psychology
Graveyard
Graveyard is the shift between midnight and breakfast in a 24-hour cardroom or casino. It usually starts between midnight and 2 a.m. and ends eight hours later.
Gravy
Gravy is a player's winnings, especially money won beyond what he started with.
Grifter
A grifter is a cheat, a person who swindles others, often by cheating in card games.
Grinder
A grinder is a player who makes money by playing a lot of hands and winning small amounts at low and medium stakes. Grinders rely on discipline, volume and a steady, sound style, not on big hands or big bluffs.
Grinding
Grinding is playing in a style with minimal risk and modest gains over a long period of time.
Heater
A heater is a winning streak or a long run of good cards. A player who is on a heater is winning a lot of pots, often in a row.
Hero Call
A hero call is a call with a weak or marginal hand, based on the belief that the opponent is bluffing. The caller has no strong hand, but trusts a read and pays to see whether it is right.
Hero Fold
A hero fold is a fold with a very strong hand, usually top pair or better, because you believe the opponent has an even stronger hand. It is the opposite of a hero call, and takes discipline.
Hit and Run
Hit and run means leaving a cash game right after winning a big pot, without giving the others a chance to win their money back. It is legal but is considered bad etiquette.
Hollywood
To Hollywood is to act or talk in an exaggerated way to encourage a specific reaction from an opponent. It is often used for deceptive acting, such as pretending to have a hard decision.
Home Run Hitter
A home run hitter is a player who makes risky calls and wins. He takes long shots, hoping for a big hit, and sometimes they come in.
Horsing
Horsing is the habit of passing a small amount of money to another player after winning a pot. It is also called scooting.
Hot Deck
A hot deck is a period when a player is dealt strong hands again and again. It implies a streak of good luck, as if the cards favored one player.
Hot Hands
Hot hands are a run of high-value hands. A player who gets many strong hands in a short time has hot hands.
Hot Seat
A hot seat is a seat in a poker game where the players have had winning hands, so it looks lucky. Players may want to sit there.
Hot Streak
A hot streak is a run of good luck or winning hands. It is also called a spinner.
Ice
Ice is slang for a cold deck, a deck in which the cards have been arranged secretly by a cheater.
If
If is an older name for Gambler's Last Charge, a home poker game with five hand cards, five table cards and a wild-card rule set by the final table card.
Image
Image is how a player is seen by others, as an indicator of the playing style that he is likely to use. Someone who folds a lot has a tight image, and someone who plays many hands has a loose image.
Induce
To induce is to try to get an opponent to bet or raise by checking or by making a small bet. The aim is to make them put more money into the pot, often when they have a weaker hand.
Intentional Flashing
Intentional flashing is the deliberate showing of one or more hole cards to an opponent or to the whole table. The player does it on purpose, not by accident.
Jagging
Jagging is a cheater's technique of marking cards with a fingernail or a device. The marks let the cheater recognize cards from the back.
Jinx
A jinx is a curse of bad luck. Players say a person or an action jinxes a result when they believe it brings misfortune.
Jonah
A Jonah is an unlucky player, one who seems to bring bad luck to himself or to the game. The word is used mostly as a joke.
LAG (Loose‑Aggressive)
LAG means loose-aggressive: a style in which a player plays many starting hands and makes many raises, hoping to outplay his opponents.
Last Longer
A last longer is a side bet among players on who will last the longest in a tournament. The winner is the player who is eliminated last.
Lay Down Your Hand
To lay down your hand is to fold. The word is often used for folding a strong hand when you think you are beaten.
Laydown
A laydown is a fold, usually a fold of a strong hand because you believe that you are beaten. The word is often used for a good or difficult fold.
Leader
The leader is the player with the most chips in a tournament or at a table. He can apply pressure to the others with his big stack.
Leak
A leak is a consistent strategic mistake that reduces your profit. Finding and fixing leaks is a key part of improving at poker.
Leg Up
Leg up means being in a situation equal to having won the previous pot, so that you must kill the next pot if you win the current one. It is a term from kill games.
Let Slide
To let slide is to not call a bet from a player you think is probably bluffing. You decide that the pot is not worth the risk and you let the hand go.