Poker has its own vocabulary, and hearing "check-raise the river with the nuts" for the first time can be confusing. This glossary explains the most common Texas Hold'em terms in plain English, in alphabetical order. Use it alongside the how-to-play guide and the hand rankings.
Ante – A small forced bet that every player posts before a hand starts, used in some formats.
All-in – Betting all of your remaining chips.
Big blind – The larger forced bet, posted by the player two seats left of the dealer button. It sets the minimum bet.
Bluff – Betting or raising with a weak hand to make better hands fold.
Board – The community cards on the table.
Button – The dealer button, which marks the last player to act after the flop. It moves one seat clockwise every hand.
Call – Matching the current bet.
Check – Passing the action without betting, allowed when no one has bet yet.
Community cards – The five shared cards dealt face up: three on the flop, one on the turn, one on the river.
Draw – A hand that needs one more card to become strong, such as four cards to a flush.
Flop – The first three community cards.
Flush – Five cards of the same suit.
Fold – Giving up your hand and any chips you already put in the pot.
Full house – Three of a kind plus a pair.
Hole cards – Your two private cards.
Kicker – The highest unpaired card that breaks a tie between two similar hands.
Muck – To fold or discard your hand without showing it.
Nuts – The best possible hand given the community cards.
Outs – Cards left in the deck that would improve your hand.
Pot – The total chips bet in a hand so far.
Pot odds – The ratio between the size of the pot and the cost of a call.
Pre-flop – The betting round before any community cards are dealt.
Raise – Increasing the current bet.
River – The fifth and final community card.
Showdown – When remaining players reveal their cards after the last betting round.
Small blind – The smaller forced bet, posted by the player directly left of the button.
Split pot – When two or more players have equal hands and share the pot.
Straight – Five cards in sequence.
Suited – Two cards of the same suit.
Tilt – Playing badly because of frustration or emotion.
Turn – The fourth community card.
Value bet – A bet made because you think you have the best hand and want to be called by worse.
How the terms fit together
A hand starts with the blinds. Each player receives two hole cards, followed by a round of betting called pre-flop. Three community cards, the flop, are dealt, then the turn and the river, with a betting round after each. On every round you can check, bet, call, raise or fold. If more than one player is left after the final round, there is a showdown, and the best five-card hand wins the pot.