gambling terms > poker

Pace
	The speed of a game, with respect to its action. Fast pace describes a game with a lot of betting and raising, performed by most of the players; slow pace describes a game without much betting and raising.

Pack
	The deck of cards. "Whack the pack, Jack" means "Please cut the cards."

Packed House
	Full house.

Packet
	Any portion of a deck of cards.

Paddle
	In a card room or casino game, the spatula-shaped tool with which the house dealer drops the chips collected from each pot for the rake, or each designated time period as the time collection, into the drop box.

Pai Gow Poker Dictionary

A banking game based on the Asian tile game pai gow, in which players arrange groups of tiles into two hands, which then compete severally each against the two hands played by the banker. In the card version, each player makes a wager, and then receives seven cards, which he arranges into two hands, one consisting of five cards and one of two, with the stipulation that the five-card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand. These hands, after being set (arranged), are then placed in front of the player, and then compete, one at a time, as in a blackjack game, against the banker hand (which can be held by a player or the house). If both player hands beat the dealer hand, the player wins; if both banker hands beat the player hand, the dealer wins; otherwise it is a push. If either hand is exactly the same, that counts as a win for the banker, which gives the banker hand a slight edge. The banker hand competes against player hands in an order determined by the shaking of a number of dice. (This gives the game its alternative name of shake-shake.) This order is important, because if the banker loses his stake prematurely, not all player hands may get to compete. The house makes its money by always extracting a certain fee from every player bet, prior to the actual playing of the hands (and often takes that fee whether or not the hand is even played). Apart from the rankings of the hands being the same as in poker, pai gow poker is not really poker. Also called double hand or double-hand poker.

Paint

1) Face card (King, Queen and Jack). 2) Daub (Markings put on cards with paint, ink, or some other fluid.). 3) In lowball, catch a face card (on the draw). "Paired and painted and nearly fainted" means, drawing two (or more cards), a player paired one of his original cards and also caught a face card, and now he's complaining about his luck; such a catch in lowball is the ultimate insult (and should teach the player not to draw more than one card).

Paint Cards
	King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; picture cards.

Painted
	In lowball, having caught a face card (on the draw). "I painted."

Painter
	A thief who uses daub.

Paintskin
	1) Face card (King, Queen and Jack).

Pair

1) Two cards of the same rank in the same poker hand (or part of the community cards in hold 'em-type games). "I have a pair of kings." 2) One pair. 3) In various forms of draw poker, to catch a pair, when drawing to some other hand. In high draw, you can draw to a straight or flush and pair, which means you missed the hand. In lowball, you can draw to any hand and pair (which also means you missed). "I was drawing to a bicycle, but I paired.

Pair of Shorts
	In high draw poker, a small pair; often any pair less than jacks; any pair smaller than the opening requirements for the game.

Pair Up
	In lowball, to draw to a hand and pair one of your original cards.

Pallas
	The queen of spades.

Palm
	Perform the cheating maneuver of removing one or more cards from the table (for the purpose of introducing them later) or chips surreptitiously from a pot (that is, steal the chips) by the expedient of covering and concealing them with the hand.

Palm Stock
	Two or more cards, arranged in a specific order, held out by a thief for later introduction into the game.

Palmed Card
	A card that was removed from the table, or introduced into the game later, by a thief, by the expedient of covering and concealing it with his hand.

Palooka
	Poor player. In general (no poker) usage, this term has a wider but similar application, referring to an athlete (often a boxer) of limited capabilities, or, even more generally, any inept person

Pan
	1) Panguingue. 2) Three 3s, 5s, or 7s, or, sometimes, J-Q-K of spades. This usage usually comes up in a lowball game, when one player shows another his unplayable hand, says, "Pan," and then pulls out his three 5s, or other paying pan combination

Panguingue
	A game resembling gin rummy played with eight decks of cards, some of the melds of which are worth payments from active players; pronounced pan-GHEE-nee, and usually shortened to pan. The game is played in many California card rooms and a few Nevada casinos.

Paper
	1) Cards. "Nice paper" (used only as a spoken expression, often sarcastic) means "Good hand." (Even though most card rooms use plastic decks, players rarely say "Nice plastic.") 2) Marked cards. 3) Bad checks. Passing paper means writing bad checks

Paper Hanger
	One who deliberately writes and passes bad checks.

Paper Work
	Marked cards.

Paper Worker
	A cheat who uses marked cards.

Papers
	Marked cards.

Partner
	1) The confederate of a thief. 2) A player who shares a bankroll with another.

Partners
	1) Two or more thieves playing together. 2) Two or more players using the same bankroll (honestly).

Partnership
	1) Two or more thieves playing together. 2) Two or more players using the same bankroll (honestly).

Party
	When several loose or amateur players are making significant monetary contributions to the pot.

Pasadena.
	I pass.

Pass
	1) Decline to bet. This is not exactly the same as check, because in a blind game or bet-or-fold game, if you pass on the first round of betting, you must throw your cards away. 2) Decline to call a bet, at which point, you must throw your cards away and you have no further interest in the pot. If someone bets, and you say, "I pass," you are out of the pot. 3) Loosely, check.

Pass for a Prop

In a no-limit lowball game, when a player is faced with a raise, and wants to gamble alone with the raiser, usually involving a proposition like two-for-one, but there are other players to act after the player, in some clubs the player is permitted to pass for a prop, and then, if the other players do not call the bet, can negotiate a proposition with the raiser. If any other player calls the bet, usually the player who so passed is required to drop; furthermore, if the raiser does not wish to accept the proposition, the passer must also drop. For example, in a $4-to-go no-limit lowball game, Harry opens with A-joker-2-K-K. Sally and Bob call. Walt raises $35. Harry does not fold, nor does he call the raise. Instead he says, "Pass for a prop." Sally and Bob now both fold, and Harry tosses the two kings, saying, "Two-for-one?" Walt throws a card among the discards, and says, "You're on." (Walt can, of course, also offer a counter proposition. He may say, "For all of them," and stick his whole stack in, which means, essentially, "I'll break this hand, but only if we both put all our chips in the pot." At this point, either Harry agrees, or dumps his hand.)

Pass Out
	Fold rather than call a bet.

Pass the Buck
	In a game in which the players deal for themselves (as opposed to one dealt by a house dealer), refuse to deal when it is one's turn to deal, passing the deck instead to the next player to the left. In some home games, rather than each player anteing, the dealer antes for all; in such a game, a player is not permitted to pass the deal, nor can he do so in a game with traveling blinds.

Pass the Deal
	In a game in which the players deal for themselves (as opposed to one dealt by a house dealer), refuse to deal when it is one's turn to deal, passing the deck instead to the next player to the left. In some home games, rather than each player anteing, the dealer antes for all; in such a game, a player is not permitted to pass the deal, nor can he do so in a game with traveling blinds.

