Terms Starting with B

Back Into a Hand

When a player backs into a hand they are in the pot to make one hand but end up drawing to another. (read more)

Back Raise

The term back raise refers to when a player first makes a flat call, faces a raise from a player in a later position, and then re-raise that player. (read more)

Backdoor

Backdoor straights and backdoor flushes are the bane of many poker players' existence. Making a backdoor hand means you've sucked out on an opponent. (read more)

Backer

Backers are people who put up the money for others to play in poker games. Backers are usually either poker players themselves or businessmen. (read more)

Backgammon

Backgammon is a game that incorporates luck and skill, a game where many poker players, such as Gus Hansen and Phil Laak, honed their skills as gamblers. (read more)

Bad Beat

Bad beats are cause for tirades for poker players like Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow. Giving a bad beat means you've sucked out on an opponent. (read more)

Bad Beat Story

A bad beat story is a tale of woe about a poker hand in which a player lost when he was, at one point, a statistical favorite to win. (read more)

Badeucy

Badeucy is a combination of 2-7 Triple Draw and Badugi. Half the pot is awared to the best 2-7 hand, the other to the best Badugi hand. (read more)

Badugi

Badugi is a game in which players are dealt four cards and have to make the best low hand consisting of four unpaired and unsuited cards. (read more)

BallCup Challenge

The BallCup Challenge was a prop bet with Brad S. to see if he could make SuperNova Elite in the last 5 months of 2009. (read more)

Ballys

Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is one of the Harrah's properties that has a small but popular poker room centrally located in the casino. (read more)

Bankroll

A player's bankroll is how much money they have to spend in a game of poker. High bankroll players compete in some of the largest poker tournaments held. (read more)

Bankroll Hunting

Bankroll hunting is often practiced by top online poker players who specialize in finding out the size of their opponent's bankroll -- then they take it. (read more)

Bankroll Management

Proper bankroll management is considered by many to be the most crucial trait for a poker player to succeed in the long term. (read more)

Barney Frank

Barney Frank is the foremost proponent of internet gambling in the United States Congress. He is a senior Representative from Massachusetts. (read more)

Barny Boatman

A professional poker player from Britain and member of the Hendon Mob as well as a red name on Full Tilt Poker. He was born in London in 1956. (read more)

Barreling

The term barreling refers to the action of firing bets into a pot on multiple streets. (read more)

Barry Greenstein

Barry Greenstein is one of the best cash game Holdem players today who donates all of his tournament winnings to charity. (read more)

Barry Shulman

Barry Shulman has been the publisher and CEO of Card Player magazine since purchasing it in 1998. Shulman is also a poker player. (read more)

Battle of the Planets

The Battle of the Planets promotion is a weekly leader board competition on PokerStars that gives Sit and Go players the chance to win additional money. (read more)

BBV

BBV is a common thread type on many popular poker themed message boards and typically attract the biggest whiners online. (read more)

BC Mafia

BC Mafia is the name penned by Shane Schleger to unify British Columbia poker players Greg 'FBT' Mueller, Shawn Buchanan and Kyle Wilson. (read more)

Beau Rivage

The Beau RIvage is an MGM-owned casino located in Biloxi, MS. It has hosted two $10K buyin World Poker Tour Events as of early 2009. (read more)

Bee Stinger

Bee stinger is a Haligonian term for the act of geting owned in a poker situation, getting sucked out on, or simply losing a poker hand. (read more)

Behind

Behind refers to the situation when the given hand is not currently best. (read more)

Bellagio

The Bellagio is perhaps the most popular hotel and casino in Las Vegas among poker players. The Bellagio hosts several major tournaments each year. (read more)

Bellagio Cup

The Bellagio Cup, founded in 2005, takes place after the WSOP has concluded, when true degenerates are still ready for more tournament torture. (read more)

Belly Buster

A belly buster straight is one in which an inside card is needed in order to complete it. It's synonymous with inside or gutshot. (read more)

