If you're new to Poker, one thing you'll soon learn is that there sure are some strange sayings within this game. Hopefully our Poker lingo glossary will help you distinguish between your Bullets and your Dolly Partons!

Action – A term for betting & raising. An action table involves players playing in several pots.

Active player – Any player still in the hand.

Aggressive – An aggressive player raises and re-raises a lot of pots and can be very dangerous.

Ajax – The term for holding an Ace and a Jack as pocket cards.

All-in – When a player puts all of their chips into the pot. If the player cannot call the bet by going all-in, then a side pot is created.

American Airlines – Pocket Aces.

Ante – The ante is the minimum stake required from players to join into a hand.

Backdoor – Making a hand unexpectedly. For example, holding a 6 and an 8 suited (seeking a flush draw), and flopping 4, 5, 7 unsuited to make a backdoor straight.

Bad beat – A very strong hand which is beaten by a stronger hand, most often by lucky cards on the turn and river.

Bankroll – The amount of cash you have to play with.

Belly buster – Another term for an inside straight.

Bet – To put money into the pot.

Big slick – A big slick is slang for having an Ace and a King as hole cards.

Blank – A low card which doesn't aid your hand.

Blind – A starting bet in poker. This is to induce betting upon players, and effectively start the betting off.

Bluff – A bet/raise when a player has a weak hand, pretending that they have a strong one.

Board – The community cards available to all of the players to use.

Boat – A full house (3 of a kind and 2 of a kind).

Bounty – Occasionally top players who compete in tournaments have a bounty on their head, meaning that a player who manages to knock them out wins a bonus prize.

Broadway – A straight with an Ace high - 10-J-Q-K-A

Bubble – Finishing in the last position in a tournament before the money. If the pot pays to 15 players the bubble will finish in 16th position.

Bullets – Pocket Aces.

Bump – To raise the pot.

Button – The dealer button.

Buy-in – The amount of cash a player needs to sit down at a particular game.

Call – To match a bet.

Calling station – A player that calls frequently.

Check – To check is to opt not to bet, but to remain in the pot, providing there has been no action in front of the player concerned.

Check-raise – A classic Holdem move. A player checks initially to induce his opponent to bet, and then raises him.

Coffeehousing – To chat about a hand which one is involved in, with the intention of misleading others about the state of play.

Connector – Connector cards are cards of consecutive rank which hold good straight potential.

Cowboys – Pocket Kings.

Dead man's hand – Two pairs of Aces and Eights. Legend states that Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead with these cards in his hand.

Disconnect all-in – The disconnect all-in feature is in place to provide fairness in the event that a player becomes disconnected.

Dolly Parton – Hole cards of 9 and 5, named after her movie 'Nine to Five'.

Doyle Brunson – Hole cards of 10 and 2, made famous by poker legend Doyle Brunson, who won the WSOP twice with these cards.

Ducks – A pair of 2's

Fifth Street – The river card, or 5th community card on the board.

Fish – An inexperienced/unskilled player.

Fishooks – Pocket Jacks.

Flat call – To call a hand without raising it.

Flop – The first three community cards dealt in Holdem.

Flush – Five cards of the same suit.

Fold – To throw away a hand, taking no further part in the pot.

Forced bet – A required bet to start a poker hand.

Fourth Street – The turn card, or 4th community card.

Free card – When a player is able to see a free card, players in front of him have checked, so he doesn't need to put in any more cash to the pot to see the next card.

Grinder – A player who plays extremely tight and doesn't take many risks.

Gut shot – To draw or hit an inside straight.

Heads-up – One on one play.

Hole – Hole cards are the first 2 cards dealt to players prior to the first round of betting.

Inside Straight – Four connected cards needing a card either end, catching that card and making an inside straight.

Kicker – The highest unpaired card in your hand that does not count in a flush or straight. E.g. if one player has an Ace and a 10, and another player holds Ace/9, the first player will win the pot by virtue of having a higher kicker.

Kitty – The pot in the middle of the table or prize fund for the hand.

Knock – To check.

Kojak – Hole cards of King & Jack.

Ladies – Hole cards of 2 Queens.

Lay down – To lay down a hand is to fold.

Limp in – To enter a pot by calling as opposed to raising.

Lock – An unbeatable hand, also known as the nuts.

Loose – A loose player participates in a lot of hands.

Maverick – A term for holding Jack and Queen hole cards.

Middle pair – Pairing the middle ranked card on the flop with one of your hole cards you would have middle pair.

Monster – A very big hand.

Muck – To fold or throw away your hand.

Nuts – Holding the nuts means holding an invincible hand, given the cards which are on the board.

Offsuit – Two cards of different suit.

On the button – The player on the button is last to bet into the pot, and is technically in the strongest position.

Open-ended straight – Where a player has four consecutive cards, needing one card to complete the straight.

Outs – The number of cards in a deck which could improve a player's hand.

Over pair – A pocket pair which is higher than any of the cards on the board.

Pass – To fold.

Picture cards – Ace, King, Queen or Jack of any suit.

Pocket – Refers to the hole cards, or a pair, e.g. pocket tens.

Pocket rockets – A pair of Aces.

Post – To make a bet, e.g. post a big blind.

Prop – A proposition player, hired by the cardroom to play and fill up poker tables.

Quads – Four of a kind.

Rag – A rag card is a worthless card which cannot improve your hand.

Railbird – Someone who watches and comments on a game from the chat facility.

Raise – To call a bet and add more into the pot.

Rake – The small percentage of money taken from the pot by the house. A rake schedule is available here .

Read – To read a player is to determine whether they are bluffing or not, by assessing their style of play.

Ring game – A live game that is not part of a tourney.

River – The fifth community card on the board.

Rock – A very tight player who sees little action and plays conservatively.

Royal flush – The best hand in poker, 10, J, Q, K, A all of the same suit.

Rush – A winning streak.

Sandbag – Sandbagging refers to playing a strong hand weakly at first, with the intention of forcing others to bet into the pot.

Scare card – A card which when it appears on the board makes a better hand more likely. This can be a good chance to bluff!

Set – Making three of a kind after having a pair as hole cards. E.g. being dealt two 10's, and seeing a flop of 10, 5, and 2.

Snowmen – A pair of 8's.

Stack – The amount of chips in front of a player.

Tell – A giveaway by a player as to what kind of hand they have.

Tilt – To go 'on tilt' means to start playing erratically after a few bad beats.

Trips – 3 of a kind.

Turn – The fourth community card (also known as fourth street).

Under the gun – The first player to bet/act. To raise UTG implies that you have a very strong hand.

Underpair – A pocket pair of lower value than the lowest card on the table.

WSOP - The most famous poker tournament of them all, The World Series of Poker.