F

(n) 1. Face card. 2. The front of a card, that is, the side that shows its rank and suit, as opposed to the back. Also called front. — (v) 3. Turn face up, as one’s card or hand.

(adv phrase) Describing cards dealt such that only their backs show, as opposed to face up. Hole cards (see hole card) are usually dealt face down.

(adj) Describing cards face down. “Players get three face-down cards.”

(adv phrase) Describing cards dealt such that their faces (see face, definition 2) show, as opposed to face down. Board cards (see board card) are usually dealt face up.

(adj) Describing cards face up. “Players get four face-up cards.”

(n phrase) An irregularity in one or more cards, such as misprinted or flawed cards or other unintentional markings, which could permit observant players to identify some (or, rarely, all) of the cards from the back. Also see honest reader, imperfect deck.

(v phrase) “New deck.” Call made by a player or dealer when a deck with a factory defect is found in a game, that is, a deck that must be immediately replaced. The request is sometimes facetiously uttered right after a disgruntled player has crumpled or torn up one or more cards (or an entire deck) after a bad beat or receiving an unwanted card on the draw.

(v phrase) Avoid getting beaten by a hand that has lots of outs. “He had a good combo hand and I had to fade a lot of outs, but I won the hand with just ace-king.”

(v phrase) Being on the road, a term used by old Texas road gamblers who literally followed the white line on the highway as they traveled from place to place to find poker games.

(n phrase) False tell.

(v) Be dealt, as a card. “A king fell on the turn.”

(n phrase) 1. A cheating maneuver in which the deck appears to be cut, but the stacked portion remains unchanged at the top. — (v phrase) 2. Give the deck such a cut.

(n phrase) A hand that was opened without having opening requirements. For example, in jacks or better, the opener must already have in his hand at least a pair of jacks. Someone in next-to-last position in an unopened pot might have four cards to a straight flush and dearly like to open the pot. If he does, he is said to have false openers. Usually the opener of a pot in such a game has to show openers. If he cannot prove he had openers, the player cannot win the pot.

(n phrase) 1. An appearance of shuffling the cards by a cheat, but without actually changing their order (from a presumably set-up arrangement), by pulling one half of the pack through the other half, and then replacing the deck to its original position. — (v phrase) 2. Give the deck such a shuffle.

(n phrase) 1. A tell that gives the opposite impression from what is expected. For example, if you see an opponent act in a certain way every time he’s bluffing, and you make a large call when he does it one more time, only this time he’s got the nuts, you’ve been taken in by a false tell. He might rub his eye in a certain way, interlace his fingers under his chin and lean his chin on them, or exhibit some other mannerism that appears to be unconscious, but actually was done deliberately to set you up. (The poker game in the 2006 version of Casino Royale features a false tell.) Sometimes called reverse tell. 2. An incorrectly interpreted mannerism that is thought to be a reliable tell, but in fact might just be a random gesture.

(n phrase) A pot with a lot of players, sometimes as many as all at the table. Also community pot.

(v) 1. Mix the cards; shuffle the deck. 2. Spread the cards face up on the table in an overlapping fashion. 3. Spread the cards in one’s hand in such a way that just the edge of each can be seen; usually done by holding the whole deck so it ends up looking like a fan. — (n) 4. The semicircular spread deck as sometimes held by a magician when asking you to “pick a card, any card.”

(n phrase) Fan (definition 1 or 2).

(n phrase) A term invented by Mike Caro, choosing unusual tactics too frequently when the more obvious choices would do better. The term often implies that a player goes out of his way to impress opponents by using unexpected strategies that actually cost profits through overuse. Such moves are particularly wasted in low-limit games in which players generally aren’t even paying attention. Often shortened to FPS.

(n phrase) Any tricky play involving checking, betting, or raising in a situation that goes against perceived wisdom, the purpose being to deceive opponents. When practiced to excess, it becomes Fancy Play Syndrome.

(n) a BARGE-like convention, Foxwoods Annual rec.gambling Outing.

(n) The ranch. When a player goes all in, someone may say, “He’s betting the farm.”

(adv) Usually part of the phrase fast action, fast game, fast player, or play fast.

(n phrase) The state of a fast game. Also see pace.

(n phrase) An old term for those who don’t play an honest game, that is, thieves.

(n phrase) 1. A game with a lot of action (definition 1), that is, with lots of betting, raising, and reraising from most of the players. 2. In an online cardroom, a table played much more quickly than the “regular” games, one in which players are given only a few seconds (perhaps eight or 10 rather than the usual 15 or 20) to act in turn. If a player exceeds the allotted time, the software usually starts to draw upon his time bank. In a fast game, blinds are automatically posted (see auto-post blinds).

(n phrase) See pace.

(n phrase) 1. A quick look at one’s cards, done by an angle shooter in such a way as to elude detection (usually with the intention of then claiming to be betting blind). 2. A quick look by a thief at part of the deck. See peek (definition 3).

(n phrase) Describing the play of a fast player.

(n phrase) An aggressive player, one who bets at almost every opportunity; in a no-limit game, one who bets large at almost every opportunity, often on risky propositions; one who bets and raises frequently, in an attempt to drive out timid or conservative players. Also see play fast.

(n phrase) False shuffle.

(n phrase) Describing a tournament in which chip stacks are relatively small compared to the size of the big blind and levels (see level) are shorter than generally found in tournaments. Also see structure (definition 2) and card-holding contest.

