Mexican standoff

en-noun

Mexican standoff (plural Mexican standoffs)

Mexican standoff
Reservoir Dogs
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

1876 US.
Three-way gun standoffs, popularized in spaghetti westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), have come to be called Mexican standoffs, though this usage appears to date to the 1990s, notably in reference to Reservoir Dogs (1992); earlier usage refers to this as a “three-way standoff” or “triangular standoff”.

(slang) A stalemate, or a confrontation among two or more sides that no side can win.

(slang, poker) A pot that is split among the players because of a tie.


widow

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English widwe, from Old English widuwe, from Proto-West Germanic *widuwā, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂, possibly from *h₁weydʰh₁-, *widʰ- (“to separate, split, cleave, divide”), whence also wood from Old English widu, wudu.
Cognates include German Witwe, Dutch weduwe, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (widuwō), Old Irish fedb, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic въдова (vŭdova), Sanskrit विधवा (vidhavā) and Persian بیوه (bive, bêva), Middle Persian wēwag, Avestan viðavā- "widow" .

(card games) An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.


blue peter

blue peters (plural)
Blue Peter (alternative)

The flag, serving as a signal of recall for departure, was used by the British Navy from 1777, and the name “blue peter” had become common by the end of the 18th century. An all-blue flag had earlier seen use for the same purpose by the Dutch East India Company. While “blue” obviously refers to the dominant colour of the flag, the origin of the second part of the term, “peter”, is unknown. Often said to be a corruption of “blue repeater”, there is actually no signal flag that goes by that designation. The use of the flag to spell the letter “P” dates from 1857 and so cannot have played a role in the origin of the term.
The whist play, introduced by Lord Henry Bentinck, was named by him after the flag.

(card games, intransitive) In whist, a play that calls for trumps by throwing away a higher card of a suit while holding a lower one.


blue peter

en-verb

blue peter (third-person singular simple present blue peters, present participle blue petering, simple past and past participle blue petered)

blue peters (present singular third-person)
blue petering (participle present)
blue petered (participle past)
blue petered (past)
Blue Peter (alternative)

(card games, intransitive) In whist, to play a blue peter.


suicide king

So called because in common depictions, the king of hearts appears to be stabbing himself in the head with his sword.

When Henry played poker, he liked to declare suicide kings wild, as he felt it lent him an air of sophistication.

Bayr laid the card down on top of the cowboy's. “Suicide king,” he said softly, touching the king of hearts' sword with his forefinger.

2008 April 30, Connie Bailey, “Fancy Pants”, in Know When to Hold'em: A Dreamspinner Press Anthology, Frisco: Dreamspinner Press, →ISBN, page 115:

(card games, slang) A king of hearts in a deck of playing cards.


tens

teens · twenties · thirties · forties · fifties · sixties · seventies · eighties · nineties

Gay Nineties · Naughty Nineties · Roaring Twenties · Dirty Thirties · Swinging Sixties


wired

en-adj

wired (comparative more wired, superlative most wired)

more wired (comparative)
most wired (superlative)

(poker slang) Being a pair in seven-card stud with one face up and one face down.

I was dealt three of a kind, wired.

(poker slang) Being three of a kind as the first three cards in seven card stud.


bump

en-noun

bump (countable and uncountable, plural bumps)

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin.
Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

onom

imitative

kuhmu

phrenological protuberance and associated aptitude

(card games) In the game of khanhoo, the act of claiming a newly discarded card when it is not one's turn, permitted when one can use the card to form a meld other than a sequence.


bump

en-verb

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

bumps (present singular third-person)
bumping (participle present)
bumped (participle past)
bumped (past)

onom

imitative

(card games) In the game of khanhoo, to claim a newly discarded card when it is not one's turn, permitted when one can use the card to form a meld other than a sequence.


commerce

en-noun

commerce (countable and uncountable, plural commerces)

Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess.

(card games) An 18th-century French card game in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade.


chevalier

From Middle English chivaler or chevaler (also shyvalere while code-switching), from Anglo-Norman chevaler or chivaler, later refashioned after French chevalier, from Late Latin caballārius (“horseman”), from Latin caballus (“horse”). Doublet of caballero and cavalier.

(card games) In tarot cards, the card between the valet and the dame.


cowgirl

(card games, slang) A playing card of queen rank.


in the dark

(poker slang) Without looking at one's hole cards, thus not knowing what they are.


tip one's hand

en-verb

tip one's hand (third-person singular simple present tips one's hand, present participle tipping one's hand, simple past and past participle tipped one's hand)

tips one's hand (present singular third-person)
tipping one's hand (participle present)
tipped one's hand (participle past)
tipped one's hand (past)

(card games) In card playing, to accidentally reveal one's cards or hand.


flush

→ French: flush

→ Japanese: フラッシュ (furasshu)

→ Korean: 플러쉬 (peulleoswi)

→ Portuguese: flush

Probably from Middle French flus (“flow”), cognate with flux.

(poker) A hand consisting of all cards with the same suit.


razz

(poker) A version of seven-card stud where the worst poker hand wins (called lowball).


unblock

unblock (third-person singular simple present unblocks, present participle unblocking, simple past and past participle unblocked)

unblocks (present singular third-person)
unblocking (participle present)
unblocked (participle past)
unblocked (past)

(intransitive, card games) In whist, to throw away a high card so as not to interrupt one's partner's long suit.


bourré

Joann Guidos, the proprietor at Kajun's, called out for a game of bourré and they all dumped their money on a table and sat down and let the cards and liquor flow.

2005, Chris Rose, 1 Dead in Attic, Simon & Schuster, published 2015, page 14:

(card games) A card game traditionally played in Louisiana, US.


buy-in

en-noun

buy-in (countable and uncountable, plural buy-ins)

(poker) A tournament where a player must purchase all of his or her chips before the tournament starts.

When tournament players are eliminated but remain eager to win back their buy-in, side games often develop and upstage tournament play with limits exceeding those in the tournament.

1983, David M. Hayano, Poker faces: the life and work of professional card players:

(poker) The amount that a player buys in for


sideboard

Cards can only be exchanged between the playing deck and the sideboard on a one-to-one basis between duels or matches, and any number of cards, up to fifteen, can be exchanged at once.

1995, Larry W. Smith, Learn Magic Cards, →ISBN, page 80:

Many of your best chances to overcome opposing decks lie in the development of a strong sideboard.

1995, George Baxter, Larry W. Smith, Mastering magic cards, →ISBN:

If you plan on playing in tournaments, you'll want to construct a sideboard for your deck.

2006, John Kaufeld, Jeremy Smith, Trading Card Games For Dummies, →ISBN, page 61:

They can have a 15-card sideboard or no sideboard. The sideboard can be used to replace cards in the deck after each game.

2010, Kelly Nicole Czarnecki, Gaming in Libraries, →ISBN, page 54:

(collectible, card games) A set of cards that are separate from a player's primary deck, used to customize a match strategy against an opponent by enabling a player to change the composition of the playing deck.


sideboard

en-verb

sideboard (third-person singular simple present sideboards, present participle sideboarding, simple past and past participle sideboarded)

sideboards (present singular third-person)
sideboarding (participle present)
sideboarded (participle past)
sideboarded (past)

Hopefully you now have a strong grasp on how to sideboard effectively.

This will cause an opponent to suffer from a number of his newly sideboarded cards, now useless to him.

1996, George Baxter, Tables of Magic, page 43:

Frantic Purification can be sideboarded to destroy an enchantment, but it shouldn't be drafted unless you have no choice.

2002, Steve Frohnhoefer, Michael Searle, Magic: The Gathering Online : Prima's Official Strategy Guide:

(collectible, card games) To include (a card) in one's sideboard.


straight flush

en-noun

straight flush (plural straight flushes)

→ Portuguese: straight flush

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-straight flush.wav

(poker) A hand that is both straight (the cards are all in sequence) and flush (the cards are all of the same suit).


cooler

(poker, gambling, colloquial) A cold deck.

(poker) A loss suffered while holding a hand which is ordinarily strong, especially one which involves the loss of many chips.


sit out

en-verb

sit out (third-person singular simple present sits out, present participle sitting out, simple past and past participle sat out)

sits out (present singular third-person)
sitting out (participle present)
sat out (participle past)
sat out (past)

(poker) To be away from the table in the midst of an ongoing game, thus automatically placing one's forced bets and otherwise folding every hand when it is one's time to act.


soda

en-noun

soda (countable and uncountable, plural sodas)

From Italian soda. Sense 4 is an ellipsis of soda water.

(card games) The first card in the dealing box in the game of faro, which is discarded to leave 51 cards in play.


Heinz

From the H. J. Heinz Company's "57 Varieties" slogan.

(poker slang) A five and a seven as starting cards in Texas hold 'em


euchre

euchre (countable and uncountable, plural euchres)

euchres (plural)
eucre (alternative dated)

Possibly from German Juckerspiel, name of an eighteenth-century Alsatian card game, itself apparently a compound of Jucker (“joker?”, may be dialectal) + Spiel (“game”). Likely a doublet of joker.

(card games) A trump card game played by four players in two partnerships with a reduced deck of 24 cards.


chicane

chicane (countable and uncountable, plural chicanes)

(card games, chiefly bridge) The holding of a hand without trumps, or the hand itself.


J

Js (plural)
J's (plural)
JJ (plural)
J. (alternative)
j. (alternative)
j (alternative)


K

Abbreviations.
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of counter, prefix counter-, sequence contr.

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">counter-</i>, sequence contr.

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6 e.p. Nxd6 7. Bg5 Nc6 8. Qe3+ Be7 9. Nbd2 0-0 10. 0-0-0 Re8 11. Kb1 (=)

2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 23:

The correct answer is 1.Rxf6 Rxf6 2.Rf1 Raf8 3.Qg5 Kg7 4.Nh5+
Other sub-variations work, such as playing 2.Qg5 then 3.Rf1 or playing 4.Bxf6+ first before playing 5.Nh5+.

2023 August 12, GM Noël Studer, “Mastering Chess Puzzles: The Comprehensive Guide to Effective Problem Solving”, in Next Level Chess:

(card games, chess) Abbreviation of king.


