What's going on here? What strange language is this person speaking? Welcome to the wonderful world of poker, a demimonde with its own argot. Until now, there has been no definitive dictionary devoted exclusively to the terminology of poker.
The dictionary defines many of the crazy poker variations played in home games, but it cannot list all of them. Anaconda, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, and three-toed Pete are played all over the country, and warrant inclusion here. In somebody's home in Dubuque, Iowa, the boys are playing Kick the Kitty at their Friday night game, or in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the girls are playing Octopus. I'm afraid you won't find them here. (In Octopus, a high-low split game, every player gets eight downcards, dealt one a time, with a betting round after each. At this point, any player can trade any five--and it must be five--of her cards with any other player, provided that player is willing, after each player wishing to make a trade adds $5 to the pot. Eight community cards are dealt face down in the center of the table, arranged in two columns of four cards each, and then turned up one a time, again with a betting round after each. You form a hand using the best five from your eight plus any two in the same row or two from opposite corners. When the entire widow has been exposed, players make a chip declaration of which way they're going, followed by a final bet after the declare, and the showdown. In Octopus, the winning low hand is often, but not always, a six or better and the high hand four of a kind or better.)
Many cardrooms have a "California games" section, in which games that bear some resemblance to poker are played. The main similarity to poker of these games is the ranking of the hands, however these games are more like casino games, because players place bets before seeing their cards, and generally have no opportunities for betting on the strengths of hands after they have seen the hands. Also, one of the most important elements of poker, the bluff, is entirely absent in these games. Some of these games, like pai gow poker and 13-card, are defined briefly, but not in great detail. Others, like Super Pan 9, while they are often played in the same room as poker, have so little resemblance to poker that they are not cited at all.
Quotations embedded within definitions show the terms in use in cardrooms. They are what you hear actual card players say. For example:
salty
(adv) Having poor luck; on a losing streak. "How ya doin'?" "Been running salty lately; can't seem to make a hand when it counts."
If the definition isn't quite enough to show usage, the quotation provides typical usage.
A term in quotes is a saying heard in cardrooms that warrants definition. Such a term is usually reworded in "common English," or explained. For example:
"Send it."
(v phrase) "Push the pot, losers." Said by an ungracious winner after showing down the best hand, usually in a big pot.
The term "Send it" is what you may hear in a cardroom. "Push the pot, losers" is the translation, while the rest of the definition provides more explanation.
Underlined words indicate a cross-reference that you should look at for more information about a term.
Words in italics have three interpretations:
In a definition, a term that has an entry elsewhere sometimes appears in italics; if that is the case, no further information is to be found at the other entry than is already in the entry you're looking at. For example:
Cincinnati
(n) A form of poker found only in home games, a widow game in which each player receives five cards face down, as does a central area of the table, followed by a round of betting, and then the dealer turns up each central card, one at a time, each followed by another round of betting. At the showdown, each player uses the best five cards among his five and those of the widow. The game is often played high-low split. Also called Utah, Lamebrains, or California. Southern Cross is a variant of Cincinnati.
You'll learn more than appears in the definition for "Cincinnati" by also looking under "widow game" and "Southern Cross," but you won't learn anything new by turning to the definition for "Utah, "Lamebrains," or "California," because each merely politely refers you back to "Cincinnati."
Sometimes italics shows the defined term in use.
The following definition shows both Italics Interpretation Two and Italics Interpretation Three:
throw off
(v phrase) 1. Gamble away; sometimes followed by something. If someone asks you to throw off something, he wants you to gamble it up, that is, play looser. 2. discard (definition 2).
In this definition, "something" is a word that can follow the term "throw off"; "throw off something" is an example of the term's cardroom usage.
The Official Dictionary of Poker first appeared under the title Poker Talk, published by Card Player. This new version has been completely revised, and includes hundreds of new terms and definitions.
Thanks to the following for reviewing the manuscript and suggesting terms to include: Mike Caro, Ken Churilla, Linda Johnson, Lee Jones, Scott Rogers, and John Vorhaus. I am forever indebted to Ken d'Albenas for helping with the format and design of this book.
Michael Wiesenberg
(queue@cisco.com)
October, 1999; Mountain View, California