The Ultimate Guide to Online Poker Slang

Keen to try your hand at an online poker tournament for the first time? Then you're in the right place, bud! Here at Bally Casino, we've got plenty of thrilling online poker tables available for UK casino players to join! We're talking iconic Texas Hold'em poker tables, casual tables, high-stakes tournaments and more. 

But don't go thinking we're going to let our buddies dive in for the first time without a helping hand. Nuh-uh. See, pull up a seat at any poker table or tune into the World Series of Poker and y'all are bound to hear some slang flying around. From 'flop' to 'nuts', there's a whole world of poker-specific terms used by players in this strategy-based casino game. 

So, before you start playing poker online, we recommend kicking back and reading our ultimate glossary to the top poker terms and their meanings. 

The cards 

Community cards: Join a game of poker and you'll find yourself sharing some cards with the rest of the players around the table. 'Community cards' are dealt into the middle of the table and are used in combination with your own cards. 

Flop, Turn, River: These are the nicknames assigned to the community cards. The 'Flop' is the first three community cards, the 'Turn' is the fourth community card, and the 'River' is the fifth and final card to join the set. 

Fifth Street: Now y'all know what the 'River' is, the 'Fifth Street' is easy to explain! It's just another name for the River. 

Hand: This is an easy one, bud. It's what you call the collection of cards dealt to you, plus the community cards. Since you're holding the cards in your hands, poker players call it a 'Hand'. 

Hold cards: Your 'Hole cards' are the first two face-down cards that you receive from the dealer when you start playing a poker game. 

Kicker: This is a poker card that can either keep you in the game or kick you out of the action. The 'Kicker' is the card that's used as the decider when you have the same hand as another poker player during a showdown. If your Kicker is the highest card, then you'll win the showdown.

Pocket cards: If a poker player talks about their 'Pocket' cards, they're talking about the cards that were dealt face-down to them. These are the cards that are added to the community cards to make your hand. 

Bets, action and strategy 

All In: We bet you've heard of this one before. Going 'All in' means you're feeling super confident on your ability to take home the big bucks, so you bet all your chips on a single hand. It's a big move, with high stakes, and can hit your casino bankroll hard.

Ante: The 'Ante' bet is a non-negotiable in poker, so you're sure to hear this slang when you start playing poker online. It's a small bet that kicks off the poker prize pot before everyone is dealt a hand. 

Blinds: Like the Ante bet, 'Blinds' are bets that players must place to boost the prize pot before cards are dealt. There are two Blinds worth knowing: The 'Small Blind' is a low-value contribution made by the player sitting to the left of the dealer, while the 'Big Blind' is a high-value contribution from the player sitting to the left of the person who made the Small Blind. 

Bluff: Remember we said poker was a strategy-based online casino game? The 'Bluff' is a super important part of every poker player's strategy – get this right and you could score big. To bluff means betting or raising the stakes even when you have bad cards, just to trick players with good cards to give up. 

Call: Want to match the value of the bet last placed? Then you'll want to 'Call'. 

Check: Don't sweat it if you'd rather not bet during this round. Choosing to 'Check' will signal to the table that the buck should be passed to the next player. 

Check-Raise: Deciding to Check when you're first asked to bet during a round but raising the stakes when you're next asked is called 'Check-Raise'. 

Draw: If you need one or two more cards to turn your hand from 'eh' to 'epic', then you can choose to 'Draw'. This move will see more cards dealt. 

Fold: Players can choose to exit a poker game by 'folding' their cards. This means that they'll lose any bets placed so far. 

Limp: Limping in poker means you're only betting the minimum needed to stay in the game and is usually seen as a big no-no by folks on the poker scene. Play this move and you risk being viewed as a weak opponent. 

Muck: Folded cards are all the cards that have been discarded by players. Chuck your cards into 'the muck' and you're out of the game. 

Sit out: Need a break? You'll want to use this piece of slang, then! To 'Sit Out' is to exit the game for a few hands. 

Slow Play: The amount of time a poker game lasts can depend on the players. If a player with a good hand decides to sweeten the pot, they can pretend otherwise to encourage their buds to bet more. This move is called 'Slow Play'.

Tilt: Taken from when players would tip a pinball machine while playing, the 'Tilt' refers to poker players losing their cool and making poor decisions. 

Poker hand nicknames 

Bullets: Been dealt two Aces by the dealer for your first two cards? You've got a 'Bullet'. 