Q

en-noun

Q (countable and uncountable, plural Qs)

(card games, chess) Abbreviation of queen.


bolivia

bolivia (countable and uncountable, plural bolivias)

(uncountable, card games) A card game similar to rummy and canasta.

(card games) A meld of seven wild cards in said card game.


peter

en-verb

peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)

peters (present singular third-person)
petering (participle present)
petered (participle past)
petered (past)

Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”). See further etymology there.

clipping

(card games, intransitive) Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one.


kilter

Probably a variant of dialectal kelter (“odds and ends; litter, rubbish”); further etymology unknown.

(card games, chiefly poker) A hand of playing cards which is useless.


heads-up

heads-up (plural)
heads-ups (plural)
heads up (alternative)

There were only two of us, so we started playing heads-up.

There are seven players on the table. Five folded, the remaining two played heads-up until the showdown.

(poker) Involving two players. (usually said when there are only two players in the table; or, when all players except two folded)


napoleon

en-noun

napoleon (countable and uncountable, plural napoleons)

napoleons (plural)
Napoleon (alternative)

/nəˈpəʊlɪən/

Borrowed from French Napoléon (“given name, usually in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte”). In reference to coins, via French napoléon (“(slang) a coin that originally had the appearance of Napoleon's face in the obverse”). In reference to guns and possibly cards, in reference to Napoleon III.

bor

(card games, uncountable) A 19th-century five-card trick-taking game simplified from euchre.

(card games, uncountable) Clipping of double napoleon, a form of patience/solitaire.


kicker

Jill's hand was two pair, aces and sevens, with a king kicker.

(poker) An unpaired card which is part of a pair, two pair, or three of a kind poker hand.


running flush

A running flush can only be beaten by a prile.

(card games) a hand containing three cards of consecutive value and the same suit in three card brag; equivalent to a straight flush in poker


monte

en-noun

monte (countable and uncountable, plural montes)

Borrowed from Spanish monte (“mountain”): in the sense of the card game, referring to the stack of unplayed cards. Doublet of mount.

bor+

A starry 20th-anniversary revival of “Topdog/Underdog,” her Pulitzer Prize-winning fable about two brothers, three-card monte and one troubling inheritance, is in previews on Broadway.

2022 October 5, Michael Paulson, “Suzan-Lori Parks Is on Broadway, Off Broadway and Everywhere Else”, in The New York Times:

(uncountable, card games) A game in which three or four cards are dealt face-up and players bet on which of them will first be matched in suit by others dealt.


high five

en-noun

high five (countable and uncountable, plural high fives)

high fives (plural)
high-five (alternative)

From high + five. The five refers to the five fingers of each hand.

(card games, uncountable) The game of cinch.


AF

AF (countable and uncountable, plural AFs)

aggression factor
aggression factor#English

(poker) Initialism of aggression factor.


wildcard

German wildcard Sabine Lisicki conquered her nerves to defeat France's Marion Bartoli and take her amazing Wimbledon run into the semi-finals.

2011 June 28, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport:

(sports, card games) Alternative form of wild card.

шабло́н

derived adjective may be used in phrases


talon

From Middle English talon, taloun, from Old French talon (“heel, spur”), from Medieval Latin tālōnem, from Vulgar Latin *tālōnis, from Latin tālus (“ankle”).

(card games) The remaining stock of undealt cards.


royalty

royalty (countable and uncountable, plural royalties)

→ Danish: royalty

→ German: Royalty

→ Italian: royalty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: royalty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: royalty

→ Portuguese: royalty

→ Swedish: royalty

From Middle English royaltee, roialtee, royalte, from Old French roialté, roiauté, realté (compare earlier Old French realted (“realm, kingdom”)), from Vulgar Latin *rēgālitās, from Latin rēgālis, equivalent to royal + -ty. Doublet of regality.

(poker, slang) A king and a queen as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


add-on

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-add-on.wav

(poker) Additional chips that can be purchased at specific times in tournament play.


tilt

tilt (countable and uncountable, plural tilts)

From Middle English tilte, from Old English *tyltan, *tieltan (“to be unsteady”), related to the adjective tealt (“unsteady”), from Proto-West Germanic *talt, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”), see also Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Cognate with Icelandic tölt (“an ambling pace”).
The nominal sense of "a joust" appears around 1510, presumably derived from the barrier which separated the combatants, which suggests connection with tilt "covering". The modern transitive meaning is from 1590; the intransitive use appears 1620.
The sense of gaming frustration is said to originate with pinball.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-tilt.wav

to go on tilt

In his landmark book, The Mental Game of Poker, sports psychologist Jared Tendler defines "tilt" as "anger + bad play". In short, you lose your mental equilibrium and start playing below your best, often making big mistakes. Tilt is caused by many different factors and Tendler defines seven types of tilt.

2014 September 10, Amit Varma, “Magnus Carlsen's weakness”, in The Economic Times, Mumbai: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-09-19:

In his follow-up video below, ScrapComputer goes into a long list of suggestions for stopping and avoiding tilt while you play League of Legends.

2016 February 26, Philip Kollar, “What is 'tilt' in League of Legends, and how can you avoid it?”, in Polygon, archived from the original on 2023-04-01:

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result can drive you insane, especially League of Legends. As you keep losing, you become tilted and get frustrated. No matter how mechanically gifted you are, it can't help ameliorate tilt.

2019 October 15, Hawken Miller, “How to quickly climb the League of Legends ranked ladder”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-17:

As long as you know that being consistent and sticking to a strategy in the long run, will win you money, you can avoid tilt and negative emotions.

2022 March 16, “Online poker: from beginner to pro”, in Times of Malta, archived from the original on 2022-04-21:

(uncountable, poker, video games, chess, slang) A state of frustration and worsened performance resulting from a series of losses.


double up

en-verb

double up (third-person singular simple present doubles up, present participle doubling up, simple past and past participle doubled up)

doubles up (present singular third-person)
doubling up (participle present)
doubled up (participle past)
doubled up (past)

(poker, by extension, intransitive) To double one's amount of chips by winning an all-in pot.


back door

backdoor (alternative)
back-door (alternative)

The flop had the ace of spades, queen of spades, and two of diamonds, and I was holding the king of spades and the three of hearts. I bet big, hoping for a jack and a ten to make my back door straight-draw, or a spade to make my back door flush-draw. But when the turn card was the five of clubs, I had to fold.

(poker, of a draw) Requiring consecutive cards on the turn and river to be achieved.


tapped

en-adj

tapped (comparative more tapped, superlative most tapped)

more tapped (comparative)
most tapped (superlative)

(card games, board games) Of a card or playing piece: used up for the current turn.


eldest

(card games) (of a player) Receiving cards from the dealer first, before any other players.

Each player draws a card, and the lowest becomes eldest hand.

2003, The Card Game Set, Thunder Bay Press:

(card games) (of a hand) Having higher, or superior cards.


bullets

(poker slang) A pair of aces as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


lowball

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lowball.wav

American railroad term that described one of two positions of the ball of a ball signal. Compare highball.

deuce-to-seven lowball
deuce-to-seven lowball

(poker) A form of poker in which the lowest-ranking poker hand wins the pot. Usually the ace is the lowest-ranking card, straights and flushes do not count making the best possible hand being A, 2, 3, 4, 5 regardless of suits (in contrast to deuce-to-seven lowball.)


finesse

en-noun

finesse (countable and uncountable, plural finesses)

From Middle English finesse (“degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“fineness; delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin fīnis (“end”); compare Middle English fīn (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something).
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

The Finesse Proper.—When, upon the invite of your partner, you refuse to force with your strongest card, or one of equal strength, you are in the case of the finesse proper. Holding the ace, queen, and ten, and taking with the queen, is a simple finesse; that is, a finesse to the king.

1850, “Short Whist: Its System and Science”, in Henry G[eorge] Bohn, editor, The Hand-book of Games: Comprising New or Carefully Revised Treatises on Whist, Piquet, Ecarté, Lansquenet, Boston, Quadrille, Cribbage, and Other Card Games; […] (Bohn’s Scientific Library), London: Henry G[eorge] Bohn, […], →OCLC, part IV (Whist by the Editor), page 185:

Here we are going to examine finesses from a negative standpoint. Those players who take finesses wherever and whenever they appear will seldom give any thought to what might happen if the finesse were to lose. And this is why taking or shunning a finesse is an option which shouldn't be exercised without much prior thought.

2013 October 22, Joe Blatnick, “Finesses (One More Time)”, in Bridge: A Thinker’s Game: How You Think is More Important than What and Thinking Comes before Doing, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 134:

(countable, card games) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over.


finesse

en-verb

finesse (third-person singular simple present finesses, present participle finessing, simple past and past participle finessed)

finesses (present singular third-person)
finessing (participle present)
finessed (participle past)
finessed (past)

esquivar

to evade using some clever argument or stratagem

In the first round of a suit, you should generally, / 8. PLAY YOUR HIGHEST CARD THIRD HAND. / a. In order to strengthen your partner. You presume that he leads from his strong suit, and wants to get the winning cards of it out of his way[…]; you, therefore, do not finesse[…], but play your highest, remembering that you play the lowest of a sequence[…]. With ace, queen (and, of course, ace, queen, knave, &c., in sequence) you do finesse, for, in this case, if the king is in the fourth hand, it must make, unless single, which is very improbable; and by putting on the ace, you make the king good, if against you.

1864, Cavendish [pseudonym; Henry Jones], “The Third Hand”, in The Laws and Principles of Whist Stated and Explained, and Its Practice Illustrated on an Original System, by Means of Hands Played Completely through, 7th edition, London: Bancks Brothers […], →OCLC, part I (General Principles), page 41:

(intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing.

The ace is certainly to your left, you therefore finesse the ten, for if your left-hand adversary holds ace and knave he must make them both; but otherwise, your ten forces the ace, and you are left with the best.

1864, Cavendish [pseudonym; Henry Jones], “The Third Hand”, in The Laws and Principles of Whist Stated and Explained, and Its Practice Illustrated on an Original System, by Means of Hands Played Completely through, 7th edition, London: Bancks Brothers […], →OCLC, part I (General Principles), page 42:

Again, no amount of writing, and apparently no amount of practice, will induce a player to see that it is not always right to finesse an Ace Queen. We have seen all the trumps out. We have led a suit (Hearts) of which our partner had Ace, Queen, and two long Clubs; he finessed the Queen, and did not make his two Clubs. […] Twice in a fortnight have we have the Ace Queen finessed when two cards only remained in each hand and one trump was in.

