Complete Poker Glossary – A to Z
Sheli DShare
Introduction
Poker is a game rich in strategy and jargon. To improve and understand discussions between players, it is essential to master the poker lexicon. This A-Z guide covers all poker terms, from all-in to nuts, with definitions, English translations, and strategic context. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, this guide will allow you to speak the language of the pros and optimize your decisions at the table.
A
- 2-barrel: Betting on the flop and then on the turn in the same hand. A bluffing technique or value bet.
- 3-barrel: Betting on the flop, turn, and river. Aggressive strategy.
- 3-bet / 3B: Third bet in a hand (after an open and a raise). Synonym: re-raise.
- 4-bet / 4B: A raise after a 3-bet, often a sign of a very strong hand.
- 6-max: A table limited to 6 players, favoring aggression and short-handed play.
- A-game: Maximum level of play.
- Abattage / Showdown: Moment when cards are revealed to determine the winner.
- ABC Poker / Académique: Classic, simple, and solid strategy.
- Add-on: Additional re-buy possible in a tournament.
- AF / Aggression Factor: Ratio between bets/raises and checks/calls.
- Aggro / Agressif: Player favoring action.
- AI / All-in / Tapis / Boîte / Shove: Betting all chips on the hand.
- Air: Weak hand, often a bluff.
- AK / Beginner’s Big Bluff: Strong hand for beginners or a risky bluff.
- Angle shooting: Borderline or deceptive action to exploit an opponent.
- Ante: Mandatory initial bet to contribute to the pot.
- Any two / Any two cards / ATC: Any two hole cards.
- Arc-en-ciel / Rainbow: Board with no repeated suits.
- ARJEL / ANJ: French online gaming authority.
- Assorti / Suited: Cards of the same suit.
- Auto-rebuy: Automatic re-buy in a tournament.
- Average: Average stack or chips at the table.
B
- b/3b: Bet followed by a 3-bet.
- b/c (bet/call): Bet then call.
- b/f (bet/fold): Bet then fold to a raise.
- Baby: Weak hand or novice player.
- Backdoor: Draw requiring multiple future cards to complete.
- Bad beat: Losing with a very strong hand to an improbable one.
- Bad run: Series of unlucky hands.
- Balancer / Balla: Player balancing aggression and passivity.
- Bankroll: Total capital dedicated to poker.
- Bankroll management: Managing bankroll.
- Barrel: Successive bet on multiple streets.
- Bellybuster / Bellybuster straight draw: Inside straight draw.
- Bet / Mise: Act of betting.
- Bet sizing: Bet size.
- Bet/3bet: Bet then re-raise.
- Bet/call: Bet then call.
- Bet/fold: Bet then fold.
- Betting pattern / Motif de mise: Betting style to read opponent.
- Big bet: Large bet.
- Big blind / BB / Grosse blinde: Forced bet.
- Bilatéral: Draw involving two possible directions.
- Blank: Useless card for hand or draw.
- Blind / Blinde: Initial forced bet.
- Blocker: Card reducing the probability of an opponent's combination.
- Blocking bet: Small bet to control the pot.
- Bluff: Betting without the best hand.
- Bluff catcher: Hand that beats bluffs.
- Board / Tableau: Visible community cards.
- Boat / Full house: Three of a kind + pair.
- Boîte / All-in: Synonym for betting all chips.
- Bombe / Bet lourd: Large bet for pressure.
- Bonus: Additional amount offered.
- Borderline: Marginal hand.
- Bot: Automated program.
- Bottom pair: Pair with the lowest card on the board.
- Bounty: Reward for eliminating a player.
- Bouton / Dealer / BTN: Dealer's position, strategic.
- Brag: Boasting after a successful hand.
- Break even / BE: Neither gain nor loss.
- Brelan / Three of a kind: Three identical cards.
- Brick / Brique: Useless card.
- Bring-in: Mandatory bet in certain variants.
- Broadway: Straight from 10 to Ace.
- Broke: Player without chips.
- Brûler / Burn: Discarding the top card before flop/turn/river.
- Bubble / Bulle: Position before the money places.
- Bully: Aggressive player dominating the table.
- Bumhunter: Player targeting weak players.
- Bust / Bust out: Elimination from a tournament.
- Buy-in: Amount to enter a tournament or cash game.
- bvb / Blind versus blind: Direct confrontation of the blinds.
C
- A chip and a chair: Expression meaning a player can come back even with a single chip.