(adj) 1. Winning. 2. Having money, usually as a result of having had a recent windfall, often in the form of a large win. Also, flush.

(v) 1. Put more chips in the pot; also sweeten. 2. Give one’s chips to a particular player; usually followed by up. “I don’t know why I keep giving him action; all I do is fatten him up all the time.”

(n phrase) See fatten (definition 2).

(n phrase) See fatten (definition 1).

(n) 1. The hand that has the best chance of winning. In a stud or hold’em-type game, this is said of a given hand before the last round of cards is dealt; in a draw game, this is said before the draw. Opposite of underdog. 2. The player who has the best chance of winning a particular hand (or just of winning in a particular session or in a tournament). 3. A situation that is more likely to occur than any other, even though overall it may itself not be likely to occur. For example, in hold’em, with seven hands played to the river, pocket aces are the favorite to win compared to any other individual hand, although the hand is anunderdog against the field.

(n phrase) The “F word,” particularly when it invokes a penalty.

(n phrase) In a major televised tournament of which more than just the final table action is broadcast, often one table is designated for detailed ongoing coverage. Many hands are covered from start to finish. When a major all-in occurs at another table, coverage temporarily shifts to that action, usually only long enough to show the denouement of the confrontation. Then focus returns to the featured table. In an event that goes on for more than one day, usually a different table is featured each day. Such a table is often chosen due to its composition, populated by either poker stars, celebrities, or colorful characters. Thefeatured table is sometimes called the spotlight table.

(v) Throw money off (see throw off) to someone. “You’ve been feeding him all day. How about throwing off some chips this way?”

(n phrase) Forced-move game.

(n phrase) Forced-move game.

(v phrase) 1. Feed the pot. 2. Call a bet. 3. ante (definition 4).

(v phrase) Bet or call foolishly or knowing that one is taking the worst of it. Also, feed the kitty.

(n) In a no-limit game, a small bet made to see if anyone will raise or to determine who will just call. Also called exploratory bet, feeler bet or probe bet.

(n phrase) Feeler. Also called probe bet or probing bet.

(n) 1. The cloth surface covering a card table. By extension, bet down to the felt means to bet all one’s chips, and down to the felt means broke. Also, green. 2. Figuratively, playing poker; usually preceded by the. “His place was on the felt.” — (vt) 3. Bust (definition 3) someone, that is, cause the player to go all in (down to the felt) and lose; always followed by the designation of a player. “I’m going to felt him before the night’s through.”

(n phrase) Hitchhiker (definition 3).

(n phrase) Hitchhiker (definition 3).

(n; imitative) A 5, referring to the card or to a bet of that amount. When a 5 turns up on the board in hold’em, you may hear the dealer or the table clown say, “Fever in the north and the doctor went south.” This imitates fiver, which is what a 5 is sometimes called.

(n) 1. Your opponents in a specific hand, considered as a whole. “He bet into the field” means that the first player made a bet against multiple players whose hands are still live. Sometimes part of the phrase against the field. 2. All the entrants in a specific tournament or event. “The 2008 World Series of Poker main event had a starting field of 6,844.”

(n phrase) 15-way straight.

(n phrase) In the 52-card deck, four to an open-ended straight flush, so that any of 15 cards makes it a straight or better. For example, 3♦ 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ can be made into a straight by drawing a 2 or 7, a flush by drawing any diamond, or a straight flush by the 2♦ or 7♦, of which there are 15 altogether.

(n phrase) 1. In seven-card stud, the fifth card dealt to each player. Following this card is the third round of betting. 2. In hold’em-type games, the fifth (and final) card of the board (definition 1). Following this card is the fourth round of betting.

(adj) Pertaining to fifth street. He made a fifth-street bet.

(n phrase) The 54 cards, generally used only in home games, consisting of all the cards of the 53-card deck, plus a second joker.

(n phrase) The joker.

(n phrase) The 53 cards with which some forms of poker, usually draw poker and ace-to-five lowball, wherein the 53rd card is the bug, are 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, plus the joker.

(n phrase) The 52 cards from which poker is usually 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). Sometimes called standard deck.

(n) Face card.

(n; imitative) Full house. This imitates filly.

(n phrase; imitative) Full house.

(v) 1. Make a full house. 2. Make any specified hand. “I’ve got three aces. I call.” “No good; I filled the flush.” Sometimes fill in. — (n) 3. The replenishment of a house dealer’s tray, either at the start of a down (definition 6) or shift or when the dealer has sold all or most of the chips in the tray to players. “Fill on table 32.”

(v phrase) Fill (definition 2). “I filled in the flush.”

(v phrase) Make a full house. “I’ve got a flush. I call.” “No good; I filled up.”

(n; imitative) Full house. Comes from I filled, I have a filly …

(n) $5.

(n phrase) In a tournament involving multiple tables, as players are eliminated, tables are combined; when only enough players remain to form one full table, that is called the final table. Making it to the final table sometimes guarantees a prize. (See in the money.) Also see freeze-out tournament, playoffs, rebuy tournament, and shootout tournament.

(v) Make a final table, that is, be one of the last six, eight, or nine players in a tournament (depending on format).

(n phrase) The last position to bust out before the remaining players assemble for the final table. This position may or may not be in the money. If it is not, the term means the same as bubble.

(n phrase) See deal (definition 9).

(n phrase) See better spot.

