rules
Full Ring
A full ring game is a cash game with a full table, usually nine or ten players. It is the opposite of a short-handed game such as 6-max, and it is the usual format in live casinos.
Guarantee
A guarantee is a guaranteed prize pool for a tournament, set by the poker room that hosts the event. If not enough players enter, the room pays the difference.
Hand
A hand has two meanings: the set of cards a player holds, and a single game of poker from the deal until the pot is pushed to the winner.
Hand-for-Hand
Hand-for-hand is a tournament procedure used near the money bubble, in which every table plays one hand at a time and waits for the other tables to finish before starting the next hand. It prevents players from stalling to reach the money.
Head to Head
Head to head means a game or a hand with only two players. It is the same as heads-up.
Heads Up
Heads up means that only two players are involved in a hand or in a game. It is a pot contested by two players.
Hi‑Lo
Hi-lo is the name for poker games in which the pot is split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand. If one player has both the best high and the best low, he wins the whole pot. The best-known examples are Omaha hi-lo and seven-card stud hi-lo.
High‑Low
High-low, also called hi-lo, is a format in which the pot is divided between the highest and lowest ranking hands at showdown. Common high-low games are Omaha and seven-card stud.
High‑Low Split
A high-low split game is a game in which half of the pot goes to the highest-ranking poker hand and half goes to the lowest-ranking hand.
Hold’em
Hold'em, usually called 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.
Hole Cards
Hole cards are the cards dealt face down to each player that only that player can see. In Texas Hold'em each player gets two, in Omaha four. They are combined with the community cards to make the best hand.
Home Game
A home game is a poker game played in a private home, not in a casino or a card room. It can range from a friendly low-stakes game among neighbors to a large private game with high stakes.
House
The house is the casino or card room that runs the poker game and makes its money from the game. At a casino table, players do not play against the house but against each other, and the house takes a fee called the rake.
House Rules
House rules are the specific rules set by the person or place that hosts the game. They differ from one poker room or home game to another.
Hyper Turbo
Hyper turbo is a very fast tournament format in which the blinds rise rapidly, sometimes every three minutes. Stacks are small compared with the blinds, so most of the play is short-stacked.
In Action
In action means to be involved in playing a hand: you are one of the players who is still in the hand and can act. The time when a player is in action is the time when he is involved in the play.
In The Money (ITM)
In the money means that a player finishes in a tournament high enough to win a prize. The point at which the first payout is guaranteed is when the bubble bursts, and all remaining players are in the money.
Jack and Back
Jack and Back is a form of jackpot poker that turns into lowball if nobody opens. It is also called Jack and Reverse, Jacks Back or Jackson.
Jackpot
A jackpot in poker is a special prize offered by a room or a casino, awarded for a rare outcome. The best-known example is the bad beat jackpot, which is paid when a very strong hand loses to an even stronger one.
Jackpot Poker
Jackpot poker is a poker game where there is a large prize pool, the jackpot, or a draw game where you need a pair of jacks or better to open. The name has two meanings, so check which one is meant.
Jacks to Open
Jacks to open is a form of draw poker in which a player needs a pair of jacks or better to open the betting. It is also called jackpots.
Jacks‑or‑Better
Jacks-or-Better is a popular video poker game in which the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks. A hand weaker than jacks does not win.
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.
Joker Poker
Joker Poker is a video poker game in which a joker is added to the deck and acts as a wild card. The joker can stand for any card to make the best possible hand.
Kansas City Lowball
Kansas City lowball is a form of lowball in which the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 of different suits. Aces are high, and straights and flushes count against you. It is also called deuce-to-seven lowball.
Kill
A kill, or kill blind, is an oversized blind, usually twice the big blind, which also doubles the betting limits. A half-kill raises the blind and limits by 50 percent. A kill can be voluntary or mandatory.
Kill Button
A kill button is a button used in a lowball game to show a player who has won two pots in a row and must kill the pot. It marks who has the kill action.
Kill Pot
A kill pot is a pot in which the stakes are raised because a player won the previous pot, or won two in a row. The player who wins posts an extra blind, called the kill blind, which makes the game larger for the next hand.
Knockout Tournament
A knockout tournament is a tournament in which part of the buy-in becomes a bounty on each player. When you eliminate a player, you win their bounty in cash. Also called a bounty tournament.
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.
Limit
Limit is a betting structure in which the size of bets and raises is fixed. In a limit game, a player cannot bet any amount; he must bet the set size. It is the opposite of no-limit.
Limit Poker
Limit poker is poker in which the size of every bet and raise is fixed. Players can only bet the set amount for the round, not any amount they choose. It is also called fixed-limit poker.