D

(n) 1. Diamonds (the suit), in written text. Qd, for example, is the queen of diamonds (Q♦). 3. In the French deck, the index for the queen (dame in French).

(n) Queen (the card).

(v) Compete, usually as an antagonistic challenge. “We’re gonna dance tonight.”

(v phrase) Play every hand, or appear or claim to.

(n) In Omaha, a fourth starting card that doesn’t coordinate with the other three. For example, with starting cards of 10-J-Q-4, the 4 is a dangler to the three high cards; in the hand 2-3-4-K, the king is a dangler. Also, unmatched card.

(adv, adj) 1. Without looking at your cards. “I’ll open dark.” “He made a dark bet.” — (vt) 2. Check without looking; always followed by it. “I’ll dark it” means “I have not looked at my cards and I shall check” and implies that the speaker is drawing to a powerhouse (in high draw poker) or to a must-call hand (in ace-to-five lowball; for example, an 8, but not a must-bet hand) so you better not try to bluff him, but in actuality usually means he doesn’t want you to bet.

(n phrase) A blind bet. See dark (definition 1).

(v) Bet dark.

(n phrase) Darth Vader.

(n phrase) See dark (definition 2).

(n phrase) In cardrooms that have two playing sections, poker and California games, the section containing the latter. Someone who goes broke in a poker game might head across the room to try to win it all back playing double hand or blackjack. One of the seated players might make a remark about him going over to the dark side.

(n phrase) In hold’em, the two black 4s (the “dark force”) as starting cards. Also, dark force.

(n phrase) Data-mining utility.

(n phrase) Software that searches hand histories on online poker sites, often for the purpose of selling the data to online players. The data often provides statistics on player tendencies, such as what percentage of the time the player sees the flop, how often he three-bets, and so on. See heads up display.

(n) 1. Markings put on cards with paint, ink, or some other fluid. White on white is a form of daub. Compare with shading. Sometimes called paint. Also see cosmetics. — (v) 2. To so mark cards.

(n) A thief who uses daub.

(n) The king of spades. Probably comes from the Biblical King David. This usage may date as far back as the 15th century, when French playing card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. To lend authenticity to the name, in the French deck, a harp (David’s instrument in the Bible) appears below his scepter.

(n) Day shift. “When do you work?” “I’m on day.”

(n) Day shift. “When do you work?” “I’m on days.”

(n phrase) 1. One of the three shifts (see shift) in a 24-hour cardroom or casino, the shift between graveyard and swing. Day shift usually starts anywhere between 8 and 10 a.m and ends eight hours later. 2. Those who normally play during the day. After an all-night session in a cardroom, someone who still remains at the table might remark after seeing fresh players arrive, “Here comes the day shift.”

(adv) 1. Pertaining to a hand that won’t win if it’s made; usually preceded by draw. In hold’em, you might hear, “He flopped a full house, and I was drawing dead to a straight. Naturally, I made the hand.” — (adj) 2. Not lively, referring to the action in a game; often as part of the phrase dead game or dead spread. 3. Not legally playable (according to the house rules in force at the time, or to generally accepted rules). “His hand is dead. I saw a discard touch it.” “That’s a dead hand; you didn’t have the blind last time.” The second quotation refers to cards that would normally be playable, but because of a technicality cannot be played. In this case, the cards are unplayable because in many cardrooms a player who did not sit through the blinds is not entitled to a hand. 4. Describing a card or cards not available to be drawn because they have already appeared. In seven-card stud, if you have four spades and you can see eight spades among other players’ board cards, you might say to yourself, “My spades are dead.” 5. Not catching any cards, usually phrased as card dead.

(n phrase) 1. A blind bet, the holder of which cannot raise unless the pot is already raised. 2. A blind that the winner of a pot does not get to keep; instead, he must put it back in the next pot. A winner blind is an example of a dead blind. (Compare with live blind, which is the opposite of both meanings.)

(adj phrase) Completely out of money. A common condition for a railbird. Also, flat broke.

(n phrase) A button charge that does not count toward a player’s bet (and thus whose only purpose is to pay the drop). Compare with live button charge.

(n phrase) The rule that the button doesn’t move if the small blind position leaves, or, in a tournament, if the big blind busts out. Here is how it works in a nontournament situation: If the player in this position leaves for some reason — one good reason being that that player goes broke — a player to his left might end up not putting in the correct amount for having had all the blinds. To avoid this, many cardrooms have a dead button rule. The way it works in practice is if the next player to have the button is not present, but was there for the previous hand, the house dealer places the button at the empty position, and starts dealing to the player to the left of that position, just as if a player actually were in the empty seat. The button position does not receive any cards on that deal. Some cardrooms handle the situation by moving the button and having players with blinds put extra chips in such that the total they put in on the round is the same as if they had sat through all the blinds; this is not considered an implementation of the dead button rule, but is referred to as making up the blinds (see make up the blinds). Other cardrooms move the button and allow players in blind positions to put in just the blinds indicated by their position, which essentially means that they “get lucky” and don’t have to put in the full blind complement. (The latter is the usual online implementation.) Here is how it works in a tournament: If a player is eliminated while in the big blind, on the next hand, the player to the left of the empty seat puts up a single big blind. There is no small blind on that hand. For the next hand, the button moves into the empty seat, and the player to the left of the empty seat puts up the small blind. If a player is eliminated while in the small blind, the button moves into the empty seat for the next hand. This rule ensures that the remaining players put up the blinds that they would normally put up if the eliminated player were still at the table. With this rule, no one skips a blind or plays the same blind twice.

(n phrase) 1. Any card not in play, or, according to the rules, one that cannot be played for some technical reason, such as being dropped on the floor. 2. Any card not available to be drawn because it has already appeared.

(n phrase) Cards not available to be drawn or dealt because they have already appeared. The term is often used in seven-card stud, where, for example, if a player needs a king or 9 to make a straight and two of each are already among other players’ board cards, those cards are dead cards.

(n phrase) 1. A game full of mostly house players (that is, with few or even no live players). See house player. 2. See dead (definition 2).

(n phrase) See dead (definition 3). Also foul hand, irregular hand.

(adv phrase) Having no way of winning a particular pot. Also see draw dead.

(n phrase) 1. The two-pair hand aces and 8s. Supposedly James Butler (“Wild Bill”) Hickok, a noted gunfighter, scout, and gambler of the American Old West, was holding aces and 8s when he was shot in the back by Jack McCall in the No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota, on August 2, 1876. (It was also known as the Mann-Lewis Saloon, after its owners. The No. 10 name had to do with a mining claim.) There is some controversy as to the fifth card. Some say all the cards in the hand were black, and that the fifth card was the jack of spades. The current story promulgated by the cardrooms of Deadwood is that the two pair were black and the fifth card was the nine of diamonds. Even so, the term dead man’s hand usually just refers to two pair, aces and 8s, in any combination. 2. In hold’em, A-8 as starting cards.