(n phrase) A poker game in which players play on credit.

(v phrase) Close the action.

(v phrase) Close the action.

(n phrase) In hold’em, 8-5 as starting cards. Derivation is unknown.

(n) $5 or a $5 bill.

(v) Bet, usually in a confident way. When an aggressive player bets a large amount in a no-limit game, he may say, “Fire!” (He may not.)

(v phrase) Bet or raise, particularly in a confident manner.

(n phrase) A method of determining, at the start of a game, who will be the first dealer (or button). Someone, the house dealer in a casino game or one of the players in a home game, starts dealing cards one at a time face up to each player, and the player who receives the first ace becomes the dealer.

(n phrase) The first position to the left of the house dealer in a poker game or at a blackjack table. In poker, also called age.

(n phrase) In a cardroom, having a break immediately upon arriving at work, at the start of the shift, so that the employee (usually a dealer) will not be allowed to have early out, that is leave early. First break is often given to a dealer who shows up a bit late for work.

(n phrase) A cash incentive given by an online casino to first-time depositors. Sometimes called signup bonus.

(n phrase) Same as first ace, except with a jack being the significant card.

(n phrase) 1. The first player to act, particularly in the first round of betting. This player is said to be under the gun. 2. The position of this player, that is, the actual seat (in the round in question).

(adv phrase) Describing first position. “The player to the left of the big blind is first to act on the first round.”

(n) 1. Live one. A very loose player, usually implying one who loses regularly. — (v) 2. Fish in.

(n) Jack (the card). Sometimes a 7. It comes from the literal resemblance of either a J or 7 to a fishhook. Also hook.

(n) Affectionate RGPer term for a fish.

(v phrase) Call bets or raises with a weak hand in hope of making a longshot draw.

(v) See fish in.

(v phrase) See fish in.

(adj) Like a fish, that is, live (definition 3).

(n) 1. The card whose rank is 5, of which a standard deck contains four, one each in the spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦), and clubs (♣) suit. 2. Rarely, in ace-to-five lowball, and then sometimes as a taunt, a wheel. “I’ve got a 6.” “Get it fixed; I’ve got a 5.”

(n) Fifth street. “He made a straight on five.”

(n phrase) The best five of a kind hand. (In high draw poker played with the 53-card deck, wherein the 53rd card is the bug, it’s the only five of a kind hand.)

(n phrase) 1. Dimestore (definition 2). 2. A wild-card game with 10s and 5s wild.

(n phrase) 1. Draw poker. 2. Specifically, high draw poker, often called just draw. 3. In draw poker, the exchanging on the draw (definition 2) of all five of one’s cards for five new ones. “I had a pat straight and got beat by a five-card draw.”

(n phrase) Little squeeze.

(n phrase) A variant of Golden Oasis Poker in which the cost of replacing three cards is 3 rather than 2 antes.

(n phrase) See Omaha.

(n phrase) Little squeeze.

(n phrase) A poker game, stud poker with one card dealt face down followed by four cards dealt face up, with betting commencing on the second card and continuing with each round of cards.

(n phrase) A three-blind traveling blind game, in which the dealer puts up $5, the player to his left (called the middle blind) $5, and the next player (called the big blind) $10, with the minimum bet (or bring-in) usually being $10, sometimes $20.

(n phrase) Similar to the two-minute rule.

(n phrase) 1. The best hand in high draw poker played with the 53-card deck, wherein the 53rd card is the bug, four aces plus the joker. 2. In any wild-card game, some combination of cards all of the same rank plus one or more wild cards. For example, in deuces wild, three 7s and two 2s would be five of a kind, five 7s. Similarly, four 2s plus an 8 would constitute five 8s.

(n) $5 or a $5 poker chip.

(n phrase) A full house consisting of three 5s and a pair.

(n phrase) 1. 5s up. 2. 5s full.

(n phrase) A 5 (the card).

(n phrase) Two pair, the higher of which are 5s.

(n phrase) Five-way straight.

(n phrase) In the 53-card deck, four cards to an inside straight, so that any of five cards makes it a straight. For example, 3-4-6-7 of mixed suits can be made into a straight by drawing any 5 or the joker, of which there are five altogether.

(v) Stack the deck.

(n phrase) Stacked deck.

(n phrase) 1. Poker in which all bets are made in specified increments, that is, the size of each betting increment does not increase on any round of betting. See limit poker. Sometimes called flat limit. Compare also with single limit, double limit, and no limit. Sometimes synonymous with structured limit. 2.Sometimes this phrase refers to betting with maximums determined by the mutual consent of the players.

(n) Pertaining to fixed limit, as a fixed-limit game.

(n) Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for fixed limit. Also a chat term.

(v) 1. Inadvertently expose one of your hole cards in a stud or community card game, or any of your cards in a draw game. 2. Quickly reveal one (usually only one and usually the winning) card, often as a courtesy to another player. “When Emilie folded, John flashed an ace to show her that he wasn’t bluffing.” —(n) 3. The act of doing what is described in definition 1. “I caught a flash of an ace in his hand.” 4. The quick revelation described in definition 2. “She gave me a flash of an ace when I folded.”

(adj) 1. Crooked. “This joint is as flat as a pancake.” That is, it is full of thieves. 2. In lowball, taking no cards; often said by a house dealer when announcing the draws: “One, one, two, and flat.” — (v) 3. Flat call. “Phil bet and Mike flatted.”