1874 March 1, “Whist Jottings—Stupidity”, in The Westminster Papers. A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill, and the Drama, volume VI, London: W. Kent & Co., […], and W. W. Morgan, […]; Edinburgh: J. Menzies & Co.; Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, →OCLC, page 235:

(transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse.


trips

(poker, slang) Three of a kind, especially if one of the three cards is in one's hand and the other two are on the board. Compare set (“three of a kind, especially with one card on the board and the other two in one's hand”).


all in

By betting his last $100, John was all in.

(poker) Having no further stake to wager, but remaining active in a hand.


all in

(poker) A hand where at least one player bets all of his or her chips.

全押

hand where the player bets all of his chips

Since she was against an all in, Jill had no reason to bet.


nines

He drew nines from the deck.


covered

John has $100 on the table, while Jill only has $75. John has Jill covered.

(poker) Than whom another player has more money available for betting.


Black Friday

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Black Friday.wav

From black (“bad; ill-omened; marked by disaster”). Friday is an ill-omened day according to ancient superstition, so a Friday that was darkened by another ill-omen (such as being the 13th) or an actual disaster became known as "Black Friday". Philadelphia police applied the term to the day after Thanksgiving because the large number of people out shopping made traffic chaotic. Later, PR efforts purposely invented the incorrect, more positive "etymology" (which is a very popular urban legend and false etymology that was even in Wiktionary from 2008 to 2015) that the name was given because this day is supposedly the first day of the year on which retailers typically posted profits ('in the black') rather than losses ('in the red').

en:any of certain historically bad Fridays

Any Friday literally or figuratively darkened by catastrophe, or the anniversary thereof.

(Internet slang, poker, historical) The conclusion of United States v. Scheinberg in 15 April 2011, after which major online poker sites stopped offering real money play to their United States customers.


trump

Possibly from French triomphe (“triumph”) or Old French triumphe. If so, it is a doublet of triumph and thriambus. Compare German Trumpf.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-trump.wav

Diamonds were declared trump(s).

And now her Heart with Pleasure jumps,
She scarce remembers what is Trumps.

1730, Jonathan Swift, “Death And Daphne,”, in Some Verse Pieces:

(card games) The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.

He played an even higher trump.

(card games) A playing card of that suit.


trump

trump (third-person singular simple present trumps, present participle trumping, simple past and past participle trumped)

trumps (present singular third-person)
trumping (participle present)
trumped (participle past)
trumped (past)

He knew the hand was lost when his ace was trumped.

He lost his money at whist after dinner, and actually trumped his partner’s highest spade.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 52, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

(transitive, card games) To play on (a card of another suit) with a trump.

չախել

to play a trump on a card of another suit

(intransitive, card games) To play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump.

тегля коз

to play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump


go out

go out (third-person singular simple present goes out, present participle going out, simple past went out, past participle gone out)

goes out (present singular third-person)
going out (participle present)
went out (past)
gone out (participle past)

Leon made two canastas, then went out by melding treys.

(intransitive, card games) To discard or meld all the cards in one's hand.


hit and run

hit and run (third-person singular simple present hits and runs, present participle hitting and running, simple past hit and ran, past participle hit and run)

hits and runs (present singular third-person)
hitting and running (participle present)
hit and ran (past)
hit and run (participle past)
hit-and-run (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hit and run.wav

(poker) To join a poker game, quickly win several hands, then leave.


misère

Borrowed from French misère. Doublet of misery.

The exasperating frequency of hands where one card alone, such as a king or ace, supported by a deuce only, or king or ace bare, debars the holder from calling misère is an experience common to every player.

1895, Barry Pain, Jerome Klapka Jerome (contributors), To-Day, A Weekly Magazine-Journal, volume 9, number 105, page 248:

(card games, whist and others) A bid to lose every trick, or the majority of tricks, with no trumps.


back-to-back

(poker slang) Synonym of wired (“being a pair in seven card stud with one face up and one face down”).


depot

depots (plural)
dépôt (alternative rare)

→ Malay: depoh

From French dépôt, from Old French depost, from Medieval Latin dēpositum, from Latin, participle of dēpōnō, dēpōnere. Doublet of deposit.

(card games) The tableau: the area where cards can be arranged in solitaire or patience games.


renounce

From Old French renoncier (French renoncer), from Latin renūntiō.


renounce

renounce (third-person singular simple present renounces, present participle renouncing, simple past and past participle renounced)

renounces (present singular third-person)
renouncing (participle present)
renounced (participle past)
renounced (past)

(intransitive, card games) To fail to follow suit; playing a card of a different suit when having no card of the suit led.


fourchette

(card games) The combination of the card immediately above and the one immediately below a given card.


varlet

From Middle English varlet, varlette, from Old French varlet, variant of vadlet, vallet, vaslet. Doublet of valet.


trull

From French tous les trois (“all three”).

(card games) A set of three special trump cards used in some Tarock games, having a higher value than the other trumps.


youngest

(card games) Receiving dealt cards last, i.e. immediately before the next deal to the eldest.


carte blanche

en-noun

carte blanche (countable and uncountable, plural cartes blanches)

Borrowed from French carte blanche, referring to a blank or white card.

(card games) A hand with no court cards.


poker face

→ Japanese: ポーカーフェイス (pōkāfeisu)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-poker face.wav

Though he thought he had a perfect poker face, he had a number of tells his opponents soon learned.

(poker) An impassive facial expression cultivated to prevent other players from determining whether one's actions in the game are the result of a quality hand, or of bluffing.

撲克臉 /扑克脸

impassive facial expression preventing determining whether one's actions in the game are the result of a quality hand or of bluffing


lanterloo

lanterloo (countable and uncountable, plural lanterloos)

From French lanturlu, originally the refrain of a 16th-century song.

(uncountable, card games) A trick-taking card game popular in 17th-century England, where each player is dealt three or five cards.


overfull

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overfull.wav

[…] let's say the flop comes 9-9-8, with the open pair on top. One player has J-T-9-8 for the overfull—9s full of 8s for the nut full house—while another player has 8-8-7-6 for 8s full of 9s and the "underfull". The player with the underfull is both getting smashed and drawing dead.

2008, Jeff Hwang, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 5:

(poker) A full house that beats someone else's full house.


go it alone

en-verb

go it alone (third-person singular simple present goes it alone, present participle going it alone, simple past went it alone, past participle gone it alone)

goes it alone (present singular third-person)
going it alone (participle present)
went it alone (past)
gone it alone (participle past)

/ˈɡəʊ ɪt əˈləʊn/

/ˈɡoʊ ɪt əˈloʊn/

When the trump suit [in euchre] has been settled, the player who has named it (the maker) has the right to go it alone, but he must announce his intention to do so before a card has been led. His partner places his cards face downwards on the table, and takes no active part in the hand. The maker (he is the only one of the four who can go it alone) plays his hand against the two opponents in partnership.

2014, “Games for Three or More”, in Sarah Tomley, editor, The Card Games Bible: Over 150 Games and Tricks, London: Hamlyn, →ISBN, pages 125–126:

(card games) To play a hand without the assistance of one's partner.


sultan

en-noun

sultan (countable and uncountable, plural sultans or (rare, only in certain senses) salateen)

sultans (plural)
salateen (plural rare)
sultân (alternative)
sulṭān (alternative)

→ Chinese: 蘇丹 /苏丹 (sūdān)

From French sultan, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “strength, authority, ruler”). (compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón) and Hebrew סוּלְטָן (sultán)). Doublet of soldan.

der

(card games, uncountable) A variant of solitaire, played with two decks of cards.


full house

→ Japanese: フルハウス (furu hausu)

→ Portuguese: full house

→ Russian: фулл-ха́ус (full-xáus)

This loss of interest, hair, and enterprise — / Ah, if the game were poker, yes, / You might discard them, draw a full house! / But it's chess.

1954, Philip Larkin, Continuing to Live:

(poker) A hand that consists of three of a kind and a pair.


retract

en-verb

retract (third-person singular simple present retracts, present participle retracting, simple past and past participle retracted)

retracts (present singular third-person)
retracting (participle present)
retracted (participle past)
retracted (past)
retract (infinitive)
retract (first-person present singular)
retracted (first-person past singular)
retract (present second-person singular)
retractest (archaic present second-person singular)
retracted (past second-person singular)
retractedst (archaic past second-person singular)
retracts (present singular third-person)
retracteth (archaic present singular third-person)
retracted (past singular third-person)
retract (plural present)
retracted (past plural)
retract (present subjunctive)
retracted (past subjunctive)
retract (imperative present)
retracting (participle present)
retracted (participle past)

From Middle French rétracter (“to annul; to reconsider; to withdraw”) (modern French rétracter (“to retract; to contract”)), and from its etymon Latin retractāre, the present active infinitive of retractō (“to retract, withdraw; to annul, revoke; to detract from; to undertake again; to reconsider; to remember; to decline, refuse”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + tractō (“to drag, haul, tug”) (from trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”) + -tō (frequentative suffix forming verbs)).

взимам си думите назад

to take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written) — see also disavow, repudiate

(card games, archaic) To change one's mind after declaring an intention to make a certain move.


tuck box

(card games) A carton for storing a set of playing cards.


lead out

en-verb

lead out (third-person singular simple present leads out, present participle leading out, simple past and past participle led out)

leads out (present singular third-person)
leading out (participle present)
led out (participle past)
led out (past)

(poker slang) To bet into a pot postflop from the first betting position.


up the ante

up the ante (third-person singular simple present ups the ante, present participle upping the ante, simple past and past participle upped the ante)

ups the ante (present singular third-person)
upping the ante (participle present)
upped the ante (participle past)
upped the ante (past)

With three aces and two jacks, he thought it was safe to up the ante.

(poker) To raise the stakes of a hand of poker.


five card stud

(poker) Alternative spelling of five-card stud.


five-card stud

(poker) a simple form of stud poker where each individual receives five cards


stud poker

(poker) Any of several versions of poker in which some cards are dealt face-down and some face-up.


