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to make a straight (there are four 4's in the deck, one of each suit).

Insta-call: A term used to describe how quickly you called an opponents' bet; as in "instantly". The thought process or pause when deciding if you should call is absent. One usually insta-calls when they have the nuts and don't need to think about whether or not they are beat.

Kicker: The second card in your hand used to break ties. For example the board is 8, 2, J, K, Q. You hold A/K and your opponent holds K/4. You both have a pair of Kings but you win the pot because the best 5 card hand wins. So your Ace comes into play as you have K, K, A, Q, J and your opponent has K, K, Q, J, 8.

The Nuts: The best hand possible (unbeatable) for any given board. For example if the board is 2 of clubs, 3 of hearts, 5 spades, King of diamonds, and 10 of clubs the best possible hole cards would be a 4 and 6 (irrespective of suit because there is no flush possibility) to make the "nut" straight.

Muck: The pile of cards that have been discarded by other players and will not be used in the current hand. If you muck your hand it is synonymous with folding your hand.

Open-ended Straight Draw: A straight draw that contains 8 outs. If the flop is 5, 6, king and you have 7/8 you can win a four or a nine.

Pocket Pair: Two hole cards that match each other (i.e. two aces)

Slow Play: To "check" your hand (not bet or take any action) to disguise the strength of a strong hand in hopes that your opponent will bet, or commit more of his chips when you choose to bet at a later stage of the hand. This can sometimes backfire, as it did in the case of the situation described above.

Suck Out/Catch/Rivered: This term is used when an opponent "sucks out" or catches an improbable card against you on the turn or river that causes them to beat your hand. If their perfect card came on the river it is referred to as being "rivered", as in "I got rivered".

Poker players have their own language that to an outsider may sound like gibberish. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the terminology used by poker players to explain their trade, but it's a good start. Many introductory poker books supply a full glossary and explanations of nearly all poker terms used in the game. Like any foreign language it takes time and exposure to fully understand and utilize the vocabulary.

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