Glossary of Poker Terms

backdoor

A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of seven-card stud or Texas hold 'em to fill a straight or flush.
A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. I started with four hearts hoping for a flush, but I backdoored two more kings and my trips won.

back in: To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else's open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers.
back into: To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw "backs into" winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush.
backraise: A reraise from a player that previously called in the same betting round. I decided to backraise with my pocket eights to isolate the all-in player.
bad beat: Losing with what is, or appears to be, a considerably stronger hand. See main article: bad beat.
balance: Playing very different hands in the same way, with the aim of making it more difficult for an opponent to gain useful information about the cards a player has, even though on a value basis one would play them differently.
bank: Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game.
bankroll: 1. The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of his or her poker career.; 2. To fund someone's participation in a game. As in, "John bankrolled Kate's $5,000 entry fee into the tournament." Compare with "staking".
bankroll management: Choosing the correct stakes and game type to avoid exhausting one's bankroll during downswings.
behind

Not (currently) having the best hand. I'm pretty sure my pair of jacks was behind Lou's kings, but I had other outs, so I kept playing.
Money on the table but not currently in the pot, which can be bet later in the hand - He bet $50 with $100 behind, so I folded my low pair
Money in play but not visible as chips in front of a player. For example, a player may announce "I've got $100 behind" while handing money to a casino employee, meaning that this money is "in play" and he may bet or call with that money even before the chips are brought to him.

bet

Any money wagered during the play of a hand.
More specifically, the opening bet of a betting round.
In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. There were six bets in the pot when I called.

betting structure: The complete set of rules regarding forced bets, limits, raise caps, and such for a particular game. See main article: betting.
big bet: The larger of two bet amounts in a fixed limit game. See main article: big bet.
big bet game: A game played with a no limit or pot limit betting structure.
big blind: The larger of two forced bets in certain types of poker. See main article: blind.
big blind special: A hand won by the big blind playing very weak pocket cards because there was no raise pre-flop.
big full: The best possible full house in community card games. I had the big full when the flop came A-A-5 and my hole cards were A-5. A stronger hand than the "underfull".
big stack: A stack of chips that is relatively large for the stakes being played. Also called "deep stack". Compare with "short stack".
blank: A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. I suspected Margaret had a good draw, but the river card was a blank, so I bet again. Compare to "rag", "brick", "bomb".
blaze: A Non-standard poker hand of five face cards that outranks a flush.
bleed: Consistently losing chips through bad play, possibly resulting from tilt. When a player is consistently losing chips, they are "bleeding chips."
blind

A type of forced bet. See main article: blind.
In the "dark".

blind stud: A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there.
blind off, blinded

To "ante off".
To have one's stack reduced by paying ever increasing blinds in tournaments. Ted had to make a move soon or he would be blinded away in three more rounds.

blocker: In community card poker, holding one of the opponent's outs, typically when the board threatens a straight or straight draw. A blocker is also having a combination of cards that turn your opponents outs into your own, such as having four to a straight flush. The two cards to give you a straight flush are blockers against his high flush draw.The board was A23 but with my pair of fives I held two blockers to the straight. Compare to "dry ace".
blocking bet: An abnormally small bet made by a player out of position intended to block a larger bet by an opponent.
bluff: A bet made with a hand that is mathematically unlikely to be profitable either to make money or to disguise play patterns. See main article: bluff.
board

The set of community cards in a community card game. If another spade hits the board, I'll have to fold.
The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. Zack's board didn't look too scary, so I bet into him again.
The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. I started with a flush draw, but there were already four other diamonds showing on the board, so I folded.

boat: Another name for Full house
both ways: Both halves of a split pot, often declared by a player who thinks he or she will win both low and high.
bottom dealing: Trick or cheating deal where a card or cards are dealt from the bottom of the deck rather than the top. See main article: bottom dealing.
bottom end: The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. For example, in Texas hold 'em with the cards 5-6-7 on the board, a player holding 3-4 has the bottom end straight, while a player holding 4-8 or 8-9 has a higher straight. Also "idiot end".
bottom pair, bottom set: In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one's private hand. Compare second pair, top pair.
bounty: An aspect of some poker tournaments that rewards players for eliminating other players with a cash prize for each player they eliminate, separate from the tournament payout structure. See main article: bounty
box: The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer's position at the table. You've been in the box for an hour now; don't you get a break?
boxed card: A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it didn't exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal.
break