(v phrase) Bet the same amount (as previously).

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

(v phrase) 1. Only or just call a prior bet, that is, without raising. “He flat called” means that all he did was call (and sometimes implies that he should have raised). Sometimes shortened to flat. — (n phrase) 2. The action of flat calling. “That game was so tight, that when I raised before the flop I just got a flat call from a guy with pocket queens.” Also, smooth call.

(n phrase) Flat shop.

(n phrase) Fixed limit.

(n phrase) A payout schedule that proceeds smoothly from top to bottom, with relatively small incremental differences between each place. Prizes for first, second, third, or fourth of $10,000, $7,500, $5,000, and $3,500 would be a flat payout structure. Compare with steep payout structure.

(n phrase) A crooked gaming establishment. Also bust-out joint. Opposite of right joint.

(n phrase) Flat shop.

(v) Turn a formerly honest cardroom into a flat shop.

(n) In hold’em, J-4 as starting cards, so named because it’s the answer to the question “What’s a jack for?”

(n) Any of the two or more starting days for a tournament when the host casino cannot accommodate all the players on a single starting date. For example, the 2006 World Series of Poker had four first-day flights of more than 2,000 players each so that the Rio could accommodate the massive field of 8,773 players. Those flights took place on successive days, named days 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. Days 1A and 1B combined into a second flight, playing down to 700 players. Days 1C and 1D did the same. Not till the seventh day of actual play did all flights converge. While this is extreme, many high-profile tournaments start with two flights, usually on separate days.

(n) Mexican stud.

(v) Call with nothing (usually in no-limit hold’em) as a setup for a bluff on a later street.

(n) 1. The premises around the tables in a cardroom or casino, usually with reference to the employees working there; usually preceded by on the. “Who’s on the floor?” means “Who’s running the shift?” 2. Floorperson or management. “We need a decision. Call the floor.”

(exclamation) “Floorman!“

(n) The employee who seats players, brings new decks, keeps order, settles disputes, and sometimes sells chips to players.

(exclamation) A call by (usually) a dealer or a player to have a floorperson render a decision. For example, if a card leaves the table, the house dealer might yell “Floorman!” to get an official ruling on how to proceed. Sometimes, “Floor!”

(n phrase) The manager (definition 2) of the floor, usually a specific area, like the cardroom.

(n) A floorman of unspecified sex.

(n) 1. In hold’em-style games, the three community cards turned face up after the first round of betting. — (vt) 2. Deliver the flop. “The dealer flopped three kings.” 3. Have those community cards affect a particular player or hand. For example, if you start with a pair in the hole, and the flop includes one of your card, you are said to have flopped a set.

(n phrase) Hold’em-style game. Includes Omaha and pineapple, and a few other variants. That is, a game with a flop. Also called flop-type game.

(n phrase) Flop game.

(adj) Having received on the flop, with respect to the hand or card combination one holds, as, for example, a flopped set.

(n phrase) The percentage of players who stay for a flop. While such a figure can be calculated for any specific table, it is usually used only in online cardrooms (see online cardroom), generally available in the list of tables. This is because the software can easily make the calculation, while in a brick and mortar cardroom it would only be an estimate.

(n phrase) A house-banked card game that uses poker hand rankings, in which players do not compete against the dealer. The game is related to hold’em in the way hands are formed, but is not really a poker game. The object of the game is to make a poker hand containing a pair of jacks or better using the player’s three cards dealt and the three community cards turned up by the dealer. In addition, players can bet that their hand will be the best of all hands dealt. Each player places two bets, an ante bet and a pot bet. The ante wager can be any amount up to the table limit. The pot bet is always the table minimum. Three cards are dealt to each player face down. The player may look at his own cards but sharing of information is not allowed. The player has two options, raise or fold. If the player folds, he forfeits his ante but retains his cards for later settling of the pot bet. If the player raises, he does so by making a flop bet equal to his ante bet. The dealer then deals a three-card flop face up. These are community cards and are used by all players. The dealer determines in turn each player’s best poker hand using all three of the player cards in combination with any two of the flop cards. If the player has at least a pair of jacks, the ante wager pays even money and the flop wager pays all winners according to a pay table, ranging from even money on a pair of jacks or better to 1,000:1 for a royal flush. Finally, the player with the highest poker hand, again using his own three cards and any two flop cards, wins all pot bets. If two or more hands are tied, the pot bets are split among the players holding those hands. Like the odds bet of craps, the pot bet of Flop Poker has absolutely no house advantage. That is, it pays correct odds (definition 1).

(n phrase) See flopped, set (definition 1).

(v phrase) In a flop game, get a flop that makes the best hand possible given the three cards on the board. For example, in hold’em if you start with 6♥ 5♣ and the flop is 2♠, 3♥ 4♣, you have flopped the nuts.

(n phrase) Flop game, that is, hold’em, Omaha, or pineapple.

(n) Loosely, variance.

(n) 1. Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. In high poker, this hand ranks above a straight and below a full house. A flush is often specified by its top one or two cards. For example, A♠ K♠ 9♠ 4♠ 2♠ is called an ace-king flush. Five cards of the same suit in sequence constitutes a hand known as a straight flush. Unlike the game of bridge, suits do not count; two flushes with all five cards duplicated would split the pot at the showdown. That is, A♥ K♥ 9♥ 4♥ 2♥ ranks the same as the preceding. Five cards of the same suit in sequence constitutes a hand known as a straight flush. Also see double-ace flush. 2. A variant of three-card brag. — (adj) 3. Fat (definition 2).