Pass the Trash
	A form of seven stud in which cards are passed to left and right, sometimes multiple times, and sometimes with five cards chosen at the end and rolled, that is, exposed one at a time.

Pass-and-Back-in
	A form of draw poker in which, before the draw, if the pot has not yet been opened, a player can, in turn, either open the pot, or pass, holding his cards for a possible call (or raise) later if someone opens behind him.

Pass-and-Out
	A form of draw poker in which, before the draw, if the pot has not yet been opened, a player must, in turn, either open the pot, or fold. Also called pass-and-out or pass-out. Compare with pass-and-back-in.

Pass-Out
	A form of draw poker in which, before the draw, if the pot has not yet been opened, a player must, in turn, either open the pot, or fold. Also called pass-and-out or pass-out.

Passed Out
	In a double-limit draw (high) game, a pot that no one opened, and is consequently being re-dealt. The first passed pot usually has an extra ante by each player. The second passed pot usually has an extra ante and is played at a higher limit. the third and all subsequent passed pots usually stay at the same limit as the second, with no further antes.

Passed Pot

1) In a double-limit draw (high) game, a pot that no one opened, and is consequently being re-dealt. The first passed pot usually has an extra ante by each player. The second passed pot usually has an extra ante and is played at a higher limit. the third and all subsequent passed pots usually stay at the same limit as the second, with no further antes. 2) In any draw game with minimum opening requirements (such as jacks or better), a pot that was not opened either because no one had openers or no one chose to open. (Sometimes pots don't get opened even when players have openers, because some players like to pass good hands in early position, hoping that someone else will open so that they can raise.)

Passing Paper
	Writing bad checks.

Passive
	Passive is a style of play that is characterized by reluctance to bet and raise. This does not always mean tight. A typical loose-passive player will call with almost anything, but raise only with very powerful hands (see calling station). A passive table is one with many passive players, so that, for example, few hands are raised pre-flop

Pasteboards
	1) Paper cards. 2) By extension, any cards.

Pat
	1) In draw poker, describing a hand that needs to draw no cards. 2) Drawing no cards. "How many cards?" "I'm pat."

Pat Hand
	In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more cards. Specifically, a straight, flush, full house or straight flush. One might bluff and represent a pat hand but actually hold something else.

Pat Hand Bluff
	In high draw poker, standing pat on a hand that is not complete, with the intention of representing a good hand, thereby driving all active players out of the pot with a bet, and winning whatever is in the pot at that point. In lowball, standing pat on any five cards that do not constitute an otherwise playable lowball hand, with the same intention

Patience Poker Dictionary
	A form of solitaire in which the player tries to arrange 25 cards in a 5-by-5 grid such that all (or most of) the horizontals and verticals (and sometimes the diagonals) form the highest possible poker hands. Also called poker patience and poker solitaire.

Patsy
	In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more cards. Specifically, a straight, flush, full house or straight flush. One might bluff and represent a pat hand but actually hold something else.

Patter
	1) Misleading or distracting conversation by one player, often an experienced player, meant to precipitate a desired action in another player, such as folding or calling. 2) Conversation used by a player to cover up his own reactions to his cards.

Pay Off
	To call a bet by a player you're reasonably sure has you beat. Usually you ought to have some sort of reason to do this, other than just generosity. Weak players pay you off more often than other players.

Pay Station
	A player who rarely folds, thus who frequently calls better hands and loses.

Payday Game
	One with higher stakes than usual, often conducted on whichever day of the month the live ones get their paychecks.

Peach
	In lowball, a good hand, that is, one without a pair; used humorously. "I've got a pair." "Yeah? Well, I've got a peach!"

Pedigree
	In hold 'em, K-9 as one's first two cards. Also, canine

Pedro
	A 5 (the card); so called because 5s are important in the game of pedro.

Peek

1) A look at one or more cards in a hand, often those drawn. See free look. 2) A surreptitious look at cards drawn to a hand, usually in such a way as to imply that the peeker actually has not seen any of the drawn cards, prior to this person claiming (or implying to claim) that he is now making a blind bet, that is, one based on really not having seen the cards. Also, fast peek. 3) A surreptitious look by a thief at the un-dealt top or bottom card of the deck. 4) Look at drawn cards, often done by squeezing the cards, that is, slowly separating them, as if the viewer wishes to surprise himself with the cards; this is often done agonizingly slowly, frequently when it is the peeker's turn to act, as if the player deliberately wants to annoy the others, while he pretends to be innocent of any knowledge of what effect his slowness is having.

Peek Poker Dictionary
	Seven-card stud.

Peeker
	A cheater (such as a bottom dealer or seconds dealer) who peeks at the un-dealt top card of the deck (prior to possibly dealing a second) or the bottom card (prior to dealing a bottom), or who exposes such card to a confederate.

Peep-and-Turn
	Mexican Stud. A form of five-card stud in which each player first receives two cards face down, and then rolls (turns face up) one card, followed by a betting round. Thereafter, each active player receives another face-down card on each round, from which he chooses one to roll, again followed by a betting round. Sometimes called flip.

Peewees
	Small cards (in rank).

Peg

Mark the fronts of cards with a pin, thumbtack, ring, etc., in such a way that the thief making such marks can later tell by feel the ranks of the cards. Such marks are applied to the surface of cards and do not tear the cards, merely add indentations that can be felt from the back, as opposed to nailing, which puts marks in the edges of cards. Also called punch or blister. This is the opposite of prick, in which the thief marks the backs of cards.

Peg Work
	The marks put on cards as described under peg

Pelter
	In draw poker, a nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game. The hand is different in different parts of the country. One variant is any hand containing a 9, 5, and a 2, with one card between the 9 and the 5 and another between the 5 and the 2.

Penny Ante
	Describing a small game, often referring to small limit; usually part of the phrase penny-ante game. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning petty or small-time. "We're playing penny ante."

Penny Poker Dictionary
	Describing a small game, often referring to small limit; usually part of the phrase penny-ante game. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning petty or small-time

Penny-Ante
	Describing a small game, often referring to small limit; usually part of the phrase penny-ante game. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning petty or small-time

Penny-Ante Game
	A small home poker game, in which the stakes generally are literally pennies. Sometimes shortened to simply penny ante.

Penultimate
	The next-to-last card in the deck.

Penultimate Card
	The next-to-last card in the deck.