King Kong

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-King Kong.wav

(poker slang) Two kings as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


re-entry

en-noun

re-entry (countable and uncountable, plural re-entries)

re-entries (plural)
reentry (alternative)
reëntry (alternative)

(card games, bridge and whist) The act of retaking the lead by winning a trick.

(card games, bridge and whist) A re-entry card.


showdown

showdown (countable and uncountable, plural showdowns)

(poker) The final round in a poker match, where the all remaining players' cards have to be put down on the table and shown.


blocker

→ Polish: bloker, blokers

From Middle English blocker, blokker, bloker, blokkere, equivalent to block + -er.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-blocker.wav

Agent noun of block (“obstruct or prevent”); something that blocks something else.

(card games) A playing card, needed by one player, that is held by another.


sandbag

(poker) A deceptive play whereby a player with a strong hand bets weakly or passively.


canasta

From Spanish canasta. The game originates from Uruguay.

“Do you know something, Fred?” she announced, “I won four dollars and eighty-five cents playing Canasta this afternoon.”
“Canasta!” exclaimed Mr. Grimes, “I didn′t know you could play that silly game.”

1951 July, Henry F. Tenney, “Per Stirpes and Not Per Capita: Or, What Your Clients Can Never Tell You”, in ABA Journal, page 492:

Imagine, first, two players who engage in a game of canasta according to a standard set of rules.[…]We may imagine, however, that at a certain moment the two canasta players cease to play canasta and start a discussion of the rules.

2004, Gregory Bateson, “15: A Theory of Play and Fantasy”, in Henry Bial, editor, The Performance Studies Reader, page 130:

Modern American Canasta is a younger cousin of the game of Canasta I explain here.

2011, Barry Rigal, Card Games For Dummies, unnumbered page:

(uncountable, games, card games) A card game similar to rummy and played using two packs, where the object is to meld groups of the same rank.

Groups of seven of a kind are called canastas, and before a player can go out he or his partner must have at least one canasta.

1949 December 19, “The Canasta Craze”, in Life (magazine), page 47:

(countable, card games) A meld of seven cards in a game of canasta.


suited

en-adj

suited (comparative more suited, superlative most suited)

more suited (comparative)
most suited (superlative)

a three-suited hand

(card games, in combination) Having the specified kind or number of suits.

Brunson has ace-king suited in the small blind

(poker, of two or more cards) Of the same suit.


powerhouse

A hand like A-2-3-4 is a powerhouse in Omaha/8, because it can easily make the best low hand and capture half the pot.

2011, Richard D. Harroch, Lou Krieger, Poker For Dummies:

(card games) A very good hand of cards, likely to win.


chip in

en-verb

chip in (third-person singular simple present chips in, present participle chipping in, simple past and past participle chipped in)

chips in (present singular third-person)
chipping in (participle present)
chipped in (participle past)
chipped in (past)

He seemed to hesitate when he chipped in.

(intransitive, card games) To ante; to put into the pot the amount of chips or money required to continue.


vivant

(card games, obsolete) In mort, bridge, and similar games, the partner of dummy.


straddle

straddle (third-person singular simple present straddles, present participle straddling, simple past and past participle straddled)

straddles (present singular third-person)
straddling (participle present)
straddled (participle past)
straddled (past)

As a verb, attested since the 1560s. Most likely, an alteration of dialectal striddle. The noun is first attested in the 1610s.

(poker) To place a voluntary raise prior to receiving cards (only by the first player after the blinds).


straddle

(poker) A voluntary raise made prior to receiving cards by the first player after the blinds.

sokkokorotus

poker: raise made prior to receiving cards


cowboys

(poker slang) A pair of kings as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


jamboree

/ˌdʒæm.bəˈɹiː/

Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell

Unknown 19th-century American slang. Chosen by Baden-Powell in 1919 for use in the Scout Movement.

(card games) In euchre: an undefeatable hand containing the five highest cards.


under the gun

James will be under the gun for the first hand of the final table.

(poker) Of, pertaining to, or in the situation of first player to act on the first round of betting.


Benito

(card games) A card game played using a deck of 1990 MLB all-star playing cards.


fishhook

fishhooks (plural)
fish hook (alternative)

From Middle English fisch-hook, from Old English *fischōc (“fishhook”), equivalent to fish + hook. Cognate with Dutch vishaak (“fishhook”). In the sense of a jack (playing card), refers to the shape of the letter J on the card.

(slang, card games) A jack (type of playing card).


connector

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-connector.wav

(poker) Any of a group of cards of consecutive face value, useful in forming straights etc.


Cowboys

(poker slang) two kings as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


fill up

fill up (third-person singular simple present fills up, present participle filling up, simple past and past participle filled up)

fills up (present singular third-person)
filling up (participle present)
filled up (participle past)
filled up (past)

(poker slang) To make a full house on the turn or the river.


upcard

(card games) In stud poker or blackjack, a playing card dealt face up and left on the table for others to see.

(card games) In rummy, the top card of the discard pile.


Broadway

From broad + way. The Old English words "brad weg" have been used to name wide roads and associated settlements for over a thousand years. Documented examples include Broadway, Somerset and Broadway, Worcestershire, England, which are listed in the Domesday Book census of 1086AD as "Bradewie" and "Bradeweia" respectively.
Sense of “government of Manitoba” is from the address of the Manitoba Legislative Building, on Broadway in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

(poker slang) The highest straight in poker, ace-king-queen-jack-ten.


Broadway

Broadway connectors

(poker slang) Of, or pertaining to, the cards that make up a Broadway straight.


shorthanded

en-adj

shorthanded (comparative more shorthanded, superlative most shorthanded)

more shorthanded (comparative)
most shorthanded (superlative)

Some of the ideas discussed in the Omaha eight-or-better section include general concepts, position, low hands, high hands, your starting hand, play on the flop, multi-way versus shorthanded play, scare cards, getting counterfeited, and your playing style.

1992, Ray Zee, High-Low-Split Poker, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha Eight-Or-Better for Advanced Players:

(poker, of a table) Having fewer than the standard number of players.


triomphe

From French triomphe (literally “triumph”).

(card games) A card game dating from the late 15th century.


wild card

wild cards (plural)
wildcard (alternative)
wild-card (alternative)

(card games) A card that can be assigned any value or used to substitute for any needed card.


shootout

shootouts (plural)
shoot-out (alternative)

64 players entered the shooutout tournament, and were divided into eight tables of eight players each. The winner in each table went on to the final table, also consisting of eight players.

(poker) A multitable poker tournament in which only the last player on a table goes on to the next.


Sancho

(card games) The nine of trumps in the game of Sancho Pedro.


royal flush

→ German: Royal Flush

desc

→ Japanese: ロイヤルフラッシュ (roiyaru furasshu)

→ Portuguese: royal flush

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-royal flush.wav

(poker) An ace-high straight flush; a hand consisting of the cards A, K, Q, J, 10, of the same suit and the rarest and strongest hand in poker.


hockey stick

(poker) A playing card with the rank of seven.


shithead

en-noun

shithead (countable and uncountable, plural shitheads)

shitheads (plural)
shathead (alternative)
shitehead (alternative)
s**thead (alternative)
shith**d (alternative)

From shit + head. Dysphemistically modelled after dickhead.

(uncountable, vulgar, card games) A card game, the aim of which is to lose one's cards.


mixed marriage

mixed marriage (countable and uncountable, plural mixed marriages)

(poker slang) A king and a queen of different suits as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em (see marriage (poker slang)).


quadrille

French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra.

It now first struck her that she was selected from among her sisters as worthy of being the mistress of Hunsford Parsonage, and of assisting to form a quadrille table at Rosings, in the absence of more eligible visitors.

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 17, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

(card games) A Spanish trick-taking card game from the 1700s played with a 40-card deck.


rams

(card games) A French trick-taking card game related to nap and loo.


solitaire

solitaire (countable and uncountable, plural solitaires)

Borrowed from French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitary.

You like to sit high on a hill / Count the daisies in the field / It's your own way of playing solitaire / You won't answer no question / Or say where you've been / The last thing you think you need is a friend

1979, Ashford & Simpson, “Stay Free”, in Stay Free (album):

Mr. Greenwood said yesterday that he always finished his work in a timely fashion, and that he played solitaire only when there was nothing else left to do, usually a few times a week or during lunch breaks.

2006 February 10, Winnie Hu, “Solitaire Costs Man His City Job After Bloomberg Sees Computer”, in The New York Times:

I learned to play solitaire as a child. Its advantages over other games were obvious, even then. No need to persuade a friend to play or explain the boring rules, no hard feelings when someone won or lost, no lessons required, no costly equipment to badger my parents into buying. I could play whenever and wherever I wanted. All I needed was a deck of cards.

2013 February 23, Francine Prose, “Solitaire: Me vs. Me”, in The New York Times:

(card games, chiefly US) Any of various card games that can be played by one person.


milker

From Middle English milkere, equivalent to milk + -er.

(poker) A conservative poker player who only raises the stakes on a good hand.


jink

en-verb

jink (third-person singular simple present jinks, present participle jinking, simple past and past participle jinked)

jinks (present singular third-person)
jinking (participle present)
jinked (participle past)
jinked (past)

Origin uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests onomatopoeia for motion. Attested since the 18th century. Compare unnasalised dialectal jick (“to avoid with a sudden jerk of the body, elude”).

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeia

(intransitive, card games) In the games of spoilfive and forty-five, to win the game by taking all five tricks; also, to attempt to win all five tricks, losing what has been already won if unsuccessful.


bobtail

a bobtail flush

(poker, often attributive) An open-ended straight or four flush.


cuajo

From Spanish cuajo, from Hokkien, possibly 看好 (khòaⁿ-hó) or 看護 /看护 (khàn-hō͘ / khòaⁿ-hō͘ / khan-hō͘) or 看虎 (khòaⁿ hó͘, literally “watching the tiger”). Compare Tagalog kuwaho, Kapampangan kuwaho, English khanhoo.

(Philippines, card games) a kind of card game, similar to Khanhoo


quint

A musical or piquet term, or a quintuplet

From Middle French quint, from Latin quīntus. Doublet of quintus.