(n phrase) 1. Money put into a pot by one or more players who have subsequently folded (and is thus available for someone else to win). 2. A portion of the chips put into a pot by a player who has missed the blinds and is now posting. See discussion at post. 3. Money invested in a tournament by a player or players unlikely to win. “The pros love to see all the rich amateurs in the World Series of Poker who just want to brag they played against the best in the world, because it’s all just dead money.” 4. Disparaging term for someone playing in a tournament who is unlikely to win. “Yeah, Matt’s in the final event, but he’s just dead money.” 5. The totality of those playing in a tournament who are unlikely to win. “There’s a lot of dead money in this event.”

(n phrase) 1. Dead game. 2. A joking or sarcastic description of what seems to be a game with little action.

(n) 1. The discards; used cards out of play. “Push the deadwood. It’s my turn to deal.” Sometimes called timber. 2. A player who is easy pickings for skilled players.

(expression) Red deck. This is a spoonerism that you hear cardroom clowns use when they ask the house for a deck change.

(v) 1. Distribute the cards to the players. 2. Arrange to redistribute tournament winnings in some manner not according to the announced disposition. For example, when there are three players left, they may agree to allocate prize money based on stack sizes. 3. Split (definition 4). 4. Agree to apportion some part of a pot before the final outcome. This is often done in hold’em when one player is all in and either the river or the turn and river have not been dealt. For example, one player might have top pair while the other has a flush draw and no overcards, and the two might agree for each of them to take back some part of the final bet. With two cards to come, the flush would be made approximately one-third of the time, so the players might agree that of the last $900 bet, the player with the pair would remove $600 and the player with the draw $300. In such a case, one player might say to the other, “Do you want to deal?” They would then negotiate terms. — (n) 5. The act of dealing. “He got a full house on the deal.” “Whose deal is it?” 6. The dealing position. “Where is the deal?” means “Where is the dealing position?,” and it implies “Whose deal is it?” You might hear, “I sat down to the right of the deal and posted.” 7. Split (definition 2). 8. Save (definition 3). 9. An agreement to redistribute tournament winnings in some manner not according to the announced disposition. Sometimes called final table deal.

(v phrase) Deal from a deck with a slug in it, in the manner described under slug, or with the slug at the bottom, and the dealer deals from the bottom as required to place those cards into his, a confederate’s, or a victim’s hand.

(v phrase) Perform a cheating maneuver in which a card manipulator deals cards from the bottom of the deck. See bottoms.

(v phrase) Deal someone out (see deal out). Also deal past someone.

(n) 1. In a game without a house person to run the game and deal the cards, the dealer is the person who physically distributes the cards. 2. In a game with a house person to run the game, the dealer is both the house person and the position from which the cards would be dealt if there were no house dealer. Although this sounds confusing, you can tell by context which is meant. To avoid confusion, the term button (definition 2) is usually used for the deal position.

(n phrase) In a draw poker game, before the draw, the dealer gets information in many ways. He gets information about how everyone bets before it is his turn to act. He gets information at the time of the draw about how many cards they take. And, again, after the draw, he gets information about how they bet. In hold’em-type games in which the betting each round after the first proceeds from the dealer’s left and around, the dealer finds out how each player acts on his hand before himself having to act. This positional edge in both games is called dealer advantage. Dealer advantage does not exist in stud games, in which the first to act on each round is usually the holder of the high board. The advantage is even higher in some home games, such as keep it or shove it. Also dealer edge, dealer percentage.

(n phrase) Any poker game with dealer advantage, such as draw poker or a replacement high-low stud game in which players replace unwanted cards sequentially starting to the left of the dealer.

(n phrase) 1. In a three-blind traveling blind game game, the blind put up by the player in the dealer position (button, definition 2). 2. The player who is in the dealer blind position. 3. The actual dealer blind position itself. (There is a distinction.) Also see blind, big blind, little blind, middle blind.

(n phrase) Box (definition 3).

(n phrase) Button (definition 1).

(n phrase) Announcements during the play in an online cardroom into the chat box into which dealer text goes. This takes the form of a running commentary on what the current bet is, prompts to players that the action is on them, announcements of how many cards players take in draw games, and so on.

(n phrase) A facetious term used by a dealer who wins a large pot to imply that he won by “controlling” the cards (jokingly implying that he is cheating).

(n phrase) Dealer advantage.

(n phrase) Dealer advantage.

(n phrase) Button (definition 2).

(n phrase) A form of poker, more common to home games but also gaining popularity in some cardrooms, in which the dealer chooses the form of poker to be played on his own deal (as opposed to playing one game exclusively for the entire playing session). In home games, the dealer is often permitted to choose any game he wishes, no matter how weird or untolerated by the other players; in cardrooms, the dealer usually must choose from a relatively small list of possibilities. In both cases, sometimes the dealer gets to choose what gets played for the next round.

(n phrase) In an online cardroom, the dealer’s running verbiage, displayed in the chat box, describing the action. Such description includes whether players check, fold, raise, etc., by how much in no-limit games, and other game information. How much information to display is often configurable by the player.

(n phrase) An amount sometimes taken out by management from the prize pool and allocated as tips for the dealers. Tournament winners usually tip on top of this.

(v phrase) In a deal-yourself game, deal the cards for someone who declines or is unable to deal on his turn. See pass the deal.

(v phrase) Specifically include a particular player while dealing. “Deal me in. I’m just getting up for a cup of coffee. I’ll be back before the cards are out.” (He’s usually not back in time.)

(n) Distributing cards to each player in a card game. See deal (definition 1).

(v, n phrase) Shoe.

(v, n phrase) Deal twice.

(expression) “I want to be dealt in next hand.” See deal in.

(expression) 1. “I don’t want to be dealt in next hand.” See deal in. 2. “I’m through,” that is, a declaration that a player is going to quit playing immediately.

(v phrase) Take the deal and then leave the table. In some games, a player must go through the entire set of blinds in each round in which he has a hand. If he deals off, he can come back in any position, or, in some clubs, in any position only in the round in which he dealt off.

(v phrase) 1. Skip a player while dealing. “Deal me out; I have to go to the bathroom.” 2. Play the last hand or the last round of a session, usually used only in private games.

(v phrase) Deal someone out (see deal out). Also deal by someone.

(v phrase) Perform a cheating maneuver in which a card manipulator deals cards not from the top of the deck, but from directly beneath the top card. See seconds.

(v phrase) Literally, having received cards. The expression has moved from the world of poker to general usage in the English language meaning, basically, the situation one has encountered or finds oneself in. “`We’ve been dealt a mighty bad hand,’ Pelosi said.”

(v phrase) Having received cards (in a particular hand). “Was he dealt in last time?”