Percentage

1) The edge or money odds a player has or thinks he has in making a particular call. Frequently a player who calls a bet to take a longshot draw or extra card announces, "Percentage"; he is often taking much the worst of it. For example, in lowball the big blind may draw four cards because there are four other players in the pot, and he is getting a better than 9-to-1 return on his investment. 2) The house cut, or rake, sometimes also called drop

Percentage Bet

A bet (often a blind bet) made in a situation in which you have the best of it. This kind of bet is often made in lowball, when both players are drawing cards, and the first player is drawing no more than the second. The first player now either openly bets blind, or pretends to look at his draw card, but doesn't actually see it, and bets blind in actuality. Since the opponent makes a 9 or better (the worst hand with which many players call) less than 43% of the time, even with a one-card draw, the first player has the best of it, and his bet is termed a percentage bet

Percentage Call

A call made by a player in a situation in which he is a decided underdog, because he is getting better (usually substantially better) than a 1-to-1 return on his investment. For example, in hold 'em a player may call a small bet when holding only a high card when it is very likely that the bettor has at least a pair, because that bet represents only a small fraction of the amount of money currently in the pot.

Percentage Player
	Someone who plays--that is, calls bets or raises, or makes them--only when she thinks she has the best of it on that wager.

Perfect
	1) Perfect low (In a high-low game, the lowest possible hand, often A-2-3-4-5, or, in lowball, the same hand, where it is often called a wheel or bicycle.). "I have a perfect." 2) In lowball, pertaining to the lowest hand of the rank of the highest card, that is, containing 4-3-2-A plus one other card 7 or higher. For example, a perfect 7 is 7-4-3-2-A, and a perfect 8 is 8-4-3-2-A.

Perfect Catch

Receiving precisely the card you need to make your hand. In lowball, this means drawing the lowest card that doesn't pair one of your own, as, for example, catching an ace to 2-3-4-5. In draw high, this means making the best possible straight or flush, or even straight flush, you can make in a one-card draw. In a stud game, this means catching the one card that makes your hand as good as possible.

Perfect Low
	In a high-low game, the lowest possible hand, often A-2-3-4-5, or, in lowball, the same hand, where it is often called a wheel or bicycle.

Perfect Pack
	A good, honest deck, that is, one consisting of either 52 or 53 cards, with no marks, intentional or otherwise.

Perfect-Perfect
	A hand made on the last two cards. A player holding 55, with a board of AA455, in that order, makes runner-runner quads.

Perimeter of the Pot
	An undefined line toward the center of the table surface when determining whether or not a player must be forced to complete a bet. If there is a line, the perimeter of the pot coincides with the line.

Philadelphia Bankroll
	A wad of bills, usually folded over, with a bill of large denomination on the outside, to give the appearance of a large bankroll. Also called Oklahoma bankroll or Michigan bankroll.

Philadelphia.
	I have a full house.

Philosopher
	In English slang, a thief or cheat at cards.

Pick
	A diamond or spade pip.

Pick Off
	Catch someone bluffing.

Pick Someone Up

Remove a player from a game, usually by the management. If a player leaves a full table for whatever reason (such as to have a meal, try to get more playing capital, go outside for a smoke) and does not return within a specified amount of time (such as, depending on the card room, 20 minutes, half an hour, 45 minutes), the floor man might elect to pick him up. "You've been gone for nearly an hour, and the other players were complaining, so we had to pick you up. Your chips are in the cage."

Pick Up
	Leave a game.

Pick Up a Hand
	In someone's absence, play his cards for him; usually followed by for. "I gotta go to the can; can you pick up a hand for me?"

Pick Up on
	Catch on to, generally implying noticing someone cheating. "Yeah, I came off the bottom, but I don't think anyone picked up on it."

Pick Up Someone's Chips

Pickle Man
	In hold 'em, 5-7 as one's first two cards; so-called because of the Heinz slogan, "57 varieties."

Picture
	King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; paint cards.

Picture Cards
	King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; paint cards.

Pictures
	Any playing cards.

Piece
	A portion of one's action given away in exchange for help on the buy-in; often done in tournaments by players who don't think they have a great chance of winning, or traded by participants to increase their chances of making money. "If Doyle, Chip, or Jack finishes in the money, I'll make out okay; I've got a piece of each of them." The term point is similar.

Piece of Cheese
	A terrible hand, usually said disparagingly by the actual or apparent winner of a pot about the hand that might call him, or just has. "Throw that piece of cheese in the muck."

Pig in the Poke
	A form of spit in the ocean, in which one card is dealt face-up in the center, which rank is then wild in anyone's hand, but which card is not part of anyone's hand. Also called wild widow, toad in the hole.

Pig's Eye
	The ace of diamonds, so called because the single diamond pip resembles the rhomboid iris of a pig's eye.

Pigeon
	A card that makes a hand, often received as the last card in a stud game.

Pile
	A player's stack of chips, or money.

Pin Work
	Cards marked (by a cheater) with scratches on their backs, such that their ranks can be determined by feel.

Pineapple
	Any of a number of variants of hold'em in which each player gets three cards and must discard one at some point (usually before or after pre-flop betting, after the flop, or after the second round of betting).

Pink Eye
	Infrared (pink- or red-tinted) contact lenses worn by a thief to see the markings on luminous readers, cards marked with special luminous ink that can be seen only in infrared light. Sometimes called readers.

Pinochle
	In hold 'em, Jd and Qs as the down cards. Comes from the game of pinochle.

Pip

One of the suit spots (spade, heart, diamond, club) on the face of a card. Each face card has four pips: one at each end, outside the border, under the K, Q, or J representing the card's rank and one more at each end, within the border, next to each head. Each ace has three pips, one in the center and one under the A at each end. Each card, 2-10, has two more pips than the number that represents its rank, the rank total in the central area, plus one more pip under the number at each end. (Some say that the smaller symbol beneath the number or letter designating the rank of the card is not a pip, but is part of the index, which is that number or letter plus the smaller suit symbol beneath it. In that reckoning, each face card has two pips, each ace has one, and each card, 2-10, has as many pips as the number that represents its rank.) Also called spot.

Pipe Salesman
	An honest player in a public card room game, usually someone knowledgeable, whose presence deters thieves from plying their pernicious trades.

Piping
	A cheating method in which a player on the rail (that is, in close proximity to a game) signals a thief in the game the holdings of a player whose cards the one doing the piping can see.

Pistol Pete
	Hole card stud

Pistol Stud
	Hole card stud.

Pitch
	1) Twist (In stud, played in a home game, an extra card that a player can "buy" after all the cards that constitute a hand have been dealt. ). 2) Deal cards, sometimes with the implication of doing so in a cheating manner.

Pitcher
	A professional card dealer.

Place Tickets
	1) The second-best hand in a showdown. Comes from the horse racing term place, plus tickets, a slangy name for the cards that make up a hand. 2) A form of draw poker, found only in home games, in which the second-best hand wins.

