hands
Monotone Board
A monotone board is a board on which all community cards are of the same suit. For example, K♠ 9♠ 4♠ is a monotone flop. Anyone with two spades already has a flush.
Monster
A monster is an extremely strong hand that is likely to be the best at the table, such as a set, a full house, quads or a straight flush.
Monster Hand
A monster hand is a very strong hand that is likely to be the best at that moment. Before the flop, pocket aces and kings are monsters, and after the flop hands like sets, flushes and full houses are monsters.
Natural
A natural is a hand without wild cards. In games with wild cards, a natural hand beats an equal hand that uses wild cards.
Newlyweds
Newlyweds is a nickname for king-queen, K-Q, of any suits. The king and the queen are like a married couple.
NFD
NFD stands for nut flush draw, a draw to the best possible flush. For example, with the ace of spades and another spade on a board with two spades, you have the nut flush draw.
Nits and Lice
Nits and lice means two pair or a full house of deuces and threes, also called mites and lice. It can also mean a game in which deuces and threes are wild.
Northern Flight
Northern Flight is seven-card stud in which all hearts are wild, unless a spade is in the hand.
Nut
The nut, or the nuts, is the best possible hand on the board at that moment. A player with the nuts cannot be beaten, unless the board changes.
Nut Flush
A nut flush is the highest possible flush on the board. It usually includes the ace of the suit, and nobody can have a higher flush.
Nut Flush Draw
A nut flush draw is four cards of one suit including the ace, needing one more card of that suit to make the highest possible flush.
Nut Low
The nut low is the best possible low hand in a high-low split game. In most games it is the wheel, A-2-3-4-5, and in deuce-to-seven lowball it is 7-5-4-3-2.
Nuts
The nuts is the best possible hand at that moment, given the board. A player who has the nuts cannot be beaten, unless a new card changes the board. The word is also used for the best hand of a type, such as the nut flush.
Offsuit (o)
Offsuit means that two cards are of different suits. In Hold'em, an offsuit starting hand has hole cards of different suits, and is a little weaker than the same hand suited. In notation, it is written with an 'o', such as AKo.
On The Come
On the come means that a player does not yet have a complete hand, such as when he holds a drawing hand. He is betting or calling on the come, in the hope of completing it.
One‑End
One-end, or one-way straight, is a four-card straight that is open only at one end, such as jack, queen, king, ace.
One‑Gap (One‑Gapper)
A one-gap hand, or one-gapper, is a starting hand whose two cards are two ranks apart, with one rank missing between them, such as J-9 or 6-4. It can make a straight only in a few ways.
One‑Outer
A one-outer is a situation in which a player has only one card left in the deck that can make him win the hand. He is a huge underdog.
One‑Way Straight
A one-way straight, or one-end straight draw, is a four-card straight draw that can be completed on only one end, such as jack, queen, king, ace. It has only four outs.
Open at Both Ends
Open at both ends means a four-card sequence that can become a straight with two different cards, one at each end. It is also called an open-ended draw.
Open End
An open end is a four-card sequence that can be made into a straight by two different cards. It is also called open at both ends or an open-ended draw.
Open Pair
An open pair is a pair that has been dealt face up, so all players can see it. It is common in stud games.
Open‑Ended Straight Draw
An open-ended straight draw is four cards in a row that need one specific card at either end to complete a straight. It has eight outs, so it comes in about one time in three by the river.
Openers
Openers are the cards that a player holds to qualify to open the pot in a game such as jacks or better. For example, if you have a pair of kings to open, the kings are your openers.
Out
An out is a card that will improve your hand to one that is likely to win. For example, with four cards to a flush, there are nine outs: the nine remaining cards of that suit.
Outdraw
To outdraw is to beat an opponent by drawing a better hand. The player who was behind catches a card and wins.
Outs
Outs are the unseen cards that will improve a player's hand to one that is likely to win. For example, with four hearts, there are nine outs for a flush.
Over‑flush
An over-flush is a flush that loses to a higher flush in the same hand. The player with the higher flush has over-flushed his opponent.
Overcard
An overcard is a card that is higher than any card on the board or in the other hand. In Hold'em, your hole cards are overcards when they are both higher than the board.
Overpair
An overpair is a pocket pair that is higher than any card on the board. For example, a pair of kings on a flop of 9-5-2 is an overpair.
Paint Cards
Paint cards are the king, queen and jack, also called face cards, court cards or picture cards. They have pictures of faces.
Pair
A pair is two cards of the same rank. In Hold'em, a pair in your hand is a pocket pair, and a pair of one hole card with a board card is also a pair. It is the lowest-ranked made hand, above high card.