beginner
Splitting Openers
Splitting openers is a play in jacks-or-better draw poker in which you open with a pair and then throw away one card of the pair to draw to a better hand, such as a flush. You break up your opening hand.
Stack
A stack is the total amount of chips a player has in play at a given time. The size of your stack decides how much you can bet and how you should play.
Stakes
Stakes are the size of the bets in a game, the amount you play for. In cash games, they are given by the blinds, such as $1/$2. In tournaments, they are given by the buy-in.
Stand Off
To stand off is to call a raise. A player who says 'Opener raises, I stand off' means that he calls instead of raising or folding.
Stand Pat
To stand pat is to keep your hand as it is in a draw game, without drawing any new cards. A player who stands pat either believes his hand is already best or wants to look as if it is.
Starting Hand
A starting hand is the first cards you are dealt before any voluntary betting. In Hold'em, it is two hole cards, in Omaha four, in five-card draw five, and in seven-card stud two down and one up.
Stay
To stay is to remain in a game or hand by calling, rather than raising. A player who stays pays the bet to see the next card.
Straight
A straight is a hand with five cards in sequence, of more than one suit. The highest straight is ace to ten, called Broadway, and the lowest is ace to five, the wheel.
Straight Flush
A straight flush is a hand made of five cards in sequence, all of the same suit. It is the second-best hand in poker, after the royal flush, which is the highest straight flush.
Stranger
A stranger is a new or unfamiliar card in a hand after the draw. It is a card that you have just drawn and that was not in your hand before.
Streak
A streak is a run of winning or losing hands. A winning streak is also called a heater, and a losing one is a cold streak.
Street
A street is a round of betting in a hand, or the card dealt for that round. In Hold'em the streets are the preflop, flop, turn and river. In seven-card stud they are third street to seventh street.
String Bet
A string bet is a bet or raise in which a player does not put all the chips in the pot in one motion, or does not say the amount first. Rooms forbid string bets because they can be used to see the other player's reaction.
String Raise
A string raise is a raise made in more than one motion, without saying 'raise' first. It is not allowed in most live games. It is the raising version of a string bet.
Strip poker
Strip poker is a game of poker in which players take off clothes as they lose. It is usually played as five-card draw, at home, among adults who agree to play.
Structure
Structure is the set of limits and rules of a game: the blinds and antes, the bet sizes, and in a tournament the schedule of blind levels. A tournament structure tells you how fast the blinds rise and how deep the stacks stay.
Stub
The stub is the part of the deck that has not been dealt. It is the cards that remain after the cards for the players and the board are dealt.
Stud
Stud is a family of poker games in which each player gets a mix of face-down and face-up cards, and there are no community cards. The most popular version is seven-card stud.
Stud Games
Stud games are games in which players get some cards face down and some face up. The most common stud game is seven-card stud.
Suck Out
A suck out is when a player who is behind wins by catching a lucky card. The player who gets the card has 'sucked out' on the other.
Sucker
A sucker is a player at the table who is weak and inexperienced, so that others expect to win his money. It is another word for a mark or a fish.
Suicide King
The suicide king is the king of hearts. It got the name because in the picture, the king seems to be stabbing himself in the head with his sword.
Suit
A suit is one of the four groups of cards in a deck: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. Each suit has 13 cards.
Suited
Suited means that cards are of the same suit. A suited starting hand has two hole cards of one suit, for example ace and jack of hearts. Being suited gives extra chances to make a flush.
Suited Connectors
Suited connectors are two cards of consecutive rank in the same suit, such as queen-jack of hearts or seven-six of clubs. They can make straights and flushes, so they play well in big multiway pots.
Suited Gappers
Suited gappers are two cards of the same suit that are not consecutive, but close enough to make a straight on the flop. For example, J-9 of one suit.
T.J. Cloutier
T.J. Cloutier is a nickname for jack-nine of clubs. It is named after the poker Hall of Famer Thomas James Cloutier.
Table
The table is the surface on which poker is played. It is where the players sit, and where the cards, chips and community cards are placed.
Table Cards
Table cards are cards turned face up on the table for use in everyone's hand, such as in the game Cincinnati. They are another name for community cards.
Table Charge
A table charge is a fee that players pay for playing at a table. It is a charge for the use of the table, in place of or in addition to the rake.
Table Stakes
Table stakes is a rule that says that a player can bet only the chips that he has on the table at the start of the hand. He cannot add more money during the hand, and if he has fewer chips than the bet, he can be all in for what he has and a side pot is made.
Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold'em is the most popular form of poker. Each player gets two private cards, and five community cards are dealt face up in the middle.