The Poker Glossary

Poker Terminology: All the Words You Need to Know


Air: A hand with no value.

Ante: An extra forced bet to increase the pot and encourage more action.

Angle Shooting: Making an unethical play or being intentionally deceptive in an immoral way.

Backdoor: A drawing hand that needs both the turn and river in order to complete the draw.

Bad Beat: When a player with a stronger hand loses to a weaker hand on the runout.

Tank: Taking a long time to make a decision.

Trips: Shorthand was of saying three-of-a-kind.

Under the Gun: The position of the first player to act preflop. They are one position clockwise to the Big Blind.

VPIP: A stat that stands for Voluntarily Put In Pot. This tracks how often a player puts money in the pot when they aren't the big or small blind.

Walk: When everyone folds preflop and the big blind player collects the small blind and antes.

Wheel: A straight of A, 2, 3, 4, 5.