Bet

To wager an initial amount of money in a game of poker (read more)

Beth Shak

Beth Shak is a professional poker player with five in the money finishes at the WSOP and is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker. (read more)

Bicycle Casino

The Bicycle Casino, aka 'The Bike,' is a cardroom and casino in city of Bell Gardens that hosts the annual Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event. (read more)

Big Bet

The big bet is twice the small bet and is the exact same thing as a blind. Paying the big bet means you already have money invested in a pot pre-flop. (read more)

Big Bet Poker

Big Bet Poker refers to games that are pot-limit or no-limt as opposed to limit. It does not refer to the stakes being played. (read more)

Big Blind

The big blind is usually twice the small blind in poker. (read more)

Big Blind Special

The slang term Big Blind Special refers to when the player on the big blind wins a big hand hand despite having poor cards because nobody raised pre-flop. (read more)

Big Lick

The term Big Lick is a reference to a specific hand in Hold'em, 69 as a play on words from Big Slick and a reference to the sexual act of 69. (read more)

Big Slick

Big slick is equivalent to ace-king. It's one of the best starting hands in poker behind pocket aces, pocket kings, and pocket queens. (read more)

Bill Edler

Bill Edler is an accomplished poker tournament player. In 2007, he won a WSOP prelim, a WPT event and took 23rd in the WSOP ME. (read more)

Bill Frist

Bill Frist (R-TN), is the former Senate majority leader. He's widely hated in poker for expediting the UIGEA through Congress in an unrelated bill. (read more)

Billy Baxter

Billy Baxter is known for his success in lowball poker, sports betting and for spearheading a landmark court victory on taxation laws for gamblers in 1986. (read more)

Bing Blang Blaow

Bing Blang Blaow is a celebratory phrase uttered when defeating an opponent an opponent in a hand of online poker. (read more)

Binions Horseshoe Casino

The Binion's Horseshoe Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas and is named for its founder, Benny Binion and former home to the WSOP. (read more)

Blank

A blank is a card that hits no player in a hand. It is the same thing as a blank or air and means that a player's hand has not improved. (read more)

Blind

A blind is a forced bet meant to ensure action in a game of poker. There are two blinds in each hand: the small blind and the big blind. (read more)

Blind Man's Bluff

Blind Mans Bluff is often referred to as Indian Poker and is played by each player taking one card out of the deck and sticking it on his or her own forehead an (read more)

Blind Off

Blinding someone off occurs when a player is either not seated at a table or is reluctant to act as the blinds increase, but must still pay them. (read more)

Blocker

In Hold'em and Omaha having a card that turns one if your opponent's outs as one of your own is referred to as a blocker. (read more)

Blocking Bet

A bet from out of position that attempts to block the player in position from making a bigger bet. (read more)

Bloodbath

The term bloodbath is clearly meant to evoke a gory, ruinous, disastrous event, like what you might see in a gladiator movie and similar to a bad day in poker. (read more)

Blowup

A blowup is a psychological or tactical meltdown, a term that usually applies to action which takes place in a poker tournament. (read more)

Bluff

Knowing when to bluff your opponent is critical to finding success in poker. Target players for a big bluff or try to pick someone else off. (read more)

Bluff Catcher

Bluff Catchers are hands whose only value is the abiliy to beat bluffs. These are usually medium strength hands or hands whose strength has been neutralized. (read more)

Bluffcall

The term bluffcall is more of an insult aimed at a player that makes a call with a hand that is usually considered just a bluff. (read more)

Board

A board consists of the five community cards used to make a player's final poker hand. The board is made up of the flop, turn, and river. (read more)

Boat

The word 'boat' or the term 'full boat' is a slang term for a 'full house,' one of the highest ranking hands in most poker games. (read more)

Bob Stupak

Bob Stupak is a poker player, entrepreneur, and legendary Las Vegas figure, who opened the Stratosphere hotel and casino. Also a WSOP bracelet winner. (read more)