(v phrase) Deal cards a second time with players using the same starting cards. For example, if two players are competing for a hand in which no more chips can be bet, they may agree to play the hand out two times using their same hands, at whatever stage the hand currently is in, but drawing fresh cards for each hand with half the pot being allocated to the winner of each deal. They might agree after the turn in hold’em, say, and then one river card would be dealt, the card would be replaced in the deck, the deck would be shuffled, and then another river card would be dealt. (Sometimes the card or cards involved are not replaced in the deck.) Players do this to reduce risk or variance. Sometimes called play twice, run twice, or run it twice.

(v phrase) Deal three or more times, instead of twice, as described under deal twice.

(v phrase) 1. Participate in a deal-yourself game. Also, self-deal. — (n phrase) 2. Deal-yourself game. “We have no dealers; it’s deal yourself.”

(n phrase) A game in which each player in turn physically distributes the cards, as opposed to having a house dealer do the job. Also, self-dealt game.

(n) Professor.

(n) Playing a particular hand in such a way, usually by checking, betting, or raising in a manner contrary to what the situation seems to dictate, as to fool opponents into thinking one holds a hand of a different strength.

(n) The resolution, usually by a house employee, of a dispute in a poker room.

(n) 1. The 52 cards (53 if the joker is used) from which poker (and other card games) is played, consisting of four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades), each with 13 ranks (A or ace, 2 or deuce, 3 or trey, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T or 10, J or jack, Q or queen, K or king). See card. 2. Stub. — (vt) 3. Throw away your cards. “If you bet over $10, I’m going to deck this hand.”

(n phrase) Putting a fresh deck of cards into play.

(expression) Request by a player for a deck change.

(n phrase) Deck (definition 1).

(n phrase) 54-card deck.

(n phrase) 53-card deck.

(n phrase) 52-card deck.

(v phrase) See stacked deck.

(n) 1. Verbal showdown. If prior to showing your cards you say, “I have a full house,” that statement is a declaration. 2. In a high-low split game, using chips or voice to indicate whether you’re going for high, low, or both. Such a declaration is usually done after all the betting is over, and is either consecutive orsequential. (See consecutive declaration, sequential declaration.) This is not common in public cardrooms, where high-low split games are usually played in what is called cards speak.

(v) 1. Make a declaration. Sometimes called announce. — (n) 2. Declaration. A newcomer to a home game might be told, “We’re playing bet after the declare.” See bet after the declare.

(adv) 1. Pertaining to how many chips one has. In a no-limit game, while contemplating a bet into or a bet from another, a player might ask, “How deep are you?,” meaning, “How much money do you have on the table?” Such a question might be asked because the player of whom it is asked might have chips of mixed denominations, jumbled stacks, or bundles of uncounted bills. 2. Having a lot of chips. “Phil is deep, so the other players are staying away from him.” 3. With respect to a potential bet, large compared to the player’s total stack. While observing an opponent in a big bet game trying to make up his mind how much to bet, a player might say, “You’re reaching awfully deep there.” 4. With respect to investment in a specific game, considerable. “I’m pretty deep in this game.” 5. With respect to a tournament, having outlasted most of one’s opponents. “Michael finished deep in the main event.” 6. With respect to a lowball hand, the rank of the top card of the hand one is trying to make when that card is lower than another draw one could make. For example, in ace-to-five, Matt stands pat, after having bet all his chips before the draw. In ace-to-five lowball, Susie has K♠ 8♥ 7♦ 2♠ joker. She is afraid Matt has better than a pat 8-7, so she asks for two cards. At the showdown, Matt spreads a 9-8, and Susie says, “Oh dear; I drew too deep. The first card I caught was an ace.” That is, she could have won by drawing one card to her 8-7.

(n phrase) A relatively large stack of chips. See deep (definition 2).

(n phrase) Deep-stack poker.

(n phrase) Playing in a way consistent with having a deep stack and facing other deep stacks. For example, one playing deep-stack poker might want to avoid confrontation when holding less than a premium hand. Also called deep-stack play.

(n phrase) A tournament in which players start with deep stacks (see deep stack), that is, an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blinds or antes.

(v) Defend a hand or defend the blind. “I’ll defend.”

(v phrase) Call a bet or raise from an opponent while holding a hand believed to be of sufficient value to justify the added cost of playing.

(v phrase) Call a raised bet when holding one of the two blinds. Such action sometimes implies a situation in which a wiser decision might be to fold, that is, by defending the blind, one might be taking the worst of it.

(n phrase) See defensive play.

(n phrase) A small bet (usually made in no-limit poker) to protect one’s hand, generally so as not to have to call a much larger bet, or to limit a potential loss. See protection bet (definition 1).

(n phrase) Not allowing oneself to be run over by an aggressive player, particularly when one has the big blind. For example, if the player to your right always comes in for a raise when no one else opens, that player has to be opening with a lot of substandard hands. To try to stop this blind stealing, you have to play hands yourself that you would ordinarily throw away for a raise, and sometimes reraise with those hands. This is not necessarily as the situation described under defend the blind, because if the player to your right is selective in his aggression, you cannot call every time.

(n) The dealing or arrival of a card. “Following the delivery of the third card in seven-card stud is the first round of betting.”

(n) 1. The rank of a card. 2. The monetary value of a chip.

(v) 1. Perform a cheating maneuver consisting of marking the back of a card with a fingernail or by bending a corner. Also, round. — (n) 2. The mark so made.

(n phrase) In hold’em, 2-2 as starting cards, from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

(n phrase) A tournament, usually sponsored by an online cardroom, that takes place in a casino in some exotic location, as, for example, an island in the Caribbean. Usually seats can be won in such a tournament by participation in satellites at the sponsoring online cardroom.

(n) 1. Two (the card). 2. A $2-limit game. “Got a seat in the deuce?” 3. A $2 bet or chip, or a $200 or $2,000 bet. 4. Deuce-to-seven lowball.

(n phrase) Seconds dealer.

(n phrase) Dealing seconds. See seconds dealer.

(n phrase) Someone who usually plays $2-limit.

(n phrase) A full house consisting of three 2s and a pair.

(n phrase) A full house consisting of three 2s and a pair.

(n phrase) 1. A form of high poker in which the 2s are wild (that is, a 2 can represent any other card for the purpose of forming a better hand: a 2 can pair any other card, fill the “hole” in a straight, make the fifth of four cards to a flush, and so on); usually played as draw poker. A 2 can be the same as a card held by another player, so that, for example, A♥ Q♥ T♥ 8♥ 3♥ would lose to 2♥ K♥ 7♥ 5♥ 4♥, because the 2♥ would represent an A♥ (even though the other player holds the “real” A♥), making the A-K flush higher than the A-Q flush. 2. A form of video poker.

(n phrase) Wild Hold’em Fold’em.

(n, adj) ) 1. The ranking of low hands as played in deuce-to-seven lowball or similar games, like triple-draw lowball. 2. A shortened name for deuce-to-seven lowball.

