Texas Hold'em Terms, Dictionary - Letters L Thru Z

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L

• Late Position - The last two seats at the poker table known as the cutoff position in seat nine and the button in seat ten (in a ten-handed game).
• Limp - Calling first in before the flop.
• Lol - Internet jargon for 'laugh out loud.'
• Lone Opponent - Only one opponent is contesting the pot.
• Loose - A player who plays many hands; after a flop, a loose player will often play to the river and will try many bluffs.
• Loose Game - When a lot of players see the flop.

M

• Maniac - Highly aggressive player that constantly raises the pot and plays most of his hands.
• Middle/Bottom Pair - A pair below the highest card on the table.
• Middle Position - Seats 6, 7, and 8 in a ten-handed game.
• Miracle Card - A card that gives a player a big hand when there are overwhelming odds against it happening.

N

• NH - Internet jargon for 'Nice Hand'
• Nut Flush - In games like Holdem or Omaha, it's the highest possible flush. The cards on the board are crucial in determining the potential highest flush.
• Nuts - Holding the best possible hand on any betting round.

O

• Open - The first player to put chips in the pot other than the blind money.
• Open-ended Straight - A straight that can be attained by two different cards.
• Outs - A card that will improve your hand, preferably to the winning hand.
• Overcard - A card higher than the highest card on the board or community cards. Also, community cards higher than a player's pair.
• Overpair - A pocket pair higher than the highest card on the board.

P-Q

• Playing Zone - The cards in a range that players favor playing which in Texas Holdem includes cards with ranks of eight or higher.
• Pocket Pair - Holding a pair with the two cards dealt to you.
• Position - The order in which you have to act in the game, e.g., early position if acting first, late position if acting last.
• Pot - The wagered chips that have become part of the prize in any given hand.
• Pot Limit - A type of betting structure where the size of a player's bet is limited only by the size of the current pot.
• Pot Odds - Mathematical relationship between the total amount in the pot to the amount of the current bet.
• Preflop - The first betting round when the players receive their two hole cards.
• Private Cards (a.k.a down cards, hole cards) - These are the cards that are dealt face down to each player before the initial round of betting.
• Probability - The chance that an event will occur.
• Protect - Betting/Raising to make your opponents pay a price to try and draw to beat you.
• Put Someone On A Hand - To try to determine an opponent's hand by analyzing the exposed cards, the player's playing style, and the player's bets/raises on past betting rounds.
• Quartered - Usually in a split-pot game, when the low half of the pot is divided between two players, you win one-fourth of the pot

R

• Rag - A board card lower than a 9.
• Rainbow - A flop with three different suits.
• Raise - To increase the bet.
• Read - To determine the possible hands of your opponent.
• Rebuy - Action of purchasing additional chips.
• Reraise - Increasing an opponent's raise by an additional amount.
• Ring Game - A full table cash game with 9 to 10 players.
• River - The fifth board card.
• Rock - A very tight player who rarely bluffs.
• ROFL - Internet jargon for 'Rolling on the Floor Laughing'
• Running Pair - When the turn and river card are a pair.
• Runner-runner - A draw that needs both the turn and river card to improve.

S

• Scare Card - A potentially dangerous card to you or your opponent.
• Semi-bluff - If called this bet or raise probably isn't the best hand, but it could improve to the best hand on the next card.
• Set - Three of a kind when holding a pocket pair that matches one of the board cards.
• Shark - An extremely good card player.
• Short-handed - Some casinos only allow up to 5 or 6 players at a table; in other words short-handed tables.
• Short-stacked - A player with only a few chips left to bet.
• Showdown - The moment in a hand when all the betting is done and the players turn their cards face up to determine the winning hand.
• Slow Play - Checking or calling a very strong hand on one round of betting to win more bets on later rounds of betting. In other words, you play a strong hand as though it were a weaker hand than it is with the intention of luring your opponents further into the pot.
• Small Bet - The amount of the bet on the first two rounds of betting.
• Split the Pot - Dividing the pot in equal amounts between two or more opponents who have the same hand.
• Steal - Raising to win the blinds preflop. Stealing the pot on later betting rounds is the same as a bluff.
• Street - A betting round such as the flop, turn or river.

T

• Table Image - A player's perceived type of play such as being loose or tight.
• Tell - Act/gesture that gives some indication as to the strength or weakness of your opponent's hand.
• TX, TKS or TY - Internet jargon for 'Thanks or Thank You'
• Tight - A player who doesn't play many hands. Tight players rarely bluff after the flop and usually play with strong hands or strong draws.
• Tight game - A game where there are not very many players who see the flop.
• Tilt - Playing recklessly or wild as a result of being upset or angry.
• Toke - A tip given to the dealer by a player when the player wins a pot.
• Top Pair - In Texas Holdem, a pair using one of your hole cards to match the highest card on the board.
• Trap Hands - Hands usually dominated by other hands such as KJ, KT, and QT. These hands rarely win large pots, unless you hit a straight, and they can lose a bunch of money to hands with better kickers.
• Trey - This is a card with the rank of three.
• Trips - Three of a kind when one of your pocket cards matches a pair on the board.
• Turn - The fourth board card.

U

• Under the Gun - The first player to the preflop in early position.

V

• VN or VNH - Internet jargon for 'Very Nice Hand'

W-Z

• WTG - Internet jargon for 'Way To Go'
• Weak - A poor poker player who typically plays too many hands preflop and will call too frequently after the flop.
• Wheel (a.k.a. bicycle) - A five-high straight and the nut low 5-4-3-2-A in split-pot games.
• Woohoo - Internet jargon for celebration.
• World Series Of Poker (WSOP) - A highly publicized poker tournament held in Las Vegas in the spring.
• ZZZZ - Internet jargon for going to sleep from the slow play.

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