Learning to speak Texas Hold’em as well as you play it is all part of the fun and excitement of the world’s most popular poker game!
Some of the terms and slang used are self-explanatory, some humourous, others startlingly apt, but all very relevant to the game and your knowledge of it.
To help you along we have put together a comprehensive list of terms. Read them, memorise the ones you find worthy of repeat, and begin to speak Hold’em as well as you play it!
This is part 3 covering the letters D-F. The remainder of the alphabet will be gradually introduced to allow meanings to soak in.
Have fun reading!
D is for:
Dead Man’s Hand:
• Supposedly the hand Wild Bill Hickock held when he was shot: Aces & Eights!
Deuce:
• A 2
Draw/Drawing:
• A player who needs 1 or 2 cards more to make a strong hand is ‘drawing’ in the hope they will hit what is required and be paid off
Drawing Dead:
• When you are in a hand, or an all-in showdown and unable to win. This is regardless of what remaining cards hit the table
Ducks:
• A pair of 2’s
Down Card:
• Hole cards that are dealt face down
Doyle Brunson:
• This is a Hold’em hand of 10-2. – Brunson won the World Championship for two consecutive years with these cards!
Drop:
• To fold
E is for:
Early Position:
• Considered as the player who is 2 positions to the left of the Blinds. When in Early Position you must act before the majority of other players.
Expected Value (EV):
• This can be described as a positive or a negative as in; +EV or -EV. It is a player’s rating on a specific poker play and indicates whether it will result in long-term positive or negative returns
F is for:
Family Pot:
• This is when all or most players call pre-flop
Fifth Street:
• In flop games this is the 5th community card on the table as well as the final round of playing. It is also known as the “river” card
Fish:
• Don’t be one, but playing against a “fish” can be profitable! It is the term used to describe a weak, inexperienced player
Flat Call:
• This is when you call a player without raising
Float:
• When a player calls a bet with a bluff in mind which will allow them to take the pot on a later street
Flop:
• These are the first 3 community cards dealt in Hold’em (and Omaha). They are dealt in the centre of the table, face-up. It also indicates the 2nd round of playing
Flush:
• A 5-card hand all of the same suit
Flush Draw:
• When a player is holding 4 same-suit cards and is hoping to draw a 5th to make their flush
Fold:
• Surrendering a hand, ending participation in that round and therefore rendering yourself unable to win the pot
Fold Equity:
• This is the implied equity a player stands to achieve by making a bet with the intention of forcing their opponent to fold. Example: This can be used to good effect if an opponent has a small stack. You raise enough to cover the stack. Unless they are willing to play for their total stack they are forced to fold
Forced Play:
• A required play to begin the action on the 1st round
Four of a Kind:
• 4 same ranked cards. Also called “quads”
Fourth Street:
• An alternative term for the “turn” or 4th community card
Full House:
• Yes please! A 5-card hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind plus a pair
Free card:
• In the event all players check they all get to see a free card
Free-Roll:
Two meanings:
• If a tournament states there is no “buy-in” required, it is free to enter.
• A player in a hand that can only win or chop is free-rolling for the win
Freeze-Out:
• In a “freeze-out” tournament players cannot rebuy
That’s it for the letters D to-F in our installment of “Texas Hold’em – The A-Z of Poker speak”. There is little doubt you will be familiar with some of the terms above, but hopefully you have added to your Texas Hold’em vocabulary with ones previously unheard of.
There’s lots more to come:
Do keep a close eye out as we build this extensive compendium on the A-Z of Hold’em jargon. It will add to your knowledge of common terms as well as the more obscure ones. What is more, you will be able to impart your knowledge to friends as well as foes!
Our next article continues with the letter’s ‘G’ to ‘K’ and includes ‘Grinder’, ‘Gut Shot’, ‘Heater’ and ‘Hijack. It will also explain how to ‘Keep Them Honest’!