Plain
	Describing cards with numbers, that is, all but the face cards.

Plate
	A device for marking cards by trimming their edges. (This produces of various sorts.)

Play

1) A bluff. "He got caught making a play. 2) Playing a hand in a nonstandard manner, not necessarily a bluff. 3) An attempt, often spectacular or by a large or desperation bet, to win a pot. "When everyone passed, he made a play for the pot." 4) A playing session. 5) Participate in a poker game. "Deal me in; I'll play." 6) Participate in a pot. "How much does it cost? I'll play."7) To play a hand in poker means to make the hand past the initial round of betting. 8) In seven card stud, this usually means calling the bring-in. 9) In hold'em, this means calling the big blind.

Play Back
	To raise or re-raise an opponent's bet.

Play Behind

1) The situation in which a player has called for chips, say from a chip person, and has not yet received those chips, but can have action on that amount of money in case he gets involved in a pot. A player might say before receiving his cards, "Dealer, I'm playing $100 behind." 2) Agree to call any bet, as if the player had an unlimited stack. If the bet is more than his chips, he buys more as needed. This is not normally permitted in a table stakes game, but is sometimes found in private games.

Play Behind a Log
	Describing a situation in which a player is far ahead of a game and thus playing only premium hands.

Play Blind
	Bet or raise without looking at one's cards.

Play by the Book
	"The book" is a mythical set of instructions supposedly containing the poker wisdom of the ages. A player speaks of "playing by the book," by which he means he is playing a hand the way he thinks it is supposed to be played; such players usually think "playing by the book" is equivalent to playing tight. Actually, there is no book.

Play Catchup
	When losing, bet recklessly, often desperately, in the hope of getting of even. "How's he doing?" "Stuck, and chasing."

Play Fast
	1) Play recklessly; gamble excessively; speed. 2) Play aggressively, betting and raising as often as possible, and, in a no-limit game, as much as permitted.

Play Off the Blind

1) In a winner blind game, a player wanting to leave just after winning a pot usually gets dealt one more hand so that he can exercise the option to have last action on the hand. That is, the winner of the previous pot is supposed to be dealt a hand. To play this one more hand is to play off the blind. 2) Similarly, in a traveling blind game, a player wanting to leave the table (for a break, for example) might wait until she has taken both (or all three, in a three-blind traveling blind game) blinds before leaving. To do this is also to play off the blind

Play Over
	Play in a player's seat while that player is absent from the table for an extended period of time. A player playing over someone plays his own chips, as opposed to one picking up a hand for someone. When someone plays over someone else, he must get up when the owner of the seat returns. He also moves immediately into the next available open seat if one opens up while he's still playing over.

Play Pat
	In a draw game, decline to draw cards when it is time to draw, that is, indicate a pat hand.

Play the Board
	In hold 'em, use all of the board (community) cards to determine one's best hand. When this happens, if no active player can use one or both of his or her dealt cards to form a better hand than that of the five board cards, the pot is split among all active players.

Play the Nuts
	Play only hands that are almost guaranteed to win.

Play Through the Blind
	In a traveling blind game, a player wanting to leave the table (for a break, for example) might wait until she has taken both (or all three, in a three-blind traveling blind game) blinds before leaving. To do this is also to play through the blind

Play Tight
	Playing tight simply means playing fewer hands and folding them earlier.

Play Up
	Play in liberal fashion. The opposite is to play tight.

Play with
	Staying in the hand by betting, calling, raising, or re-raising.

Player
	1) Any participant in a poker game. "There are eight players at each table." 2) Any participant in a particular pot. "Even after the raise, there were still five players in the pot." 3) Someone who knows what's going on in the card room milieu, and usually implying someone making his living playing cards. "Who's that guy putting all the chips in the pot? Some live one?" "Nah, he's a player."

Player's Bank

A fund on deposit by a player with the management of a card room, from which he can withdraw cash to play on, or to which he can add his winnings, and which he can, of course, clear out at any time. This is a convenient means for a player to get around the difficulty of carrying large amounts of cash on his person. The player's bank is usually kept track of on a ledger card with transactions initialled by the player or a house official or both. The cashier is usually responsible for keeping the records straight.

Playing Behind a Log
	Describing a situation in which a player is far ahead of a game and thus playing only premium hands.

Playing Card
	Any one card in a deck.

Playing S & M
	Sklansky & Malmuth. Generally refers to the ideas and algorithms published by these two authors. When used in a 7-card stud context, often refers to '7 Card Stud For Advanced Players', and when used in a Hold'em context, often refers to 'Texas Hold 'em For Advanced Players'.

Playoff
	In some tournaments, the final portion, in which the winners of previous levels compete. For example, a tournament may be held weekly for a number of months. At the end of that time, the winners of each weekly tournament compete in the playoff. In a shootout tournament, a number of single-table contests are played, with one winner in each. After these end, the winners compete in the playoff.

Playover Box
	A plastic box set over the chips of a player on break while another player plays over the absent player. The purpose of a playover box is to make sure the chips of the two players don't accidentally get mixed together.

Plug

1) A chip, a stack of chips, or a token of some sort (sometimes labeled "hold") set down by the house at any empty position to indicate that no one may sit there. The house may place a plug because a player has asked to hold his seat while he goes to get more cash, or because it wants to keep the seating arrangements balanced. For example, two draw tables have seven players each. The house may place a plug at each empty position so no one can move to the other game and leave one table with only six seats while the other is full. The floor man who puts a plug at an empty spot may not tell the players at the table that those chips do not represent a real player, leading some to wrongly think that the seat has been sold and someone will soon come to play those chips. 2) To place a plug; often followed by the seat designation. A floor man may say to the house dealer, "Plug the No. 2 seat, dealer."

Plunge Around
	To play more loosely than you should. Also Splash Around.

Poch
	An early German card game having some of the features of poker. (Pochen means to boast of, which could be construed as to bluff.)

Poche
	An early German card game having some of the features of poker. (Pochen means to boast of, which could be construed as to bluff.)

Pochen
	An early German card game having some of the features of poker. (Pochen means to boast of, which could be construed as to bluff.)

Pocket
	1) The first two cards in hold 'em, that is a player's "private cards" (as opposed to the community cards or flop). "I had a king in the pocket." 2) The down card or down cards in a stud game.

Pocket Cards
	The two cards dealt to you face down in hold'em, or the first two face down in seven card stud are your pocket cards, or hole cards. Hold'em players tend to call them pocket cards, stud players tend to call them hole cards.

Pocket Pair
	Generic Hold'em term for 2 hole cards of the same rank.

Pocket Rockets
	In Hold'em, a pair of aces for hole cards.

