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 5 covering the letters L-N. The remainder of the alphabet will be gradually introduced to allow meanings to soak in.
Have fun reading!
L is for:
Ladies:
• 2 Queens
Late Position:
• This is classed when you are the dealer, or you get to act after most other players. It is usually considered as the 2 positions next to the button (dealer)
Laydown:
• Another term for folding
Lead:
• The first player to play into a pot
Limit:
• This is a game where betting is capped at 4 raises each round and no bet can be bigger than the BB (Big Blind)
Limp/Limper:
• When a player calls the big blind pre-flop, they are seen to limp into the pot. It is also when a player calls the minimum flop when there hasn’t been a raise. This is seen most often when the 1st player to act only calls the BB
Live Blind:
• When a player puts in a dark play and is allowed to raise. This is regardless of whether another player raises or not. It is also termed as an “Option”
Live Hand:
• Seen as a hand that could still win the pot
Live One:
• A not very knowledgeable poker player. They often play lots of hands
Look:
• This is when a player calls the final play before the showdown
Loose:
• A Loose player is classed as one who enters many hands. They are also seen to have wide-ranging starting hands
M is for:
Made Hand:
• Generally, a quite strong, completed hand
Main Pot:
• This is the centre pot which all players contribute to. Other plays are placed in a side pot(s). These are contested between the remaining players. It occurs when a player or players go “all-in”
Micro Cash Game:
• Perfect for new players to poker! It is where you are only required to have a small amount of cash to join the table and blinds are very small
Middle Pair:
• This is when a player makes a pair with 1 of their down cards plus the middle card on the flop
Middle Position:
• You are in middle position when placed between the early and late positions in a round
Minimum buy-in:
• The least stake you can start a game with
Minimum sit down:
• This is the minimum amount of chips allowed to enable you to join a game. It is normally a multiple of the BB (Example: $1/$2 Blinds with a multiplier of x10 will require $20 to join the table)
Monster:
This has 2 meanings:
• A very big hand
• In tournaments, a player who has a small stack but begins to accumulate chips is known as a Monster
Muck:
This has 3 meanings:
• When a player folds their hand
• ‘The Muck’ is known as the pile of cards which have been discarded by players around the table, including the dealer
• In a showdown, the caller will ‘muck’ or throw away their hand in the event the 1st player shows a better hand
N is for:
No Limit:
• This is the most popular form of Hold’em. There is no limit to the bets a player is allowed to make at any point in the hand
Nuts:
This has 2 meanings:
• The best possible hand a player can have at a particular time during the hand
• The one you want! A hand that cannot be beaten after the river.
That’s it for the letters L to N 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 ‘O’ and includes ‘Orbit’, why you do not want to be ‘On The Tilt’ and what happens to players who are ‘On Their Backs’!