- c / c/c / c/f / c/r / c/rai: Check, check-call, check-fold, check-raise, check-raise all-in.
- Cagoule: Passive player hiding behind others.
- Calling station: Player who calls a lot but rarely raises.
- Capé: Maximum bet reached in a limit structure.
- Carré / Quads / Four of a kind: Four identical cards.
- Carreau / Diamond: Suit.
- Carte / Card: Hole or community card.
- Cash out: Withdrawing winnings.
- Cash-game / CG: Real money game outside of tournaments.
- Cave: Amount invested by a player to enter the game.
- C-bet / Continuation bet: Post-flop raise by the player who opened pre-flop.
- Chip / Jeton: Poker monetary unit.
- Chip count: Player's chip count.
- Chip dumping: Intentional transfer of chips to another player.
- Chip race: Exchange of chips to simplify values.
- Chip trick: Chip manipulation technique.
- Chipleader: Player with the most chips at a table.
- Clubs / Trèfle: Card suit.
- CO / Cut-off: Position before the dealer.
- Cœur / Heart: Card suit.
- Coin flip: 50/50 hand (e.g., AK vs JJ).
- Cold / Cold deck: Unfavorable hand dealt randomly.
- Collusion: Fraudulent agreement.
- Combinaison / Hand: Set of cards to form a hand.
- Combo / Combodraw: Combination of possible draws.
- Committed: Player committed to the pot until the end.
- Connecteurs / Connectors: Consecutive cards, suitable for a straight.
- Cooler: Very strong hand lost to a better hand, inevitable.
- Cote d’amélioration / Implied odds / Pot odds: Probabilities to evaluate a call.
- Courchevel: Stud poker variant with an early flop.
D
- Dealer / Donneur / BTN: Player dealing cards or indicating the button's position.
- Dealer’s Choice: Variant where the dealer chooses the type of game or structure.
- Décaver: Remove chips from a player or table.
- Deep / Deepstack: Player with many chips relative to the average.
- Delayed cbet: C-bet delayed to the turn instead of the flop.
- Dépareillé / Offsuit / Off: Hole cards of different suits.
- Déstacker: To make a player lose their entire stack.
- Diamond / Carreau: Card suit.
- Dominé: Inferior hand against a better hand, statistically.
- DoN / Double or Nothing: Tournament where half of the players double their invested money.
- Donkbet: Bet by an out-of-position player after the flop, often small.
- Door card: Exposed card that can form a draw.
- Double bellybuster: Double inside straight draw, requiring two possible cards.
- Double up: Doubling one's stack via a successful all-in.
- Double-suited: Two suited cards in a hand.
- Doublette: Two identical cards.
- Downswing: Period of consecutive losses.
- Draw / Tirage: Hand requiring additional cards to complete.
- Drawing dead: Draw impossible to complete to win.
- Drawmaha: Term for multiple combined draws.
- Drawy: Situation with many possible draws.
- Droit de chaise / Seat right: Strategic advantage based on position.
- Dry / Sec: Board with no draws or danger to the hand.
- DS / Deepstack: Player with a lot of chips.
E
- Early / Première position: Player acting first.
- Écart-type / Standard deviation: Statistical measure of profit variation.
- Edge / Avantage: Strategic superiority over an opponent.
- Embuscade / Ambush: Trapping a player with slowplay or check-raise.
- En position / In position: Player acting after opponents, strategic advantage.
- Enchère / Bid / Bet: Wager.
- Équité / Equity: Probability of winning a pot at a given moment.
- EV / Valeur attendue: Average gain of an action over the long term.
- EV+, EV-, EV$: Variations of expected value depending on the scenario.
- EV0: Neutral expected value situation.
- Extérieur / Outside: Draw or hand requiring outside cards (e.g., straight).
F
- Face up / Carte visible: Exposed card on the board.
- Facteur d’agressivité / AF: Ratio of aggressive actions.
- Faite / Made hand: Hand already completed, strong.
- Familiale / Family pot: Multi-player pot.
- Fancy play / Syndrom: Playing for effect rather than EV.
- FD / Flush draw / Tirage couleur: Draw to get a flush.
- Fear equity / Fear factor: Influence of fear on opponent's play.
- Fee: Entry fee for tournament or cash game.
- Feeler bet: Exploratory bet to test an opponent's strength.
- Fish / Loose-passif: Weak or predictable player.
