Poker Slang

In mining and Old West slang, a sourdough was an experienced prospector, or a veteran in his field. Sour On – To get sick of someone or something, to give up something out of disgust. Sowbelly – Bacon. Span – A span of horses consists of a pair that are very much alike and harnessed side by side. Spark – A lover, a beau. If you want to know what was meant by a “three-bet”, “continuation bet”, “donkey”, “squeeze play” or any other expressions used by the global poker playing community, you.

The poker world hasbecome a subculture across the globe. In the United States alone,there are almost 60 million regular poker players. This subculturehas been developed continuously since the year 1829 when it startedin New Orleans. Just like with other subcultures, there have beenseveral slangs attached to the game and more words are being derivedeveryday. If you’re new to playing poker, you need to learn as manywords as you can before you get to the table. If you don’t, you’lllose the game even before you start.

30 Popular PokerSlangs And What They Mean

1. What is the Big Blind Special?

If nobody raises apre-flop during a game and the player on the big blind gets the bighand even with poor cards, they refer to it as the big band special.The player gets to see the flop for free and it is also called theblind special.

2. What is Action Card?

The action card, asthe name implies, creates action. When it turns up, the players canmake significant bets. At least two players involved will believethey have the upper hand in the game.

3. What are American Airlines?

This is the strongest starting hand in the game. It is also called pocket rockets or bullets. It is the slang that is used to refer to the pocket aces. Players who start with such strong cards tend to have an edge over other players in the beginning of the game.

4. What is 3Bet?

This is what happenswhen a player raises against the first person to raise on the tableduring the game.

5. What is Ajax?

Ajax refers to astarting hand with one jack and one aces. The word Ajax was derivedfrom Ace-Jack. One word for each type of card.

6. What is Bonus Whoring?

This is an optionplayers use to build their bankroll even when they don’t win much.All the player has to do is make a Bonus Whore deposit, clear out thebonus and withdraw the cash.

7. What is 6max?

This slang is usedduring a game when the number of players can’t exceed six on a singletable. So, it’s an abbreviation of six maximums.

8. What is Ace High?

This term is usedwhen the player has only a card with a high card of aces. It has itsadvantages and disadvantages.

9. Who are the Backers?

A backer is a personwho supports others with the money they need to gamble on poker evenwhen they are not playing. Anyone willing to take the risk can be abacker.

10. What is a Bee Stinger?

Poker Slang Terms

This term is usedwhen an individual owes another player during the game. It can alsobe used when a player is ducked out or losing their hand.

11. What Does “All in the Flop Buddy” Mean?

This phrase wasfirst used by Alfonse, a legendary New York poker player. This waswhat he used to say when people asked why he was using two cardspreflop.

12. What is Avoidance?

When it comes topoker, avoidance means the same thing it does in the real world. Itwas introduced by Prahald Friedman during the World Series ESPN andPoker game and has been used ever since.

13. What Does Ante Off Mean?

This happens whensomeone is absent from the table and the antes make them broke.

14. What is Airball?

The word airballrefers to when a poker player has missed their prospective outs inone hand.

15. What is the Backdoor?

This word is used intwo ways; backdoor flushes and backdoor straights. When a player usesthis backdoor arm, he or she has sucked out on the other players.

16. What Does 4Bet Mean?

4Bet is the wordthat is used when a player makes a re-raise raise against a 3Betplayer.

17. What is Ammunition?

In the poker world,ammunition refers to chips. It is also called ammo just like in thereal world.

18. What Does it Mean to Have a Blank Hand?

A card is said to beblank when it doesn’t hit any player in a hand. It also means thatthe player doesn’t have a solid stance yet.

19. What is a Bad Beat Story?

If a player enters alosing streak even when the stats are supposed to be in his favor andthat hand continues to bring bad results, it is tagged a bad beatstory.

20. What is Angle and Who Are the Angle Shooters?

Angle is the wordthat is used to refer to a maneuver during a game that gives a playera greater edge over other players. While there is no law against thismove, some players consider it unethical. Anyone who has a habit ofusing an angle is called an angle shooter.

21. What is a Poker Arsenal?

Just likeammunition, this slang is combat-themed. It refers to everything thata player can use for a game at a given time. All the player’s cards,gears and moves make up the poker arsenal.

22. What Does it Mean to be Back Into a Hand?

A player is said toback into a hand when they set out to make one hand but draw outsomething else instead.

Poker Slang For Three Of A Kind Crossword Clue

23. What Does Blowup Mean?

This word is used torefer to a psychological meltdown players use as tactics on otherplayers to put them off the edge during a game.

24. What is a Boat/ Full Boat?

Full boat is usedwhen there is a full house. It is among the highest ranking plays inpoker.

25. What Does the Bottom End Mean?

A player is said tohave the bottom end of a game when they get the worst version of theplay. Things don’t look good after you get to the bottom end.

26. What Does Big Lick Mean in Poker?

Big lick refers to aband that is used in Hold’em, 69. It is a starting hand that has a 6and a 9. It was initially used by poker players in Texas.

Poker Slang Trips

27. What is a Box in Poker?

In poker, the wordbox is used to refer to a table space that is occupied by the gamesdealer. The box is usually in the middle so everyone can see thedealer during the game. The chip trays are usually set up in the box.

28. What is a Poker Bounty?

Sometimes, playersare assigned bounties and bounty hunters are sent after thoseplayers. Anyone who wins the bounty is awarded the prize from thepool.

29. What are BrokerStars?

When a player isrunning out of cash in their Pokerstars account, it is referred to asBrokerStarts. This word originated when Pokerstars was among the mostpopular recurring words in the poker world.

30. What is a Brown Trout?

This phrase wasintroduced by poker players who are members of the Two Plus TwoMessage (2p2) forums. These players usually identify themselves onpoker tables with the word Brown Trout.

There are many other poker slangs used by players around the world but these thirty are among the most popular in the space.