Cowboys: When your first two cards are a pair of Kings. 

Dolly Parton: Y'all know how the song goes. This is when your hole cards are a 9 and a 5. 

Four of a Kind: A hand featuring four cards with matching numbers 

Full House: An awesome poker hand to score. If you have three cards of a matching rank, plus a pair, then you've got a 'Full House'. 

Flush: Don't worry if you haven't got any matching cards. If your cards are all the same suit, you'll still have a 'Flush' hand. 

Pair: To form a 'Pair' hand, you'll need two cards worth the same value.  

Quads: Another nickname of the 'Four of a Kind' hand. 

Royal Flush: A Flush that's leading with an Ace as the highest value card. The 'Royal Flush' is the best poker hand of the bunch when it comes to hand rankings.

Runner: Need the Turn and River cards to complete your hand? Sounds like you're playing with a 'Runner' hand. 

Straight: To have a Straight, you need five cards in sequential order, all with different suits. 

Straight Flush: Put a Straight and a regular Flush together and you'll be sitting pretty at the poker table. A 'Straight Flush' is formed of five cards from the same suit, in sequential order.  

The Nuts: Holding 'The Nuts' means you’re our champ of the round – you've got the highest ranking hand at the table.

Three of a Kind: This hand requires just three cards of matching rank. 

Two Pair: Want to know what's better than one Pair? Two Pairs! This one's an easy one to figure out, folks. Form two sets of Pairs and you've got a 'Two Pair' hand. 

Player descriptions 

Bubble: The 'Bubble' is the nickname given to the poker tournament player who ranks first out of all the players who didn't win any of the pot. 

Dealer: Your 'Dealer' is the person responsible for distributing the cards around the table and keeping the action going. 

Donkey: A not-cool nickname for a player who is making poor choices during the game. 

Fish: Forget the ocean. While playing poker, a 'Fish' is a newbie who keeps losing money. Avoid being a Fish by getting down with all the rules before joining the table. 

High Roller: Keen to play with the big bucks? Then you could be the game's 'High Roller' - this is a player who prefers placing high-value bets. 

Rock: Quietly strong, the 'Rock' is a careful player who usually has a particularly good hand. 

Shark: If a Fish is a poker newbie who keeps losing, then a 'Shark' is the player who could be considered the pro of the group. These are the players who have plenty of poker skills to their name and it shows in their winnings. 

More terms you might hear 

Avatar: You don't need to have your camera on to play poker online in the UK. Pick out an avatar to show as your virtual face instead. 

Bad Beat: If you were rated to win a hand but ended up losing instead, then you'll have experienced a 'Bad Beat'. 

Buy-In: You won't find many free poker games around (unless you're playing at Bally Casino, of course). Try to join a poker tournament or play a cash poker game and you'll be asked to pay a 'Buy-In'. This is the minimum cost of entry to the game. 

No-Limit: Our High Stakes players should like this one: A 'No-Limit' game is a poker game with no maximum limit set on how much someone can bet on a hand. Swing by our No Limit Texas Hold'em games to experience this for yourself. 

Pot: 'Pot' is just slang for jackpot and refers to the total amount bet in the round so far. The more players, or the bigger the bets, the more the pot could be worth.  

Railbird: A 'Railbird' is a spectator, rather than a play. 

Rake: The commission taken from the land-based casino or online casino for running the game. 

Tell: Looking for a hint as to whether someone is bluffing? You'll want to keep an eye out for a 'Tell' - this is a giveaway from someone's body language. We're talking sweaty foreheads, fidgeting legs, or leaning back from the table. 

Tournament: A poker tournament is a game of poker where players all receive a fixed amount of chips. The aim of the game is to be the last remaining player holding any chips. You'll find plenty of these here at Bally Casino. 

Put your poker skills to use  

Now you're down with all the poker terms, y'all can flex your new slang online with our awesome collection of poker games! 

With classic Texas Hold'em poker tables and slick dealers delivering our iconic American-style service, our online poker lobby will have you feeling like you're playing in one of our incredible land-based casinos in the States. Thrilling poker prize pools? We got you. Free chat feature? You bet. 

And there's more. For those looking for a more relaxed playing experience, we've got friendly, low-stakes tables and free poker games available to join, too! So, whether you're new to online poker sites, or you're an experienced player ready for some serious action, there's a poker table for you right here. That's the Bally Casino way.

Intrigued? Hit that 'Join Now' button to step through our virtual casino doors and see for yourself. 

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