Texas Hold’em Live Poker Glossary

Texas Hold’em Live Poker Terms

We gathered up the most important words and their description into this glossary. If you are looking to master your poker speak, you have come to the right place!

Ante

This is a small bet all players have to place before they can play. The more you invest, the bigger the payout will be in the end.

Board

In Texas Hold’em, we have a number of shared cards, which apply to both players and the dealer. These shared cards are frequently referred to as the board, as they sit between the dealer and player pocket hands.

Burn

This mechanic does not appear very often in live casino games. It causes the top card in the deck to be discarded before each betting round. Some software providers use it in order to limit the effectiveness of card counting.

Call

Eventually, the round progresses to the point where you cannot keep checking. Either you have to Call the bet and put down extra money, or you have to Fold and give up. What option you choose depends on what your hand currently looks like. This is something you pick over time, as you play Live Casino Hold’em.

Check

As cards are being drawn, you can choose to check or increase your bet with every draw. Checking is the safer option, and will be your default pick most of the time.

Connector

This term refers to pocket cards that have sequential numbers. For example, a four and a five. There can also be suited connectors if the two cards have the same symbol.

Community Cards

Cards that are dealt face up at the centre of the table are referred to as community cards. This is a more common way to refer to the board.

Dealer

The person that deals the cards and announces the results of each round.

Draw

If you get an initially bad hand, you can stay with it in hopes of getting a better combination later on. This is known as drawing.

Draw Out

You use this term when a card transforms your losing hand into a win.

Flop

Texas Hold’em draws five cards total. We use Flop to refer to the first three community cards, which are usually drawn together.

Flush

A poker hand where all five cards have the same suit.

Fold

Folding means giving up on your hand. It saves you from betting any further, but it also means you cannot turn things around. Only fold if the situation is hopeless.

Four of a Kind

If all four cards are of the same value, that hand is a four-of-a-kind.

Full House

A hand that has both a three-of-a-kind and a pair.

Hand

The combination of available cards drawn from your pocket cards and community cards.

Off-Suit

Holding pocket cards of different suits.

Pair

Two cards with the same value.

Pocket Cards

Your first two cards, which can only be used to create your winning combination.

Quads

Alternate name for four of a kind.

River

The last of the five community cards.

Raise

If you are confident in your hand, you can increase the wager to potentially win even more. This process is known as raising.

Royal Flush

An ace-high straight flush, which is the best possible standard poker hand.

Straight

A hand that consists of five cards that are in sequence (3,4,5,6,7) but do not have the same suit.

Straight Flush

A hand that contains five cards that are in sequence and share the same suit!

Street

Another way of referring to community cards is to call them streets. For example, if you draw a six of spades as the fourth community card, it would be known as the fourth street. All five streets share the same naming convention.

Trips

Slang for a three of a kind win.

Three of a Kind

If all three cards are of the same value, that hand is a three-of-a-kind.

Turn

This is the fourth community card that the dealer draws.

Closing Thoughts

While this may not cover every single term out there, it does cover the most important ones. With this knowledge, you will be well equipped to go out there and dominate every live casino poker game. Quite a few of these terms also translate into poker you play against other players.