The following is a list of interesting poker terms for the novice player. If you want to spice up your poker vocab and strengthen your table image, we recommend dropping a few of these humdingers every now and again. Even if your opponents don’t know what you’re talking about, they will certainly ponder the meaning and perhaps even alter their play enough for you to capitalize.

All day The total value of the current posted bet. Usually used to point out that the player is speaking about the total bet, compared to the difference the next player needs to post in order to remain in the hand. For example, “action is on Bruce, fifty all day.”

Belly Buster An inside straight draw, with only 4 outs. For example, 3-4-x-6-7

Cheese A dismally poor hand. Dump that pile of cheese and move on.

Deadwood Another term for the muck. “This one’s for the deadwood.”

Eyes of Texas A pair of Aces in the hole.

Fish A very poor player. We all love ‘em!

Gay waiter A Queen and 3 in the hole (A queen with a trey).

Hammer Very aggressive betting. “He kept hammering so I had no choice but to fold.”

Immortal A hand which is unbeatable under the circumstances.

Jackson Five Pocket Jack – 5

Kicker The highest unpaired card in your hand. Typically used as a tiebreaker in the event of two players with the same winning hand. He had a pair of jacks with an Ace kicker. Ladies Queens. “I won a nice pot with a pair of ladies.”

Maniac A very loose and aggressive player. He bluffs and raises often, and rarely folds or calls.

Nuts The strongest possible hand in a given situation. “He bet heavy ‘cos he knew he was holding the nuts.”

Over the top To reraise. Bill raised $20, and then Brian came over the top with $40 more.

Prom Night A suited 6-9 in the hole.

Quads Four of a kind

Rat-holing The typically frowned-upon practice of removing a portion of your money from the table after winning a few pots.

Snowmen A pair of eights in the hole.

Throwing a party A player who is playing wildly and losing a lot of money is said to be throwing a party.

Under the gun A player who must act first during the first round of betting is said to be under the gun.

Vig The amount of money a casino takes off of each hand for profit. Short for vigorish, also called the rake.

Walking sticks A pair of sevens in the hole.

Yeast To raise

Zombie A player with an excellent poker face.

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