Baby:

A small card, usually a five or less.

Back Door:

A hand made by using the last two cards dealt in Seven-Card Stud, Texas Hold’em, or Omaha. See Runner.

Back-In:

To win by default or unexpectedly.

Back-to-Back:

A pair on the first two cards dealt in Seven-Card Stud, Five-Card Draw, and Texas Hold’em.

Backer:

A person who finances an active player.

Backraise:

A minimum re-raise made in order to avoid a larger raise.

Bad Beat:

When you lose the pot holding a hand that you were the favorite to win.

Bait:

A small bet that provokes a raise.

Bank:

The financial backer of a gambling operation.

Bank Night:

High-Low Five-Card Stud with two twists. See Twist.

Banker:

The person responsible for the selling and cashing of chips.

Bankroll:

The money a player uses to finance his poker game, as opposed to the money he uses to live.

Barn:

A full house.

Barracuda:

A tough player.

Base Deal:

A form of cheating in which you deal from the bottom of the deck. Also known as a bottom deal or a buse deal.

Baseball:

A Stud game involving nines and threes as wild cards.

Baskin-Robbins:

Three-ace (3A).

Beans:

Chips.

Bear:

A tight player.

Beat the Board (Table):

To have a hand better than all others showing.

Beat Your Neighbor:

A five-card game that requires each player to expose his cards in turn until his hand beats the board.

Bedsprings:

Similar to Cincinnati, except ten cards are dealt face-up for use in everyone’s hand.

Beer Hand:

Seven-two (72).

Behind:

If you do not have the best hand before all the last cards have been dealt, you are “behind”.

Belly Buster Straight:

See Inside Straight.

Belly Hit:

When a draw fills an inside straight. This is also called an inside straight or a gut-shot.

Belly Strippers:

Cards with slightly trimmed edges that taper from a wider center to the ends.

Berry Patch:

An extremely easy game.

Best Flush:

A game in which only a flush can win the pot.

Bet Into:

To bet before another player has acted on the betting round is called “betting into” that player.

Bet or Get:

A rule that one must either bet or fold, with no checking allowed.

Bet the Limit:

To bet the maximum amount allowed.

Bet the Pot:

To bet an amount equal to the pot.

Bet the Raise:

The maximum bet is twice that of the previous bet or raise.

Betting Interval:

The period from the first bet to the last call, in any given round.

Betting Pace:

The degree, extent, and aggressiveness of bets and raises.

Betting Ratios:

The differences in the maximum bets allowed with each new round of betting.

Betting Stakes:

The dollar limits permitted on all bets and raises.

Betty Hutton:

Seven-Card Stud with nines and fives wild.

Bicycle Wheel:

The hand A2345, also called a wheel or bicycle.

Bid:

To declare for high or low in split-pot poker.

Big Beat:

The largest betting amount in Limit games.

Big Bill:

One hundred dollars or one thousand dollars.

Big Blind:

In flop games, two bets are usually posted before any cards are dealt. The “small blind” by the player seated to the immediate left of the dealer and the “big blind” (usually double the small blind) by the player seated to the immediate left of the small blind.

Big Bobtail:

A four-card straight flush.

Big Cat:

Five un-paired cards from the king to the eight.

Big Dog:

(1) Five un-paired cards from the ace to the nine. (2) A big underdog. See Underdog.

Big Full:

The highest possible full house.

Big One:

One thousand dollars.

Big Slick:

(1) An ace and a king as your hole cards in Texas Hold’em. (2) Ace-king (AK).

Big Squeeze:

Six-Card High-Low Stud with one twist. See Twist.

Big Tiger:

See Big Cat.

Bill:

One dollar or one hundred dollars.  

Bird Dog:

A person who recruits players for a game.

Black:

The color of one hundred dollar chips.

Blank:

A card that appears to be of no help to any player.

Blaze Full:

A full house in picture cards.

Blazer:

A five-card hand consisting of five picture cards.

Bleed:

To slowly “bleed” money from a game or a player.

Bleeder:

A tight, winning player.

Blind:

A forced bet (or partial bet) put down by one or more players before any cards have been dealt. Typically, “blinds” are put in by players seated immediately to the left of the button. See also Live Blind.

Blind Bet:

To bet before looking at one’s hand.

Blind Low:

Five-Card Stud bet blind all the way to the last bet.

Blind Open:

An opening bet made without looking at one’s cards.

Blind Shuffle:

A cheater’s shuffle, used to stack cards or to leave stacked cards undisturbed after shuffling. Also called a false shuffle.

Blind Tiger:

Draw poker with a blind open and a blind raise.

Block System:

An ante, open, and first raise automatically done “in the blind” by the dealer.

Blocky:

Six-three (63).