(n phrase) Lowball in which the lowest card is the 2, and straights and flushes have significance. The best hand, called a wheel, is 7-5-4-3-2 of at least two different suits. The next five hands are 7-6-4-3-2, 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, and 8-6-4-3-2. The game is popular in Nevada, generally only in tournaments or in side games accompanying tournaments, the Southeast, and online. Sometimes called Kansas City lowball. (Compare with ace-to-five.) The single-draw version of the game is generally played no limit; the limit version is usually found in the form of triple-draw lowball. Sometimes shortened todeuce-to-seven or simply deuce.

(n) See standard deviation.

(n) Cheating device.

(n phrase) The 4♣. May come from Cartomancy (the reading of ordinary playing cards instead of using Tarot cards), in which the 4 of clubs signifies misfortune, which could be represented metaphorically as the “devil’s bedpost.” The card warns of a major setback, an unexpected set of circumstances that must be prepared for. Also, Devil’s bedpost.

(n phrase) Devil’s bedpost.

(n phrase) Playing cards.

(v) 1. A request in a draw game for two cards. When it is her turn to draw cards and a player says, “Dewey,” she means, “Kindly give me two cards.” — (n) 2. 2 (the card).

(n phrase; imitative) 2 (the card; see duck). (In a pun built on this term, panguingue players sometimes call a deuce a Gooey Duck, which is how geoduck is pronounced.)

(n) Any card in the diamonds suit. “A diamond came on the turn.”

(n phrase) See Bee deck.

(n phrase) A flush in the diamonds suit.

(n) 1. One of the four suits in a deck of cards, shaped like a rhombus (four-sided figure that resembles a diamond: ♦). Originally, diamonds may have represented the merchant class. In the traditional deck, diamonds are red. In the four-color deck, they are usually blue. 2. A diamond flush, that is, five cards of the same suit, all diamonds. The following exchange likely comes from a draw game. “I’ve got a straight; whadda you got?” “Diamonds.”

(n phrase) Be committed to or play a (probably) big hand to the end and (probably) lose. “That was the first time I had a big pocket pair and I just made up my mind to die with the hand.”

(v) 1. Produce additional money for betting from one’s pocket or elsewhere than on the table in a game not played table stakes. This is rarely permitted in cardrooms, but sometimes is in private games. — (n) 2. A game in which digging is permitted.

(n) 1. $10, or a $10 bill. 2. $100, or a $100 bill. 3. $1,000, particularly in mid- and high-limit games. “I’m stuck four dimes.” 4. 10 (the card).

(n) 1. In hold’em, T-T as starting cards. 2. One or more 10s (the card).

(n) 1. In hold’em, 10-5 as starting cards. 2. In any high poker game, two pair, 10s and 5s. Also called five and dime. 3. In any high poker game, a full house involving 10s and 5s. 4. In lowball, a 10-5. For all meanings, also called nickels and dimes, Woolworth, or Barbara Hutton.

(n) Dimestore (definition 2).

(n) 1. What an RGPer says upon receiving the optimal card, particularly in a situation that will generate a lot of money, or what she writes in a trip report about any favorable, usually unexpected, situation. Sometimes rendered Dingz. Also, cha-ching, ka-ching. 2. By extension, a response to any favorable occurrence, such as being offered a free ride to one’s hotel by another BARGEr while waiting in the taxi line at the Las Vegas airport.

(n) “Ding.”

(n) In a high-low split game, which half of the pot, high or low, a player is contesting, or the half that his hand apparently represents. Also called way.

(n phrase) Cards that cannot be counted as clean outs because they might also improve an opponent.

(v) 1. In a draw game, throw one or more cards from your hand. — (n) 2. In a draw game, a card that was thrown away by a player, to be replaced by another card. 3. The act of discarding. “It’s your discard” means “It’s your turn to draw, if you want to.” 4. Twist.

(n phrase) The place on a poker table where the discards go.

(n) 1. The thrown-away cards, sometimes together with the undealt cards that remain in the deck. Sometimes called muck. 2. The area on the poker table where such cards lie, prior to being gathered together for the next deal.

(v) Lose one’s Internet connection. In the poker context, this relates to something that might happen during online play, for which online cardrooms sometimes offer all-in protection.

(v) Lose of one’s Internet connection, as described under disconnect.

(n phrase) All-in protection.

(n phrase) Bet or play in such a way as to drive other players out of the pot, hoping to win the pot right there.

(v) 1. Play a hand in such a way that hides the makeup of the hand, usually in draw poker, and generally part of the phrase disguise a hand, or, for example, disguise trips. In the latter case, if a player has three of a kind and draws one card instead of two, he is disguising his trips. 2. In any other form of poker, bet in such a way as to hide the strength of one’s hand; slow-play.

(v phrase) See disguise.

(v phrase) In a big bet game, a bet larger than a situation warrants.

(n) In hold’em, suited K-Q as starting cards (if they lose). If the hand wins, it is called marriage.

(v phrase) See business.

(n phrase) A barge or similar vessel permanently docked on the water to fulfill state laws that permit gaming only on vessels that could theoretically sail. Often a dockside casino has restaurants, entertainment venues, frequently hotels, and the like built on adjacent solid ground, with the only things not on dry land being the equipment and facilities for gambling. A permanently moored riverboat casino can be considered a dockside casino.

(n) How some poker players, particularly in high-stakes games, sardonically address each other. “Sit down, Doctor Negreanu.”

(n phrase) Marked cards.

(n phrase) A wild-card game with 10s, 4s, and 2s wild. (Those numbers are part of the Dr Pepper logo.)

(v phrase) Avoid a situation that might have cost someone all his chips had he not folded at the opportune moment.

(v phrase) Avoid dangerous situations, particularly in a no-limit game, presumably due to superior play. Phil Hellmuth is frequently heard saying on television, “I can dodge bullets, baby.”

(v) 1. Throw away, usually followed by it or the hand. “This eight won’t win; I better dog it.” — (n) 2. Underdog. 3. Either of the nonstandard five-card hands sometimes given value in a private or home game, a big dog or little dog.

(n phrase) Scarne cut.

(v, adv phrase) See business.

(n) When not used in the normal sense of $1, $100 or a $100 bill.

(n phrase) Liar’s poker played with currency, with players calling combinations that include the total number of some digit in the serial number on their and an opponent’s bill. Some hustlers collect and save special bills (those with many instances of a specific digit) to be pulled out of their wallets when a suggestion to play the game comes up.

(n phrase) In hold’em, 9-5 as starting cards. From the movie 9 to 5, in which she starred.

(adv) The situation in hold’em of one hand being significantly ahead of the other, usually because of having the same card in common plus a higher card. For example, king-queen offsuit is dominated by ace-king offsuit.

(n phrase) A hand not likely to win because it is dominated.

(adv) Describing a situation in hold’em in which one hand is dominated.

(v) Put chips into a pot that one doesn’t expect to get back. “Oh, you raised it again? Okay, I’ll donate.”

(n) See donate. “Oh, you raised it again? Here, this is a donation.”

(n) 1. Producer (definition 1). 2. More generally, any loser.