Point
	A percentage of one's action given away in exchange for help on the buy-in; often done in tournaments by players who don't think they have a great chance of winning, or traded by participants to increase their chances of making money. Similar to piece

Points

A side bet, made in a draw game, between two or more players, in which the player holding more than 40 points receives a prearranged payment (say one chip) for each point he holds over 40. Aces count 11 (sometimes only 1), face cards 10, and the others have face value. Such an arrangement would likely be made in a lowball game, so that players might feel that they can win something on otherwise unplayable hands. Often played in conjunction with colors.

Poke
	1) A bankroll. 2) The place where one keeps that bankroll, as a wallet or purse.

Pokeno
	A commercial board game that combines some of the elements of poker with those of other games.

Poker Clack
	An apparently sad nonverbal sound (a sort of tsk-like click) made by a player who in reality has a good hand. The term was invented by Mike Caro, and described in his books, columns, and videos about tells.

Poker Clergy
	Poker players.

Poker Club

1) An establishment, usually open to the public, in which players gather to play poker. This definition is somewhat more restricted than a card room, in which any form of cards may be played (bridge, gin rummy, California games, for example). 2) A group of players who meet regularly to play poker, usually in the home of one player or alternating among the homes of various players, or at a private club.

Poker Dice

1) Dice that have card symbols, usually ranking from 9 through ace, one of each, on each die, three, four, or five of which are shaken in a cup and then thrown out. When several players compete, the player throwing the best poker hand combination wins. Sometimes players are allowed to "draw" to a hand, by leaving some of the dice on the table or counter top and shaking and tossing the remainder. 2) A set of five ordinary dice, thrown similarly for poker hands. Flushes are not possible, but pairs, aces through sixes, two pair, and so on, and two straights (1-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6) are possible.

Poker Dictionary

Card Game. Poker is commonly played in card rooms (often within casinos) and in private home games (illegally in many states). The games played in card rooms seem to divide into stud games, draw games, and flop games. In home games, however, anything goes, including games that seem to have no reason to be called poker. The varieties played in home games probably number in the hundreds, or even the thousands. Some common card room games include Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, Razz, Lowball and Pineapple.

Poker Digest
	A magazine devoted to poker playing.

Poker Face
	A poker player's supposed lack of facial expression, such that others cannot tell whether she is bluffing. In reality, few poker players remain expressionless doing play.

Poker Flat
	A place where poker players play; card room.

Poker God
	A mythical deity to whom poker players supposedly pray for good hands, and who presumably protects those in his (her?) good graces; used humorously.

Poker Hand
	The five cards (usually) that a poker player uses in his contention for a pot. Some of the possible five-card combinations from the poker deck have higher (or lower, in low games) ranking than others, and this is how the winner of a particular contest is determined.

Poker Joint
	A place where poker players play; card room.

Poker Machine
	Video poker machine (A computerized slot machine (video slot machine) based on draw poker (but not really a form of poker), with card symbols, on which players try to make certain poker hand combinations, a casino game that can sometimes be beaten by skill, the fastest-growing form of mechanized gambling.).

Poker Patience
	A form of solitaire in which the player tries to arrange 25 cards in a 5-by-5 grid such that all (or most of) the horizontals and verticals (and sometimes the diagonals) form the highest possible poker hands. Also called patience poker and poker solitaire.

Poker Player
	One who plays poker.

Poker Professional
	One who plays poker for a living.

Poker Room
	A place where poker players play; card room.

Poker Rules

The regulations of a particular card room on the conduct of a poker game, often codified in that card room's rule book, sometimes posted on the wall. Poker rules are not standard, although most rule books contain many similar rules. Some rules (frequently termed the rules of poker), such as what hand beats what, are fairly standard, particularly in public card rooms, while others, such as what constitutes a legitimate bet or raise and the manner in which betting must be made, vary widely. The smart player familiarizes herself with the poker rules of a particular establishment before first sitting down to play.

Poker School
	People assembled to play poker. Sometimes called simply school. Also, poker clergy.

Poker Session

1) With respect to a given player, a period of playing cards, from the point at which the player first sits down to the table until he cashes out (or leaves the table broke). 2) With respect to a group, the period of time for which the game lasts, from the deal of the first hand until it breaks up for lack of players, or due to a prearranged ending time. For both meanings, sometimes called poker session.

Poker Sharp
	An expert poker player, often implying one who wins by cheating, usually by manipulating the cards; a mechanic. Also known as a cardsharp, sharp, or sharper.

Poker Solitaire
	A form of solitaire in which the player tries to arrange 25 cards in a 5-by-5 grid such that all (or most of) the horizontals and verticals (and sometimes the diagonals) form the highest possible poker hands. Also called patience poker and poker patience.

Poker Table

1) A table used in card rooms especially for the play of poker. Most poker tables have a felt cover. Poker tables for draw or stud games generally accommodate eight players, with an extra place for the house dealer, if there is one. Poker tables for hold 'em games can accommodate as many as 12 or 13 players, although nine or 10 is more common. 2) Any table on which to play poker. In home games, this can be the kitchen table, or a fancy table with seven or eight places having recessed chip racks and drink holders at each position.

Poker Tournaments
	A poker tournament is an event in which poker players compete for all or part of a prize pool.

Poker with the Joker
	1) Any poker game in which a joker is used. Also called joker poker. 2) High draw poker played with a 53-card deck (that is, one containing a joker)

Poker-Faced
	Having a poker face.

Pokerino
	Poker played for very low stakes, often found in retirement homes, convalescent hospitals, and the like.

Pokerist
	A poker player. This usage is rare.

Pone
	The player sitting to the dealer's immediate right.

Pool
	In English poker games, the pot.

Pop it
	Raise

Poque
	An early French card game, from which some say the word poker came. The French pronunciation of the word is like poker without the r sound.

Position

1) Where a player sits in relation to the others at the table. 2) Where a player sits in relation to the dealer, or, sometimes, in relation to the blinds. Position 1 is generally the position to the left of the current dealer, although, in a three-blind traveling blind game, position 1 could be the position to the left of the big blind, that is, position 1 is three positions to the left of the dealer. Mike Caro reckons position as the number of players remaining to act. Thus, in an Seven-player game, the position to the left of the dealer is position 7, while the dealer position is position 0. The compiler of this dictionary has extended this in his writings to blind games, wherein the position immediately to the left of the big blind is position 7, the dealer is position 2, the middle blind is position 1, and the big blind is position 0 (because no players act after him).3) Where a player sits in relation to a particular player. Sitting to someone's left is generally termed good position, and to his right bad position. 4) Good position with respect to the other players at the table. "You can open with a worse hand when you've got position." 5) Sitting in good position with respect to a particular player, usually sitting one or two seats to the player's left. "I had position on the live one all night, but I never held any hands."