(card games) In piquet, a sequence of five playing cards of the same suit; equivalent to a straight flush in poker


cardsharp

cardsharps (plural)
cardshark (alternative)
card sharp (alternative)
card-sharp (alternative)

From card + sharp (“cheater, dishonest person”).

refn

From the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

compound

One of Tim’s great-grandparents was a cardsharp in the Wild West, and was shot dead during a game.

While thus running on, the knavish card-sharp was slowly, and with apparent fairness, cutting the pack, which was prepared by having every card but the honours of each suit cut at the ends, in so slight a degree, however, as not to shorten them enough to be detectible by an ordinary eye, though sufficiently to be felt by a fine and practised finger, which could thus ensure a court-card, while the red cards of the pack (or deck of cards, as they were then commonly called) were deprived of their proper size by a similar process of shaving off the sides, so as to make the turn-up either red or black at will of the player.

1850, Henry Downes Miles, chapter XI, in Claude du Val, a Romance, of the Days of Charles the Second, Edwin Dipple, […], →OCLC, page 191:

'Why Moses,' said Satan, 'nor Angels nor sinners / Can live without eating; let's go to our dinners; / Men who play at old sledge cannot both be the winners; / The card-sharps, you know, lose the dimes to beginners; […]'

1858, T[homas] L[ake] Harris, “Fourth Interview”, in Appendix to the Arcana of Christianity: The Song of Satan: A Series of Poems, […], New York, N.Y.: New Church Publishing Association, […], →OCLC, page l:

Whenever we used to want to take a rise out o' Bill after, we only had to ax him if he'd seen any more card sharps, and he'd get as mad as a hatter.

1865 November 18, Robert P. Whitworth, “Mary Summers: A Romance of the Australian Bush”, in The Australian Journal: A Weekly Record of Literature, Science, and the Arts, volume I, number 12, Melbourne, Vic., Sydney, N.S.W.: Clarson, Massina, and Co., printers and publishers, […], published 1866, →OCLC, chapter XVIII (The New Hut), page 178, column 1:

In hilly country sheep will sometimes get lost in small bands. [...] Should they prove unmanageable, refusing to travel, or running off from you, the adroit shepherd will practice against them a "string game" quite as effective as that the card sharp plays on the over-confident rustic. Catch the leader, or the whole party of rebels, and tie around one of the hind legs just above the hock joint, a piece of stout string— [...]

1875, A. A. Ritchie, “The Art of Sheep Raising for Wool, Mutton, and Money. […]”, in Transactions of the California State Agricultural Society during the Year 1874, Sacramento, Calif.: G. H. Springer, state printer, →OCLC, page 465:

The cleverest card[-]sharp we ever saw—outside of good society—was a Greek by country as well as by profession; but all the money he picked up in the by-ways of the sporting world went at the hazard-table, and the poor rogue often wanted a dinner.

1876 December 9, “A Run with Many Packs”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round. A Weekly Journal. [...] With which is Incorporated Household Words, volume XVII, number 419 (New Series), London: Published at No. 26, Wellington Street; and by Messrs. Chapman & Hall, […], published 1877, →OCLC, page 307, column 2:

You'd been running with a gang of card-sharps when I picked you up, and the police were waiting their chance to gaol you.

[1923], Edgar Wallace, “Abe Bellamy and His Secretary”, in The Green Archer, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 24:

When the businessmen quit, there had been two other men eager to take their chairs. The ranchers were somewhat leery about allowing strangers to join their game. They had been suckered in by a slick cardsharp once and had learned a lesson that still galled them whenever they were reminded of it.

1989, Jean Haught, Prisoner of Passion (A Zebra Romance), London: Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 34:

The cardsharp asked, ‘Now who wants to make a bet?’ The wise guy said, ‘I’ll make a bet. You stacked the cards. I’ll bet you twenty bucks you hold three aces.’ The cardsharp said, ‘You’re on, buddy. And you’re dead wrong.’

1990, Bob Longe, “Prediction”, in World’s Best Card Tricks, New York, N.Y.: Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 82:

(card games) A professional cheater at card games.

Caravaggio
Kimbell Art Museum
The Cardsharps


deadwood

en-noun

deadwood (countable and uncountable, plural deadwoods)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-deadwood.wav


go south

en-verb

go south (third-person singular simple present goes south, present participle going south, simple past went south, past participle gone south)

goes south (present singular third-person)
going south (participle present)
went south (past)
gone south (participle past)

(become worse): The origin is unclear. Common belief attributes it to the standard orientation of maps, where south is the downwards direction; in this regard, compare also go downhill, decline, and drop off. Alternatively, it could stem from a euphemism used by some Native Americans for dying.

(poker slang) To rathole: to take chips off the table in a cash game without exiting the game completely, especially with the intention of limiting losses.


horse

en-noun

horse (countable and uncountable, plural horses)

horses (plural)
hoss (alternative pronunciation-spelling regional)
hawss (alternative pronunciation-spelling regional)

Sranan Tongo: asi

→ Maori: hōiho

→ Quiripi: hosses (from the plural horses)

From Middle English horse, hors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car and carrus. Cognate with North Frisian hors (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Dutch ros, hors (“horse”), German Ross (“horse”), Danish hors (“horse”), Swedish russ, hors (“horse”), Icelandic hross, hors (“horse”).

a camel is a horse designed by a committee

a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse

close the barn door after the horse has bolted

close the stable door after the horse has been stolen

close the stable door after the horse has bolted

lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen

lock the stable door after the horse has bolted

shut the stable door after the horse has bolted

you can't put the shit back in the horse

zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse

Also Horse harness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

See Horse-drawn vehicles on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Note: Many of these were adapted into and/or gave their names to motor vehicle types

with the horse-drawn originals often being forgotten.

(poker slang) A player who has been staked, i.e. another player has paid for their buy-in and claims a percentage of any winnings.


five-and-dime

five-and-dimes (plural)
five and dime (alternative)
5 & dime (alternative)

(poker slang) A two pair, composed of fives and tens.

(poker slang) A five and a ten as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


roundhouse

roundhouses (plural)
round house (alternative)

(card games) In the game of pinochle, a meld consisting of a queen and king in each of the four suits.


hole card

(poker, chiefly in the plural) A playing card, dealt face down, that the holder need not reveal until the showdown.


undercard

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-undercard.wav

The eight on the turn was another undercard to her pair of nines

(poker) A card lower than another given card or pair.


picket

picket (countable and uncountable, plural pickets)

From French piquet, from piquer (“to pierce”).

(card games, uncountable) The card game piquet.


Motown

Blend of motor + town; see Motor City. The poker slang comes from jacks and fives sounding similar to Jackson 5, associated with Motown popular music.

(poker slang) A jack and a five as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Omaha

(poker) Omaha hold 'em, any of several poker variants.


rubicon

The noun is derived from the phrase cross the Rubicon (“to make an irreversible decision or to take an action with consequences”). Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, a small river in northeastern Italy, on 10 January 49 B.C.E., indicated his intention to start a civil war with Pompey. Rubicon is derived from Latin Rubicō, Rubicōn (“the Rubicon”), possibly from rubeus (“red, reddish”), from rubeō (“to be red”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”), an allusion to the colour of the river caused by mud deposits.
The verb is derived from the noun.

The game is called a double, and you score 200 instead of 100 when your adversary does not get 100, which, in technical language, is called crossing the Rubicon.

1873 August 1, “Answers to Correspondents. [Piquet.]”, in The Westminster Papers. A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill, and the Drama, volume VI, London: W. Kent & Co., […], and W. W. Morgan, […]; Edinburgh: J. Menzies & Co.; Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, published 1874, →OCLC, page 84, column 2:

If you are a good way ahead, and particularly in the last hand but one, if you have a chance of winning a Rubicon, you should make a safe discard, with the view of dividing or winning the cards, in order to keep your adversary back. On the other hand, if the score is much against you, and you are under a Rubicon, you are justified in making a bold discard.

1885, Cavendish [pseudonym; Henry Jones], “Hints to Learners”, in The Laws of Piquet: Edited by “Cavendish” and Adopted by the Portland and Turf Clubs: With a Treatise on the Game, 4th edition, London: Thomas De La Rue & Co., →OCLC, paragraph 12, page 82:

Brisques are not counted except to determine whether or not there is a rubicon, explained below.

1956, Richard L. Frey, Rules of Games According to Hoyle: Official Rules of More than 200 Popular Games of Skill and Chance with Expert Advice on Winning Play, New York, N.Y.: Fawcett Publications, →OCLC, page 162:

As an example: if a player is well ahead, and sees the opportunity to gain a rubicon, he should discard cautiously and play so as to prevent his opponent from saving the rubicon by scoring 100 points.

1989, Peter Arnold, editor, Complete Book of Card Games, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 64, column 1:

(card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: a score which, if not achieved by a losing player, increases the player's penalty.


rubicon

en-verb

rubicon (third-person singular simple present rubicons, present participle rubiconing, simple past and past participle rubiconed)

rubicons (present singular third-person)
rubiconing (participle present)
rubiconed (participle past)
rubiconed (past)

A curious score was made in a game of piquet with one of the ladies. [...] In the fifth hand she made a piquet and capot, scoring 121 to 0, and in the sixth hand, being the minor, she made a repiquet, taking all but the last trick, counting 111 to 3, totalling 270, and rubiconing her opponent at 99, with a win of 469 points.

1902 November, Walter Del Mar, “London to Colombo”, in Around the World through Japan, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 3–4:

Fleming initiated me into the mysteries of Bézique, and at once set about rubiconing me, [...]

1934, J[ohn] Angus Beckett, “The Return Ice-cap Journey”, in Iceland Adventure: The Double Traverse of Vatnajökull by the Cambridge Expedition, London: H. F. & G. Witherby, →OCLC, pages 125–126:

Ten points are received for the last trick but brisques are only counted if they make a difference as to who is the winner or if a player is rubiconed [...].

