A Beginners Guide to Poker Jargon

It is not an uncommon occurrence for the new poker player to stride into a club, sit at a table and not understand a word being spoken. This is not a conspiracy against the new guy, these players are using terms and abbreviations that they have picked up from long experience in clubs and casinos. Poker is a game rife with special words and ideas. This article is particularly meant for the beginner who is playing online and cannot decipher the chat messages posted on the board in the poker rooms and forums.

We will begin with the most obvious, and that is with the ever-popular game of Texas hold'em. You have your choice of limit, pot limit and no limit games. Anywhere from two to ten players may engage in a Texas hold'em session. The cards are dealt by the "dealer" whose position at the table is designated by a unique "button" and the one doing the dealing may be referred to as "the button." This person is not the same as a casino dealer who makes his living at it while being paid by the casino and cannot participate in the game.

Behind the dealer are two players who must make blind bets. The size of the bets is determined by the table limit. The first blind player places half a bet and is called the small blind; the second one places a full bet and is called the big blind. If the table limit is $2/$4, the big blind places $2 - which is also called a small bet. $4 is a big bet. Abbreviations are often used to indicate player positions. Small blind is SB and big blind is BB. Unfortunately, the same abbreviations may be used to refer to small and big bets - SB and BB - be careful not to confuse them.

The first move is made by the SB player. His place is therefore considered the first position and the dealer (or button's) position is the last one. The player who plays third is the one following the BB and is at the "early" position called "under the gun" or UTG. Following the BB, and also early positions are shortened to UTG +1 and UTG + 2. You get it, right?

The next three players represent the middle position: MP1, MP2, and MP3. The next "late" position includes the player immediately before the button - referred to as the cutoff or CO - and finally the button player him or her self.

Those positions listed above exist for a Texas hold'em game of ten players. Less players than ten and an appropriate number of positions are eliminated.

The first step of the game is called the preflop, during which each player is dealt two pocket cards. Three "streets" follow the preflop: the flop, the turn (the fourth street), and the river (the fifth street). During these rounds community cards are laid out on the table (also "the board"), called after the relevant streets: first three flop cards, then one turn and one river card. Flop cards of different suits are called a rainbow.

This is a bare beginning in the argot of online poker, but it should whet your appetite to learn more terms and gain more understanding of the games in the online poker rooms. So, good luck and enjoy the game and the education you are giving yourself.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives True Rakeback and Absolute Poker Rakeback.