Poker Terms

When you are just starting out in playing poker, one of the first things you need to master is poker terms, for without a good grasp of them, you will not become an effective poker player. Granted, a lot of poker terms seem confusing because they are unique to the game, but once you get used to them and really learn them, you'll find they all have their own place in the game

Say for example, you were talking about Texas Holdem, a very popular form of poker; you would soon be hearing about the Flop, the Turn, the River or even the Big Blind or the Small Blind. These are poker terms unique to this form of poker. Then more generally, are the terms used in all forms of poker like hand rankings, calling, raising, or folding.

Learning all these poker terms and what they mean is not really the hardest part of all this game learning process, what is hard is when you are in the heat of play and you are trying to remember what all these terms mean along with the various rankings of the hands and what the rules are.

So, don't lose sleep over all that; just start out with the basics of game play and keep playing over and over and you will find that you pick up all these poker terms as you become more familiar with the game.

Let's take a look at some of the poker terms connected to Texas Holdem poker. The first poker terms we will concern ourselves with is Big Blind and the Small Blind. These are the names given to the two players seated immediately to the left of the designated dealer for the hand. They are the individuals who place the initial bets and for the Big Blind that would be the lowest amount in the betting tier, and for the Small Blind, the bet would be either one half or one third of that amount.

As self-explanatory as it sounds, the Dealer is the individual who deals the cards for that round, and when you are playing Texas Holdem, the dealer Button moves around the table with each hand so that each player in turn will eventually become the Dealer.

Then you have the Hole cards. These are the initial two cards dealt face down to each player and they are that player's own cards to play with and can be used only by the person they are dealt to, and are kept hidden from the other players view. They are also known in poker terms as the Pocket cards. Then the dealer deals out three cards face up onto the table; these are called the Flop, or also known in poker terms as Community Cards.....because they will be used by all the players to make the best five card hand he can with those three cards and his own Hole cards.

Then the next poker terms dealing with Texas Holdem are the Turn, and the River; also known as Fourth Street and Fifth Street. These are the final two remaining Community Cards that are dealt separately after the Flop with a round of betting separating the two card from being dealt.

Then there are these other poker terms that you should know labeled calling...when you call someone's bet or equal it; raising, when you raise someone's bet; and folding, when you toss in your hand; and the hand, which is the cards you have in your possession.

 

So, it is evident that poker terms can be a very interesting subject and a very necessary one to master if you hope to become an accomplished poker player. As you learn the game, and play more and more, you will come across more of these poker terms in your play and they will help you master the game