(n phrase) A card that helps make or becomes part of a flush or a draw to a flush. For example, you start with two spades in hold’em, and the flop contains a spade, a heart, and a diamond. If a spade comes on the turn, that is a flush card.

(n phrase) Four cards of the same suit needing one more card of that suit to complete a flush.

(v) Drawing to a flush. “I knew you had a straight. I was flushing, but I missed.”

(n) Flush (definition (1). This is an old, obsolete term.

(n) Flush (definition 1). This is an old, obsolete term.

(n phrase) In hold’em, A-J as one’s downcards. Also (and from whose advertising slogan it comes), Ajax.

(v phrase) Perform a false cut.

(v) 1. Withdraw from further participation in the current pot. — (n) 2. The act of folding. “Emilie bet and there were three folds before it got to me.”

(n phrase) Extra betting value for a hand that is currently behind (or currently ahead but very vulnerable) because the bet might win by the hand improving or it might win by getting the opponent to fold. Compare with semibluff.

(v phrase) Fold before it is one’s turn (definition 2), an action that is not according to the rules in serious (that is, cardroom) games, and a breach of poker etiquette in any game.

(n phrase) A wild-card stud game, played only in private or home games, in which, immediately after a queen shows, all queens and those of the same rank as a card dealt face up are wild.

(n phrase) A form of draw, usually lowball, in which a player gets a bonus from the other players for winning two pots in a row. For example, in a $4-to-go no-limit lowball game, each player puts up $20, which goes into a kitty (definition 4). Whoever wins two pots in a row gets the kitty. This tends to stimulate action, because when a player wins a pot, she is likely to loosen her requirements for the next pot to try to get the kitty. She may kill the next pot to try to increase her chances of winning the next pot and to keep out the two-card draws. Also, after the rabbit, and sometimes shortened to just rabbit.

(n phrase) Continuation bet.

(n) Poor hand. “I got a hand like a foot.”

(n) A wild-card game with 6s and 3s wild. The game is similar to baseball.

(v) 1. Bet or raise such that the action compels other players to make a decision. “Lili led out on the turn to force the action.” 2. Raise.

(n phrase) 1. A mandatory bet on the first round of play in a stud game. For example, in seven-card stud, the lowest card dealt on the first round might have to make a forced bet, usually of a smaller amount than the normal betting limit. In a $2-$4 game, the lowest card might have to bet 50 cents. Subsequent bettors may either call, or raise by $2 (sometimes only to $2, that is, a raise of $1.50). In most home games, the forced bet is made by the highest exposed card in high games, and by the lowest exposed card in low games. If two cards of the same rank appear, the one closest to the left of the dealer must make the forced bet. In cardrooms, bridge order (or reverse bridge order) is sometimes used. 2. A requirement, generally found only in home games, that the first player with action (definition 2), usually the player to the left of the dealer, or, in a game with blinds, to the left of the big blind, must come into the pot, that is, cannot fold. 3. Any bet that must be made prior to the deal of a hand, such as an ante or blind.

(n phrase) A game in which players must make a forced bet. Also, forced bring-in game or simply forced bring-in.

(n phrase) A mandatory, as opposed to optional, blind, that is, a bet that must be put into a pot before the cards are dealt, usually for the purpose of stimulating action. Traveling blinds (see traveling blind), winner blinds (see winner blind), and requiring players to blind the pot at least once in a specified period of time or per round are examples of forced blinds.

(n phrase) 1. Forced bet game. 2. The holder of the hand that is obliged to bet, as described under forced bet (definition 1). “John was down to his last chip when he got stuck with the forced bring-in.” 3. The hand itself. “A queen was the forced bring-in this time.”

(n phrase) Forced bet game.

(n phrase) The second game of its type at a specific limit in a public cardroom that acts as a feeder to the main game, according to rules that vary from cardroom to cardroom. As seats become available in the main game, players in the forced-move game must move to the main game. The reason to have forced-move games is to make sure that the main game is always full, as opposed to the balanced-game (see balanced games) situation in which two tables might both have vacancies, and yet no one is permitted to change games. Also called must-move or feeder game.

(n phrase) A mandatory, as opposed to optional, blind, which is put in to the left of a forced under-the-gun blind (see forced blind). Also see traveling blind.

(n; imitative) 4s full.

(v phrase) See force.

(v phrase) Hit the brief.

(n) Three 3s. (A bunch of trees.)

(adv phrase) Without having to pay extra; often part of the phrase get in for free. Also see free card and free ride.

(n phrase) A variant of pai gow poker that offers a side bet that pays a bonus based only on the player’s entire original seven-card hand. For purposes of the bonus, it does not matter how the player arranges his cards and whether he beats the dealer. Payoffs are made according to a pay table, paying from 2:1 for a straight to 8,000:1 for a seven-card straight flush. If any player gets at least four of a kind, then all other players who placed the side bet get an “envy bonus” (because they envy the person who got the good hand).

(n phrase) See motion.

(n) Elderly poker player, often implying one who is tight or a rock.

(adj) 1. Unplayable because of some collision or conflict with the house rules. “If cards touch an unprotected hand, that hand is foul.” — (v) 2. To make a hand foul. “If you pick up the deck without discarding and then try to draw to your hand, you’ll foul the hand.”