In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a much better one. For example, a player with J-J-10-9-8 may wish to break his pair of jacks to draw for the straight, and a lowball player may break his 9-high 9-5-4-2-A to draw for the wheel. In a Jacks-or-better draw game, a player breaking a high pair must keep the discarded card aside, to prove he had openers.
To end a session of play. The game broke at about 3:00.
During a tournament, an interval where play ceases and the players are free to refresh or relieve themselves.

brick: A "blank", though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game. Also known as a bomb. Compare to "rags".
brick & mortar: A brick & mortar or B&M casino is a "real" casino based in a building, as opposed to an online casino. This refers to many real world locations vs. their Internet counterparts. It is not just a poker term or even a gambling term; it is often used in e-commerce in similar situations.
bridge order: Poker is neutral about suits. A spade flush and a club flush with all ranks matching is a tie. But in determining the dealer at the start of a game, or in determining the bringin bettor in a stud game, bridge rank rules: Spades beat hearts beat diamonds beat clubs. It's convenient but coincidental that this works out to reverse alphabetical order.
bring in

To open a betting round. Alice brought it in for $4, and Bob raised to $10.
A forced bet in stud games. In the first betting round, the holder of the worst (lowest or highest, depending) upcard must post a bring-in bet. The bring-in bet is typically a quarter to a third of a small bet. The bring-in bettor may look at his cards, and place a full bet if he deems it wise.

broadway: A 10 through ace straight. Can also include any group of cards from 10 to ace- i.e. I had position and two broadway cards (king-queen), so I called to see the flop.
brush

A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, hence the name).
To recruit players into a game. Dave is brushing up some players for tonight's game.

bubble: The last finishing position in a poker tournament before entering the payout structure. He was very frustrated after getting eliminated on the bubble. Also can be applied to other situations like if six players will make a televised final table the player finishing seventh will go out on the "TV bubble". Also applies to any situation close to the payout structure.
buck: Marker to indicate which player is dealer (or last to act). See button.
bug: A limited wild card. See main article: bug. Compare to wild card.
bully: A player who raises frequently to force out more cautious players, especially one with a large stack for the size of the game (a "big stack" bully).
burn card, burn: A card that is removed from the deal to prevent cheating. See main article: burn card.
busted

Not complete, such as four cards to a straight that never gets the fifth card to complete it.
Out of chips. To "bust out" is to lose all of one's chips.

button: Most commonly a marker that indicates the dealer position at the table, but other specialized buttons exist. See main article: button. Also "buck" or "hat".
buy-in: The minimum required amount of chips that must be "bought" to become involved in a game (or tournament). For example, a $4-$8 fixed limit game might require a player to buy at least $40 worth of chips. This is typically far less than an average player would expect to play with for any amount of time, but large enough that the player can play a number of hands without buying more, so the game isn't slowed down by constant chip-buying.
buy short: To buy into a game for an amount smaller than the normal buy-in. Some casinos allow this under certain circumstances, such as after having lost a full buy-in, or if all players agree to allow it.
buy the button

A rule originating in northern California casinos in games played with blinds, in which a new player sitting down with the button to his right (who would normally be required to sit out a hand as the button passed him, then post to come in) may choose to pay the amount of both blinds for this one hand (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money), play this hand, and then receive the button on the next hand as if he had been playing all along. See public cardroom rules.
A tactic most often used by late-position players: a raise to encourage the later and button players to fold, thus giving the raiser last position in subsequent betting rounds.

buy the pot: Making a bet when no one else is betting so as to force the other players to fold, thus winning the pot uncontested. A specialized version of this is "buying the blinds" by making a large raise in the first round forcing all other players out of the hand.

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