Poker Terms and Definitions

Full A-Z of poker terms and poker lingo, So you'll never look like the fish at the table!

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    Hole cards

    In games such as Texas Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha, each player is dealt cards which only they are able to use. These ar...

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    Hand for hand

    Hand for Hand play occurs is where tables start playing hands at the same time. This happens in tournaments where player...

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    Hit

    A hit is the moment when a poker player gets a strong hand. e.g "Pedro had pocket 8s and two 8s came on the...

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    Hand

    Do not be confused by the word hand in poker. It refers to the cards that you are holding that make up your best poker r...

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    Hand for hand (alt)

    In multi-table tournaments, the last few tables consist of players who are in or close to being "in the money". This is ...

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    Hand history

    Modern, online poker rooms offer players access to their hand histories. These are written and recorded histories of the...

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    Hand rankings

    There are two kinds of hand rankings: those associated with "straight" games and those associated with "low" games. For ...

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    Hanger

    A hanger refers to a card that is sticking out from the bottom of the deck when held by a dealer. It often suggests that...

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    Harrington, Dan

    Dan Harrington has written many best-selling poker books. They include Dan Harrington On Hold'Em and Dan Harrington On C...

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    Head's up

    Head's Up is a very common term used in many types of poker. It refers to play that involves only two people. Head's Up ...

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    Hollywood

    Hollywood is a term given to when a player puts on a major act before calling or re-raising. It is usually done in an at...

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    Heater

    When a player hits several good hands in a row, or wins several events in a row, that is known as being on a heater. For...

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    Hero

    This is a slang word that is most often used by people who are making comments about a particular game as played by a pa...

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    Hero call

    This is a poker slang term and refers to when a player makes a call that is based on gut moreso than read. It is usually...

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    High card

    High card is often used in poker for different reasons. As a hand ranking, it is lower than one pair. A pair of anything...

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    High society

    High Society is slang for the top denomination of poker chip at any particular casino or card room. Generally, a stack i...

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    Hijack

    This is an older term that is not used very often anymore. It represents the player who is sitting two seats to the righ...

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    Hit (alt)

    The word "hit" in poker terms means to get the card that either makes or helps to make a player's hand. For instance, so...

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    Hit and run

    This term is used when a player wins a big pot after just joining a table and the takes the money and runs. A hit and ru...

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    Hit by the deck

    Used when a player gets a streak of good cards that lead to wins. For instance, getting dealt QQ, AK, KK in three straig...

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    HOF

    Like many sports, poker has its own Hall of Fame (HOF). Some of the most notable players in poker history have been indu...

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    Hold

    A term normally used in poker to denote a weak hand that is nonetheless "holding" the lead. Often used when small pairs ...

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    HoldManager software

    Holdem Manager is the name of a somewhat popular online tracking and analysis program used for poker. It is able to impo...

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    Hole cam

    This wildly popular device was created by Henry Orenstein. It lets television viewers see what cards each player is hold...

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    Hole card

    In Hold'em, each player gets two hole cards. These two cards can only be seen and used by that player. Hole cards are gi...

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    Hollywooding

    This is a slang word used for those players who are pretending to have a better hand than they really have. Hollywood is...

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    Home game

    Home game does not necessarily mean games that are played at someone's home, although it certainly can mean that. Genera...

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    Horse

    HORSE is usually a high-stakes game that combines Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz poker, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi-...

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    House

    In poker, the house is the casino or the online poker room where players play. The house makes its money through either ...

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    Howard Lederer

    Howard Lederer is a very well-known poker player and has won many titles. He has been a dominate player for decades and ...

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    Hoyle

    For more than 200 years, Hoyle has been known as the authority source for poker rules. It is also known as the leading m...

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    HPH

    HPH is an important terms for poker players, especially online players. It stands for Hands per Hour, and players can us...

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    Huck Seed

    Huckleberry 'Huck' Seed is well-known professional poker player. Seed has won 4 WSOP bracelets, and he also won the 1996...

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    Humberto Brenes

    Humberto Brenes is a well-known professional poker player. His nickname is The Shark which got because of the toy shark ...

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    Hammer

    When a player is dealt a 7-2 off-suit, he has what is known as the hammer. Most experts agree that a hammer is one of th...

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    Heinz

    This is a popular slang word for a hand that contains a 5-7 in the hole cards. It comes from the famous steak sauce Hein...

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    Hilton sisters

    This is slang for a hand that contains wired queens. It refers to the Hilton heiresses. "When I saw those two...

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    Hooks

    A popular way of saying a player has a pocket pair of Jacks. The term comes about because the J's resembles like hooks. ...

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    HOSE

    HOSE is a mixed game format. In it, play alternates between (H)oldem, (O)maha, (S)even Card Stud, and Stud (E)ight. Many...

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    High limit

    Poker games are often classified as Low, Medium, and High Limit. As one might imagine, a high limit game is one in which...

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    High roller

    When a gambler plays for large stakes, he or she is known as a high roller. The term itself is somewhat relative and oft...

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    High-low split

    There are popular poker game types in which one-half of the pot is awarded to the high poker hand and the other half is ...

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    Home run hitter

    In poker, a home run hitter is a player who often makes risky calls but wins. Gus Hansen is a good example of a home run...

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    Hijack (alt)

    The seat which is two places to the right of the button in a table with more than 6 players is known as the Hijack posit...

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    Horse (staked player)

    As you saw in between brackets, a player who plays under a staking agreement with another person, is called a Horse. The...

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    HUD

    Used in online poker rooms and it means Heads Up Display. A player's HUD will show their unique stats at any given time....

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    High-low

    Some games, like Omaha and Seven Card Stud are played in High Only and High-low variation. When played as high-low,...

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    Hockey sticks

    Another name for pocket Sevens. (77)

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    Hijack seat

    A seat to the right of the cut-off, second seat on the right from the button.

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    House player

    Although these are not as common any more, house players are the players that casino pays in some way to keep the g...

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    House rules

    Although poker has a set of rules in place, every casino ("house") has a right to introduce their own rules as they...

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    Heads-up

    Heads-Up is a situation in poker where there are only two players actively involved in the hand. e.g "Everyon...