Poker Definitions

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J

Jackpot : 1) A game of "jackpot poker" or "jackpots", which is a variant of five-card draw with an ante from each player, no blinds, and an opening requirement of a pair of jacks or better.
2) A large pool of money collected by the house (both online and offline) and awarded for some rare occurrence, typically a bad beat.

Jacks Or Better : A form of draw poker in which a player needs a pair of jacks or better to start betting.

Jackson Fives : A starting hand in holdem where a player holds Jack Five or a completed hand of two pair Jacks and Fives, also known as Motown.

Jam : To bet or raise the maximum (to "Jam the pot")

Johnny : (or Jake or Jacques or Knave) A Jack.

Joker : A 53rd card used mostly in draw games. The joker may usually be used as an Ace, or a card to complete a straight or flush, in high games, and as the lowest card not already present in a hand at low. A joker may give a player a great many outs. See also: bug.

Juice : Money collected by the house.

K

Kansas City Lowball : A form of Lowball played with the low requirements of Deuce to Seven (Ace counts as high and straights and flushes count against you.)

Keep Honest : To call on the river even though you are pretty sure the opponent has a better hand than you, but done so against an opponent one may suspect of bluffing more than is good.

Key Card : A card that is key to making your hand.

Kibitzer : A spectator who is not only watching the game, but also commenting aloud as to what is happening in the game.

Kick It : To raise.

Kickers : 1) The two cards in a seven-card hand, which are not part of the best five-card hand.
2) The highest unpaired card in a player's hand is the player's kicker, and is used to determine the winner between tie hands; i.e. K-K with a Jack kicker.

King with the Battle Axe : The King of Diamonds.

Kick : To raise.

Kitty : A blind hand dealt face-down and not revealed until Showdown. When used typically in Guts poker, the kitty's hand must also be beaten in addition to the other players' hands.

Knave : A jack

Knock : A player may knock the table with his fist to indicate a check.

Kojak : Pocket King-Jack.

L

Ladbrokes Poker : One of the world's leading poker sites, if we do say so ourselves! Synonymous with the game in the UK and Scandinavia.

Ladies : A pair of Queens.

Late Position : The position in the round of betting where a player is one of the last people to act on their hands.

Lay Down : To reveal a hand at showdown. Also to fold.

Lay the Odds : To wager more money than you hope to win.

Lead : To be the first to enter the pot with a bet.

Leak : 1) To lose back part or all of one's winnings through other gambling habits.
2) To have part of your skill set that is significantly lower than the rest of your game thus allowing a loos of money in that area.

Leg : One game in a series of poker hands, where the rules require that a player win a number of times to collect the pot. In Double-Legged poker, for example, a player must win two hands (or legs) in order to collect the pot.

Legitimate Hand : A string hand that is not a bluff.

Legitimate play : When a player bets in a way that corresponds accurately to his hand; i.e. does not attempt to represent a hand that he does not have.

Light, to be : To be short on the funds required to remain in the game. Some tables allow a player to state, for example, "I’m light, I owe the pot five dollars", meaning that the player will owe five dollars to the player who wins the pot, unless that particular player happens to win. See also: "Table Stakes."

Limit Poker : Poker played with fixed betting amounts.

Limp In : To call in late position.

Little Blind : the smaller compulsory ante in Hold 'em paid by the first player to the left of the dealer.

Little ones : The lowest card in a player’s hand and any that match it in the same hand. For example, if the lowest card in a player’s hand is a Three, and that player has two of them, they are both the little ones. Typically designated in wild card games, such as Kings and Little Ones.

Live Blind : A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. The "live" means those players still have the option of raising when the action gets back around to them. Often important with consideration straddling.

Live cards : In stud poker games, cards that will improve your hand that have not been seen among anyone's upcards, and are therefore presumably still available. In games such as Texas hold 'em, a player's hand is said to contain "live" cards if matching either of them on the board would give that player the lead over his opponent. Typically used to describe a hand that is weak, but not dominated.

