Poker is a game full of foreign terms and expressions that you probably won’t hear in everyday life. You’ve likely heard words like all-in, blinds, or flush. But do you know what Calling Station, Cooler, or Nit mean?Explore the most important poker terms explained clearly — and take your poker skills to the next level.
Poker Terminology Explained: Key Terms and Concepts
Take a look at an overview of the most common poker terms, organized by section. You’ll find basic terminology, poker moves and actions, game concepts, hand types, player styles, tournament structures, money management, statistics, psychology, and much more below.
Basic Poker Terms
Blinds (Big Blind (BB), Small Blind (SB)): Mandatory bets that players must place before cards are dealt. They also refer to player positions relative to the button.
Ante: A mandatory bet paid by all players at the table, placed into the pot before the hand starts.
Button (BTN): The dealer’s position. In casinos, a non-playing dealer deals the cards, starting from the player seated on the button. The button moves one seat to the left after each hand.
Under the Gun (UTG), Cutoff (CO), Hijack (HJ), Early Position (EP), Middle Position (MP), Late Position (LP): Terms used to describe different player positions at the table.
Dealer: The person who deals the cards and manages the game (in casinos).
Pot: The total amount of chips players have bet during a hand, which is contested in each round.
Poker Actions and Moves
Call: To match an opponent’s bet.
Raise: To increase the bet after another player has bet before you.
Re-raise: To increase the bet after an initial raise.
Check: To pass the action to the next player without betting. Allowed if no bet has been made yet. Preflop, the Big Blind can check if no one raised.
Fold: To discard your cards and forfeit the hand.
All-in: To bet all your remaining chips.
Limp: To enter the pot by calling the big blind preflop instead of raising.
Open Raise: The first raise preflop.
Donk Bet: A bet made by an out-of-position player when a check would normally be expected.
Continuation Bet (C-Bet): A bet made on the flop by the player who was the preflop aggressor.
3-Bet: A re-raise over the initial raise preflop.
4-Bet: A raise over a 3-bet.
Check-Raise: Checking first and then raising after an opponent bets, often indicating a strong hand.
Overbet: A bet larger than the current size of the pot.
Value Bet: A bet made with a strong hand to extract the maximum chips from an opponent.
Bluff: A bet made with a weak hand to get an opponent to fold.
Semi-Bluff: A bluff with the potential to improve to a strong hand on later streets (such as a straight or flush draw).
Hero Call: Calling a large bet with a marginal hand when you suspect the opponent is bluffing.
Game Concepts
Equity: The share of the pot a player expects to win based on the strength of their hand.
Pot Odds: The ratio between the current size of the pot and the cost of a contemplated call.
Implied Odds: Pot odds including the expected future bets if you hit your drawing hand.
Fold Equity: The chance that your opponent will fold to your bet.
Expected Value (EV): The average amount you expect to win or lose from a decision over the long run.
Reverse Implied Odds: The risk of winning a smaller pot or losing a bigger one even if you complete your draw.
Variance: The natural fluctuations in results over the short term, even when playing well.
Bankroll Management: Managing your poker funds to minimize the risk of going broke.
GTO (Game Theory Optimal): A theoretically unexploitable strategy based on mathematical principles.
Exploitative Play: Deviating from GTO to maximize profits by taking advantage of opponents’ mistakes.
Hand Types
Pocket Pair: Two cards of the same rank dealt to you (e.g., 5♠5♥ or Q♣Q♦).
Overpair: A pocket pair higher than any card on the board.
Set: Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching board card.
Trips: Three of a kind made with one hole card and two matching cards on the board.
Top Pair: A pair made with the highest-ranking card on the board.
Two Pair: Two different pairs made with your hole cards and/or the board.
Straight: Five consecutive cards of any suits (e.g., 4-5-6-7-8).
Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
Full House: A three-of-a-kind combined with a pair.
Quads (Four of a Kind): Four cards of the same rank.
Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
Royal Flush: A straight flush from Ten to Ace in the same suit.
Draw (Straight/Flush Draw): A hand needing one more card to complete a straight or flush.
Backdoor Draw: A hand that needs two consecutive cards to complete a straight or flush.
Nut Hand: The best possible hand given the current board.
Kicker: A side card used to break ties between players with the same hand strength.
Player Types and Styles
TAG (Tight Aggressive): A player who plays fewer hands but does so aggressively.
LAG (Loose Aggressive): A player who plays many hands and bets/raises aggressively.
Nit: An extremely tight and cautious player.
Fish: An inexperienced player who makes frequent mistakes.
Shark: A skilled and profitable player who targets weaker opponents.
Calling Station: A passive player who calls frequently but rarely raises.
Maniac: A highly aggressive and unpredictable player.
Rock: A very tight player who only plays premium hands.
Whale: A very weak player with deep pockets who tends to lose a lot of money.
Tilt and Mindset
Tilt: A state of emotional frustration that leads to poor decision-making.
Cooler: A hand where two strong hands clash, and losing is almost unavoidable.
Bad Beat: Losing a hand where you were a strong favorite to win.
Suckout: An opponent hitting a lucky card to beat a stronger hand.
Run Good: A period where you consistently get good cards and favorable outcomes.
Run Bad: A stretch where things go against you despite playing well.
Mental Game: The psychological aspect of poker, managing emotions and mindset.
Leveling War: An advanced battle of wits between players trying to out-think each other.
Money and Structure
Buy-in: The amount paid to enter a tournament or cash game.
Rebuy: The option to buy another starting stack during a tournament.
Addon: A one-time opportunity to buy additional chips at a designated point in a tournament, usually after the late registration period.
Cash Game: A poker game where chips have real monetary value, and blinds do not increase.
Sit and Go (SNG): A tournament that starts when a predetermined number of players have registered.
MTT (Multi-Table Tournament): A tournament played across multiple tables.
Freeroll: A tournament with no entry fee but real prizes.
Rake: The commission taken by the casino or poker room from the pot.
Rakeback: A rewards system where players receive a portion of their paid rake back.
Chip Dumping: Illegally transferring chips to another player, usually prohibited.
Statistics and Analytics
VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money in Pot): The percentage of hands a player voluntarily enters the pot with.
PFR (Preflop Raise): The percentage of hands a player raises preflop.
AF (Aggression Factor): The ratio of aggressive actions (bets and raises) to passive actions (calls).
WTSD (Went to Showdown): How often a player goes to showdown after seeing the flop.
W$SD (Won Money at Showdown): How often a player wins when reaching showdown.
Hand History: A record of previously played hands.
HUD (Heads-Up Display): A tool that displays opponents’ statistics during online play.
Leak: A consistent mistake or flaw in a player’s strategy.
Solver: Software that helps players analyze hands and find optimal strategies.
GTO Wizard: A popular solver tool used for studying GTO poker strategies.
Other Terms & Slang
Rainbow Board: A flop with three different suits, making a flush impossible on the turn.
Dry Board: A board with little to no draws possible.
Wet Board: A board with many possible draws (straights, flushes).
Overcard: A card higher than any card on the board.
Under the Gun +1 (UTG+1): The position immediately to the left of the UTG player.
Freeroll Equity: A situation where a player has no risk of losing the pot and a chance to win more.