(n) 1. Donkey. — (v) 2. Play like a donkey, usually in combination with off, as in, for example, the phrase donk off one’s chips. — (adj) 3. Pertaining to an action made by a donkey; in an amateurish fashion. “Why’d you make that donk call?”

(n phrase) 1. Any amateurish or dumb bet. 2. More specifically, a noncommitting or weak bet.

(v) 1. In hold’em, bet into a preflop raiser out of position. 2. Sometimes, more specifically, bet the river out of position.

(n) 1. Bad player, often due to lack of knowledge, obliviousness, or inability to apply common wisdom. Often shortened to donk. The term is often used by fish for players they consider inferior to even themselves. — (v) 2. Play or bet like definition 1. — (adj) 3. Pertaining to the action of a donkey. “I just made a real donkey call.”

(n) A humorous or derogatory term for a poker tournament full of bad players.

(n) A game full of donkeys (see donkey). Opposite of nitfest.

(v phrase) See donk (definition 2).

(v phrase) See donk (definition 2).

(v phrase) See leave money on the table.

(expression) See customers.

(expression) An exhortation by a knowledgeable player to another to quit trying to teach the fish to play properly. A less direct way of saying this is “School’s out.”

(expression) An exhortation by one player to another not to annoy or give lessons to or otherwise enlighten the fish. The phrase is often used among RGPers, and is usually attributed to Tiltboy (see Tiltboys) and former Celebrity Poker Showdown host Phil Gordon.

(n) Badugi.

(n) 1. Door card. 2. The door position in a hand. “I can see what he’s got in the door.” Also window.

(n phrase) 1. The front card of the five in a draw poker hand, when the cards are squared together such that only one can be seen. Also window card. 2. In stud games, the first exposed card of a hand.

(n phrase) Cards marked on the back with some sort of liquid, such as ink, bleach, and sometimes even water. See daub.

(n) .com.

(n phrase) 1. In draw poker, a flush topped by an ace and a joker. In some cardrooms, such a flush used to rank higher than any other flush, but that is not very common. For example, A♣ joker 10♣ 8♣ 7♣ is equivalent in most cardrooms to Α♣ K♣ 10♣ 8♣ 7♣ and does not beat A♥ K♥ Q♥ 9♥ 7♥; in some cardrooms, though, it used to. Even though this is not a ranking hand in most clubs, you still hear the term applied to a flush with an ace and a joker in it. 2. A similar hand in any form of wild-card poker.

(n, adj phrase) In an add-on tournament, a final purchase of two additional specified allotments of chips, usually at the end of the first few rounds of play.

(n phrase) A tournament that allows players a double add-on.

(n, adj, adv phrase) In double-limit draw with antes, pertaining to the hand following an unopened pot (see passed pot), in which each player adds an ante to the pot, and so the pot contains two antes from each.

(n phrase) A form of poker, a cross between draw and stud. Each player starts with three cards; there is a round of betting; each player receives another card; another round of betting; each player receives a fifth card; another round of betting; then each player draws cards as in draw poker; then each player exposes one card; another round of betting; further cards are exposed (in the manner described under roll-your-own), each followed by a round of betting, until each player has but one card face down. The game is played high-low split, and, prior to the showdown, there is a chip declaration. This game has eight rounds of betting, or nine if there is a bet after the declare, and is generally played only in home games. It is sometimes called Texas Tech or Wild Annie.

(n phrase) 1. A five-card combination with two “holes,” such that any of eight cards can make it into a straight. For example, 5-7-8-9-J; any 6 or 10 makes this into a straight. Such a combination is possible in stud or hold’em-type games. Also called double gapper, double gut shot, double gutter. (Compare with open-ended straight.) 2. A three-card combination with two “holes,” such that two perfect inside straight cards are required, such as 3-5-7, which needs a 4 and a 6 to make a straight.

(n phrase) 1. A bet and raise. 2. Two bets, as opposed to a single bet. This usually occurs in a limit game and is often part of a dealer’s announcement. “It’s a double bet to you.” 3. In seven-card stud, a bet on fourth street that is double the nominal size for the round and can be made if an open pair is showing in anyone’s board. 4. Big bet.

(n phrase) In double-limit games, the second and higher level of betting that occurs in the later rounds, as opposed to the lower limit. For example, in a $10-$20 game, the $20 level of betting.

(n phrase) Double-limit game.

(n phrase) 1. A bluff made by initially betting a bluff, getting raised, and then reraising. 2. A bluff bet made in consecutive betting rounds.

(v phrase) To perform a double bluff.

(n phrase) A house-banked casino game dealt from one deck, in which players play separately against the dealer. The game is related to hold’em in the way hands are formed, but is not really a poker game. Each player makes an initial ante wager, plus an optional three-card side bet. The dealer gives each player and himself two downcards. The dealer deals five community cards face down in the shape of a cross, three cards across and three cards down, with the middle card shared by both arms of the cross. The dealer exposes the bottom card as seen by the players. Each player who has made the three-card side bet then forms a three-card hand of his two cards and that one exposed community card and wins for a pair or better, according to the following: one pair, 1:1; flush, 4:1; straight, 6:1; three of a kind, 30:1; straight flush, 40:1. The dealer pays those who made and won the three-card side bet, and collects from those bets that lost. The dealer then exposes the leftmost card as seen by the players. Each player decides which arm, based on viewing of the now two exposed cards, to play his eventual five-card hand, horizontal or vertical, and must either fold and lose the ante or make a raise bet equal to twice the size of the ante, placed in the appropriate box (horizontal or vertical). After all players have made their decisions, the dealer exposes the remaining community cards, and uses whichever arm of the cross, horizontal or vertical, that gives him the best five-card poker hand. The dealer then compares his hand to the chosen hand of each player remaining in the game. If the player loses, as determined by the five-card hand formed from the player’s two cards plus the three from the arm he chose, the dealer collects the ante and raise; a tie is a push. If the player wins, he gets paid 1:1 on the ante plus he wins according to the following (paid as a multiple of the raised bet): royal flush, 300:1; straight flush, 50:1; four of a kind, 15:1; full house, 7:1; flush, 6:1; straight, 5:1; three of a kind, 3:1; two pair, 3:2; any lesser hand, 1:1.

(n phrase) A cheating move in which a dealer gives more cards (usually two at a time rather than one) to his confederate or himself than to the other players. The presumption is the player with more than the requisite number of cards will form his best five-card hand, and then get rid of the one or more excess cards (clean up). The expression has moved from the world of poker to general usage in the English language meaning cheating someone or the public in general.

(n) A cheating move in which a player in a draw game who has more cards than he needs (presumably because he asked for more cards than he discarded or because he double-dealt) gets rid of the extra card. For example, a cheater throws two cards away, but asks for three. He must, before the showdown, get rid of that extra card. That move is the double-discard.

(n phrase) In hold’em, 7-4 as starting cards. From blackjack, in which a total of 11 is ideal for doubling down (doubling one’s bet in exchange for one card delivered, usually, face down).

