Texas Holdem Jargon

This is a short jargon reference that explains basic Texas Holdem terms frequently used during the game, on this site and in other poker books and guides. This article presumes that you already know basic Texas Holdem rules. If you are looking for some specific terms that weren’t mentioned in this article, see our Texas Holdem Poker Glossary for an extended list of words and phrases.

Blinds . The blinds are forced bets made by first two players sitting to the left of the dealer button. The first player sitting to the left from dealer button posts the small blind, which is equal to the half of the big blind and the next player posts the big blind.

Board Cards . Board Cards also referred to as Community Cards are the cards dealt face-up into the middle of the table. These cards are shared by all players at the table.

Draw . Drawing is an attempt to improve your hand with board cards that will come on the table. You say you are on a draw, when you want to see other cards to come out on the table to complete or strengthen your Texas Holdem hand. For example if you have a couple of 10, you want either one more pair of any cards, or more 10s to come out in order to strengthen your rather weak pair of 10s.

Flop . Flop is the first three community cards dealt onto the table in Texas Holdem.

Implied Odds . Implied Odds are very similar to Pot Odds, except you must consider your future bets too. That means that you may call a bet at the flop, but have implied odds of making larger bets during subsequent betting rounds if you will manage to hit your draw. For example if you have an Ace of diamonds and a King of diamonds and the flop comes Queen of spades, 7 of diamonds and 6 of diamonds, then your implied odds are what you have to call at the flop in comparison to the size of the pot that will be at the end of the current hand.

Limit Texas Holdem Poker . Limit Holdem also referred to as Limit Texas Holdem and Limit Texas Holdem Poker is a type of Texas Holdem with fixed size of bets. For example in a $2/$4 Limit Texas Holdem game all bets and raises are limited to $2 during first two betting rounds and $4 during subsequent betting rounds.

Longhand . Longhand is a Texas Holdem game involving seven or more people. Strategy guides usually offer different strategies for long and short hand games.

Outs . In Texas Holdem poker Outs are cards that can improve your hand. For example if the flop is Queen of hearts, Jack of spades and 2 of diamonds and your pocket cards are 10 of clubs and 9 of hearts, then you want a King or 8 in order to complete a straight. There are four 8 and four Kings in the deck, so you have 8 total outs.

Position . Position is where you actually sit during each hand. Dealer’s seat is considered the best position at the table, because he bets last thus having a better understanding of his opponent’s cards. And for the same reason Small Blind is considered to be the worst position at the table, because he acts first. During your study, you will frequently come across different Texas Holdem strategies applied depending on your position.

Pot Odds . Pot Odds are the odds you get, when drawing. For instance, if you have an Ace and 2 of diamonds and the board is King of spades, 7 of diamonds and 6 of diamonds and you are pretty sure that one of your opponents holds the King, so there are 9 more diamonds in the deck, then you have a 18% chance of hitting a flush during on the next card. That means that if the pot is $200 and the bet is $20, even though you lose, you have odds with that flush draw. On the other hand if the pot is $200 on the turn (only one card to come out), and your opponent bets $300, then you must put $300 to see the river, which means that your pot odds are 4:3, which is not enough to continue, because the odds are about just 4:1 against hitting that flush on the last card. For better understanding of this situation, compare your chances of hitting the flush to the amount of money you have to put into the pot. You get 1 in 5 chance to hit your flush, while you have to put 3 of 7 dollars into the total pot.

Preflop . Preflop is the first betting round in Texas Holdem Poker, after which all players are dealt with pocket cards, but there are no community cards on the table yet.

River . River is the fifth and the last betting round in Texas Holdem Poker, after which the final card comes on the table.

Shorthand . Shorthand is a Texas Holdem game played by six or less players. See the “Longhand� item for more information.

Turn . Turn is the fourth betting round in Texas Holdem poker, after which the fourth community card is dealt onto the table.