Position Bet
	A position bet is a bet made more on the strength of one's position than on the strength of one's hand. A player on the button in hold'em is in good position to steal the pot if no one else opens.

Position Player
	Someone who plays position, that is, who is more or less liberal with his opening requirements and more or less aggressive in the play of his hands, dependent on his position with respect to the other players, or one vulnerable player in particular.

Positive Expectation
	The situation in which a particular bet, in the long run, has an overall average profit. A wager can lose more times than it wins and still have a positive expectation; this is because in the long run the amount of money won on the times it wins is greater than the amount lost on the times it loses. Also called positive return.

Positive Return
	The situation in which a particular bet, in the long run, has an overall average profit. A wager can lose more times than it wins and still have a positive expectation; this is because in the long run the amount of money won on the times it wins is greater than the amount lost on the times it loses. Also called positive expectation.

Possible

1) In high poker, a hand that needs one card to be completed, as four cards to a flush or straight. For example, in seven-card stud, after the last card is dealt, you have face up three spades in sequence, possibly even four. Together with your three down cards, there exists a great possibility that you have a straight or better. A player may have board cards that rank higher than yours, such as a pair, but that player is afraid of your possibilities. When it is his turn to initiate the betting, he might say, "Check to the possible." 2) In stud games, the description, often by the dealer of the hand, of a hand that could, based on its exposed cards, be part of a complete hand, such as a flush or straight. For example, in a five-card stud game, one player has four spades showing; another has K-Q-10-9, so that a jack in the hole would give him a straight. As the dealer distributes the last round of cards, he might say, "Possible flush, possible straight, pair of aces. Pair of aces is high.

Possible Straight / Flush
	Up cards that quite possibly could lead to a straight and/or a flush.

Post

Put up a missed blind. If you miss playing the blind in a particular round, probably because you were away from the table or because you just came into a game and the blind has already passed you, the house dealer asks if you want to post, that is, put in as many chips as are in the blind you missed. When the action gets to you, you have already called one bet, and, if the pot has not been raised, you do not have to put any more chips in the pot. (You can, of course, raise in turn.) This is not the same as an over blind or kill, in which the action temporarily skips the player who has put the blind chips in the pot, and which causes the limit to increase.

Post Mortem
	An exhaustive discussion after a hand is over about the play of the hand, with so-called experts giving their opinions (with the loser usually providing the most strident) on how the hand should have been played.

Post Oak Bluff
	In a no-limit game, a minimal bet made into a large pot by the holder of a marginal hand in the hopes that the bet won't be raised and the bettor will either win the pot because no better hand is out, or that he will get to see the best hand "for free" because the holder of a slightly better hand is afraid to raise. Also, protection bet.

Pot

1) The chips in play on a particular hand. "They both had straight flushes and the pot was over $1000." 2) The portion of the table in which the pots in play on a particular hand go. "Is that money in the pot?" might be what the house dealer asks a player who is toying with a stack of chips very near to the perimeter of the pot. 3) The interval of time from the deal of cards until the showdown. 4) Make an arrangement to pay for drinks, sandwiches, etc., out of the next pot over a certain amount (usually twice the cost of whatever they're potting for); often followed by for. An example is a drink pot. "Let's order a round. Who wants to pot?" "Who wants to pot for cigarettes?"

Pot a!.
	A player who announces this has just won his first pot of the session.

Pot Limit
	A game where the maximum bet is determined by the size of the pot at the time. Note that a player wanting to raise first calls the bet, then totals the pot to determine the maximum amount he can raise.

Pot Odds
	The amount of money in the pot versus the amount of money it will cost you to continue in the hand.

Pot-Limit Dig
	A pot-limit game not played for table stakes, that is, one in which players can take money out of their pockets if they run out of chips in the middle of a hand. This is permitted only in private games, never in public card rooms and casinos

Pothook
	A 9 (the card).

Potstuck
	Having invested so much in a pot that it "wouldn't be good poker" to fold.

Potting Out
	Taking money out of a pot to buy food, cigarettes, or drinks, or to make bets.

Poverty Poker Dictionary

A form of poker, usually found only in home or private games, in which a player is given a free buy-in, after going broke, on which to continue playing. Usually that buy-in must be returned to the source if the player wins, and the player must quit if he loses the free buy-in. The source for such funds either comes from a direct contribution at the time by the other players, or, more frequently, by cutting money from each pot, which money goes toward a special fund to be used for this particular purpose.

Power

1) In stud poker, the hand containing the strongest up cards, or, sometimes, the hand with the most potential (as four cards to a straight flush). 2) The holder of the hand who has been betting the most aggressively. For example, in no-limit lowball, you made a large raise before the draw, I called to draw a card, and you stood pat; if I miss the hand I was drawing to, but either made, or want to imply that I made, a hand with which I might call, I might say, "Check to the power."

Powerhouse
	An exceptionally strong hand, often one that cannot lose in a given situation.

Preflop
	Pertaining to the bet or situation before the flop.

Premium
	A bonus or royalty paid by all players to the holder of a particular hand, or a very high hand. For example, in some private games, anyone holding aces full or better receives one or more chips at the showdown from all the players, in addition to winning the pot. Also called royalty or bonus.

Premium Hand
	A hand that entitles the holder of the hand to a premium (A bonus or royalty paid by all players to the holder of a particular hand, or a very high hand.). Also called special hand.

Press

Give a stake player more chips to play on, after he loses his first stack; usually equal to half of what he started with. For example, the shift manager used Crying Cal to help get a game started, by staking Cal, for which he gave Cal $40 in house chips with which to play. Cal lost the $40, and the game is in danger of breaking up, so the shift manager goes to the cage, and says to the cashier, "Press Cal," for which the cashier gives him $20, and writes the $20 on the sheet.

Presto
	In Hold'em, what one says when revealing pocket 5's. This term is still evolving and subject to redefinition. The term comes from a more well-established background in Blackjack where one says "Presto!" when turning over a blackjack. When a player says "Presto!" at an appropriate time, the correct countersign is to say "Irwin". This is a method of identification, not a compulsory ritual.

Pretties
	1) Chips of (relatively) large denomination. A stack of pretties is 20 $20 chips, $100 chips, etc. Also, society chips, high society chips. 2) Any particularly good hand.

Price
	The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call.

Prick
	Mark the backs of cards with a pin, thumbtack, or other sharp instrument, in such a way that the thief making such marks can later tell by feel the rank of the card. This is the opposite of peg, in which the thief marks the fronts of cards. Such markings are sometimes called pin work.

Primero
	An early Spanish card game having some of the features of poker.