(n phrase) Any variant of draw poker with two draws instead of the usual one. An example is double-draw London lowball.

(n phrase) A form of London lowball draw with two draws, instead of the usual one in ordinary lowball, and thus having three betting rounds, usually played pot limit.

(n phrase) Open-ended straight.

(n phrase) Open-ended straight.

(n phrase) A variant of hold’em in which two sets of three cards are turned over after the first round of betting, and then two more to each flop, one at a time. Players can form two different hands in combination with their two hole cards plus enough cards from each flop to form a five-card hand. (Cards cannot be combined from the two flops.) This usually produces two winners per hand, although sometimes the same hand wins both halves of the pot. Also known as double hold’em.

(n phrase) Double belly-buster.

(n phrase) Double belly-buster.

(n phrase) Double belly-buster.

(v phrase) Pai gow poker.

(v phrase) A California game cross between baccarat and pai gow poker. Player and player-dealer each gets four cards, from which each makes two two-card hands that play against each other. Hands are ranked first as pairs (with aces the highest and 2s the lowest, then as baccarat totals. A win and a tie is a win for either player or player dealer; however tie-tie is a win for player-dealer.

(v phrase) Pai gow poker.

(n phrase) Another name, particularly in France, for double-flop hold’em.

(n phrase) A period of time in a cardroom that has progressive jackpots (see jackpot) for getting certain hands beat (for example, aces full in a hold’em game) during which the posted payouts are doubled. Usually double jackpot times are at times that otherwise have lower attendance than others, with such promotions being to increase patronage. Some cardrooms offer triple jackpots.

(n phrase) A structured-limit game. Now usually pertains to hold’em, but at one time referred to forms of draw, with bets at one limit before the draw, and bets at twice that limit after the draw. For example, in the $2-$4 game, all bets before the draw were $2, and multiples of $2 when players raise; all bets after the draw were $4, and multiples of $4 when players raised. This was sometimes called Gardena-style. Compare with single limit. The term double limit was formerly usually used mainly for draw games, while structured limit was used for stud and hold’em games. Now the term double limit has wider application.

(adj) Pertaining to double limit, in a phrase such as double-limit lowball. Also known as Gardena-style.

(n phrase) Nut-nut.

(v phrase) 1. Perform a form of cheating wherein two good hands are dealt, the better going to the dealer or his accomplice. In this case, the sucker has been doubled off. — (n phrase) 2. The act of so cheating.

(v) 1. Raise a raise. “I bet, Matt raised it, and Kate double-popped it.” — (n) 2. Such a bet. “The pot got really big after Kate’s double-pop.”

(n phrase) A high-low split game with a qualifier for both low and high, such as seven-card stud high-low, with, for example, the requirement that low is awarded only to an 8-low hand or better and that high is awarded only to a two-pair hand or better. If neither qualifier exists, rules vary as to what happens to the pot.

(n phrase) A raise and a reraise in one round.

(n phrase) A shootout tournament (definition 1) with two levels. With nine-handed tables, 81 players would participate.

(n phrase) Double shootout.

(n phrase) A cheating move, a method of appearing to shuffle the cards without actually disturbing their order.

(v) Execute a double shuffle.

(adj In Omaha, having just two suits among your four downcards. “I started with ace-king, king-queen, double suited,” would be something like A♥ K♥ K♦ Q♦.

(v phrase) Double a (usually) small stack by beating someone with a larger stack; sometimes part of the phrase double a stack through. “Big John had $10,000 in front of him, and he was stuck about twice that much. Kate came in with $100, doubled it through him three times, and then took the $800 to the window.” Also see run through.

(n) The act of doubling through (see double through). “David just got back in the game with that double-through.”

(v phrase) 1. Go all in and win the pot. “I was down to my last $100 when I doubled up.” “He had a better kicker than I did and I doubled him up.” 2. Go cow with someone. “Double me up” is a request from a player low in chips for someone to go half-and-half with him.

(expression) A request for two cards. At the time of the draw in a draw game, a player, when asked how many cards he wants, might respond, “Doubleyou,” which means, “Kindly give me two cards.”

(adv) 1. Seated (in a game). “Is Matt down?” “Yeah, he’s in the eight.” (That means, “Is Matt playing somewhere?” “Yes, he’s in the $8-limit game.”) 2. Losing “How much are you down?” 3. Not exposed; generally applied in reference to a hole card in any stud or hold’em game. 4. See get a game down. 5. With respect to cheating, see There is work down. — (n) 6. The period of time during which a particular dealer deals at a particular table. “How long is your down?” “Twenty minutes.”

(expression) What seven-stud players think is a cute description for the final card, so called because it is dealt down and because it is hidden, and thus can change a particular hand’s winning potentialities.

(n) 1. In stud or a hold’em-type game, hole card, that is, an unexposed part of a player’s hand. Sometimes called private cards. 2. By extension, in draw, a request for one card (“Dealer, give me a downcard”), and please be careful that card is not exposed.

(adv phrase) Nonstandard spelling of downcard.

(adv phrase) Having one’s name on a list for a particular game. “Are you down for the big one?” means “Is your name on the list of those players who have signaled their intentions of playing in the largest game in the house?”

(n) A swing (definition 6) in a negative direction; a loss, particularly coming on the heels of a winning streak.

(adv phrase) Down the road. “How’d you make out down there?”

(n phrase) 1. Seven-card stud. 2. The final card in seven-card stud. The term may have come from “sold down the river,” which had been the fate of unruly slaves in the border states — they were sold to plantations farther south, where working conditions were even harsher. Unlike five-card stud, the last card was delivered face down, likely giving rise to a nickname with “down” in it while at the same time connoting a cruel betrayal by fate. The term “river” also had echoes of where poker flourished early, the Mississippi River. Since the origins of many poker terms are lost in antiquity, this derivation cannot be documented.

(adv phrase) At another club (which could be a considerable distance away and not necessarily even on the same street). This term is used, rather than naming the establishment, because it’s considered bad form to talk about a club other than the one in which you’re playing. “How’d you make out down the road?” means “How did you fare at the club whose name you and I both know that the other is referring to but that we do not want to say out loud for fear of distressing the present management and because to do so would not be good manners?” Also, down there, down the street.

(adv phrase) See slot.

(adv phrase) Down the road.

(adv phrase) 1. All in. Also see felt. 2. Tapped out.

(adv phrase) 1. All in. Also see green. 2. Tapped out.

(n phrase) In hold’em, 10-2 as starting cards, so named because Doyle Brunson twice won the World Series of Poker (1976 and 1977) with those two hole cards. Also, Texas Dolly.

(v) 1. Scoop in a winning pot. 2. Remove the rake, that is the house cut, from a pot (usually by the house dealer).

(v phrase) Drag (definition 1).

