by SMT

Created on: December 14, 2008   Last Updated: January 02, 2009

Listening to poker players rattle off words describing a hand can be an endlessly entertaining, yet baffling experience to a novice or non-player of the game. When learning a new foreign language a student may be asked to listen to a conversation and then the instructor dissects each word giving the meaning and correct pronunciation of each. This may be applied to poker as well:

"I called in the cutoff seat with a 7/8 of hearts in an un-raised pot, the button and small blind folded, the big blind checked. Four of us took the flop, and it came 6, 10, king. The 6 and 10 were hearts, so I flopped a gut shot straight flush draw; I figured I had twelve outs on the flop, to make either a straight and or flush to win the pot. The action went check, and a $20 bet into a $40 pot followed. I made the call because I was getting the right price on my draw (assuming he wasn't on a bigger flush draw), the big blind folded, as did the seat under the gun. We went heads up on the turn which paired the board with another 10. The initial bettor checked and in an effort to respect the board, I checked behind. I hit the perfect 9 of hearts on the river to make the straight flush. My opponent checked again, and I value bet $40 into the pot. He checked-raised all in and I insta-called with the nuts. He had flopped a set of sixes with his pocket pair and turned a full boat, which he slow played allowing me to catch up, and I got lucky and sucked out with the one outer to beat him. He threw his hand into the muck and I could tell he was seriously on tilt as the dealer pushed me the pot. He got up from the table muttering about what a bad beat he had just taken." WHAT!?!?

This is a very standard conversation held between two poker players describing the way a particular hand played out (often referred to as the action of the hand). Poker players use a specific lexis to describe the position they were in, betting patterns and structures, and other general terminology to describe what went on in any given situation.

POSITION TERMS
Any seasoned poker player will tell you that your relative position in a hand is one of the most important components of deciding whether or not to play a hand and enter into a pot. Many will say "position is power", and will insist on knowing "what position where you in?" if you are describing the hand to them. In a standard Texas Hold em' game spread in a casino, a maximum number of 10 players can be seated at the table. The seats are numbered one through ten,

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