hands
John Juanda
John Juanda is a nickname for a pair of jacks, J-J. The name refers to the professional player John Juanda.
Joker
A joker is a card that works as a wild card in some games. It can stand for any card its holder wants, or only for certain cards, depending on the rules.
Katie or Katy
Katie or Katy is a nickname for a starting hand of king and ten, K-T. The name comes from the sound of the letters K and T.
Key Card
A key card is a card that gives you a big draw or makes your hand. When it comes, it changes the strength of your holding.
Key Hand
A key hand is the one hand in a session or tournament that becomes a turning point for a player, for better or worse.
Kicker
A kicker is the side card in your hand that is not part of the made hand, but is used to break ties between hands of the same rank. For example, with ace-king against ace-queen on an ace-high board, the king kicker wins.
King Crab
King Crab is a nickname for a starting hand of king and three, K-3. The name comes from the shape of the three, which looks like a crab on its side.
Knave
Knave is an old name for the jack. In some card games the jack is called the knave.
Kojack
Kojack is a nickname for king-jack, K-J, of any suits. It is the same as Kojak.
Kojak
Kojak is a nickname for a hand with king and jack, K-J. It is named after the TV detective.
Komodo Dragoned
Komodo dragoned means that a player's hand is defeated because an opponent completes a straight or flush on the river. It is a slang term for a bad beat.
Ladies
Ladies is a nickname for a pair of queens. It comes from the queens being the 'ladies' of the deck. The phrase is used for pocket queens, as in 'I looked down at ladies'.
Legitimate Hand
A legitimate hand is a hand that is strong enough to have a good chance of winning the pot. The term separates real, playable holdings from bluffs and weak hands.
Liner
A liner is a face card. The name comes from the line you can see when the card is face down and its lower right corner is lifted.
Little Cat
Little cat is a nonstandard hand that is sometimes given value in home games: five cards from 3 to 9 with no pair, in some circles 3 to 8. It ranks above a big dog and below a big tiger. It is also called little tiger.
Little Dog
Little dog is a nonstandard hand that is sometimes given value in home games: five cards from 2 to 7 with no pair. It ranks below a big dog and above a straight.
Little Oldsmobile
Little Oldsmobile is a nickname for a pair of eights, 8-8. It is named after the Oldsmobile car model number 88.
Live Cards
Live cards are cards that can still improve your hand because they are not in the opponents' hands or on the board. In Hold'em, a hand with live cards is a hand that has not been dominated and still has a good chance to win.
Live Hand
A live hand is a hand that is still eligible to win the pot. It has the correct number of cards and has not been mucked or ruled dead.
Lock
A lock is a hand that cannot lose. It is also called the nuts, or a cinch.
Lock‑Up
A lock-up is a chip marker that holds a seat for a player. It shows that the seat is taken, even if the player is away.
Lollipop Hand
Lollipop hand is a nickname for ace-queen, A-Q.
Low Hand
A low hand is a hand that wins by being the lowest. In hi-lo games it takes half the pot, and in lowball games it takes all of it. In many games the best low hand is A-2-3-4-5, known as the wheel.
Lowcard
Lowcard is the card with the lowest value in a hand or on the board. In stud, the player with the lowcard must start the betting with the bring-in.
Made Hand
A made hand is a hand that is already complete and does not need more cards to be strong, such as a pair, a straight, a flush or a full house. It is the opposite of a drawing hand.
Make
To make the deck is to shuffle the deck. It is an old way to say that the dealer mixes the cards.
Marginal Hand
A marginal hand is a hand that is not strong, but not particularly weak either. It is tricky to play, since its value depends on the situation.
Maverick
Maverick is a nickname for queen-jack, Q-J, of any suits.
Middle Pair
Middle pair is a pair made with the second-highest card on the board, or with a card that is neither the highest nor the lowest on the board. It is a medium-strength hand.
Miracle Card
A miracle card is a card that is very unlikely to appear but gives a player a winning hand when he was almost certain to lose. A player who needs one of the last cards in the deck and gets it has caught a miracle card.
Miss
To miss is to fail to make your hand. A player misses when his draw does not come in, or when the flop does not help his hole cards.
Mites And Lice
Mites and lice is slang for two pair of twos and threes, or a full house of those cards. The small cards are compared with tiny insects.