[1954], Helen Fried Joseph, The Family Book of Games and Sports, [Chicago, Ill.]: Popular Mechanics Press, →OCLC, page 167, column 2:

(transitive, card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: to defeat a player who has not achieved the rubicon.


turtling

(games, card games, computer games) A defensive strategy of avoiding conflict, by maintaining strong defense and little to no offense, while remaining in a fixed position.


fainaigue

fainaigue (third-person singular simple present fainaigues, present participle fainaiguing, simple past and past participle fainaigued)

fainaigues (present singular third-person)
fainaiguing (participle present)
fainaigued (participle past)
fainaigued (past)

Uncertain; perhaps:
* related to Old French fornoiier, fornier (“to deny”), from for- (prefix expressing error, exclusion, or inadequacy) + noiier, nier (“to deny”) (compare Late Latin forīsnegāre (“to renege, repudiate”), where the Frankish for- is rendered into Latin as forīs), from Latin negāre (“to deny; to refuse, say no; to reject, turn down (something)”), from nē (“no; not”) + aiō (“to affirm, say ‘yes’”)) (for the word ending, compare reneague (“to refuse to follow suit in a card game, renege; to deny, refuse; act of refusing to follow suit in a card game”) (Britain, dialectal)); or
* from feign (“to pretend”) + ague (“intermittent fever; (obsolete) acute fever”), or French aigüe (“(medicine) acute”) (as in maladie aiguë (“acute illness”)), literally “to act sick”.

der

When Mr. Simpson had spoken of the "Jack of Oaks" (meaning the Knave of Clubs), or had said "fainaiguing" (where others said "revoking"), we had pretended not to notice it, until at length we actually did not.

[1888, Q. [pseudonym; Arthur Quiller-Couch], “Of Deterioration; and a Wheelbarrow that Contained Unexpected Things”, in The Astonishing History of Troy Town, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, page 147:

(card games) To renege (“break one's commitment to follow suit when capable”).


tute

From Spanish tute, previously from Italian tutti.

(card games) A trick-taking card game, originally from Italy.


quodlibet

From Latin quod libet (“that which is pleasing”).

(card games) A card game that combines several different contracts.


trump card

(card games) A playing card, of the trump suit that is held in reserve until needed to win a trick.


squeeze play

squeeze plays (plural)
squeeze-play (alternative)

(poker) The tactic of reraising a raiser and a caller to compel one or both to fold, often as a bluff.


cutoff

cutoffs (plural)
cut off (alternative)
cut-off (alternative)

изключване

point at which something terminates or to which it is limited

(poker) The player who acts directly before the player on the button pre-flop.


basset

en-noun

basset (countable and uncountable, plural bassets)

From French bassette, from Italian bassetta.

Some dress, some dance, some play, not to forget / Your piquet parties, and your dear basset.

We are to go and see Pope's new grotto, opened for the first time; then try Hampton Court, and see if Mrs. Howard will stake a little princely gold on a pool of basset.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 173–174:

(uncountable, card games) A card game resembling faro.


unsuited

en-adj

unsuited (comparative more unsuited, superlative most unsuited)

more unsuited (comparative)
most unsuited (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-unsuited.wav

You have been dealt King-9 unsuited ("canine") in your pocket.

2005, Dennis Purdy, The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em, page 270:

(poker, said of two or more cards) Not of the same suit.


dead man's hand

The aces and eights sense is from a legend that Wild Bill Hickok was holding such cards at the time he was killed in 1876.

"A dead man's hand or queens on the roof at least," suggested Southack.
"They say two aces and two eights can never be beat."

1907, Davida French with Esther Stevens and Laura Wells, “The Rulers of the Realm”, in Not Included in a Sheepskin: Stanford Stories, Stanford: The Stanford Book Store, page 172:

(poker) A pair of aces and a pair of eights (especially, the black aces and eights), in a player's hand.

(poker) An ace and an eight as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em

When playing poker, should you hold a jack full on red sevens, it means death, and is called "a dead man's hand".

1903, Cora Linn Morrison Daniels, Charles McClellan Stevens, editors, Encyclopædia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, volume 3, J. H. Yewdale, page 1478:

(poker, obsolete) Other various hands, among them a full house of three jacks and two tens.


blue chip

Finance and figurative senses from poker.


all fours

'Twas a bad leg allowed me to read the Pilgrim's Progress, and Mark Clark learnt All-Fours in a whitlow.

1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd:

Other games were cribbage, all fours, ruff and honours, French ruff, five cards, costly colours, bon ace, putt, plain dealing, Queen Nazareen, pennech, post and pair, bankafalat, beast.

1882, John Ashton, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, page 104:

(card games) A card game similar to whist.


four-flush

four-flushes (plural)
four flush (alternative)


four-flush

en-verb

four-flush (third-person singular simple present four-flushes, present participle four-flushing, simple past and past participle four-flushed)

four-flushes (present singular third-person)
four-flushing (participle present)
four-flushed (participle past)
four-flushed (past)
four flush (alternative)

(poker) To attempt to pass off a four-flush as a flush.


four of a kind

(card games) Four cards of the same rank.


miscall

miscall (third-person singular simple present miscalls, present participle miscalling, simple past and past participle miscalled)

miscalls (present singular third-person)
miscalling (participle present)
miscalled (participle past)
miscalled (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-miscall.wav

From Middle English miscallen, equivalent to mis- + call.

When the loser thinks he has the hand beat he turns over his hand only to find that the winner has miscalled his hand, and since "cards speak," the miscaller wins.

1983, David M. Hayano, Poker Faces: The Life and Work of Professional Card Players, page 59:

To make a wrong call (prediction or announcement).

(poker) To announce one's hand of cards incorrectly.


overbid

overbid (third-person singular simple present overbids, present participle overbidding, simple past and past participle overbid)

overbids (present singular third-person)
overbidding (participle present)
overbid (participle past)
overbid (past)

(intransitive, card games) To announce a goal, before starting play, that exceeds the goal actually achieved.


overbid

(card games) The announcement of a goal, before starting play, that exceeds the goal actually achieved.


bookends

Poker sense: because the cards are the first and last in a top straight.

(poker, slang) An ace and a ten as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


steel wheel

A wheel is a common slang name for the lowest straight, ace-2-3-4-5.

(poker, slang) The lowest straight flush, ace-2-3-4-5 (all of the same suit).


full boat

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-full boat.wav


three wise men

In reference to the three wise kings, or Magi, in the story of Christ's birth.


aces and spaces

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-aces and spaces.wav

(poker slang) A poker hand containing only a pair of aces.


up-and-down straight draw

en-noun

up-and-down straight draw (plural up-and-down straight draws)

(poker slang) A poker hand that has four cards to a straight, where there are two different ranked cards that will complete the straight. E.g. 4-5-6-7, either a 3 or 8 could make a straight. It is used only when the player has not yet received all the cards she will receive for a particular hand.


gutshot

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-gutshot.wav

(poker slang) A poker hand which is four cards to a straight, where only one rank can complete a straight. E.g. 3-4-6-7, only a five completes the straight; A gut-shot straight.


belly buster

(poker slang) A poker hand which is four cards to a straight, where only one rank can complete a straight. E.g. 3-4-6-7, only a five completes the straight.


double belly buster

double belly buster (plural double belly busters)

(poker slang) A poker hand where two different ranks could complete the straight, but the new card would not be the highest or lowest card in the straight. E.g. 2-4-5-6-8, either a 3 or a 7 could complete the straight


double gut shot

double gut shot (plural double gut shots)

(poker slang) A poker hand where two different ranks could complete the straight, but the new card would not be the highest or lowest card in the straight. Example: 2-4-5-6-8, where a 3 or 7 could complete the straight.


pocket rockets

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pocket rockets.wav

(poker slang) A pair of aces as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


American Airlines

American Airlines (plural American Airlines)

Due to the initials of ace-ace and American Airlines being AA.


two pips

(poker slang) A pair of aces as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


big slick

(poker slang, singular only) An ace and a king as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em. (Originally used to denote only an ace and a king of the same suit, the term now includes any ace and king.)


little slick

(poker slang) An ace and a queen as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em

(poker slang) An ace and a two as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


Johnny Moss

After the professional poker player Johnny Moss.

(poker slang) An ace and a ten as starting cards in Texas hold 'em.


acey-deucey

acey-deucey (countable and uncountable, plural acey-deuceys)

acey-deuceys (plural)
acey-deucy (alternative)

(poker slang) An ace and a two as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.

(poker, uncountable) An uncommon poker variant where players bet on whether the next card will fall between two other cards.


drinking age

In most of the United States, the drinking age is 21 years. In poker, an ace often has the value of one. Hence, one could say that a 2-A hand in poker could have a value equivalent to 2-1.

(poker slang) A two and an ace as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


royal marriage

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-royal marriage.wav

(poker slang) A king and a queen of the same suit as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em (see marriage)


Kojac

(poker slang) A king and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


king crab

(poker slang) A king and a three as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Alaska hand

(poker slang) A king and a three as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em (see king crab).


Woolworth's

F. W. Woolworth Company
Frank Winfield Woolworth

After the F. W. Woolworth Company, named for its founder, Frank Winfield Woolworth.

(poker slang) A five and a ten as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford (plural Broderick Crawfords)

Named after the actor Broderick Crawford, known for using the police code ten-four in the 1950s TV series Highway Patrol.

(poker slang) A ten and a four as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Oldsmobile

Named after Ransom E. Olds, who founded a motor company in 1897. His early companies' names included his surname, and the automobiles were first marketed as Olds automobiles. That collocation was quickly blended informally by the public to produce Oldsmobile, which was soon also used by the company itself. The poker senses of the word refer to the Oldsmobile 98.

(poker slang) A lowball hand with a nine and an eight as the two highest cards

(poker slang) A nine and an eight as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em


Dolly Parton

Named after American country singer Dolly Parton, who had a hit with the song “9 to 5”.

named-after

(slang, poker) A nine and a five as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Jack Benny

After Jack Benny, an American comedian with a running gag of always being 39 years old.

(poker slang) A three and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Raquel Welch

In reference to the curvaceous figure of the American actress Raquel Welch.

(poker slang) A three and an eight as starting cards in Texas hold 'em.


Union Oil

(poker slang) A lowball hand with a seven and a six as the two highest cards

(poker slang) A seven and a six as starting cards in Texas hold 'em


beer hand

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-beer hand.wav

Perhaps because a player in a social setting who is dealt this hand would be likely to fold, giving them the chance to fetch another beer.