Private Game
	A poker game played elsewhere than in a public card room. Also called home game. Sometimes private game has a wider application, because a private game could be played in other than someone's home (for example, in a hotel room).

Procter and Gamble
	A form of stud, found exclusively in home games, in which each player receives four cards face down, and three community cards are dealt face down, and these cards are turned up one at a time, each followed by a betting round, with the last card, and all cards of the same rank, wild.

Producer
	1) Someone who brings lots of money to a game and keeps that money in circulation. The term is usually used by the management to describe someone around whom a game can be built (because others like to play with him or her), or by professionals to describe a live one. Also, provider. 2) A player whose main source of income does not derive from gambling.

Profession
	Cheating at cards, cardsharping, illegal gambling; always preceded by the.

Professional Gambler
	A player whose main source of income derives from gambling.

Professor
	A gambler who has the ability to calculate the odds, particularly in card games. Also, dean.

Profiles
	The picture cards whose faces are shown in profile, that is, Kd , Js , and Jh ; the one-eyes.

Progressive

1) Describing the high draw games as used to be played in Southern California (which is not the same interpretation as in home games). They are jacks or better progressive. The California card room interpretation of progressive was a further ante after each passed pot (up to triple ante) plus a doubling of the stakes (usually once only). 2) Describing games with increasing opening requirements, such as progressive jackpots.

Progressive Jackpots

A form of draw poker found mainly in home games in which the opener must have at least a pair of jacks to open, and be prepared to show openers before the pot is out of play; if no one opens, players ante again, sometimes the next dealer deals, and the minimum opening requirements increase to queens, and so on if no one again opens. Sometimes the opening requirements after passed pots stop at aces; sometimes they continue to increase (to two pair, and so on). Pots can grow quite large from just the antes.

Progressive Poker Dictionary

Progressive Progressive
	Progressive jackpots with the ante increased (in size) each hand that is not opened. Sometimes called rangdoodles

Prop
	1) Proposition player. 2) A proposition. 3) To function as a prop. "How ya keepin' in chips?" "I'm propping at the Pasatiempo Club

Prop Bet
	1) The bet that arises out of a proposition. 2) The bet offered by a proposition hustler.

Prop or Proposition Player
	An employee of the gaming establishment whose primary purpose is to keep enough players at a table to prevent breaking up the game for lack of players. Unlike shills "props" make a small hourly wage but play with their own money, winning or losing based on their skill.

Proposition

1) An offer by one player to another to play under certain circumstances, usually more favorable to the other player, in exchange for calling a bet. Propositions are found mainly in no-limit lowball games. For example, one player raises. The player who opened the pot asks, "Two-for-one?" He is offering a proposition, which is, in effect, saying, "I need to draw two cards to this hand. I would not normally call your raise, but you look like a sporting fellow, so I will call and draw two cards if you agree that you will take one card. If you have to break a pat hand to comply, then so be it; I will not play otherwise." Gentlemen do not offer a proposition and then renege. In other words, if you offer, for example, two-for-one, it's not considered sporting to then draw only one or stand pat after the other has thrown his card, nor is it sporting on his part to accept and then stand pat. (Of course, he could accept and draw two, because that is more of a gamble than the offerer of the proposition was requesting or expecting.) If someone offers you a proposition, naturally you can decline. Again, the sporting thing to do in this example is not to say, "Oh, I'm probably drawing anyway," and then stand pat. If you don't want to give away anything about your intentions, you can say, "Just call the bet, or throw away your hand," or say nothing. Just don't out-and-out lie. While permitted, it's not sporting, and will lose you respect and action later. A counter proposition (described under pass for a prop) is also a possibility. 2) An agreement between two or more players to always take part in a certain gamble when circumstances warrant, such as open blind, raise blind or two-three.

Proposition Bet
	1) The bet that arises out of a proposition. 2) The bet offered by a proposition hustler.

Proposition Hustler
	Someone, usually a player, who offers other players bets on certain occurrences, paying off at less than true odds. For example, in a draw game, a proposition hustler might say to another player, "I'll bet you can't beat a pair of sevens before the draw next hand." The actual odds against such an occurrence are worse than 1.5-to-1.

Protect

1) Hold onto your cards, as opposed to leaving them sit on the table, such that the dealer cannot accidentally scoop up your hand, and such that it cannot be otherwise fouled. 2) Place a chip atop your cards so that no cards falling on them can foul the hand; usually followed by your hand or the hand. 3) Place a chip atop the deck (by the player dealer or the house dealer) after dealing the first round of cards, so that discards cannot accidentally get mixed in with the deck; usually followed by the deck. "Hey, dealer, protect the deck," means the cards are just sitting on the table, and a player wants the dealer to put a chip on top of the deck. 4) Bet in such a way as to increase the chances of an all-in player winning a pot, that is, ensure a showdown between only the bettor and the all-in player. For example, in a $4-to-go no-limit lowball game, Grady has $20, while Tom, Sue, and Scott all have over $200. Grady opens for $4, and Tom raises to $20. Sue calls, and Scott raises another $40. Grady calls all of his remaining chips. Tom and Sue call the re-raise, creating a $60 side pot. Grady, Tom, and Sue all draw one card, and Scott stands pat. Grady cannot bet after the draw. Tom and Sue both pass. Now Scott says, "I'll protect your hand, Grady," and bets $150. If Tom and Sue now both fold, Grady has a better chance of winning the main pot (and Scott can make money even if he was bluffing, by winning the now-uncontested side pot). Compare with dry pot. 5) When you have a blind in a blind game, invest more money so money you've already put in the pot isn't "wasted." "Jim always protects his blind, no matter what his cards are or how many bets it costs." 6) Bet in such a way as to make other players pay for the privilege of trying to beat your hand, a hand that is currently the leader, but could easily be outdrawn on the draw, in a draw game, or on the next card in a stud or flop game

Protect a Hand
	To protect a hand is to bet so as to reduce the chances of anyone outdrawing you by getting them to fold.

Protect the Other Players
	Act in such a way as to not jeopardize any other player's action. Acting in turn is a way of protecting the others.

Protect your Cards
	To protect your cards is to place a chip or some other small object on top of them so that they don't accidentally get mucked by the dealer, mixed with another player's discards, or otherwise become dead when you'd like to play them.

Protection
	1) How a card room protects players against being cheated, including such measures as having a house dealer, using plastic cards, having floor personnel who know what to look out for, etc. 2) A protection bet.