(n phrase) Foul hand.

(n phrase) A hand that has become foul. In a draw game, six cards after the draw is usually considered a foul hand. Also dead hand, irregular hand. See dead (definition 3).

(n) In five-card stud, the first card dealt to a player. In seven-card stud, the first two cards dealt to a player.

(n) The card whose rank is 4, of which a standard deck contains four, one each in the spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦), and clubs (♣) suit.

(n) Fourth street. “He raised on four.”

(n phrase) In draw poker, the exchanging on the draw (definition 2) of four of one’s cards for four new ones. “I had a pat full house and got beat by a four-card draw.”

(n phrase) 1. Four cards to a flush. Formerly sometimes called a bobtail flush or Arkansas flush. 2. A nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, four cards to a flush, that ranks higher than a four-card straight and lower than two pair.

(n phrase) A house-banked game, which resembles poker only in the ranking of the hands, dealt from one deck, similar to three-card poker. Each player receives five cards from which to make four-card poker hands (with four-card straights and four-card flushes as ranking hands, and hands ranked thus: four of a kind, straight flush, three of a kind, flush, straight, two pair, pair); only the best four cards in each hand are used to determine winners. The dealer gets six cards to make a four-card hand; one of the dealer’s cards is dealt face up. Two bets can be made. For the original bet (the ante), a player is paid, if he stays, on certain holdings according to a pay scale, ranging from 2:1 for three of a kind to 25:1 for four of a kind. After seeing his hand, a player can either fold or stay in the game by making a second bet (the Aces Up bet), and then his hand competes against the dealer’s; the player wins ties. This second bet can be equal to, twice, or three times the ante. If the player does not make the Aces Up bet, he loses the original bet. Unlike three-card poker, the dealer does not need to qualify. Some casinos have other rules, sometimes involving three bets. The Aces Up bet wins when the player has a pair of aces or better, ranging from even money for a pair of aces to 50:1 for four of a kind. The game was invented by Shuffle Master, a company that makes automatic card-shuffling machines for casinos and cardrooms and devises new casino games.

(n phrase) In lowball, having lots of one-card draws, but not making them.

(n phrase) 1. Four cards to a straight. Formerly sometimes called a bobtail straight. Also see double-ended straight, open-ended straight, two-way hand, two-way straight. 2. A nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, four cards to a straight, that ranks higher than one pair and lower than a four-card flush.

(n phrase) 1. Four cards to a straight flush, that is, four cards in sequence and of the same suit, such as 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 9♥. 2. A nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, four cards to a straight flush, that ranks variously, usually higher than three of a kind.

(n phrase) A deck in which each suit is given a different color, as opposed to the traditional decks in which hearts and diamonds are red and spades and clubs black. Many claim such a color scheme makes it harder to misread suits. In the four-color deck promoted by Mike Caro (the Mad Genius of Poker), spades are black, hearts are red, diamonds are blue, and clubs are green. While the four-color deck has not been adopted in most B&Ms (see brick and mortar club), it is a common option online (see online cardroom).

(n phrase) Four-card flush.

(n phrase) A cheater. Probably comes from one who tries to bluff when holding only a four-flush, or who cheats by showing four cards to a flush and tries to claim the pot without showing the fifth. This expression has moved from the world of poker to general usage in the English language with the wider meaning of one who cannot deliver on a promise, makes empty boasts, or who continually lies.

(n) An analog of seven-twenty-seven, using totals of 4 and 44 instead of 7 and 27.

(n phrase) A poker hand, four of the same rank, as four aces or four 2s. In high poker, this hand ranks above a full house and below a straight flush. Example: J♥ J♣ J♣ J♥ Q♣. Also called quads. In some non-English-speaking cardrooms and casinos the hand is called poker (and sometimes preceded by a).

(n) Four of a kind.

(n phrase) A full house consisting of three 4s and a pair.

(n phrase) 1. 4s up. 2. 4s full.

(n phrase) A 4 (the card).

(n phrase) Four-card straight.

(n phrase) Two pair, the higher of which are 4s.

(n phrase) 1. In seven-card stud, the fourth card dealt to each player. Following this card is the second round of betting. 2. In hold’em-type games, the fourth card of the flop. Following this card is the third round of betting. This card is more commonly called the turn card.

(adj) Pertaining to fourth street. He made a fourth-street bet.

(n phrase) Four-way straight.

(n phrase) In the 52-card deck, four to a straight, so that any of four cards makes it a straight. For example, 3-4-6-7 of mixed suits can be made into a straight by drawing any five, of which there are four altogether. More commonly called inside straight.

(n phrase) Rabbit hunt. Sometimes the term is restricted to seeing just one card.

(n) Frequent player points.

(n) Frequent player points. Sometimes pronounced fippies.

(n) Fancy Play Syndrome.

(n) 1. A $100 bill. 2. $100. For both definitions you might hear, “He tossed a Franklin into the pot.”

(n) The joker or a wild card.

(n phrase) An extremely lucky draw, usually greatly defying probability, and often in such a way as to defeat a hand that has considerably the best of it. If, in ace-to-five lowball, you draw three cards and make a 6 or better, that constitutes a freak draw. If, in draw poker, you draw three cards to two cards of the same suit and make a flush, that, too, constitutes a freak draw. Sometimes called Gardena miracle.

