When you sit down to play poker, you are introduced to a whole new language. Let me list a few of the things you might hear, and what they mean.



Bad Beat- A bad beat occurs when a player loses a hand where he was heavily favored after all the chips went into the pot. A classic example is when you go all-in with AA and are called by 33. You are going to win about 80% of the time. When your opponent hits his 3 and beats you, he has delivered you a bad beat.

Buy-In- The buy-in is the amount you need to play to enter the tournament. The buy-in covers both the entry fee, which goes into the prize pool, and the tournament fee, which goes to the house.

Calling Station- A calling station refers to a type of player at your table. Usually considered a weak player, a calling station calls many bets with weak speculative hands, and rarely makes raises.

Button- The button represents who the dealer is for a particular hand. The button rotates so that each player plays as the dealer in his turn. This is done to keep the game fair, as being the dealer has a built in advantage as the best position at the table.

Counterfeited- Although not the only example, being counterfeited usually occurs when your small pair runs into higher pairs appearing on the board. Another counterfeit situation is when you have 2 pair and are beaten by the top pair when the river pairs the board.

Cracked- To have a top hand beaten on the draw. "He cracked my AA with his J 10 when the board went 7 8 4 9 A"

Dominated- A dominated hand is one that has two players sharing one card with the stronger hand being in the dominant position. KQ dominates K3. A9 also dominates K9. The advantage is approximately 70/30.

Fish- A fish is simply a bad poker player. A fish will give his money away to the better players.

Flop- The flop is the three communities cards turned up by the dealer. After the betting on your hole cards is completed, the flop comes, and then another round of betting ensues.

Free Roll- A free roll is a unique situation that occurs occasionally in an all-in situation. An example would be: both players are all in with the following hands and board KdQd KclQcl with a board of 8sp 9d 10d. The first player can't lose, but is on a free roll, and will win if a diamond hit on the turn or river.

Live Cards- When the two cards in your hand don't match those of your opponents. Let's say you pushed all-in with J9 and were called by AK. You might say "at least I've got 2 live cards".

Limp- When you just call the big blind, you are limping into the pot. It is typically only used to describe calling the big blind pre flop.

Over Card- This is any card larger than any on the board. With AQ and the flop J85, you have two over cards.

Backdoor draw- Backdoor draws takes both the turn and river to complete. If you have three hearts after the flop, and the turn and river are both hearts, you have hit a backdoor flush.