- Fit or fold: Strategy of calling only if the hand connects with the flop.
- Fixed Limit / FL: Variant with limited bets.
- Flat call / Call sans relance: Calling a bet without re-raising.
- Flip / Coin flip: 50/50 situation, often AK vs pair.
- Float / Floating: Call on the flop to raise on the turn.
- Floor / Floor manager: Manager of a physical poker room.
- Flop: Three community cards.
- Flopper / Joueur de flop: Player betting or playing mainly the flop.
- Fold / Se coucher: Giving up the hand.
- Fold equity: Potential to make an opponent fold by betting.
- Four of a kind / Carré: Four identical cards.
- Full / Full house / Brelan + paire: Strong hand.
G
- Gamble / Risquer: Playing an uncertain hand for potential large gain.
- Gaper: Aggressive but unpredictable player.
- GG / Good Game: Expression of fair play.
- GL / Good Luck: Wish of good luck.
- Good run / Série gagnante: Period of success.
- Grind / Travailleur: Consistent player aiming for positive EV.
- Grosse blind / Big blind / BB: Forced bet.
- Gutshot / Bellybuster: Inside straight draw.
H
- Hand / Main: Combination of cards.
- Hand history / HH: History of a hand.
- Hand improvement odds / Chances d’amélioration: Probability of completing one's hand.
- Hand range / Range: Set of possible hands of an opponent.
- Hauteur / High card: Highest card in a hand.
- Heads-up / HU / Tête-à-tête: Duel between two players.
- Heart / Cœur: Suit.
- Hero / Joueur principal: Main player in the hand.
- Hero call / Hero fold: Difficult call or fold based on strategic read.
- Hi-Jack / HJ: Position before the cut-off.
I
- ICM / Independent Chip Model: Model for calculating chip value in a tournament.
- Implied odds / Cote implicite: Potential future gain to justify a call.
- In the dark / ITD: Playing without seeing the flop.
- In the money / ITM: Paid position in a tournament.
- Independant Chip Model / ICM: Same as ICM.
- Insta- / Instantaneous action: Playing quickly, often online.
- Iso-raise: Raise to isolate a weak player.
J
- Jinx (card): Unlucky card or one that changes the dynamic.
K
- Kicker: Card used to break ties between identical hands.
- Knockout / KO: Elimination of a player.
- KO / Knockout: Variant or reward for eliminating a player.
L
- LAG / Loose Aggressive: Loose and aggressive player.
- Last longer: Competition to last longer than others.
- Lay down: Folding with a marginal hand.
- Lead / Mise de tête: Taking the initiative in the pot.
- Leak / Faille: Recurring error in play.
- Light / Jouer léger: Raising or calling with marginal hands.
- Ligne / Line: Playing strategy for a hand.
- Limp / Entrer sans relance: Paying the blind to see the flop.
- Lobby: Main interface for online tournaments.
- Lockout: Temporary closure of a table.
- Loose / Large: Player playing many hands.
M
- Main / Hand: Hole cards or combination.
- Main event: Main tournament of a festival.
- Max / Maximum: Player with maximum stack.
- Middle position / MP: Intermediate position.
- Milk / Tirer le maximum: Extracting chips from a weak opponent.
- Misclick: Clicking error online.
- Monstre / Monster: Very strong hand.
- Move / Action: Strategy or decision in a hand.
- Muck: Folding without showing.
- Multitable tournament / MTT: Multi-table tournament.
- Multiway / 3-way / 4-way: More than two players in a pot.
N
- Narrow the field: Reduce the number of opponents.
- Nit: Very tight player.
- NL / No Limit / NLHE: No-limit betting variant, Hold'em.
- Nosebleed / High stakes: Very high stakes games.
- Nut flush draw / Nut straight draw: Best possible flush or straight draw.
- Nuts / Nutsé: Unbeatable hand at that moment.
O
- OESD / Open-ended straight draw: Straight draw with two open ends.
- Off / Offsuit / Dépareillé: Cards of different suits.
- Option / Open limp / Open raise: Limping or raising to open the action.
- Out / Outs: Cards that improve the hand.
- Out of position / OOP: Player acting before opponents.
- Overlay: Tournament with a prize pool greater than collected buy-ins.
- Overbet / Overcall / Overpair: Bet larger than the pot / calling a re-raise / pair higher than the board.
P
- Package / Pack: Complete set of chips or tools.
