand. Also
see drop.
- Forced Bet:
A mandatory bet. In certain games, a player
is required to bet, having sat-in the game.
Also see bring-in.
- Four of a Kind:
A great hand ... all 4 of one rank. For example,
4 Tens.
- Fourth Street:
The term for the fourth card in 7 Card Stud
and the fourth board card in Hold'em.
- Freeroll: This term applies to poker tournaments where the entry fee, the
stakes, or both the entry fee and stakes are waived. In some non-freeroll
tournaments, the house may guarantee a minimum prize pool.
- Full House:
A hand in which you have a combination of 3 of
a kind, and a pair.
- Graphics: The
term for the artwork used to present you with the
images of a poker room, including the table, chairs,
avatars, cards, and chips.
- Hand: A set of cards
used by a player during a single round. Another
word for a single round of shuffling, dealing, and
betting.
- Heads Up: A
game where only two players remain in contention for
the pot.
- Head to Head:
A game where only two players may participate.
- 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.
- Hold'em: Also
called Texas Hold'em. One of the most
popular poker games. Each player gets 2 down
cards and can use 3,5, or 5 of the community cards.
- Hole Cards:
The down cards in a player's hand.
- In: A term for being
an active player; one who has not folded.
- Inside Straight:
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."
- Jackpot: A bonus
opportunity to win under specific circumstances set
by the poker room.
- Kicker: The term
for the card used to break ties between two of
a kind or between Two Pair.
- Live Blind:
A blind that counts towards any bet you call
or raise.
- Main Pot: The
initial pot of money. When one or more
players go all-in, a side pot is created for each
all-in player.
- Muck: As a noun,
this refers to the pile of folded cards and discarded
cards. As a verb, at showdown time, the
act of returning a losing hand to the dealer face-down.
- 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 are a function of 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 (NL).
- Omaha: A game in
which each player receives 4 face-down cards
and shares 5 community cards. The winning
hand must use exactly 2 down cards and 3 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
2 down cards and 3 community cards.
A player may use different sets of cards to make up
the best high and the best low hands.
- On the button: This term means you are in the dealer position in Texas
Hold'em and Omaha games. The dealer position is marked by a "button" with a
"D" in the center.
- One on One:
See head to head.
- Option: This
term refers to the option given the big blind
player the option of raising before the flop.
- Overcard: In
stud, if you assume your opponent has a pair
of sevens, then every card above seven in your hand
is considered an overcard.
- Pair: Also called
two of a kind. This is a hand where the player's
best hand is made up of 2 cards of the same rank.
- Pass: Can be used
in place of either pass or fold depending
on the context.
- Play Chips:
The chips used for play money games. Play chips
have no monetary value.
- Playing the Board:
Using all the community cards in Hold'em
as your best hand.
- Pocket Cards:
The term for the two down cards at the start
of the hand.
- Pot: The chips available
to win in any given hand.
- Pot Limit:
A variation on betting where each player may bet up
to the current amount in the pot (PL).
- Profile: A term
describing the information a player may enter about
himself/herself that may be available, at the player's
option, to other players in the poker room.
Your profile may include your favorite hobby, favorite
web site, favorite quote, and more.
- Rake: The amount
of money, in chips, taken by the house as the service
fee.
- Raise: The act
of increasing the amount bet by a prior bettor.
- Rank: The value
of a card. The rank of the 2 of Spades is 2.
The rank of the Queen of Hearts is Queen. Rank
value increases from 2 through 10, followed in order
by Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. In High/Low
games, the Ace may be used both for its high rank
and as the lowest rank card.
- Rebuy: To get more
chips during a game but not during a hand that you
are in. This applies to real money and tournament
play.
- Reducing: The act of removing chips
from a table and returning immediately with fewer
chips. Reducing is considered poor etiquette,
and is not permitted in our poker room.
- Registration:
We ask you to select a screen name to serve
as your poker room identity, a password, and to provide
a location and email address to create an account.
This is your registration.
- River: The fifth
and final community card. This card is
also known as fifth street.
- 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.
- Royal Flush:
The best possible high hand. This is a straight
flush from 10 through to Ace of the same suit.
- 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.
- See: This is a synonym
of call. It is often used in conjunction
with the term raise, as in "I'll see your $10
and raise you $10."
- Self-install:
The term used to describe how the file you download
from our web site is automatically installed and configured
on your computer when you double-click on the file.
- Server: The computer,
or set of computers, providing a service to client
computers. In this case the service is the poker
room.
- 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 staked to equal
numbers of chips and play 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 to a small number
of hands. In blind games, 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.
- Small Blind:
In Hold'em and Omaha, this is the mandatory
bet required of the player to the left of the dealer.
- Stakes: See buy-in.
- Straight: A
hand in which the player has five cards in rank
order. Suit does not matter. For
example, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen.
- Straight Flush:
A straight all of the same suit.
- Stud: The generic
term for poker games where players receive the first
card(s) down followed by some up cards where those
up cards are exclusively for the use of that
player. There may be a further down card
as in 7 Card Stud.
- Suit: One of Clubs,
Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades (in rank order).
- Table Stakes:
The value of the chips with which a player sits down
at a table. Also a term for no-limit
poker.
- Texas Hold'em:
The poker game where each player gets two down
cards followed by five community cards
face-up.
- Third Street:
The nickname for the third card in any game of Stud.
- Three of a kind:
A hand consisting three cards of the same rank.
- Tournament Buy-In: The cost to enter a tournament. All buy-in money is
returned to the players via the prize pool.
- Tournament
Entry-Fee: A small fee the house charges
to enter a tournament.
- Trips: A nickname
for three of a kind.
- Turn: The nickname
for the fourth community card in Hold'em and
Omaha.
- Two Pair: A
hand in which the player has two pairs of cards.
- Under-raise:
This occurs when a player raises a prior bet but has
to go all-in to do so. If the player under-raising
� going all-in to raise � has less than � of the expected
raise for that betting round, the betting round is
locked. The term locked here means that any
player who has already acted in the round (checked,
called, or raised) may no longer raise. They
may only call or fold. However, players who
have yet to act (betting has not reached them yet)
may raise the expected raise for that betting round,
after calling. If the under-raise is � or more
than the expected raise, the lock rule does not apply.
- Up Card: A card
dealt face up, so that all players may see
it.
- Wheel: A nickname
for the best low hand: 5, 4, 3, 2, A.
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