Poker Slang Nitty
The Phrase 'Nitty Gritty' was also adopted by some black musicians as a cultural reference, and/or as a euphemism for sex: Chuck Berry's song: 'Club Nitty Gritty'. Shirley Ellis's song 'Nitty Gritty' refers to 'getting right down' to 'the real nitty gritty'. Gladys Knight and the Pips covered Ellis's song on their 1969 album: 'Nitty Gritty'. Jerry Buss: The 77-year-old majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers is a poker aficionado, dabbling in some of the biggest cash games in the world. However, don’t expect his $600 million net. Nitty definition: infested with nits Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples. A Game - The highest stake ring game in a bricks and mortar or online poker room. A Team - A slang term sometimes used for the poker hand Ace 10 (A-10). Ace High - A hand where no other hand exists (such as a pair or straight) will be won by the player who has the highest card. As an Ace is the highest card, the 'Ace High' hand will win.
The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game.
From the small blind to the straight flush, here is a poker glossary of the important poker terms to know.
Act: check, bet, raise, or fold
Action: whose turn it is, as in “Action is on you.” Also, slang for gambling, as in “He loves action.” Or a lot of betting, like “The 2/4 game at Pala has a lot of action.”
Active Player:player still in competition for a pot
Add-on: additional chips that may be purchased to “add on” to your chip stack, usually at the end of the Re-buy period, though some tourneys allow add-ons earlier and some tourneys even allow for multiple add-ons (and/or Re-buys)
All-in: a player bets all of his or her remaining chips
Bad Beat: when a player has the best of it and the odds are heavily with him or her, but gets beaten in the hand by a long-shot draw
Bankroll:the money a player has set aside to gamble with
Behind: a player who acts after another player in a betting round
Benjamin: a hundred-dollar bill (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait appears on a U.S. $100 bill)
Best of It: the player who has the odds on his or her side
Bet:money initially wagered and put into the pot (during a given betting round, subsequent betting action beyond an initial bet is termed a “raise”)
Big Blind: the larger of two forced “blind hands” in community card games like Hold’em and Omaha; the big blind is generally located two to the left of the “dealer button”
Big Hand: a really good hand
Big Slick: Ace-King hole cards (see Hole Cards)
Blank: community board card that looks like it is harmless or couldn’t really help anybody
Bluff: a bet or raise that appears to represent a good hand, when in fact the bettor has a mediocre or at best a drawing hand
Board:(see also, Community Cards) the playing surface and the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Boat:full house (aka “full boat”). three of one card, two of another. ex. JJJ99
Brick and Mortar: a casino with a physical world spatial existence (as opposed to merely online or cyberspace); some casinos, like Pala, have both a brick and mortar and an online existence.
Broadway: ace-high straight
Bubble: in a tournament, one place away from making it to the money
Busted: broke. Lost all chips and out of the tournament.
Button:(aka Dealer Button), disc that denotes which player is the “dealer” for that hand. Button position is dealt the last card and is last to act in each betting round
Buy-In:the amount of chips a player must buy in order to enter a card game. For tourneys, the buy-in is a set amount of money for a set amount of starting chips. For cashgames, buy-ins are generally expressed as minimums, but can have an optional limited or unlimited range beyond the minimum as well.
Buying the Pot: to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff that forces other players out
Call:to put in the amount that another player bet: “I call”
Calling Station: you bet and bet and he calls and calls; generally a weak player who calls too much but doesn’t usually bet or raise.
Case Card: last card of a given rank left in the deck… the other three are already out
Chasing: hoping an upcoming community card will “hit” to complete a so-far unmade hand
Check: to not bet when it is your turn. can say “I check” or tap on the table in a live game
Check and Raise: to check initially, but then make a raise if another player bets after your initial check
Chop:in tournament play, the last remaining players decide to split up the prizepool rather than play to the end; or, in a hand, where the end result is a tie and the pot is split up and distributed evenly to the tied players.
Community Cards:(see also, Board) the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Connectors:(see also, Suited Connectors) two or more cards in sequence; for example: 89 or 10J
Counterfeit:In Omaha Eight or Better, when the board pairs one of your low cards
Cracked: to lose a hand you were initially favored to win, as in “My Aces got cracked!”
Crying Call: a very reluctant call
Dealer:player or staff member who deals the cards out to players; however, see also, Button
Dead Man Hand: A famous hand that consists of the black eights and the black aces
Deep Stack:a tournament in which players begin with an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blind or ante.
Dog:underdog. Not favored to win.
Dominated: a hand that is beaten due to shared cards. for example, A-8 is “dominated” by A-K
Draw: hand that needs additional cards to become a winning hand
Drawing Dead: when there are no cards left in the deck that will make a draw hand into a winner
Draw Poker: each player gets a set amount of cards and then can replace some of his or her cards with others dealt out from the remainder of the deck
Duck: a deuce, a 2
Early Position: approx. first third of players to act in a hand
Face Down: cards, like the hole cards, that are unexposed to other players
Face Up: exposed card that everybody can see
Fast Play: aggressive style emphasizing a lot of betting and raising
Favorite: based on odds alone, most likely hand to win
Fish: a novice or poorly-skilled player, expected to lose money
Flop: first three community cards dealt face up on the board
Flush: hand containing five cards of the same suit
Fold:to get rid of one’s cards, and in doing so forfeiting the right to any part of the pot.