Bobby Baldwin

Bobby Baldwin won the World Series of Poker in 1978 and went on to enjoy an illustrious career as an executive for the MGM Mirage casino group. (read more)

Bobby's Room

Bobby's Room, named for MGM Mirage CEO Bobby Baldwin, is a sectioned-off part of the Bellagio poker room where the (read more)

Bodog

Bodog which is also a brand name online sportsbook, is an online poker room that currently accepts American players. (read more)

Bodonkey

The Bodonkey is a nickname for a blogger tournament series at Bodog Poker. The series gives away thousands in extra prizes to participating poker bloggers. (read more)

Boku87 Challenge

The Boku87 Challenge at Pokerstars is a goal of a SNE player to turn $5 into $100,000 in just 12 months. (read more)

Bonus Whores

Bonus Whores is a popular website that gives the latest information about rakeback and bonuses offered by online poker rooms. (read more)

Bonus Whoring

Bonus whoring is is a way to quickly build a bankroll without being a winning player. Bonus whores deposit, clear a bonus, then cash out. (read more)

Boomswitch

The boomswitch is a mythical switch that is referred to when a player goes through a sudden burst of running hot while playing poker. (read more)

Borgata

The Borgata is a casino that opened in Atlantic City in 2003. Its poker room is the current center of poker action in the city. (read more)

Boris Becker

Boris Becker is primarily known as a German tennis legend, but he is also seen playing poker at major tournaments, and he is affiliated with PokerStars. (read more)

Bot

A bot is a tool that plays for a person in poker. It makes decisions such as whether to fold, call, or raise and is not allowed on most poker rooms. (read more)

Bottom End

When you have the bottom end of something in poker, that means you have the worst version, typically referenced to a straight. (read more)

Bottom Pair

Bottom pair is when the lowest valued card on the board matches one of a player's hole cards. This is opposed to top pair or middle pair. (read more)

Bottom Set

Bottom set is when the lowest valued card on the board matches one of a player's hole cards. This is opposed to top set or middle set. (read more)

Bounty

Bounties are prizes in poker tournaments that are awarded to a player who busts a player assigned as the bounty. The bounty money comes out of the prizepool. (read more)

Box

Box refers to the are occupied by a poker dealer. It is a cleared space in the middle of the table where the dealer's chair, and chip tray are setup. (read more)

Boxed Card

A boxed card is a face up card in the deck that was somehow already face up in the dealer's palm. (read more)

Bracelet

Bracelets are a common prize for poker tournament winners, with the most famous and prestigious bracelets awarded to winners at the World Series of Poker. (read more)

Brag

A brag in a poker sense is when a poker player boasts of his or her accomplishments in some sort of public forum. (read more)

Brandi Hawbaker

Brandi Hawbaker was a pro poker player that committed suicide in 2008 after a rocky relationship with the 2+2 poker community. (read more)

BRB

The acronym brb stands for 'be right back' and is often used in a chat box when a player has to take a quick break. (read more)

Break

A break is when play is suspended in a tournament to allow players to rest, eat or go to the bathroom. (read more)

Brian Roberts

Brian Roberts plays by the name 'Flawless_victory' online and is one of the biggest winners in online poker. He stars on the show 2 Months 2 Million. (read more)

Brian Townsend

Brian Townsend made a name for himself by pumping up his bankroll from the lowest stakes NL games to the highest while promoting the journey relentlessly. (read more)

Brick

A brick is a card that does not help any player. It means the same as blank or air. Bricking out means that further cards do not help a player's hand. (read more)

Brick and Mortar

Brick and mortar casinos are the home of live poker tournaments. Poker rooms at brick and mortar casinos are filled with top professionals and amateurs. (read more)

Bridge

Bridge is a 52-card game that, similar to poker, incorporates both skill and chance. A handful of poker players started as Bridge experts. (read more)