(n phrase) A nonstandard poker hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, as a big dog, blaze, little tiger, skip straight, and so on.

(n) Without having to pay extra, in phrases such as free card and free ride.

(n phrase) In stud poker or hold’em, the situation in which there is no bet on a particular round, so players get extra cards without having had to risk additional money. In hold’em, for example, you are on the button with A♠ Q♠. The flop is 2♠ 7♠ J♦, giving you four to the nut flush. An early player bets, and there are a few calls. You raise, and all call. No matter the turn card, the other players may check to you. If another spade doesn’t come, you can check also, thus saving a bet at the higher limit, and allowing you to see the river card for “free.”

(n phrase) Some clubs let a new player (new to the particular game) be dealt in immediately upon sitting down, rather than having to wait until it is his turn to put in the big blind. (In many clubs, one must either wait for the blind or post.) Each time he receives cards before the blind gets to him is a free hand. Presumably a player could play a few hands and get up without ever having had to put in a blind. In practice, this rarely happens, so it all evens out.

(n phrase) In draw poker or lowball, a player has looked at the first four of his cards, and the remaining one, which he presumably has not seen, is the free look. (I say “presumably” because some players seem to have a free look every hand, and yet they always look at the first four dealt them in the order dealt.) You might in lowball hear a player say, “I’ve got a free look, and I’m gonna raise it.” That gives others the impression that the player has raised without seeing the fifth card, but hardly anyone ever believes that.

(n phrase) Free look. “How come the free peek is always in the last position?”

(n phrase) 1. In stud poker or hold’em, a betting round in which no one bets, which permits the active players to receive (or see) a free card. Also, in flop games (see flop game), the situation in which all players have limped preflop and the big blind can play without having to put extra money into the pot. By extension to draw, this would be the situation in a double-limit blind game with a gypsy (permitting players to open for a bet equal to the size of the blind) in which players opened for the minimum and the blind gets to draw without putting any extra money in the pot. 2. In pass-and-back-in draw poker, an opening round in which no one opens, thus allowing every player to draw without having to make a bet.

(n) 1. In hold’em, the situation in which one player can win the entire pot when guaranteed half the pot because he is currently tied with another player. For example, you have A♥ J♥ and your opponent has A♦ J♦. The flop is J♠ 5♥ T♥. You are tied with the other player, each having a pair of jacks with the same kickers. You have a freeroll (also, you are freerolling), since you can win the whole pot and he can’t. If any card but a heart comes in the next two cards, you split the pot with the other player, but with any heart, you win the whole pot. Also called freeroll hand. 2. Freeroll tournament. — (v) 3. To be in the situation described in definition 1. 4. Play in a freeroll tournament. “The site offers a chance to freeroll for a WSOP seat.”

(n phrase) Freeroll (definition 1).

(v phrase) See freeroll (definition 3).

(n phrase) A tournament with no buy-in, usually with prize money put up by the house. Generally players must qualify to play in such a tournament by playing a specified number of hours during a set period of time, such as 10 hours in a week or 40 hours in a month. Sometimes entries to a freeroll tournament are also awarded to players holding certain hands, such as aces full or better, the winners of preliminary tournaments, earners online of frequent player points, or to those who enter one or more other tournaments.

(v) Stand pat in draw poker, that is, decline on the draw to replace any cards.

(n) Freeze-out.

(v phrase) Bet in such a way as to prevent another player getting into a pot. “They bet so much that they froze me out of the biggest pot of the night.”

(n) 1. A game in which players start with a specified amount and then can buy no further chips, with the game continuing until one player has all the chips. This is a common tournament structure. Also written freezeout. — (adj) 2. Referring to the game or situation so described, usually as part of the phrase freeze-out tournament.

(n phrase) 1. A tournament in which players start with a specified amount and then can buy no further chips; once they lose their chips, they are out, as opposed to a rebuy tournament. The tournament continues until one player has all the chips. As players are eliminated, they may receive prizes based on the order of their elimination. For example, the final remaining player may win 50 percent of the prize pool, the next-to-last 25 percent, the third 10 percent, and so on. Also called no-rebuy tournament. Compare with shootout tournament. 2. A tournament as described in definition 1 in which the last remaining player wins all the money.

(n phrase) See freeze out.

(n phrase) The deck of cards used by the French, who have been designing and manufacturing playing cards since at least the 15th Century, when they assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. These designs appear often somewhat different in design in the English deck. In the French deck, the face cards had specific meaning, whereas in the English deck, card historians generally accept that they do not. Confusion lies in the fact that the suits in the English deck came from the French deck.

(n phrase) Reward card.

(n phrase) Incentives offered to players by an online cardroom to keep the players loyal to the site. These are awarded in the form of points allotted at some predefined rate per number of raked hands (see raked hand) played and stored as part of a player’s account. These points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise, entry into tournaments, and so on. Often shortened to FPP or FPPs, particularly in print.

(n phrase) A private or home poker game played on Friday nights, although the term is often loosely applied to games played on other nights.

(n phrase) 1. A private or home poker game in which the social aspect is more important than winning money, usually accomplished by permitting only relatively small bets. This is opposed to a cutthroat game or a club or casino game. Sometimes called social game. 2. Sometimes a casino or cardroom game, particularly one for small stakes, exhibits the same qualities and is termed a friendly game.

(adv phrase) 1. In late position. 2. See come from behind.

(n phrase) San Jose to Gilroy.

