I was looking through all of the articles on EzineArticles.com the other day and I realized that no-one had actually covered a reasonably complete list of poker terms. I’ve been harping on why players new to poker should know about the lingo used in poker before jumping into the fray for a while, yet I never really focused on poker terms. My bad. So here is the first installment of the most common poker terms. Some of them are specific to online poker (OP) while others apply to poker in general.
Advance Action (OP)
This option is available in many online poker rooms. When you know what your next move is going to be and it is not your turn yet, you can already indicate what you are going to do with this option.
All In
This simply means you are betting all the chips you have. Players usually go all in when they are running out of chips yet they do not want to fold. As a result, a player who goes all in has the chance to win all the bets up to the last amount he put in.
Ante
This is the small amount of chips that each player at the table has to dewapoker put in before he can participate in the game. In some games, instead of an ante, a blind is used.
Avatar (OP)
This is your online representation of yourself. Most online poker rooms have a variety of characters which you can choose from to represent yourself.
Bad Beat
You are a bad beat when you seem to have everything going for you at the table and then suddenly the statistical underdog comes up and beats you.
Bet The Pot
When you play pot limit games, you can bet an amount equal to the pot. Say, if the pot is at $100, then you bet $100 as well.
Blind
This is a mandatory bet used in place of the ante. In a game, there is a big blind and a small blind. The blinds are part of the player’s bet and rotates around the table.
Big Blind
Generally, the big blind is the same amount as the lower stake in a poker game. The big blind is to the left of the small blind who is to the left of the dealer.
Board
For Texas Hold ’em Poker, the cards on the table – the community cards – are also known as the board.
Burn
Normally used for off line poker games, the top card in the deck is discarded – or burned – before the next card is shown face up. This minimizes the chances of cheating. In online poker, this is not done.
Button
In a real life poker game, this is a marker – usually round – that is used to indicate who the dealer is. It is also called the dealer button but is normally shortened to just “button.” In an online game, the button serves the same purpose but is of course, a virtual marker. The button is only used in poker games wherein the position relative to the dealer is of any importance.
Buy In
A buy in is basically how much a person has to pay in order to play poker at a table. Most any poker game – even home games – has a minimum buy in. In most cases, the buy in for a poker game would be about 10 times as much as the big blind or the higher stake. However, there are always exceptions.