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No-Limit - A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act.

Nuts - The best possible hand given the board. If the board is K♠-J♦-10♠-4 ♠-2♥, then A ♠-X♠ is the nuts. You will occasionally hear the term applied to the best possible hand of a certain category, even though it isn't the overall nuts. For the above example, somebody with A♥-Q♣ might say they had the "nut straight."

Offsuit - A hold'em starting hand with two cards of different suits.

One-Cap - A hold'em starting hand with two cards two apart in rank. Examples: J9, 64.

Open-Ended Straight Draw - Seeking one of two card values to make a straight. Also known as an up-and-down straight draw.

Out- A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."

Outrun - Example: "Jack outran my set when her flush card hit on the river."

Overcall - To call a bet after one or more others players have already called.

Overcard - A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.

Overpair - A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.

Pay Off - To call a bet when the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway

Play the Board - To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have 22, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no flush possible), then you must "play the board" : the best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you can do is split the pot with all remaining players.

Pocket - Your unique cards that only you can see. For instance, "He had pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the pocket."

Pocket Pair - A hold'em starting hand with two cards of the same rank, making a pair.

Post - To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a cardroom game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds. Example: a player leaves one seat at a table and takes another in such a way that he moves farther from the blinds. He is required to post an extra blind to receive a hand. See also "extra blind."

Pot-Limit - A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act.

Pot Odds - The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least 1 out of 12, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws.

Price - The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call.

Protect - (1) To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer.

Quads - Four of a kind.

Ragged - A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down J♦-6♥-2 ♣ would look ragged.

Rainbow - A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.

Raise - To increase the amount of the current bet.

Rake - An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. This is the cardroom's income.

Rank - The numerical value of a card.

Represent - To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.

Ring Game - Single table game where all bets are made directly from a player's stack and not put into a prize pool and divided at the end as in a tournament. It's every hand for itself. Players can join and enter these games as they please. Sometimes referred to as a cash game.

River - The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street."

Rock - A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable: if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.

Runner - Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. Example:"He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips."

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