Have you ever been sitting at a table either free poker online or in a real tournament or perhaps watching a tournament on television and hearing the announcers or players using terms you have never heard of?

This guide is to help decipher some of the more complex terms and hopefully introduce you to some new ones in hopes that they will help not only improve your game but can make poker more enjoyable.

We are all used to the common terms, such as flop, turn, river, raise, etc. but some of those terms also have their own lingo attached. Such as…

4th street – also commonly called the Turn

5th street – the river

But that is not the limit of the terms you can keep in mind while you’re contemplating your next moves. Keep these in mind when you are watching the bets come around to you.

Plays tight – generally means that a player does not play lots of hands

Plays loose – the opposite to playing tight, and the player tends to play lots of hands

Plays “ATC”- they play anything “ATC”= any two cards”.

On tilt- means that a player is being erratic with their bets usually from losing a tough hand earlier.

Now that you have an idea on pre-flop situations now let take a look at board activity terms.

Over pair – A pair in your hand that beats what is on the board.

Top pair – means that you have paired the highest card on the board with one in your hand. Next down is middle pair and bottom pair respectively.

If you manage to survive the flop but have 4th and 5th St. left to endure. Then you have three more terms to keep in mind as you go.

Outs – number of possible cards that can give you the win on a hand.

Drawing dead- this basically means that you have no chance of winning a hand. Some players if they are drawing dead may bluff or go on tilt at the last second to try and steal the pot.

Having the “nuts”- Having the nuts means you have the best possible hand available from the cards on the board and in your hand.

Some good tips when playing

Poker and playing free poker is all about betting, checking and raising, but even the three basic options can be pretty interesting.

Even terms like check and raise can lead to some pretty interesting scenarios and put players in a frenzy.

One example is to check-raise. That term means to check when the bet comes to you but then raise if a bet comes up. This tactic can hide the strength of your hand and can lure a player into losing a lot chips if he is not careful on how he plays it.

Value bet – Is a bet that is not a large bet but is considered small enough to call. Some players may call a value bet in hopes of gauging a player’s game play or to see their hand.

Semi-bluff bet – Is similar to a bluff bet but is enough of a bet to make a player think very carefully about what their next move is.

[b]Pot odds -[b] This term I would say is the most useful term to keep in mind. Pot odds is the ratio of your chips in the pot versus the whole pot. For example if you have $1500 in a $6000 pot your pot odds would be 4:1. Keep this in mind if you are in a tight hand and not sure if you should risk more or not.

Pot committed – Term meaning that a player has a majority of their chips in the pot. This is a very useful term as it can decide to back off on a hand or force them all in if you have the nuts.

These terms can all be used in free poker games as well as other poker situations, but if it’s at your table that you see and hear them, then you will know what is going on and that vital knowledge can give you the edge on your next game and hopefully put more chips on your side of the table.