(poker slang) A seven and two as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.


Jesse James

After Jesse James (1847–1882), American robber and outlaw; one sense after his daring lifestyle, the other after a common myth that he was fatally shot with a .45 caliber bullet (he was actually shot with a .44).

(poker slang) A player who often bluffs.

(poker slang) A four and a five as starting cards in Texas hold 'em.


semi-bluff

semi-bluffs (plural)
semibluff (alternative)

(poker) A type of bluff where the bluffer believes that the bluff has some chance of immediate success and also that he or she has some chance of improving his hand to win at a showdown.


semi-bluff

en-verb

semi-bluff (third-person singular simple present semi-bluffs, present participle semi-bluffing, simple past and past participle semi-bluffed)

semi-bluffs (present singular third-person)
semi-bluffing (participle present)
semi-bluffed (participle past)
semi-bluffed (past)
semibluff (alternative)


post oak bluff

(poker) A type of bluff in no limit poker, where a player bets a small amount to suggest that he or she has a strong hand and would like to be called.


trey

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English treye, from Anglo-Norman trei or treis, from Old French treis (“three”). Doublet of three and tres.

Before you begin the Game at Picket, you must throw out of the Pack the Deuces, Treys, Fours and Fives, and play with the rest of the Cards, which are in number thirty and six.

1674, Charles Cotton, chapter 6, in The Compleat Gamester, London: R. Cutler, page 81:

He had been a pretty good guy, straight as ace-deuce-trey-four-five, till he got on the force.

1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 11, in Red Harvest:

You see, Sir, when I look at the Ace it reminds me that there is but one God. The deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. And when I see the trey I think of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

1948 January 1, “Deck of Cards” (track 20), in Famous Country Music Makers, performed by Tex Ritter:

Davidson had caught a trey which did not seem to improve his hand, yet he threw three dollars into the pot.

1982, Stephen King, The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands:

(card games, occasionally dice games) A playing card or die with the rank of three.

(card games, dice games, dominoes) A score of three in cards, dice, or dominoes.


inside straight draw

en-noun

inside straight draw (plural inside straight draws)

Hellmuth flopped an inside straight draw, and needed a five on the turn or river to complete the straight.

(poker) A straight draw where a card is missing from the middle of the straight, therefore only one rank can complete the straight.


open ended straight draw

open ended straight draw (plural open ended straight draws)

(poker) Four cards to a straight where cards of two different ranks could complete a straight. (E.g. 4-5-6-7)

avoin neljän suora

poker: four cards to a straight, open in both ends


up and down straight draw

up and down straight draw (plural up and down straight draws)

open ended straight draw
open ended straight draw

(poker, slang) An open ended straight draw


high card

(poker) A hand which has no pairs and is not a straight or a flush, and is the lowest possible winning hand.


two pair

(poker) A hand which contains two pairs.


three of a kind

(card games) A hand including three cards of the same rank.


table stakes

(poker) A rule whereby players are only allowed to bet the money they have on the table.


ring game

(poker) A game where the chips directly represent money and players are free to leave at any time, in contrast to a poker tournament.


sit-and-go

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sit-and-go.wav

This sit-and-go starts once 14 people have entered the tournament. The money is awarded to the last 3 players.

(poker) A type of poker tournament which has no scheduled start time and begins once a set number of players have entered the tournament.


deuce-to-seven lowball

(poker) A version of lowball poker where the ace is the high card and straights and flushes count, making the best hand 2-3-4-5-7 (with at least two different suits).


draw poker

The Egyptologist, seeking for new light, will discover within the parchmental pages of this little papyrus roll, many facts of interest which have not been recorded elsewhere, for instance, the astonishing revelation that even the crowned heads of the ancient lands are just as susceptible to the seductive blandishments and fascinations of that elusive game of chance, known to the initiated as “draw poker,” as are the rulers of our own Republic, who are said to semi-occasionally indulge in this pernicious pastime within the precincts of our own country’s capitol.

1893, “Literary Nuggets”, in The Doctor’s Factotum, page 10, column 1:

(poker) A form of poker where players can trade in cards for new ones and their cards are not shown until the showdown.


holdout

He is probably working a vest or sleeve hold-out. Some clumsy or audacious sharpers will go so far as to hold out cards in their lap, or stick them in a "bug" under the table.

1897, Robert Frederick Foster, Foster's Complete Hoyle, page 195:

(card games) A device for cheating at card games by covertly holding a card out of play until it is wanted.


check-raise

en-verb

check-raise (third-person singular simple present check-raises, present participle check-raising, simple past and past participle check-raised)

check-raises (present singular third-person)
check-raising (participle present)
check-raised (participle past)
check-raised (past)

Check-raising is sometimes specifically prohibited by house rules.

(poker) To check and then raise a bet by another player in the same betting round.


check-raise

(poker) A raise made by a player who checked before in the same betting round.


slowplay

slowplay (third-person singular simple present slowplays, present participle slowplaying, simple past and past participle slowplayed)

slowplays (present singular third-person)
slowplaying (participle present)
slowplayed (participle past)
slowplayed (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-slowplay.wav

Jane checked, slowplaying her straight flush

(poker) To bluff by playing a strong hand weakly.


slowplay

(poker) An action which represents a strong hand as weak.


overcall

overcall (third-person singular simple present overcalls, present participle overcalling, simple past and past participle overcalled)

overcalls (present singular third-person)
overcalling (participle present)
overcalled (participle past)
overcalled (past)

/ˌəʊvəˈkɔːl/

/ˈəʊvəˌkɔːl/

Jill bet, Tommy called, and Julie overcalled.

(poker, bridge) To call a bet after another player has already called


overcall

/ˌəʊvəˈkɔːl/

/ˈəʊvəˌkɔːl/

(poker, bridge) A call which occurs after another player has already called


overcard

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overcard.wav

(poker) A card higher than any other card or pair. Often used in reference to the community cards in Texas hold 'em


implied odds

(poker) The odds offered by the amount one must call against the amount currently in the pot plus the amount one stands to gain from future betting. (In contrast to pot odds)


pot odds

Pot = $360. Cost to call = $180. Pot odds = 2:1 or 33.3%.

(poker) The ratio of pot size to the cost of a contemplated call.


pot committed

en-adj

pot committed (comparative more pot committed, superlative most pot committed)

more pot committed (comparative)
most pot committed (superlative)

The pot is $900, and your stack is $70. You are pot committed. You are forced to go all-in if the villain raises, even if your hand is weak, or else you are forfeiting the chance to win $900.

(poker) Unable to fold as a strategically correct play, given the current pot odds (ratio of pot size to the cost of a contemplated call).


fixed limit

en-noun

fixed limit (countable and uncountable, plural fixed limits)

(poker) A form of poker game where bets and raises can only be a single size as specified by the rules.


pot limit

(poker) A form of poker game where bets and raises can be any amount between a fixed minimum and the current size of the pot.


spread limit

(poker) A poker game where bets and raises can be any amount between a specified minimum and a specified maximum.


no limit

(poker) A style of poker game where bets and raises can be as large as the player is capable of making them.


freeroll

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-freeroll.wav

(poker) A poker tournament with no entry fee.

We both had straights, but Jill had a flush draw: she was on a freeroll.

(poker) A situation where a player is guaranteed a tie but can still win.


freeroll

en-verb

freeroll (third-person singular simple present freerolls, present participle freerolling, simple past and past participle freerolled)

freerolls (present singular third-person)
freerolling (participle present)
freerolled (participle past)
freerolled (past)

We both had straights, but Jill had a flush draw: she was freerolling me.

(poker) To be in a position where one is guaranteed a tie, but one can also win.


draw out

draw out (third-person singular simple present draws out, present participle drawing out, simple past drew out, past participle drawn out)

draws out (present singular third-person)
drawing out (participle present)
drew out (past)
drawn out (participle past)

Jill had a flush on the turn, but Jimmy drew out by completing a full house on the river.

(poker) To improve a losing hand to a winning hand by receiving additional cards.


reverse implied odds

(poker) The odds offered by the amount one stands to lose in future betting when one has the worst hand against the amount one stands to win when one has the best hand.


value bet

(poker) A bet placed with the intention of being called in order to extract more money from a likely worse hand.


value bet

value bet (third-person singular simple present value bets, present participle value betting, simple past and past participle value bet)

value bets (present singular third-person)
value betting (participle present)
value bet (participle past)
value bet (past)

(poker) To bet with the intention of being called in order to extract more money from a likely worse hand.


value raise

(poker) A raise made with the intention of being called in order to extract more money from a likely worse hand.


value raise

value raise (third-person singular simple present value raises, present participle value raising, simple past and past participle value raised)

value raises (present singular third-person)
value raising (participle present)
value raised (participle past)
value raised (past)

(poker) To raise with the intention of being called in order to extract more money from a likely worse hand.


deep stack

(poker) An amount of money that is large relative to the stakes being played

(poker) A player who has a large amount of money relative to the stakes being played


short stack

short stacks (plural)
shortstack (alternative)

(poker) A relatively small quantity of chips relative to the stakes.

(poker) A player who is in possession of a short stack.


continuation bet

en-noun

continuation bet (plural continuation bets)

continuation bets (plural)
C-bet (alternative)

(poker) A bet made in a round of betting, after raising in the previous round of betting, usually with a weak hand.


continuation bet

en-verb

continuation bet (third-person singular simple present continuation bets, present participle continuation betting, simple past and past participle continuation bet)

continuation bets (present singular third-person)
continuation betting (participle present)
continuation bet (participle past)
continuation bet (past)
C-bet (alternative)


chip leader

(poker) The player with most chips at a given time in a poker tournament.


limp reraise

(poker slang) A reraise which was made by a player who previously called on the same betting round.


limp reraise

limp reraise (third-person singular simple present limp reraises, present participle limp reraising, simple past and past participle limp reraised)

limp reraises (present singular third-person)
limp reraising (participle present)
limp reraised (participle past)
limp reraised (past)

(poker slang) To reraise after previously calling on the same betting round.


reraise

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-reraise.wav

(poker) A raise of a bet which itself constituted a raise of a previous bet.


reraise

reraise (third-person singular simple present reraises, present participle reraising, simple past and past participle reraised)

reraises (present singular third-person)
reraising (participle present)
reraised (participle past)
reraised (past)


made hand

John already had two pair, aces and threes; he had a made hand.

