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Casino Lingo 101 – The Riverwind Poker Room

Casino Lingo 101 – The Riverwind Poker Room

Here at Riverwind Casino, we want to offer you the best experience possible. One way we can do that is to help you be confident when you walk into our Poker Room. With games going all the time, the fun never stops, and we don’t want you missing out just because you feel like a poker novice. Before you go further, check out this blog that will help you perfect your poker skills here at Riverwind. Now, here’s a few terms to learn that will take your poker game to the next level.

ACTION

This term has a few different meanings in the game of poker.

1 – It’s someone’s turn to act during a hand. “The action is yours.”

2 – To bet or raise a bet on a hand.

3 – A term used to describe a game in which there are many bets being placed. “There’s a lot of action on this hand.”

ALL-IN

A bet in which a player puts all of his chips into the pot. “Sporting a pair of Kings, Tommy went all-in.”

BAD BEAT

When a player who initially had a substantial statistical lead over an opponent loses his hand to that opponent after the flop (first three cards dealt), turn (fourth card dealt) or river (final card dealt). “Tommy had a bad beat when Sally picked up an Ace on the river.”

COLD-CALL

To call two or more bets on your turn. If a pot has been bet and raised before it gets to you, and then you call, then you’re cold calling. “Sally liked her hand, so she cold-called the bet.”

GUTSHOT

A straight completed from “inside” by one possible card. For example, if your pocket cards are 5 and 6 and the flop shows 4-8-King, a 7 and only a 7 on the turn or river would complete your “gutshot” straight. It’s the opposite of an open-ended straight, which is completed by any one of two cards from the outside. A gutshot is half as likely to hit as an open-ended straight.

HEADS-UP

Playing a pot or tournament against only one other player.

KICKER

If you have the same hand as another player at showdown, the one with the highest kicker wins the pot. If the board is 7-7-5-5-2, and you have ace-king and your opponent has king-queen, you win because your ace beats his king. Your ace is the “kicker.” In this example, the highest card completing a five-card hand is the only determination between winning and losing.

LIMIT

A structure of the game in which bets and raises are capped at a fixed amount.

NO-LIMIT

A structure of the game in which players can bet their entire stack. There’s a minimum to what you can bet, but not a maximum.

NUTS

The best possible hand one can have at a given moment. For example, if you have pocket 7s, and the flop is 7-6-2, you have the “nuts” at this point, as triple 7s would be the best possible hand. If the turn card is a 5, you would no longer have the nuts, as that honor now goes to anyone holding 8-9, making a straight. If the river is the last 7, you’d again have the nuts, as your hand is once again the best possible hand.

QUADS

Four-of-a-kind.

SLOW PLAY

When, in an attempt to have other players stick around and possibly call your bets, you play your hand less aggressively than necessary. For example, if you flop a full house it is unlikely anyone is going to beat your hand. Slow-playing the hand may allow the other players to make their hands and therefore continue to call your bets.

SPLIT POT

When two or more players make the same hand and the pot is divided equally between the high hands.

STRADDLE

An optional pre-deal bet, typically made by the player to the left of the big blind (the larger of the two bets posted prior to the flop). The straddle amount is twice the big blind (same as a legal raise). The straddler earns the “option” from the big blind. He may re-raise when the action comes around to him. A straddle is a cash game convention and is not usually permitted in a tournament.

TILT

Usually the result of taking a bad beat or series of bad beats, a player is said to be “on tilt” when he plays with reckless abandon.

UNDER THE GUN

The player sitting in the first-to-act position. It’s the position immediately to the left of the big blind, pre-flop and to the left of the button for subsequent betting rounds.

With this arsenal of poker terms, you’ll be able to compete with the best of the best in the Riverwind Poker Room. Plan your next trip with our monthly poker tournament calendar. Do you have any poker terms you’d like to know more about? You can ask anyone on our poker team or send us a tweet and we’ll help you out!