Making Sense Out of the Poker Jargon Heard Around the Table
Poker jargon can be like a different language, a dialect of English you might have trouble deciphering unless properly initiated into the world of poker.
In every street the player can make either of the following decisions: to fold; to respond to a bet – to call (responding to an obligatory bet on the preflop is also called a limp or limp in, and the player is called the limper; if a player calls a raise without having bet himself, that player has made a cold call).
To check – to place no bet if no bets were placed before you; to make the first bet is “to bet” (in no-limit poker special terms refer to different types of bets: continuation bet – a standard bet approximately the size of the bank, pot-bet – a bet approximately the size of the bank, and overbet – a bet significantly larger than the bank); to raise another player’s bet (if the bet has already been raised, than your raise may be called a re-raise or a 3-bet; if you were preceded by a re-raise, than the fourth allowed bet is called a cap and player is said to “cap the betting”).
The bank, also called the pot, consists of chips which have been placed by all the players of the game and makes up the prize and purpose of the game. Each player around the player has bought chips which are his “stack.” The bank roll is the total of the money accessible to the players for that game. If the player bets his whole stack, he is said to be all-in, and you will normally observe a player pushing his stack toward the table’s center. “Push” is an implication of an all-in bet. A game that continues post a player’s all-in, the bank becomes two parts, the main pot and the side pot. Sensible, yes?
When at the end of the game (that is, the river) two or more players have equal bets, a showdown takes place. That player wins the showdown who has the strongest 5-card combination, or hand. Hands are rated as follows (from strongest to weakest): royal flush, straight flush, quad (also four of a kind), full-house, flush, straight, three of a kind – also a set (when a third card is added to your pocket pair) or trips (when your pocket card is combined with a pair), two pairs or doper, pair (an overpair is a pair which is stronger than the strongest single card on the table; in a flop, cards are rated as top, middle, and small pairs), and finally the high card (a card higher than the highest card on the table is called an overcard).
Strong hands are monsters, generally ranging from full-house up. The nuts is the strongest current hand. So he who holds the strongest current hand has the nuts.
Finally, in the event of even hands, the difference is distinguished by the highest rated card of the five best cards, but not one that is part of any of the above rated combinations. And that card is referred to as the kicker. When players have the same combinations, you have what is known as a split bank.
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