Protection Bet

1) In a big bet game, a bet made after the draw in a draw game, or in a vulnerable position in a stud or hold 'em game, to avoid having to call a larger bet from a potentially better hand or from a possible bluff. For example, in no-limit lowball, a player opens for $4. Another player raises $25. The first player calls and draws one card, while the other stands pat. The first player catches an 8, to make an 8-6. He does not want to check, because, with the sevens rule, if the other player has a 7 or better, she might bet a lot, knowing she cannot possibly lose. So the first player now bets $4. That is a protection bet, because the other player will likely not raise with a hand (like a rough 7) that would be a cinch if the first player had not bet. Also underbet. 2) A bet made to protect a player who is all in for the main pot, as described under protect. 3) A bet made to protect a vulnerable hand, as described under protect.

Provider
	A provider is a poker player who makes the game profitable for the other players at the table. Similar in meaning to fish, although provider has a somehow less negative connotation. A provider might be a decent player who just happens to be playing out of his/her league. A fish is usually someone who's probably out of any league.

Public Game
	A game played in a poker room, with usually a fee charged (or taken from each pot) by the establishment for the use of the premises. Compare with private game.

Public Poker Dictionary
	A game played in a poker room, with usually a fee charged (or taken from each pot) by the establishment for the use of the premises. Compare with private game.

Public Relations Player
	An employee of the gaming establishment whose primary purpose is to keep enough players at a table to prevent breaking up the game for lack of players. Unlike shills "props" make a small hourly wage but play with their own money, winning or losing based on their skill.

Puck
	A token denoting the dealer position.

Pull
	Draw a card from the deck, particularly for the purpose of starting a game, with the player pulling either the highest or the lowest card becoming the first dealer. "Let's pull for deal." Also called draw for deal, pull for prime, pull prime.

Pull for Prime
	Draw a card from the deck, particularly for the purpose of starting a game, with the player pulling either the highest or the lowest card becoming the first dealer. "Let's pull for deal." Also called draw for deal, pull for prime, pull prime.

Pull Prime
	Draw a card from the deck, particularly for the purpose of starting a game, with the player pulling either the highest or the lowest card becoming the first dealer. "Let's pull for deal." Also called draw for deal, pull for prime, pull prime.

Pull the Film
	Remove and view the tape from the surveillance camera above a table for the purpose of determining whether an alleged rules infraction took place or resolving a dispute. Pulling the tape is usually done only in extreme situations, and usually requires official action on the part of a representative of the management, say a shift manager.

Pull the Tape
	Remove and view the tape from the surveillance camera above a table for the purpose of determining whether an alleged rules infraction took place or resolving a dispute. Pulling the tape is usually done only in extreme situations, and usually requires official action on the part of a representative of the management, say a shift manager.

Pull-Through
	A form of false shuffling, in which the cheating dealer performs a maneuver that makes it look like he is riffling the cards, but all he does is pull half the deck through the other half, and then cuts the cards without changing their order. Also called pass.

Pump
	Raise.

Pumpa
	Raise; usually preceded by la. When a player says, "La pumpa," he means "I raise."

Pumped Up
	Having lots of playing capital, presumably as a result of a winning streak.

Punch

Punching

Puppy Feet
	A cutesy name for clubs (the suit), so called because they (sort of) look like dogs' footprints.

Puppy Foot
	1) The ace of clubs. 2) Less commonly, any club.

Pure Nuts
	The nuts; that is, an unbeatable hand; usually preceded by the.

Purple
	Part of the phrase all purple, that is, having a spade or club flush.

Push

1) In certain forms of stud played in private games, such as keep it or shove it, pass an offered card to the left. 2) Bet too often or too much; play too aggressively. "The time to get Fat Freddy is when he's pushing." 3) Split a pot. 4) A split pot. If two (lowball) players have wheels, that constitutes a push. 5) A form of stud, such as keep it or shove it, played in private games in which players can pass offered cards to the left. 6) The next house dealer to come to a table, or the present dealer's relief. "Where's your push, dealer? I never win when you're behind the box."

Push Bets

Make an agreement, between two or more players, to pay the others when one wins a pot, except that players involved in such an agreement return all of what the others have invested in the pot. For example, if you and I are saving bets, and you win a pot in which we both play, you return to me everything I put in the pot, and vice versa. In such cases, you and I make money if we are both in a pot only if someone else is in. This procedure is not permitted in most card rooms, because it looks like a form of collusion to the other players. Also save bets.

Push the Pot.
	I win.

Pushka

A pushka is an arrangement between two or more players to share part of the pots they win, or more precisely, the container into which the shared chips are placed. Typically pushka partners will place as much as $10 from each pot won into a container, and split the container's contents later. I've only heard this term in Maryland, although apparently it's due to the Polish word for box, via Yiddish. Of course removing chips from the table is illegal in table stakes games.

Put
	Divine, or attempt to, someone's holdings; often part of the phrase put someone on a hand. For example, in lowball, "The way he bet, I never put him on a six" means "Judging by his bets, I had no idea he had a six-high hand." In hold 'em, you might hear someone say, "I put him on a medium pair."

Put a Play on
	Outmaneuver someone by the timing or size (or both) of a bet.

Put Air into
	Hold your cards in such a way that others can see them. Also, leak air. .

Put Down
	Fold.

Put Him on
	To guess an opponent's hand and play accordingly.

Put on
	To put someone on a hand (or on a draw) is to guess what they are holding.

Put on a Sizz
	Sizz ( A rush (Several winning hands in a short period of time.); usually part of the phrase putting on a sizz.).

Put Someone in a Game
	Stake (Give someone chips to play on, that is, back that player. ) someone.

Put Someone on a Hand
	Divine, or attempt to, someone's holdings.

Put Someone on his Own
	After the house has gone cow with someone, the house may split him out (When a player quits who went cow (that is, with whom the house or another player went half and half on the buy-in) or who was staked, if he won, he splits out (splits those winnings with the house or the person who was his partner). Also cut out. ) and put him on his own, that is, playing his own chips.

Put the Bite on
	Attempt to borrow money from. "Can you believe it? Smiley put the bite on me for $100."

Put the Clock on

Request the management (as often represented by the house dealer) to start a stopwatch on someone who is taking too long on his turn to make a decision, at which point the deliberating player has one minute to act, and, at the expiration of the minute, if he has not put any money in the pot, is considered to have passed. This situation applies mainly only to high-stakes no-limit or pot-limit games.

Put Up
	Put the proper amount of money (or money as represented by chips) into a pot.

Put Up a Deck
	Stack a deck (Stacked Deck: A deck that has been arranged to give one player a huge advantage.).

Puta
	Queen (the card; it means whore).

Putting on a Sizz
	Sizz (A rush (Several winning hands in a short period of time.); usually part of the phrase putting on a sizz.).

Putting on the Heat
	Pressuring your opponents with aggressive betting strategies to get the most value from your hand.