B
baby
A low-ranked card, usually used in lowball games. See also "spoke".
backdoor
1. A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of Seven-card stud or Texas hold 'em to fill a straight or flush.
2. A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. I started with four hearts hoping for a flush, but I back-doored two more kings and my trips won.
back in
1. To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else's open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers.
2. To enter a pot cheaply or for free because of having posted a blind.
back into
To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw "backs into" winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw.
bad beat
An event in which a player with a high expectation of winning the pot loses. This expectation may be based on having an unusually strong hand beaten by an even stronger one, or by having an opposing player make an extremely unlikely draw. "Bad beat stories" are frequent topics of conversation at poker tables. Lou Krieger started a tradition among some players of charging $1 to listen to one. In some casinos there is a "bad beat jackpot" awarded to a player who suffers a particular beat, for example, having four of a kind beaten.
Baker
The second player to the dealer's left. See "Able, Baker, Charlie".
behind
1. Not currently having the best hand. I'm pretty sure my pair of jacks was behind Lou's kings, but I had other draws, so I kept playing.
2. Describing money in play but not visible as chips in front a player. For example, a player may announce "I've got $100 behind" while handing money to a casino employee, meaning that he intends those chips to be in play as soon as they are brought to him.
belly buster
An inside straight draw. Also called a "gutshot".
berry patch
A game with many unskilled or "live" players; a lucrative opportunity for profit.
best flush
An alternate method of evaluating hands. See non-standard poker hands.
bet
1. Any money wagered during the play of a hand.
2. More specifically, the opening bet of a betting round.
3. In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. There were six bets in the pot when I called.
betting structure
The set of specific rules for any game covering how much one may or must bet at any point in the game, including forced bets, limits, and raising cap. See betting structure.
bicycle, bicycle wheel
The hand A-2-3-4-5. See wheel.
big bet
In a fixed limit game where the limit is higher in later rounds than in early rounds, the higher amount is called a "big bet". That $10-$20 game looked good, but I only had 8 big bets in my pocket at the time.
big bet game
A game played with a no limit or pot limit betting structure.
big cat, big tiger
A non-standard poker hand consisting of five cards of ranks 8 to K, with no pair.
big dog
A non-standard poker hand consisting of five cards of ranks 9 to A, with no pair.
big slick
A slang term for a Texas Hold'em starting hand that consists of an Ace and King regardless of suit.
blank
A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. I suspected Margaret had a good draw, but the river card was a blank, so I bet again. See "brick".
blaze
A non-standard poker hand consisting of five face cards.
bleed
To lose small amounts continually, so as to add up to a large loss. I won that large pot with my kings, but then I bled it all off over the next hour.
blind
1. A type of forced bet. See blind.
2. A term applied to any action taken by a player before seeing some piece of information to which that player would normally be entitled before that action. For example, a player who would be first to act after the draw in a draw poker game might discard cards and then announce "I bet $10 blind" before looking at his replacement cards. One can similarly check blind, raise blind, etc. Also "dark" or "in the dark".
blind stud
A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there.
bluff
To bet an inferior hand hoping the opponent will fold. See bluff.
bluff-catcher
On the last betting round, a hand that cannot win if the opponent is making a legitimate value bet, but that might win if the opponent's bet was a pure bluff. It looked like Jim and I were both drawing for a flush. I missed and he bet, but I figured the pair of nines I caught along the way made a bluff-catcher, so I called.
board
1. The set of community cards in a community card game. If another spade hits the board, I'll have to fold.
2. The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. Zack's board didn't look too scary, so I bet into him again.
3. The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. I started with a flush draw, but there were already four other diamonds showing on the board, so I folded.
boat
A full house. See also "full boat", "tight".
bobtail
An open-ender, or "outside" straight draw. Occasionally used to refer to an inside straight draw or a four-card flush draw as well.
bomb
A brick.
bone
A chip, often of small denomination.
bottom end
The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. For example, in Texas hold 'em with the cards 5-6-7 on the board, a player holding 3-4 has the bottom end straight, while a player holding 4-8 or 8-9 has a higher straight. Also "idiot end".
bottom pair, bottom set
In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one's private hand.
box
The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer's position at the table. You've been in the box for an hour now; don't you get a break?
boxed card
A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it didn't exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal.
break
1. In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a much better one. For example, a player with J-J-10-9-8 may wish to break his pair of jacks to draw for the straight, and a lowball player may break his 9-high 9-5-4-2-A to draw for the wheel.
2. To end a session of play. The game broke at about 3:00.
brick
A blank, though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game.
bring in
To open a betting round. Gary brought it in for $5, and Kevin raised $10.
bring-in
A kind of forced bet. See bring-in.
broadway
An ace-high straight. A "broadway card" is any card that might make such a straight, namely a 10, J, Q, K, or A.
brush
A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, whence the name).
buck
A token used to mark the position of the dealer. See "button".
bug
A wild card that can serve to fill a straight or flush, but which otherwise plays as an ace. See bug.
bullet
1. An ace.
2. A chip. See "ammo".
bully
To bluff repeatedly at all opportunities, or a player who does so. See "run over".
bump
To raise. I raised $5, and Joe bumped it to $20.
burn, burn card
To deal a card directly into the discards, often at the start of the second and subsequent rounds of a multiple-round game (for example, before giving players their draws in a draw poker game, or before the flop in a community card game). This is done for several reasons, including protecting the players against marked cards, making it easier to recover from irregularities in the deal, and others.
business
Deals made during the play of a hand with the players involved. Rare, but occasionally found in big bet games. Includes "deal twice", "insurance", and other side bets. I call your all-in bet. Now let's talk business before the last card.
button
1. A token (also called a buck) used to mark the position of the dealer. In casino games with a house dealer, a buck may still be used to mark the position of the player who acts last on that deal (which would normally be the dealer in a home game).
2. The player currently seated in the position marked by the button. The button raised last round, so I checked into him.
buy-in
The minimum required amount of chips to become involved in a game (or tournament). For example, a $4-$8 fixed limit game might require a player to buy at least $40 worth of chips to play. This is typically far less than an average player would expect to play with for any amount of time, but large enough that the player can play a number of hands without buying more, so the game isn't slowed down by constant chip-buying.
buy short
To buy into a game for an amount smaller than the normal buy-in. Some casinos allow this under certain circumstances, such as after having lost a full buy-in, or if all players agree to allow it.
buy the button
A rule originating in northern California casinos in games played with blinds, in which a new player sitting down with the button to his right (who would normally be required to sit out a hand as the button passed him, then post to come in) may choose to pay the amount of both blinds for this one hand (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money), play this hand, and then receive the button on the next hand as if he had been playing all along. |