(n) 1. High draw poker. 2. The point during the playing of a hand at which active players discard the cards they don’t want and receive new ones. “You must bet or fold before the draw.” 3. The receiving of draw cards. “What was the draw?” is a request by a player to find out how many cards each player drew.4. A particular hand you are trying to make, as, a flush draw, which is four cards to a flush. In addition to draw games, this usage is often heard in games other than draw games. 5. Specifically an unmade hand, usually heard in hold’em and seven-card stud. “I raised him all in because I knew he was on a draw.” That is, I knew that at the moment, his hand did not beat mine, but that he was trying to make a straight or flush (which, presumably, would win if he did make it). 6. In a tournament, a random selection assigning tables and seat numbers to players or a player’s assignment so received. — (v) 7. Receive cards. Also,take. 8. Not stand pat, as opposed to doing so. “You’re pat? Then I’ve got to draw.”

(v phrase) In a draw game, draw (definition 7 or 8).

(n phrase) The card(s) that one has received on the draw (definition 3).

(v phrase) Draw to a hand that cannot win even if made; sometimes followed by to when referring to the other hand. In hold’em, if you start with A♠ K♠, and the flop is 4♠ 6♠ 6♦, you’re hoping for a flush. But if another player started with a pair of 6s, you’re drawing dead. You are drawing dead to his hand. Or, in ace-to-five lowball, if the other guy has a wheel, and you draw one to a 6-4, you’re drawing dead, because you can’t win, even if you jam up the hand (make it perfect). If you’re in this situation, you may be said to be dead in the pot. The opposite of this situation is draw live.

(v phrase) In lowball, draw more than one card so as to be drawing to the best possible hand, instead of drawing fewer cards (generally one) to a poorer hand; sometimes followed by to or a and the hand. For example, in ace-to-five lowball, if you have K-8-6-4-2, you could draw one to the 8, or draw down(that is, draw to a 6) by throwing both the king and the 8. A lowball player might say, “When he stood pat, I figured I better draw down,” or, “When he stood pat, I figured I better draw down to the hand.”

(n) A figurative card magnet (definition 1). “He’s got his drawers on” means he’s making all the hands or he’s drawing well.

(v phrase) Draw to.

(v phrase) Participate in a top-card draw.

(v phrase) A method of determining which players sit where, usually the participants in a small tournament. Each player draws a card from the deck, which is often fanned face down on the table, and the holder of the highest card sits in seat 1, the next highest card to that player’s left, and so on; often suits are used to break ties (in the bridge order of spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds). Also see top-card draw. Also redraw for seats.

(n phrase) 1. Draw poker. 2. A game in which or a table at which draw poker is played. “Table 4 is a draw game.”

(v phrase) See draw dead.

(n phrase). 1. In stud or hold’em, four cards to a straight or flush with cards to come, as opposed to a complete hand. 2. In draw poker, a four-card flush or four-card straight, that is, a hand that needs to be drawn to. In lowball, four good cards and one blank, that is, also a hand that needs to be drawn to. In both instances, this is opposed to a pat hand, that is, one that does not ordinarily need to be drawn to.

(n phrase). See draw live.

(n phrase) In draw poker or lowball, a planned bluff, wherein someone bets heavily, or raises, before the draw, draws to nothing, and then bets or raises after the draw. If called, he cannot win, because he had no hand to draw to (and thus could not make anything better on the draw). Sometimes called a running snow.

(n phrase). See draw thin.

(v phrase) Draw to a hand that will win if made; sometimes followed by to when referring to the other hand. If the other guy has a flush, and you have two pair, you’re drawing live, because you can win with a full house. You are drawing live to his hand. Compare with draw dead.

(n phrase) Lowball (definition 1).

(v phrase) Beat someone’s hand by drawing; often followed by on. “I had him before the draw, but he drew out.” “I kept getting drawn out.” “He drew out on me.” Also, suck out.

(n) The act of drawing out. “Now comes the draw-out” means the player expects to get his hand beat by someone’s lucky draw. Also, suck-out.

(v phrase) See draw out.

(n phrase) Someone who plays draw poker (usually exclusively, or in preference to other forms of poker).

(n phrase) 1. A form of poker in which players are dealt five cards face down, bet or fold based on those cards, those remaining (the active players; see active player) replace one or more cards (draw) or elect not to replace any (stand pat), and then participate in a second round of betting, after which the best of the remaining active hands (see active hand) wins all the money in the pot (or, in the case of a split-pot game, two hands each win half), which money is usually in the form of chips (see chip); the forms of draw poker popular in California cardrooms are high draw poker, lowball, high-low split, and, rarely, deuces wild. In Nevada and some southern states, deuce-to-seven and triple-draw are also played. Many variants are found online. Draw poker is generally not found often in the US outside of California, but is more common in a few European countries. It is also regularly found online. In home or private games, many other variations exist. Also called five-card draw. 2. High draw poker, often called just draw. 3. A game in which or a table at which high draw poker is played. “Table 4 is draw poker.”

(v phrase) Have a drawing hand with few outs. For example, if in hold’em you need runner-runner to win, or on the river only one of your card remains, you are drawing thin.

(v phrase) 1. In hold’em or seven-card stud hope to make a specific hand. If you have two spades in the hole in hold’em, and two spades come on the flop, if you stay for the turn and the river, you are drawing to a flush. 2. Similarly, in draw poker, draw (that is, receive) cards trying to make a specific hand. “I was drawing to a straight.” Or, in lowball, “I was drawing to a seven.” In both usages, also draw for.

(v phrase) Try to make a specific hand, particularly one that is likely to win. (See hand, definition 6.

(v phrase) Draw to your hand.

(v phrase) Have a straight, flush, or straight flush draw, that, if filled, will give the player the best possible hand of its type. For example, a player holding A♠ J♠ in hold’em would be drawing to the nuts with a flop of K♠ J♥ 2♠.

(v phrase) In draw poker, take the obvious draw to a hand, as opposed to keeping a kicker (see kicker, definition 3).

(v phrase) In hold’em, make an agreement between (usually) two players, prior to the dealing of the river card, that they will play for half the pot at a time, with first one river card dealt and then another. This is usually done when the two hands are closely matched, and for the purpose of lessening the effect ofvariance. Drawing three — and more — times, for equivalent portions of the pot, also exist.

(v phrase) 1. What winning poker players dream of, a tableful of weak opponents, preferably rich live ones. 2. Similarly, in a tournament, a table in which all the opponents are particularly weak-passive.

(n phrase) An arrangement between two or more players that the next of them to win a pot (usually containing a certain amount of profit for the winner of the pot, which amount is often supposed to be at least twice the cost of the drinks) will either buy all of them drinks, or pay for the round that they are ordering at the time the drink pot is proposed.

(n phrase) The position of the one doing the betting. “I’ll check to you; you’re in the driver’s seat” implies that it is in a late round in a stud or hold’em game, or after the draw in a draw game, and the person being checked to had bet large in a no-limit game, raised earlier, or bet every preceding round.