Blood Poker:

A higher stakes poker game played primarily for money, rather than for social reasons.

Blow Back:

A raise made after previously calling or checking.

Bluff:

The attempt to win a pot by making better hands fold.

Blur Intensity:

The lightness or darkness of printing visible on partially flashed cards, indicating a high or a low card.

Board:

(1) The poker table. (2) All face-up cards in Seven-Card Stud, Texas Hold ‘em, or Omaha.

Boat:

A full house.

Bobtail Flush or Straight:

A four-card flush or a four-card open-end straight.

Bolt:

To fold.

Bone:

A white chip, which is the lowest denomination chip. See White.

Bonus:

A fixed sum established by house rules. It is paid by each player to the holder of a very high value hand, such as a straight flush (also called a Premium, Royalty, or Penalties). In additon, it can also take the form of sign-up bonuses given out by online poker rooms.

Book:

A three-card draw.

Boost:

To raise.

Border Work:

Markings added by cheaters to the printed borderlines of cards in order to identify their value.

Bottom Deal:

To deal cards off the bottom of the deck when cheating. This is also called a base deal or a buse deal.

Bottom Pair:

To make a pair with the lowest card on the flop.

Bouillotte:

A French card game that influenced the open-card Stud variation of poker.

Boxed Card:

A card facing the opposite or wrong way in the deck.

Boy:

A jack.

Bracelet:

Winning a championship event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) earns the player a gold bracelet, which is a highly regarded prize amongst poker professionals.

Bragg:

An English three-card game that inspired the use of the full fifty-two card deck in poker.

Braggers:

Jacks and nines as wild cards. Or the ace of diamonds, the jack of clubs, and the nine of diamonds as wild cards.

Brandeln:

A card game similar to Commerce.

Brass Brazilians:

The best hand, also known as the nuts.

Breakers:

See Openers.

Breathe:

To pass up the first opportunity to bet.

Brelen:

(1) A French card game that influenced the use of straights and flushes in poker. (2) Three-of-a-kind.

Brelen Carre:

Four-of-a-kind.

Brick:

A blank in Seven-Card Stud (e.g., a card that appears to be of no help to any player).

Brief:

A single stripper card in a deck used to facilitate illegal cuts.

Bring-In:

To “bring it in” is to make the first bet on the first round of a hand. In Seven-Card Stud, the “bring-in” is a mandatory bet made by the player with the lowest up-card in the first round of betting.

Broadway:

An ace-high straight.

Broderick Crawford:

Ten-four, T4.

Brush:

An employee in a cardroom is sometimes referred to as the “brush”.

Buck:

(1) A marker used to identify the dealer. (2) A marker or a knife used to identify any player who is permitted to deal a special hand, usually a hand with a dealer advantage, such as draw. (3) A dollar.

Buddy Poker:

To avoid betting against a friend or a partner.

Buffalo:

To fool one’s opponents.

Bug:

(1) The Joker used in high-hand poker as an ace or wild card for filling straights and flushes. It is used as a wild card in Lowball. It can be used in High-Low as both a high card and a low card in the same hand. See Joker. (2) A cheater’s device. It is fastened beneath the poker table to hold out a card or cards.

Bull Montana:

Five-Card Stud with betting, and jacks are required to open the final bet.

Bull or Bullet:
An ace.

Bull the Game:

To bluff or bet aggressively.

Bullets:

A pair of aces in the hole.

Bully:

A player who raises frequently.

Bully Johnson:

Three-five (35).

Bump:

To raise.

Buried:

A “buried pair” is a pair in the hole in Seven-Card Stud (a pair in the first two down-cards).

Buried Card:

A card randomly inserted in the deck.

Burn:

To discard the top card from the deck, face-down. This is done between each betting round, before putting out the next community card(s). It provides security against any player recognizing or glimpsing the next card to be used on the board.

Buse Deal:

A form of cheating, when cards are dealt from the bottom of the deck. This is also known as a base deal or a bottom deal.

Bust:

To run out of money. In competitions where it is final, the appropriate term is “busted”.

Busted Hand:

(1) A worthless hand (a bust). (2) A hand that failed to fill a straight or a flush on the draw.

Busy Card:

Any card that completes a hand.

Butcher Boy:

An open-hand form of poker where four-of-a-kind is needed to win.

Button:

(1) A plastic marker in the shape of a puck, used to signify a theoretical dealer when there is a house dealer. (2) A second or third pair.

Buy:

(1) As in “buy” the pot. To bluff, hoping to buy the pot without being called. (2) As in “buy” the button. To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.

Buy-In:

(1) The stack of chips that a player buys at the start of a game. (2) The cost of entering a tournament.

By Me:

An expression meaning to pass or check.