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1,166 terms found
Up the Creek
Up the creek is an old home-game variant in which the kings with split whiskers are wild. It is one of many games named in the slang of old players.
Uphill
To go uphill is to chase a better hand, trying to outdraw it. A player who is uphill is behind and needs a card to win.
Upswing
An upswing is a period in which you win more than expected, or lose less than expected, over a number of hands. It is the opposite of a downswing.
Utah
“Utah” is slang for pocket Jacks suited (J♥ J♦).
Vaca
Vaca, the Spanish word for cow, is used in poker rooms to ask another player to go half and half in a game. If a player says 'vaca' to a floor person or another player, it generally means, 'Do you want to share this game with me?'
Valet
Valet is another name for the jack. The word comes from French.
Valle Card
A valle card is any 3, 5 or 7. The word comes from the game of panguingue, in which these cards have a special value, which is what 'valle' means.
Value
Value, in 'a bet for value', means that you want your opponents to call your bet, because you expect to have the best hand. It is the opposite of a bluff.
Value Bet
A value bet is a bet that you make with a hand that you expect to be best, so that a worse hand will call it. The aim is to win more chips from weaker hands.
Value Cutting
Value cutting is betting for value with a hand you believe is best, and being called or raised only by a stronger hand. You cut the value of your own bet, because only better hands pay.
Variance
Variance is the natural up-and-down movement of your results around the average you expect over time. Even a winning player has losing days, weeks and months, because the cards are random.
Verbal Bet
A verbal bet is an oral bet: a bet that a player announces with words instead of putting chips in the pot.
Verbal Declaration
A verbal declaration is something you say out loud about your action, such as 'raise' or 'call'. In live poker, it is binding, so you cannot change your mind after saying it.
Vest Holdout
A vest holdout is a type of holdout machine worn under a thief's coat, also called breastworks. It lets a cheater hide cards and slip them into play.
Victory Rip
A victory rip, also called a victory roll, is the act of spreading your hand face up in a triumphant way at the showdown in a draw game. The player shows his cards with a flourish to show that he has won.
Victory Roll
Victory roll is another name for victory rip: spreading your winning hand face up with a flourish at the showdown.
Video Poker
Video poker is a casino game played on a computerized machine, based on draw poker, in which you try to make certain poker hands and are paid according to a pay table. It is not played against other players.
Video Poker Machine
A video poker machine is a computerized slot machine based on draw poker, with card symbols, on which players try to make certain poker hands. It is not really a form of poker, since you play against the machine.
Vig
Vig is short for vigorish, the commission the house takes from a game. In poker, the vig is the rake taken from each pot or the time fee, since the house does not play in the hand.
Vigorish
Vigorish is the house's take in a bet or game. In poker, it is the rake or time charge, since the house does not play in the hand.
Villain
Villain is the name for the opponent in a hand that is being discussed. The player who tells the story is the hero. The word comes from hand histories posted on forums.
Visible Cards
Visible cards are cards that are dealt face up to each player. In games like stud, players can see them and use them to complete a five-card hand.
Voluntarily Put Money In Pot (VPIP)
VPIP, voluntarily put money in pot, is the percentage of hands in which a player puts chips into the pot by choice before the flop. Posting a blind does not count. It shows how loose or tight a player is.
Walk
A walk is a hand in which everybody folds to the big blind, who wins the pot without a fight. The big blind does not have to do anything.
Walk the Table
To walk the table is to win the entire pot automatically with a certain card or hand, according to a special house rule. It is used in some home games.
Walking Sticks
Walking sticks is a nickname for a pair of sevens, because the sevens look like canes. It is used for the hand 7-7.
Wash
To wash the cards is to shuffle them by spreading them face down on the table and mixing them with the hands. It is done before the deck is shuffled normally.
Waving
Waving is a form of cheating in which the cheater bends or crimps cards so that the wavy card can be recognized in an opponent's hand or in the deck. It marks the cards without writing on them.
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky is a nickname for a pair of nines, 9-9. It comes from the ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, who wore the number 99.
Weak
A weak player is one who folds too many hands. He gives up too easily and loses money by not calling or raising when he should.
Weak Ace
A weak ace is an ace with a low kicker, such as ace-five or ace-three. It is a starting hand that has some value but often loses to better aces.
Weak Kicker
A weak kicker is a low side card that goes with a pair. For example, with a jack and a four on a board with a jack, you have a pair of jacks with a weak kicker, and you lose to anyone who holds a jack with a better card.
Weary Willie
“Weary Willie” is slang for pocket twos in blackjack slang, adopted to poker as low pair nickname.
Wedges
Wedges are tapered or shaved cards that a cheater can pull from a deck when needed. The cards are cut so that they feel different from the others.
Welcher
A welcher is a player who fails to pay a debt, especially a gambling debt. He loses a bet and does not pay.
Went to Showdown (WTSD)
Went to showdown, written WTSD, is a statistic that shows how often a player sees the showdown after seeing the flop. It reveals whether he plays hands to the end or folds a lot.
Wet
A wet board is a set of community cards that connect well with many hands, usually because they are suited or in sequence, so many draws are possible. The opposite is a dry board.
Wet Board
A wet board is a set of community cards that can make many strong hands and draws, usually because the cards are connected or suited. It leads to more action, since many players can have something.
Whale
A whale is a rich, weak player who gambles with large amounts of money and loses a lot. Other players are happy to see a whale at the table, since he plays loose and loses big pots.
Whangedoodle
A whangedoodle is a round of jackpots played after a big hand, such as four of a kind. It is a special round in some home games.