(n) 1. The amount taken from each pot that belongs to the house; so called because the house dealer usually drops it into a drop box; often called the rake. Often the drop is a specific percentage, say 5 percent to a maximum of $3; other times, depending on local regulations, the drop might be an exact amount, say $3 every hand, irrespective of the size of the pot. 2. The amount of money taken from the players in a specific time period, say for the duration of one shift or in a 24-hour period. For example, a cardroom might report a $10,000 drop during day shift. 3. The amount taken from each pot towards a jackpot. Sometimes called jackpot drop. 4. The amount represented by the time collection. — (v) 5. Fold. “I’ll drop.” 6. Perform the collection described in definition 1. “They drop $3 every hand.”

(n phrase) As part of a poker table, a slide-out tray, or a recessed box with a slide-out top, or a slot beneath which is a metal box, into which the house dealer drops the chips collected each pot for the rake or each designated time period as the time collection.

(v phrase) Play at a lower limit than one has been or is accustomed to playing. Often followed by a limit or in limits.

(n phrase) A game in which the house takes a certain amount, called the drop, from every pot. Also see rake game, time game.

(adj) 1. Pertaining to a hand that accidentally gets in the way of a double off, and beats the set-up hand. “I dealt him an ace-king flush and myself an ace-king-queen flush, but I got beat by a drop-in full house.” — (n phrase) 2. A player who unexpectedly enters a poker game (and perhaps wins a lot of money).

(v phrase) Fold. “I bet the pot and they all dropped out.”

(v phrase) Fold.

(n phrase) See drop box.

(n) What players sometimes compare a tight player to, as, “He plays tighter than a drum.”

(n) A conservative or tight player. Comes from drum.

(adj) 1. Out of money; broke. 2. Of a pot or game with little or no money to be won. 3. Of a flop (or board) unlikely to have helped anyone based on the preflop betting, such as 5-5-2 when raised preflop.

(n phrase) In hold’em, holding as one’s hole cards an ace without a card of the same suit, particularly when the board shows a flush possibility. This is of interest, because, for example, holding the A♠ when the board contains three spades presents bluffing or semibluffing (see semibluff) possibilities.

(n phrase) A side pot about to be created by the current bet that cannot be won by the player making the bet if anyone calls, in a situation in which that player also cannot possibly win the main pot. Betting into a dry pot is presumably a wasted (and stupid) gesture because the best the bettor can do is take his money back out of the pot, but it may have its strategic value in changing the winner of the pot. (This is not the same as the situation in which someone makes a bet when there is a side pot that cannot win if called. However, if it gets everyone to fold except for someone who is all in for the main pot, the bettor can win the main pot because the all-in player might not necessarily be able to beat the hand of the bettor.) For example, one player is all in, in a three-way pot. The bettor knows he himself cannot win, but he makes a large bet anyway, because he thinks that if there is just a showdown, the third player will get the pot — perhaps because he has already seen the all-in player’s hand, or perhaps because he has figured out what it is, but in any case that particular hand does not have much of a chance of winning without the protection bet and he does not want the third player to win it. The third player throws away his cards, thinking that the bettor could not be betting on nothing and that he will get to see the hand anyway (it’s a called hand — that is, one that must be shown at the end — because one player is all in). When he does see the cards that could not possibly win either the side or main pot, the third player angrily exclaims, “How could you bet into a dry pot?” An example with specific cards makes this clearer. Matt has $40 in a no-limit hold’em game. Brianne has $160 and Andy has $200. Matt opens for the minimum, $5. Brianne calls. Andy raises to $40. Matt and Brianne both call. There is no betting till the river. The board reads A♠ 9♠ 5♦ J♦ Q♦. Matt is all in, so cannot bet. Brianne checks, but does it in such a way that Andy, who has a tell on Brianne, thinks that Brianne probably has a pair smaller than 9s. Andy bets the rest of his chips on the side. Brianne thinks to herself, One of them likely has me beat, so it would be stupid to throw away another $120. Anyway, I’ll get to see both hands for free. When Brianne folds, Andy withdraws the chips he had bet, since Matt had no chips left with which to call, and Brianne folded. Matt now says, “You must have me; I just have a pair of 3s.” “No, no, you win,” says Andy; “I have deuces.” “Damn!” says Brianne; “I had the best hand. That shoulda been my pot. What the hell are you doing betting into a dry pot?” Andy does not respond, but he has accomplished two things. One is that Matt now has $120, and Matt is much easier to beat than Brianne. Another is that Brianne is now angry at Andy, and when one player is angry at another, it can make her play poorly against that player.

(adj) (n phrase) An unspecified time period without winning or characterized by poor cards.

(n phrase) In Omaha, a straight with no redraws.

(n) 1. Double shootout. 2. Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for double-suited. Also, a chat term.

(n; usually plural) A card; also called ticket. “Shuffle them ducats, and let’s deal another one.”

(n) 1. Deuce (definitions 1 and 2). (The word deuce vaguely sounds like duck, or at least looks like it.) — (v) 2. Manage to escape a situation in which one might have lost a lot of chips.

(n) 1. Two or more deuces (2s). 2. A hand consisting of two or more deuces, such as, in hold’em, 2-2 as starting cards.

(n) 1. The nuts, usually preceded by a. “I wouldn’t call that bet with your money; he’s got a duke this time.” — (v) 2. Get rid of (a poker hand). “As soon as I called, he duked his hand.

(n phrase) Ignorant end.

(expression) 1. “Shut up.” A cheat may say this to his accomplice when the latter appears to be talking too much. A rounder may say it to another player when the latter seems to be trying to “smarten up the dummies.” See “School’s out.” Also, “Don’t smarten up the dummies.” 2. A command by a floorperson to a dealer to stop conversing with the players; sometimes rendered “dummy up and deal.”

(vt) 1. Fold, usually followed by a or the cards or hand. — (v) 2. Take a loss, usually a big one.

(v phrase) 1. Lose, usually followed by chips or money. 2. Deliberately lose chips to a confederate, perhaps as part of a cheating scheme, or to give an accomplice more chips to play with in a tournament; also usually followed by chips or money.

(adj) Counterfeit.

(adj) Counterfeited.

(n phrase) A poker analog of duplicate bridge, often played in a tournament format, with players, usually on teams, playing the same prearranged hands. There are several competing formats, but in general each table position gets the same hand as the same corresponding position on each other table, and scoring is usually based on how much a player nets compared to opposing members. Thus, a player who loses the least on a specific hand that everyone loses would be the “winner” of that contest, while, similarly, the one who wins the most on a given hand would get the most points.

(v) Referring to an action made by a house dealer, clap his hands before leaving the table when his replacement arrives to let observing security personnel see that the dealer’s hands are empty, that is, the dealer is not stealing any chips or money. The move usually consists of pressing the palms together, sometimes in a wiping motion, and then turning the open palms both upward and downward. Also, dust off.

(v phrase) Dust.

(n phrase) Skip straight.