Four-Flush: having four of the five cards needed for a flush… and hoping for the fifth
Free Card: a betting round where all players have checked, thus allowing the next community card to fall without anybody putting any money in the pot
Freeroll: a poker tournament in which certain qualifying players get in for free. “Freerolling” also is an expression sometimes used to describe somebody who has won a lot of chips already and is “rolling” through the game with other people’s money.
Four-of-a-Kind: Hand containing four cards of the same rank, like J J J J.
Full House: hand with two of one rank and three of another, like 9 9 J J J
Hand: the cards a poker player holds, combined with any community cards, to make the best five card combination
Head-to Head: aka “Heads Up”
Hi/Lo: type of poker where the highest hand and the lowest hand each take half the pot
Hole Cards: cards held by a player, unseen by other players
Implied Odds:what a player thinks his actual payoff will be if he hits his hand, relative to how much it will cost to play
In Front Of: a player who acts before another player
Inside Straight Draw: a draw where only one card will complete the straight, for example a hand like 6-7- – 9-10… needs an 8 to complete
Isolate: to bet and raise so as to get heads-up against a weaker hand or weaker player
Joker: a wild card, or slang for a really lucky card that came to complete a hand against odds
Kicker:unmatched card in a player’s hand that is not used except to break ties. Example, two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with A kicker beats two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with Q kicker.
Late Position: aprox. the final third of players to act in a hand
Laydown:to fold
Limit:the most that can be bet or raised at any one time (see also, Limit Poker)
Limit Poker:poker games where limits exist for betting or raising, as opposed to no-limit poker
Limp: to just call, rather than bet or raise
Live Card:a card whose rank has not yet appeared on the board (nor presumably in another hand)
Live One: a player likely to bet wildly and probably lose like a fish (see Fish)
Lock: a hand that cannot be beaten
Poker Slang Nitty Crossword Clue
Lock Up My Seat: a commitment to take a seat that is waiting for you
Longshot: a drawing hand that has the odds heavily against it and probably won’t be made
Look Up: to call somebody, as in “I’m gonna look you up.”
Loose: playing style that plays a lot of hands and often goes for longshots (see Longshot)
Made Hand: already solid. Don’t need to hit a draw to have a good winning hand.
Maniac:wild, loose player who bets it up with mediocre hands just to build the pot
Middle Position: aprox. the middle third of players to act in a hand
Monster: an excellent hand that is either a lock (see Lock) or at least probably won’t be beat
Muck: fold. To throw a hand away and toss it into the Muckpile. (see Muckpile) & (see Fold)
No-Limit: a player may bet any amount of chips up to and including everything he has in front of him or her
One Pair: hand containing two cards of the same rank, like Q Q
Overcard: a higher card. So a K is an “overcard” to a Q, and a Q is over a 9
Pocket Cards: see also- Hole Cards
Position: players relative position to the player who acts last; in flop games like Hold’em and Omaha, position is usually considered relative to the button
Pot:sum total of all antes, blinds, and bets put into the center of the table during a given poker hand. It is the pot for which players are competing to win.
Preflop:before the flop
Poker Slang Nitty Gritty
Premium Starting Hands:holding among the best starting hole cards; for example, in Hold’em premium starting hands include A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, and possibly A-Q and J-J as well. Hi/Lo games also have low premium starting hands of their own, for example holding perhaps A-2-3-5 as a starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo
Raise:adding more chips to another player’s original bet to make it more expensive for other players to continue to play for the pot
Rake:the amount of money taken out of a pot by the house (the dealer is the house’s representative in this process) as its fee for running the game; the rake is used to pay overhead, including equipment, facilities, utilities, and staff salaries
Reraise: raising another player’s raise
Ring Game: a cash game with a full table of players, usually seven or more for Stud and nine or more for Omaha or Hold’em
River: the fifth (last) community card on board
Royal Flush: an A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest ranking hand in poker.
