BestOnlineCasinos.ca’s Poker Glossary

13th December 2021

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On this page:
All-In
Blind Bet
Call
Check
Community Cards
Deuce
Flush Draw
Forced Bet
Full House
High Hand
Hole Cards
Pocket Pair
Preflop
Quads
Raise
Royal Flush
Short Stack
Side Pot
Split Pot
Three of a Kind

Online poker is one of the most played real money casino games in the world and has been for the better part of two centuries. It’s no surprise that, during this lengthy period of popularity, many poker-exclusive terms and phrases have become commonplace.

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Poker almost has its own language by this point!

Join us as we explore the most-used terms, what they mean, and when to use them in alphabetical order.

Ready to sound like a poker master? Then let’s jump in.

Online Poker Terms Glossary

While many poker phrases date back to the 1800s when the game first started to find its feet, the language of the game is constantly evolving. That means even long-term players have to keep their ear to the ground to pick up all the latest jargon so they know what’s happening at the poker table.

Some of the following phrases are used more often than others, but to get the most out of your poker playing experience at land-based and online casinos, it’s worth being familiar with them all:

All-In

Going all-in means you bet all the chips that you are holding on the outcome of an individual hand. This choice is most often made when a player is in a weak position compared to other players at the table. However, sometimes a poker pro will take a risk and go all-in when they have the most chips at the table, in the hope of ending the game quickly. All-in bets usually occur in Pot-Limit or No-Limit variants of poker games like Hold’em.

Call

Call means that you match the highest wager made by any player on the table. Before the action continues, all players must have called this bet or folded, so that all remaining players have wagered the same amount. The only exception here is if a player goes all-in with chips lower in value than the call amount, and a side pot is created.

Check

To check, the bet needs not to have been raised. For example, if you are playing Hold’em at an online casino and, after the flop, nobody has raised the bet, you can check, meaning you stay in, but don’t add any chips to the pot. If any player raises after you check, you must call to keep playing.

Community Cards

A phrase used most commonly with Hold’em games like Texas and Omaha, community cards are laid face up in the middle of the table and can be used by all players. In Texas Hold’em, a player needs to make a five-card hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards. Omaha Hold’em is stricter, with players required to form their best hand out of two of their four hole cards and three of the five community cards.

Deuce

Deuce is simply another word for a 2. This is a common term and poker tables, with “a pair of deuces” heard far more often than “ a pair of twos”, for example.

Flush Draw

This term means that you are one card away from landing a flush. In a five-card poker game, you would have four cards of the same suit at your disposal. You may need to wait to see if a community card is turned over with the same suit to finish your hand, or you may have to exchange your fifth card in the hope of the flush, depending on the variant you’re playing.

Forced Bet

Forced bets are pretty much what they sound like, wagers a player has to make. The blinds in Hold’em games and antes in some tournaments are good examples of forced bets. If forced bets are in play, each player will be required to make them at some point during the game.

Full House

A poker hand that contains three cards of one rank and two of another is known as a full house. The highest value full house hand is A-A-A-K-K, otherwise known as Aces over Kings. To land this three-of-a-kind and pair combination during a Hold’em game, at least one pair must be dealt in the community cards.

High Hand

The lowest value poker hand, judged only on the highest rank it contains. For example, an A-10-8-7-3 hand would beat a Q-J-10-7-2 as the first has an Ace high, and the second a Queen high. It is not recommended to try and win a pot with a high hand unless you are a skilled bluffer or playing a variant where the lowest value hand is rewarded, such as Omaha Hi-Lo.

Hole Cards

The hole cards are those that only the player can see. For example, if you’re playing Texas Hold’em, the game ends with five community cards that are visible to all players. Each player will also have two cards face down in front of them, these are the hole cards and are usually the difference between winning and losing.

Pocket Pair

A pocket pair is two cards of the same rank that are in your hand. For example, pocket deuces would mean your hole cards are both 2s in Texas Hold’em.

Preflop

Another Hold’em term, preflop indicates all action that happens before the flop. The flop is the dealing of the first three community cards, which is followed by the second round of betting. In Hold’em games, the blinds, dealing of cards, and the first round of betting all happen preflop.

Quads

More commonly known as four-of-a-kind, quads are a powerful hand for a poker player to be holding. In five-card games, for example, holding quads means you have four cards of the same rank. The higher the rank, the better the hand. Your fifth card will not matter, as two players can’t hold the same quads in a single-deck game, meaning there will never be the need for a kicker.

Raise

To raise the bet you must place more chips into the pot than the current highest. For example, if a player has bet $5, you could call by betting the same amount, or raise to $10, for example. That player, and all others wanting to stay part of the action, would have to call – or re-raise – your bet in order to do so.

Royal Flush

The target for every poker player. A Royal Flush is the highest value hand it’s possible to get. This hand is formed of a straight flush – cards of the same suit in ascending order of rank – made up of the five highest values. This A-K-Q-J-10 is incredibly rare and can be tied, but never beaten.

Short Stack

Short stack is a fairly crude, but still often used term for the player at the table with the least number of chips. The term can also be used to describe players with a stack under a specific level, meaning there can be more than one short stack at a table. As you can probably guess, a short stack is not the optimal position for winning a poker game, but it can sometimes be rectified with a few lucky hands or a successful all-in bet.

Side Pot

If a player goes all-in but does not have the chips to call the entire bet, a side pot must be formed. This basically means that the all-in player is playing for the value of their hand, while any additional chip value or bets are put into a side pot that all other active players are vying for. This is the rare occasion when two different players can win big on one round of poker. It can go further than this, as multiple side pots can be formed and, technically, all players at the table could win something.

Split Pot

A split pot happens in the case of a draw. This is the most common occurrence, and usually happens during a Texas Hold’em game if the community cards form the best five-card hand at the table. In Hi-Lo games, there is a split pot on every round, with half the pot given to the players with the highest and lowest value hands.

Three of a Kind

A three-of-a-kind hand is one of the most self-explanatory in all of poker. This hand consists of three cards of the same rank, of different suits. In a five card hand, this isn’t the strongest, ranking sixth, but is one of the best common hands. A high three-of-a-kind, such as A-A-A-J-8, could put you in a good position when it comes to the showdown at the end of the round.