(n phrase) A straight (definition 1), sometimes shortened to here to there; itself shortened from from here to there without a pair.

(n phrase) From here to there.

(adv phrase) See basement.

(adv phrase) See git-go.

(adv) 1. Ahead (of the game, that is, winning); always preceded by in. “How ya doin’?” “I’m in front.” 2. Being in a position such that you act before another player; always preceded by in and usually followed by of. If you are sitting to the right of a player, you might say, “I’m in front of him.” — (n) 3. Face(definition 1).

(n phrase) A cheating maneuver that enables the dealer to see the face of the top card on the deck, accomplished by squeezing the deck between thumb and little finger in such a way as to bow the top card slightly so that its underside upper corner can be surreptitiously viewed. This move is made prior to dealingseconds. Compare with back peek.

(n) Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for final table. Also a chat term.

(n, initialism) Fundamental theorem of poker. Usually spelled out when pronounced; that is, it is an initialism, not an acronym.

(n, acronym) Full Tilt Online Poker Series. Pronounced EFF-TOPS; that is, it is an acronym, not an initialism.

(n) 1. Full house. “I’ve got a full.” — (adj) 2. Having a full house. “I’ve got a flush; whadda you have? “I’m full.”

(n phrase) 1. In a limit game, a bet as large as the current limit. For example, in a $10-$20 game, in the $10 round or rounds, $10 is a full bet, and anything less is not. Cardrooms have different interpretations as to whether anything less than a full bet can be raised or whether a player is even permitted to bet less, and if an all-in player bets less, whether succeeding players can call that amount or must themselves put in a full bet. 2. In a no-limit, pot-limit, or spread-limit game, a bet as large as the minimum for the table, with similar discussion as the preceding. 3. In a no-limit, pot-limit, or spread-limit game, a bet as large as the preceding bet. For example, if Emilie bets $50 and John can call only $30 of that, he would be said not to have a full bet. In this sense, the term short or short bet is often used. For definitions 1 and 2, also see complete the bet, half a bet, legal raise. In some cardrooms, a raise of half a bet is considered to reopen the betting; in others, only a full bet does so. The rule covering all of these situations is known as the full-bet rule.

(n phrase) See full bet.

(n phrase) Full house. (Rare.) Also called a barn.

(n phrase) Full house. Also called a boat.

(n phrase) A buy-in equivalent to at least the minimum requirement for the particular game. Also, full buy-in. Compare with short buy.

(n phrase) Full buy.

(n phrase) An honest deck, that is, one containing all the cards. From this came the phrase playing with a full deck, which originally meant playing honestly, but was later expanded to mean rationally, and usually used in the negative, the expression having moved from the world of poker to general usage in the English language in its wider sense, as not playing with a full deck, that is, crazy or crazily.

(n phrase) A game with no empty seats, as opposed to a short-handed game. Also, full table.

(n phrase) Full house.

(n phrase) A poker hand, consisting of three of one rank plus two of another. In high poker, this hand ranks above a flush and below four of a kind. Often identified by the three of a kind. For example, K♦ K♥ K♣ 3♥ 3♣ is a full house, often known as kings full, and sometimes more specifically as kings full of 3s. Sometimes called full boat or boat.

(n phrase) 1. The kill put in in a full-kill game. 2. The playing of such a game or the game itself.

(n phrase) A kill game whose kill is twice the size of the big blind, as opposed to a half-kill game.

(adj phrase) Describing the constitution of the pair in a full house, as three kings and two threes could be called kings full of 3s.

(adj phrase) Having a full house, with reference to the three of a kind, as three kings and any pair could be called full on kings.

(n phrase) Full deck.

(n phrase) A rebuy of the full amount, as opposed to a short buy.

(n phrase) A stack containing 20 chips.

(n phrase) A table whose every seat is occupied. The term is usually used only in cardrooms. Also, full game.

(n phrase) An online tournament series, consisting of many events, staged by the online cardroom FullTiltPoker.com. Sometimes rendered as the acronym FTOPS.

(n phrase) See value.

(n phrase) In Omaha, a situation in which the four downcards consist of two sets of consecutive cards, two gaps, and two more consecutive cards, which combine with the flop such that any card in your hand duplicated on the board on the turn or river gives you a straight, in addition to any card one lower than your lower consecutive cards or one higher than the higher consecutive cards. For example, your downcards are 10-9-6-5, and the flop is 7-8-K. You can make a straight with any of 20 cards, any 10, 9, 6, or 5, three each of which remain, or any J or 4, of which four of each remain. Other wraps include outside wrap, inside wrap, and wraparound.

(adj phrase) Pot-committed. “He got most of his chips in the pot on the turn and was fully committed.

(n phrase) A principle first articulated by poker theoretician David Sklansky in The Theory of Poker, one that he felt expressed the essential nature of poker as a game of decision-making in the face of incomplete information: “Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.” Sometimes shortened to FTOP.

(v) 1. Perform a cheating maneuver in which the cards are mixed by an overhand shuffle (from hand to hand, instead of the standard cardroom procedure of riffling) in such a way as to maintain their original order. 2. In draw poker, shuffle through one’s five cards repeatedly by holding them face down and sliding one card at a time from top to bottom. Also called milk the cards.

(v phrase) Mix the cards by repeatedly drawing two simultaneously from top and bottom of the deck, sometimes done with a new deck prior to shuffling.