Satellite Tournament: a smaller stakes tourney in which the prizes are one or more entries into a more expensive major event
Set: three of a kind, consisting of a pocket pair plus a matching community card
Shorthanded: a poker game with five players or less, perhaps six or less
Showdown: final act of a poker hand
Slowplay: playing a powerful hand in a weak manner to disguise its strength and lure, or “trap,” other players into the action
Small Blind: located just to the left of the button, it is the smaller of the two forced blind bets preflop
Poker Slang Nitty Band
Standard Raise: typically, three times the big blind
Steal the Blinds: bluffing to make the blinds fold
Straight: a sequence of five consecutive cards, like 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Straight Flush: a sequence of five consecutive cards that are all also the same suit
Suck-out:to hit a longshot draw, typically on the river
Suited Connectors: (see also, Connectors) two or more cards in sequence and of the same suit; for example: 8-9 or 10-J of Hearts
Swing:fluctuation of a player’s chip count or even overall bankroll
Table Stakes: a player can only play with the money/chips he or she has on the table in front of him or her; the player’s bet, call, or raise is limited to the number of chips he or she currently has, and the player cannot buy, borrow, or produce more chips in the middle of a hand.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank held in a given hand, ex.: QQQ. see also, Trips
Tournament: a competition in which all players start with the same amount of chips and play continues until one player holds all the chips
Trap: to underplay or slowplay powerful hand so as to lure other players into betting
Trips: three of a kind
Turn: the fourth community card on board, following the flop
Two Pair: a hand that contains two different pairs, like QQ and KK in the same hand
Poker Slang Nitty Game
Under the Gun: the first player to act in a round of poker; preflop, under the gun is to the immediate left of the button
Value Bet: betting a hand that is perhaps not a sure thing but that over time will win more than it loses
Wheel: (aka “Bicycle”) a five-high straight: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Wired: to have a pair in the hole from the start
Now that you are familiar with all of the poker terms you can start playing poker online! Sign up today for a poker tournament to win real money!
Poker lingo can often be an intimidating boat to navigate for an experienced player. That’s why we’ve complied 23 common poker terms you will hear both at the tables and in the articles here on UNFELTED.
If you can think of any poker lingo you remember learning for the first time, share them with us in the comments below.
23 Common Poker Terms
- Position: your position at the table relative either to the button or the other players at the table.
- UTG: Under The Gun, the player directly to the right of the Big Blind.
- Button (BTN): the last player to act in the hand postflop and the most powerful position in the game.
- Small Blind (SB): the position directly to the left of the button. The SB must put out a forced bet half the size of the Big Blind.
- Big Blind (BB): the position directly to the left of the SB. The BB also has a forced bet, which is always double the size of the SB. The amount of the BB is also the minimum bet anyone can make at any point in the hand. So, for example, if the blinds are 10/20, 20 is the minimum amount anyone can make.
- Blind versus Blind (bvb): When everyone folds and the only players left in the hand are the SB & BB.
- Limp: simply calling the big blind preflop, as opposed to raising.
- 3-Bet: a reraise of a raise.
- 4-Bet: reraising a reraiser.
- C-bet: C-bet stands for continuation bet and refers to when you or your opponent raise before the flop and continue your aggressive action by betting again after the flop.
- Iso: iso stands for isolation bet and refers to a situation where you or your opponent limp preflop and then get raised. The reason it’s called an isolation bet is because making this sort of raise is often intended to get everyone else to fold, thereby isolating the original limper as the only opponent in the hand, or taking down the pot uncontested if the original limper decides to fold as well.
- Barrel: barreling means betting multiple times. A double-barrel means betting on both the flop and turn or on the turn and river and a triple-barrel means betting every street.Triple barreling is one of the most powerful lines (see #16)in poker as it puts the maximum amount of pressure on your opponent, especially if the final bet forces them to put their tournament life on the line.
- Probe: A probe bet is a bet made after your opponent fails to make a C-bet.
- Float: floating is when you call an opponent’s bet with a weak hand with the intention of potentially bluffing on later streets.
- Range: The complete collection of hands you or your opponent are likely to have in each specific situation. For example, if you get check-raised on an AK4 flop (meaning your opponent checked to you, you bet, and he or she then raised) and you know your opponent is an extremely tight player who rarely bluffs, their “range” is extremely strong (or “narrow”), comprised primarily of top pair or better. Alternatively, if you’re playing an ultra aggressive player in a HU game and they raise on the button, their range is likely to be extremely “wide”, meaning that is contains a large number of hands, perhaps even all of them. If this is still a little unclear to you, do not worry. We will be discussing range in greater depth in one of the following chapters as it is one of, if not the, key elements of being a successful poker player.
- Line: your line is the entire collection of decisions you make throughout a hand. So, for example, when you have a strong hand against an opponent who doesn’t like to fold, your “line”will likely just be: raise, bet, bet, bet as you attempt to get the most chips from your opponent.
- Street: Each of the flop, turn, and river is known as a “street”.
- EV: EV stands for expected value, which is essentially the long-term average outcome of a given scenario. So, for example, if you go all in against your opponent preflop with AA against his or her KK, your expected value is about 82%of the pot, meaning your opponent only has approximately an 18% chance of winning all the chips if the situation was repeated ad infinitum.
- Balance: Having a similar number of value-bets and bluffs in each specific situation.
- Value Hand: A hand that is not a bluff
- Value Bet: A bet is a value bet when it has a positive expectation, that is, when it will win more than one bet for every bet put into the pot. More simply put, a value bet is abet that is made with a hand that wants to get called.
- Nit/Nitty: Slang for a player who plays relatively few hands and is hesitant to get into a big pot without a big hand.
- Spew/Spewy: Slang for an extremely bad bet or call, as well as for a player that is being overly aggressive in all the wrong spots.
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