Bridge Order

Bridge order, despite using the name of a different card game, is used in poker. It never determines a winner, but can determine order of action. (read more)

Bring In

The bring in bet opens play in Razz and Stud Poker. It is paid by the player with the lowest or highest showing face card depending on the game. (read more)

Broadway

Broadway is a slang term for the nut straight in poker consisting of the cards ten, jack, queen, king, and ace. (read more)

BrokerStars

BrokerStars refers to the state of having little or no money in your Pokerstars account. This term was popular when Pokerstars had the biggest games on the net. (read more)

Brown Trout

Brown trout is a phrase that began as a joke on the Two Plus Two message forums. If you hear someone use it at the poker table, you know they read 2p2. (read more)

Brush

A brush is a casino employee who greets players and maintains the waiting lists for games. (read more)

BTW

BTW is an acronym popular on community forums on the internet meaning 'By The Way'. (read more)

Bubble

Being on the bubble in a tournament means that a player is finishing just out of the money. No one wants to be the bubble boy in poker. (read more)

Buck

Buck is a common slang term fo the dealer button, or is used to describe a poker chip with a value of one dollar. (read more)

Buddy List Player

Poker players use the term buddy list player when they find someone who gives away a lot of money. Thus, they want to add the player to their buddy list. (read more)

Bullet

Bullet describes a bet or a buyin in poker. It is one of many combat-related terms, like ammunition and trigger, that arise in poker slang terms. (read more)

Bullets

Bullets is a poker slang term used to describe pocket aces. It is the strongest starting hand in poker. Also called American Airlines and rockets. (read more)

Bully

Bully describes a poker player who is aggressive, controlling and often intimidating in various ways at the poker table. (read more)

Bumhunter

Bumhunter refers to the type of player who will not take on any winning players, but instead spend his time feretting out weak players. (read more)

Bump

The slang term Bump refers to a player that wishes to raise a bet. (read more)

Buried

The term 'buried' follows aloing the lines of 'stuck' as a more severe way of describing being at a deficit in a poker game or gambling session. (read more)

Buried Pair

Buried Pairs are 'pairs in the hole', or two downcards of the same value. It's a term used in stud poker to differentiate itself from a 'split pair.' (read more)

Burn

Before the flop, turn, and river are dealt in a game of poker, a card is burned. The burn card is discarded face down and not used. (read more)

Burn Card

The Burn Card is the card that is discarded from the top of the deck when dealing out the three-card flop or the turn and river. (read more)

Bushman

Bushman, aka Chris Bush, is a professional poker player from Canada whose main grind consists of playing online cash games. (read more)

Bust

Busting a player in poker involves eliminating them from a tournament. Also known as busto, players on the short-stack are often forced to go all in. (read more)

Busted

Busted either refers to a draw that failed to hit or when a player loses all his or her chips in a tournament. (read more)

Busto

Busto is one of the most popular words in the poker community used to describe being broke. A more phonetically pleasant version of busted. (read more)

Bustotown

In online poker lingo, going to bustotown is an equivalent saying to going busto, losing your bankroll or any other similar phrase. (read more)

But How Much Did You Lose

But How Much Did You Lose is a classically annoying question asked of poker players by outsiders to the game in the context of a discussion about winning, (read more)

Button

Being on the button in poker means that you represent the dealer. The two players seated to the left of the button are in the blinds. (read more)

Buy the Button

Buying the button describes two completely different things in poker - a procedure that involves posting both of the antes. Second, a limit hold 'em move. (read more)

Buy the Pot

Buying the pot is when a player makes a large bet (usually bluffing) that is unlikely to be resisted to just take the pot at a given point in the hand. (read more)

Buy-In

Buying into a poker tournament means posting a buy-in. This fee consists of the tournament entry plus a fee, or rake, paid to the house. (read more)

bwin

bwin is a mammoth online European sportsbook that also entered the poker fray in 2005 after joining the Ongame network. (read more)