(poker) A poker hand which is already a strong hand regardless of which cards come in later rounds.


drawing hand

John only had four cards of the same suit; he had a drawing hand.

(poker) A poker hand which requires some specific cards on later rounds in order to become a strong hand.


overbet

Since the pot was only $10, Julie's $100 bet was certainly an overbet.

(poker) A bet which is more than standard for a particular situation.


overbet

overbet (third-person singular simple present overbets, present participle overbetting, simple past and past participle overbet or overbetted)

overbets (present singular third-person)
overbetting (participle present)
overbet (participle past)
overbet (past)
overbetted (participle past)
overbetted (past)

Julie overbet by betting $100 into a $10 pot.

(poker) To bet an amount which is more than standard for a particular situation.


overpair

(poker) A pocket pair of a higher rank than the community cards on the board.


underbet

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underbet.wav

Since the pot contained $1,000, James' $10 bet was an underbet.

(poker) a bet which is smaller than standard for a given situation


underbet

underbet (third-person singular simple present underbets, present participle underbetting, simple past and past participle underbet)

underbets (present singular third-person)
underbetting (participle present)
underbet (participle past)
underbet (past)

James underbet by betting only $10 into a $1,000 pot

(poker) to bet a smaller amount than is standard for a given situation


German virgin

A pun on nine nine and German nein nein (“no, no”).

(idiomatic, poker, now possibly offensive) A poker hand in Texas hold 'em, consisting of two nine cards.


bad beat

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bad beat.wav

(poker) The losing of a hand after being the mathematical favorite to win at the start of the hand.


curse of Scotland

Uncertain; it may have come from a resemblance to the coat of arms of Dalrymple, Lord Stair, who was an object of criticism for his part in the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692, and his work in bringing about the Union with England in 1707 (ref. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition 1989).

With a mixed hand and the highest card the curse of Scotland, I've seen that man stand pat in a game with four millionaire mining men.

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IV, in The Understanding Heart:

After a moment of silence, it was Miles who announced in a clear and firm voice, “The cards you have put down there all happen to be black—your ‘red’ is the nine of diamonds, the curse of Scotland, and it's right here,” reaching to lift the sharper's hat, and to remove from atop his head, and exhibit, the card at issue.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 26:

(card games, slang) The nine of diamonds.


abondance

with an abondance already declared against him and lacking the top two hearts, West took it as a fair bet that he must have held ten or eleven trumps, leaving a strong possibility of Ace bare in South's hand.

1976, Edu-Games (U.K.) (publisher), Games & Puzzles, numbers 44-55, page 32:

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(card games) Alternative form of abundance


jass

A Swiss jass master and I teamed up against my wife and an American, who were both rank beginners.

Jass is similar to bridge, though with completely different cards, and is a national obsession, for young and old alike.

2010, Diccon Bewes, Swiss Watching, page 244:

When Nonna plays cards, she moves her teeth from side to side. It makes a bit of a racket. It distracts the other jass players – that's why Nonna's so good at jass.

2014, Arno Camenisch, translated by Donal McLaughlin, Behind the Station:

(card games) A trick-taking card game popular in Switzerland and neighboring areas of Germany and Austria.


shoot the moon

shoot the moon (third-person singular simple present shoots the moon, present participle shooting the moon, simple past and past participle shot the moon)

shoots the moon (present singular third-person)
shooting the moon (participle present)
shot the moon (participle past)
shot the moon (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shoot the moon.wav

In our last hand of pinochle, Leon and Janet shot the moon, taking all 50 tricks.

When Randy took the queen of spades on the last trick in our game of hearts, he shot the moon.

(card games) To achieve the lowest or highest score possible, such that the player is usually rewarded with bonus points.


rathole

rathole (third-person singular simple present ratholes, present participle ratholing, simple past and past participle ratholed)

ratholes (present singular third-person)
ratholing (participle present)
ratholed (participle past)
ratholed (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rathole.wav

enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

(transitive, poker) To surreptitiously or prematurely remove chips during a poker game.

(intransitive, poker) To exit a cash game and re-enter with a smaller stack.


nullo

If the adversaries of a nullo revoke, the declarer can give them three of his tricks, or take 100 in honours as penalty. If he revokes, they take 100 penalty as usual. SUGGESTIONS FOR BIDDING. The dealer should never bid a nullo originally ...

1914, Robert Frederick Foster, Encyclopedia of Games: Including All the Indoor Games Played at the Present Day, [etc.]., page 26:

It takes a better nullo hand to raise nullos than to bid them. Dummy shows. A player who has once been called off from nullos by his partner should never return to them.

1916, Florence Irwin, The Complete Auction Player, page 375:

(card games) A bid in which the bidder asserts that he or she will not take any tricks.


big blind

The blinds are: $1/$2. (small blind: $1, big blind: $2)

I have 10 big blinds in my stack. (big blind = $5, so I have $50 in my stack)

(poker) The larger of the forced bets, usually equivalent to the minimum bet.

If I raise, maybe the big blind will fold.

(poker) The player forced to pay such a bet.


small blind

(poker) The smaller of the forced bets, usually equivalent to half the minimum bet, depending on the variation of poker played.


face card

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-face card.wav

(US, card games) A playing card with a face, properly a jack, queen, or king but (inexact, sometimes proscribed) sometimes also an ace or joker.


EV

en-noun

EV (countable and uncountable, plural EVs)

PHEVLER

plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with long electric range


refait

(card games) In the game of trente et quarante, the situation where the aggregate pip value of cards dealt to red equals that of those dealt to black. All bets are then off, unless the value is 31, in which case the banker wins half the stakes.


keep one's cards close to one's chest

en-verb

keep<,,kept> one's cards close to one's chest

keep one's cards close to one's chest (third-person singular simple present keeps one's cards close to one's chest, present participle keeping one's cards close to one's chest, simple past and past participle kept one's cards close to one's chest)

keeps one's cards close to one's chest (present singular third-person)
kept one's cards close to one's chest (participle past)
kept one's cards close to one's chest (past)

En-au-keep one's cards close to one's chest.ogg

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-keep one's cards close to one's chest.wav

The figurative sense is a self-evident extension from the literal sense.

(card games, literal) To hold one's hand close to one's chest so that other players cannot see the cards.


ATC

(poker) Initialism of any two (pocket) cards.


on the come

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-on the come.wav

Players often bet when their hand needs to improve to win, this semi-bluff is known as "on the come."

2006, Lou Krieger, The Poker Player's Bible:

(poker) Betting on cards that may come in the future.


king of spades

(card games) One of the 52 playing cards in a standard deck.


queen of spades

en-noun

queen of spades (plural queens of spades)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-queen of spades.wav


queen of hearts

queen of hearts (plural queens of hearts)


king of diamonds

king of diamonds (plural kings of diamonds)


queen of diamonds

queen of diamonds (plural queens of diamonds)


jack of diamonds

jack of diamonds (plural jacks of diamonds)

jacks of diamonds (plural)
knave of diamonds (alternative)

ईंट का ग़ुलाम

ī̃ṭ kā ġulām


king of clubs

चिड़ी का राजा

ciṛī kā rājā


queen of clubs

चिड़ी की रानी

ciṛī kī rānī


Heinz 57

Heinz 57 (countable and uncountable, plural Heinz 57s)

term-label

(US, humorous, informal, also attributive)

Alice Rawsthorn
Heinz
The New York Times
The New York Times Company

From the “57 Varieties” slogan introduced by the H. J. Heinz Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., in 1896 to advertise the fact that it produced numerous food products. Heinz is derived from the surname of the American entrepreneur Henry John Heinz (1844–1919) who founded the company (borrowed from German Heinz), while 57 was apparently an arbitrary number chosen by Heinz because 5 was his lucky number and 7 his wife’s lucky number; at the time, the company was already selling more than 60 products.

(uncountable, poker) A variety of draw poker in which the five and seven playing cards are wild cards.


raise the stakes

en-verb

raise the stakes (third-person singular simple present raises the stakes, present participle raising the stakes, simple past and past participle raised the stakes)

raises the stakes (present singular third-person)
raising the stakes (participle present)
raised the stakes (participle past)
raised the stakes (past)

With a royal flush, he decided to raise the stakes.

(poker) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see raise, stakes (used literally e. g. of a hand of poker)


big lick

A play on words from big slick (another poker hand) and 69 (an oral sex practice).

Nick bluffed him out of that pot with big lick.

(slang, poker) A Texas hold 'em starting hand involving both a 6 and a 9 of any suit.


underfull

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underfull.wav

[…] let's say the flop comes 9-9-8, with the open pair on top. One player has J-T-9-8 for the overfull—9s full of 8s for the nut full house—while another player has 8-8-7-6 for 8s full of 9s and the "underfull". The player with the underfull is both getting smashed and drawing dead.

2008, Jeff Hwang, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 5:

(poker) A full house that is beaten by someone else's full house.


rollout

rollouts (plural)
roll-out (alternative)

(poker) A game variant in which players progressively reveal their cards.


Ring of Fire

(card games) A drinking game in which each card of a pack of playing cards, picked at random from a deck sprawled out in a circle, has a certain consequence (involving drinking, or playing a particular drinking game).


pangene

… fargo, craps, draw poker, studhorse poker, pangeni or pangene, twenty-one …

(obsolete, card games) Alternative spelling of panguingue.


pocket pair

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pocket pair.wav

Pocket aces is the best possible pocket pair.

(poker) Two hole cards of the same value.


sweep the board

sweep the board (third-person singular simple present sweeps the board, present participle sweeping the board, simple past and past participle swept the board)

sweeps the board (present singular third-person)
sweeping the board (participle present)
swept the board (participle past)
swept the board (past)


build up

build up (third-person singular simple present builds up, present participle building up, simple past and past participle built up)

builds up (present singular third-person)
building up (participle present)
built up (participle past)
built up (past)

(card games) In solitaire card games, to place a card over another card of lower value. (e.g., place 5♦ over 4♣)


limper

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-limper.wav

(poker slang) One who limps (one who calls the big blind in the preflop betting round).