The World Series of Poker has sprouted many followers in the

last couple of years. Amateur tables are popping up all over

the world and friendly cash games are everywhere come Friday

night. Whether it is for thrill or profit the so called sport

of poker has the attention of many onlookers year round. While

Amateurs know the basics of the game they usually get lost in

all the poker lingo spoken at the casino poker tables. While

some is lingo is made up by experienced players to throw off

the amateurs, some are actually well known terms in the poker

world that any amateur trying to make it big should know. Below

is a guide to all the poker lingo you could ever want to impress

your friends or intimidate an experienced opponent. Take a look.

Ante: The initial money thrown into the pot to induce betting.

This is done before the flop.

All In: When a person decides to put all his chips in to bet on

a certain hand. No Limit Hold’Em is the most popular game and

All Ins are allowed as many times as a player wants. In Limit

Hold’Em you cannot bet more then the pot itself.

Backdoor: Backdoor is a reference to when players are chasing a

card that has not come up yet but has a good chance to. Having 4

cards of the same kind is a backdoor flush draw, having four

cards in a row is a backdoor straight draw.

Bad Beat: A Bad Beat occurs when a player has a large advantage

over the other and the last card beats the big hand by luck. Bad

beat is usually used to imply that the player with the weak hand

should not have been in the hand at all and it was by mere luck

that he won his underdog hand.

Blind: In Texas Hold’Em, the game uses blinds instead of antes.

The blinds are forced bets to induce some money in the pot by

the two people sitting to the left of the dealer. The first

person to the left of the dealer is the “small blind” and bets

a smaller amount. The second person to the left of the dealer

is the “big blind” and bets twice what the small blind has.

Bottom Pair: The lowest pair out of the cards out on the table.

Check: When a player decides to not bet he calls “Check”. This

is the option of betting zero dollars.

Check Raise: When a player checks with a strong hand hoping

another opponent will raise. The player then re-raises with his

strong hand thus getting more money out of his opponent in the

pot.

Drawing Dead: When a player is trying to make a hand that will

still not win the pot.

Flop: The first three cards that are “flopped” onto the table.

These are also called community cards.

Heads Up Play: When there are only two players playing a

certain hand they are considered “heads up”.

Muck: A pile of unused cards usually in front of the dealer.

These come from folded or burned cards. To “much your cards” is

to fold them by throwing them into the muck pile.

The Nuts: Likely the favorite expression of any poker player.

The Nuts indicates a hand that is mathematically unbeatable

with the cards on the table.

Offsuit: When the two cards you are dealt are of different

suits.

Pocket: The two cards dealt to you in Texas Hold’Em that only

you can see.

Rake: The total amount of money that the casino’s dealer takes

out of every pot.

The River: The last card to be flopped on the board. The 5th

card to come out in a Texas Hold’Em game.

Short Stack: The short stack is referring to the player with

the least amount of chips at the table.

Tell: A tell refers to a players action when he or she has a

good or bad hand. Some players take off their sun glasses when

they have a bad hand. Other players tend to itch their right

hand when they have a good hand.

The Turn: The fourth card to be flopped onto the table in a

Texas Hold’Em game.

These are the necessary terms in order to keep up with the

pros. There are hundreds of other terms in the world of poker,

yet they are much less needed or too experienced for the

amateur. Learn this lingo and impress your friends or play at

experienced tables and wow the crowd. Lastly, poker is a great

game, but the greatest player in poker knows one this: When to

know you’re beat. Everyone likes to hold’em, but sometimes you

get that feeling and you just have to fold’em.