Live one : A poor player with a lot of money to lose.

Local : A permanent Las Vegas resident.

Lock : A hand that cannot lose.

Lock up : To "lock up" a seat in a cash game means to place a poker chip, player's card, or other personal effect on the table in front of the seat, to signify that the seat is occupied even though the player may not be present.

Look : To call the final bet before showdown.

Looking Down His Throat : Knowing that it is impossible for your opponent to beat the hand you hold.

Looking Out the Window : An expression to describe a player who is not paying attention to the game.

Loose : A style of play characterized by playing many hands. (i) Loose-passive means a player who plays many hands but does not typically bet or raise. (ii) Loose-aggressive means a player who plays many hands and typically bets or raises.

Low : 1) The lowest card by rank.
2) The low half of the pot in a high-low split.

Lowball, Lowboy : Type of game where the lowest hand at the table wins instead of the best hand. Players who do not count Straights and Flushes in Lowball count the A-2-3-4-5 as the best possible Lowball hand (see Bicycle Wheel). Players who count Straights and Flushes in Lowball count the A-2-3-4-6 as the best possible Lowball hand, as it is the worst possible poker hand.

M

M-ratio : Please see our Poker Theory page for a full explanation.

Made hand : A complete 5 card hand.

Main Pot : If there is a side pot in a hand the main pot is the one that has the money contributed to it from the most players.

Make A Move : To try a play ( mosty generally a bluff )

Make the deck : To shuffle the deck.

Mark : A sucker. Generally referring to someone who is the target of play rather than a random poor player.

Marker : A disc used to indicate that an absent player owes money to the table.

Marked deck : A deck with at least one card that has a marking on it (i.e. a rip in the card, a discolouring, etc.) identifying that card to cheating players.

Mechanic : A proficient cheat who can manipulate the deck.

Meet : To call.

Micro-limit : Internet poker games with stakes so small that real cardrooms couldn't possibly profit from them, are said to be at the "micro-limit" level (e.g. 25¢-50¢ or lower).

Middle Pair : In Flop games this is when the middle card on the flop is paired by one in the hole.

Middle Position : Being in the middle position in the betting round.

Minnow : A player who over-extends his or her bankroll to play in a big game.

Misdeal : A deal that must be started again because of an irregularity.

Miss : To miss your draw.

Money Management : An important part of poker life, The handling and control of money necessary to conduct a poker.

Monster : A hand that is almost certain to win or very large. Can also be used to refer to the size (number of outs) of a drawing hand.

Montana Banana : 9-2 in the hole. Article 92 made Poker legal in Montana.

Monte Carlo : A specific type of Guts poker with three cards, including three-card Straights and Flushes.

Move In : To go all-in.

Motown : Jack Five in the hole.

Muck : 1) The collection of discarded hands that forms when a hand is played, to "throw one's hand in the muck";
2) To discard one's hand, to "muck" one's hand.

Multi-way pot : A pot where several players compete for it. Also known as a family pot.

N

Nail : To catch a card that enables you to win the pot.

Narrow The Field : To bet or raise in order to scare off other players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but have the potential to improve.

Nickel chip : A $5 casino chip.

Nit : Nits are typically unfriendly, extremely selfish, know-it-all rocks who add little or nothing of value to the texture of a good game. A nit doesn’t scratch your back when you scratch his. He does what’s in his best interest at all times, and without exception.

No Fold’em Hold’em : A term used to describe a loose Texas Hold ’Em game where players will generally call most bets rather than fold.

No-Limit : A betting format where a player is allowed to bet as much money at any point as he has in front of him on the table. See Table Stakes.

No Pair : A Hand with 5 totally unrelated cards.

Number Two Man : A card cheat or dealer that is capable of dealing the second card from the deck at will.

Nut, Nuts, Nut Hand : The best possible hand that a player can have, given the information that is available. In Community or Hold 'Em poker, that information is the shared community cards. In Stud poker, that information is the face-up cards that the player has showing.