rules
Seven‑card Stud
Seven-card stud is a popular poker game in which each player gets three cards face down and four face up, and plays the best five-card hand from the seven.
Seventh Street
Seventh street is the last round of betting in seven-card stud and stud eight-or-better. Each player gets the seventh card face down, and then there is a round of betting and a showdown.
Shoot‑out
A shoot-out is a tournament in which players with no rebuys play until they lose all their chips. It is also a format in which winners of a table move on to the next stage.
Short Handed
Short handed means a game with six or fewer players. It is the opposite of a full ring game.
Shorthanded
Shorthanded describes a poker game with six or fewer players at the table. It is the opposite of a full ring game with nine or ten players.
Shot Clock
A shot clock is a timer that gives a player a limited time to act, usually 30 seconds per decision. Players also get extra time banks to use when needed.
Show
To show is to expose your cards. At showdown, you show your hand to determine the winner.
Showdown
The showdown is the final stage of a hand in which the remaining players show their cards to decide who has the best hand and wins the pot. It takes place after the last round of betting if more than one player is left.
Shuffle
To shuffle is to mix the cards before a hand, so that their order is random. The dealer shuffles the deck before every deal.
Side Game
A side game is a cash game that runs at the same time as a large tournament. It is often filled with players who were eliminated from the tournament or who chose not to play it.
Side Pot
A side pot is a separate pot created when a player goes all in and other players keep betting. The all-in player can only win the main pot, and the side pot is contested only by the remaining players.
Sit and Go (SNG)
A sit and go, SNG, is a tournament that starts as soon as the required number of players have registered, without a fixed start time. Most sit and gos have one table of six, nine or ten players.
Sitting Out
Sitting out means leaving a table for a few hands without giving up your seat. In many rooms, a player who sits out for too long is removed from the table.
Sixth Street
Sixth street is the fourth up card in seven-card stud, the sixth card dealt to a player, and the round of betting that follows it. It is the fourth betting round.
Small Blind (SB)
The small blind is a forced bet posted before the cards are dealt by the player sitting to the left of the dealer button. It is usually half the size of the big blind.
Soft-Play
Soft-play is a form of collusion in which a player does not bet or raise as he normally would, to avoid winning money from a friend or partner. It is cheating and is forbidden in cardrooms.
Split
A split is a tie in which the pot is divided between players with equal hands. It also describes a pot divided between the high and low hands.
Split Pot
A split pot is a pot that is shared between players who have equal hands, or between the high and low hands in games such as Omaha hi-lo. Each player takes an equal share.
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.
Spread-Limit
Spread-limit is a betting structure in which a player may bet any amount within a range, such as $2 to $6, on every round. It lies between fixed-limit and no-limit poker.
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.
Straddle
A straddle is an optional extra blind bet posted before the cards are dealt, usually by the player under the gun, normally twice the big blind. It raises the stakes for the hand, and the straddler often acts last before the flop.
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.
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.