- Pat / Stand pat: Completed hand, no draw needed.
- PB / Pot bet / Pot control: Bet based on the pot or pot control.
- PFR / Preflop raise: Pre-flop raise.
- PL / Pot Limit: Bet limit equal to the pot size.
- Pocket pair / Paire privative: Two identical cards in hand.
- Poker face: Neutral expression to hide tells.
- Position / Pos: Seat at the table, strategically crucial.
- Postflop: Stages after the flop.
- Pot / Pot familial / Pot size bet / Pot odds: Sum of the pot and analysis of bets.
- Push / Push-fold: All-in or fold strategy, typical for short stack.
Q
- Quads / Carré / Four of a kind: Four identical cards.
- Quinte / Straight: Five consecutive cards.
- Quinte flush / Straight flush: Straight of the same suit.
- Quinte flush royale / Royal flush: Ace-high straight flush.
R
- Raise / Relancer: Bet more than the previous bet.
- Raiser / Relanceur: Player making a raise.
- Rake / Commission: Percentage taken by the house.
- Range: Set of possible hands.
- Razz: Lowball Stud variant.
- Re-entry / Rebuy / Recave: Option to re-enter after elimination.
- Reg / Regular: Experienced regular player.
- Reraise / Sur-relance: Raise after a raise.
- Resteal: Stealing blinds by raising.
- Reverse float: Float followed by a strategic fold.
- Rigged / Triché: Rigged game.
- River / Rivière: Fifth community card.
- ROI / Retour sur investissement: Net winnings / buy-ins.
- Royal flush / Quinte flush royale: Unbeatable hand.
S
- Satelitte / Satellite: Qualifying tournament for a larger tournament.
- SD / Showdown / Abattage: Revelation of hands.
- Semi-bluff: Betting with a draw but not a made hand.
- Set / Brelan caché: Third card of a pocket pair.
- Short-handed / SH: Table with fewer players.
- Shortstack / Joueur short stack: Few chips compared to the average.
- Shooter / Joueur: Participate in a limit game.
- Shove / All-in: Bet all one's chips.
- Showdown value / Valeur d’abattage: Ability of a hand to win at showdown.
- Side bet / Side pot / Pot parallèle: Secondary pot for multiple all-ins.
- Sit & Go / SnG: Fast single-table tournament.
- Sizing / Taille de mise: Strategic adjustment of bets.
- Slowplay / Jouer passif: Concealing a strong hand.
- Small ball: Strategy of frequent small bets.
- Snap / Call instantané: Quick call without thought.
- Spew / Jouer en tilt: Playing irrationally.
- Stack / Tapis / Jetons: All chips held.
- Steal / Voler: Raise to take the blinds.
- Straddle / Mise optionnelle: Voluntary blind before the flop.
- Straight / Quinte: Five consecutive cards.
- Straight flush / Quinte couleur: Straight and flush.
- Suit / Couleur: Spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs.
T
- Tableau / Board: Visible community cards.
- TAG / Tight Aggressive: Tight and aggressive player.
- Taille / Bet sizing: Bet amount.
- Tank / Réflexion prolongée: Taking time for a decision.
- Tapis / All-in: Betting all one's chips.
- Tell / Indice: Revealing behavior.
- Texture / Board texture: Board dynamics (draws, danger).
- Thin value bet: Marginal value bet.
- Three of a kind / Brelan: Three identical cards.
- Tight / Serré: Player selective with their hands.
- Tilt / Tilter: Loss of emotional control.
- Time bank: Additional time online.
- Tirage / Draw: Incomplete hand requiring future cards.
- Turn / Tournant: Fourth community card.
U
- Under the gun / UTG: Player in first position preflop.
- UTG+1 / UTG+2: Players following UTG.
- Upswing / Série gagnante: Period of consecutive wins.
- Unlucky / Malchance: Losing hand against a better hand.
V
- Value bet / Mise value: Bet to extract money from a weaker hand.
- Variance / Variance: Natural fluctuation of the game.
- VPIP / Voluntarily Put Money In Pot: Statistic % of hands voluntarily played.
- Villain / Adversaire: Opponent player.
W
- Walk / Pot gagné sans jouer: When everyone folds.
- Way ahead / Way behind: Hand well ahead / behind.
- Weak / Faible: Weak hand or passive player.
- Winner-takes-all / Tout pour le gagnant: Tournament with no distribution of places.
X
- X / Check: Pass without betting.