beginner
Runner‑Runner
Runner-runner is a hand that is made by hitting the cards you need on both the turn and the river. Before the turn, you have only a very small chance of making the hand. It is also called backdoor.
Running Pair
A running pair is a pair that comes on the last two cards of the board, the turn and the river. The two cards have the same rank.
Rush
A rush is a winning streak. A player who has won several big pots recently is said to be on a rush. It is the same as a heater.
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is a nickname for ace-king, A-K, of any suits. It is a strong starting hand.
Scare Card
A scare card is a community card that may have given an opponent a strong hand, and makes you afraid to keep betting. It is typically a card that completes a flush or a straight, or an overcard to the pairs on the board.
Seat Position
Seat position is the position of a player relative to the other players, especially to the dealer button. It decides when you act.
Seating List
A seating list is a waiting list for a table. A player puts his name on it if there are no free seats at the game that he wants to play.
Second Pair
Second pair is a pair made with the second-highest card on the board, in games with community cards. It is a medium-strength hand.
See
To see is to call. In the old style, a player says 'I see your bet' when he matches it.
Sequence
A sequence is a group of cards of consecutive ranks, as in a straight: four, five, six, seven, eight.
Session
A session is the period in which a poker game is held, or the time that you sit and play. For example, a session may last five hours.
Set
A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one card on the board. For example, you hold two sevens and the flop contains a third seven. It is a strong, well-hidden hand.
Seven‑card Stud
Seven-card stud is a popular poker game in which each player gets three cards face down and four face up, and plays the best five-card hand from the seven.
Seventh Street
Seventh street is the last round of betting in seven-card stud and stud eight-or-better. Each player gets the seventh card face down, and then there is a round of betting and a showdown.
Ship It
'Ship it' is something players say when they win, or hope to win, a big pot: the pot is 'shipped' to the winner. It can be a cheerful call, but it is also heard as a taunt, so many players dislike hearing it after a loss.
Short Handed
Short handed means a game with six or fewer players. It is the opposite of a full ring game.
Show
To show is to expose your cards. At showdown, you show your hand to determine the winner.
Show Cards
Show cards are the exposed cards in stud, the cards that are dealt face up. Opponents can see them.
Showdown
The showdown is the final stage of a hand in which the remaining players show their cards to decide who has the best hand and wins the pot. It takes place after the last round of betting if more than one player is left.
Shuffle
To shuffle is to mix the cards before a hand, so that their order is random. The dealer shuffles the deck before every deal.
Sit and Go (SNG)
A sit and go, SNG, is a tournament that starts as soon as the required number of players have registered, without a fixed start time. Most sit and gos have one table of six, nine or ten players.
Sitting Out
Sitting out means leaving a table for a few hands without giving up your seat. In many rooms, a player who sits out for too long is removed from the table.
Sixth Street
Sixth street is the fourth up card in seven-card stud, the sixth card dealt to a player, and the round of betting that follows it. It is the fourth betting round.
Slow Roll
A slow roll is the act of delaying showing a winning hand at showdown, or pausing before a call with a very strong hand, to make the opponent think that he has won. It is considered very bad etiquette.
Small Blind (SB)
The small blind is a forced bet posted before the cards are dealt by the player sitting to the left of the dealer button. It is usually half the size of the big blind.
Snowmen
Snowmen is a nickname for a pair of eights, 8-8. The number 8 looks like a snowman.
Speed Limit
Speed limit is a nickname for a pair of fives, 5-5. The name comes from the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit sign.
Splash Around
To splash around is to gamble more aggressively and recklessly than is wise. A player who splashes around plays too many hands and bets too much.
Splash the Pot
To splash the pot is to throw chips into the pot in a careless way, so that the dealer cannot count how much has been bet. It is against the rules and etiquette of most card rooms and home games.
Split
A split is a tie in which the pot is divided between players with equal hands. It also describes a pot divided between the high and low hands.
Split Pot
A split pot is a pot that is shared between players who have equal hands, or between the high and low hands in games such as Omaha hi-lo. Each player takes an equal share.
Split Two Pair
A split two pair is a two pair hand in which one card of each of your hole cards pairs with a board card. For example, with ten-nine and a flop of T-9-5, you have a split two pair.