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Glossary of Omaha Poker Terms

• Aces up/over - Two pairs, one of which is a pair of Aces.
• Action - Betting activity.
• Active player – An Omaha player who is still in the pot.
• All-in - To bet all of the money you have on the table.
• Ante - A compulsory initial bet that players place at the start of the game.
• Back raise - A re-raise.
• Back to back - Two of the same cards in a row.
• Bad beat – A usually unbeatable hand that is defeated by an even better hand.
• Barn - Short for a Full Barn, which is slang for Full House.
• Bet for value - Betting on a completed or partial hand that is expected to win more than it loses.
• Bicycle - The best possible low hand: A-2-3-4-5. This is also called a Wheel.
• Big blind - An early forced bet, usually a raise of an earlier blind that could be called the Small Blind.
• Blank - A card that doesn't add value to a hand. This is also called Bad Draw.
• Blind - A forced bet to open the pot. Usually in lieu of an ante.
• Bluff - A form of deception that players use to make their opponents believe what is not true - i.e. to bet strong with a weak hand so as to mislead the other players in the hope that they will fold.
• Burn - To discard the top card of the deck prior to dealing.
• Button - A distinctive disc placed in front of the player sitting in the theoretical dealer's position, when a house dealer is used. The disc rotates around the table so that every player has an opportunity to be the dealer to make the game fair.
• Bug - A wild card joker.
• Buy-in -The amount of money used to join a game.
• Call - To add to the pot the minimum amount of money needed to continue the game.
• Caller - The one who makes a call bet.
• Calling station - A passive Omaha player that frequently just checks or calls most bets.
• Cap - To cap the betting is to make the last permitted raise in a round.
• Change gears - Changing your style of play.
• Community cards - Cards that are available for every player to use in making a hand. Usually dealt face up somewhere in the middle of the table.
• Cut the deck - To split the deck into two fairly even stacks.
• Doubled suited player hand (DS) - Two of the cards of one suit and two of another suit.
• Draw out - To get a card that improves your situation from a losing hand to a winning hand.
• Early position - Being one of the first Omaha players to act in a betting round.
• Face card - The Jack, Queen, and King of any suit of cards.
• Fast play - Bet, raise and re-raise to get as many players out as possible.
• Fish – An Omaha player who loses money.
• Flat call - To call a bet although not raised by the caller.
• Flat limit - A variant of fixed limit where all bets are the same amount.
• Floorman - The casino representative in charge of the card room or a section of a card room.
• Flop - First three dealt community cards.
• Flush - A poker hand consisting of five cards all one suit.
• Fold - To decline to call a bet, thus dropping out of a hand.
• Forced bet - In some stud games a player may be required to make a bet to start the action on the first card.
• Freeze out - A table-stakes game that continues until a small number of players (possibly only one) has all the money.
• Full barn - Slang for Full House.
• Full boat - Slang for Full House.
• Full house - A hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind and a pair.
• Grifter - A cheat.
• Head(s) up - Playing a single opponent.
• Help card - A card that improves one's hand.
• High cards - Jacks, queens and kings.
• High-low split - Forms of poker in which the pot is split between the best hand and best low hand.
• Hole cards - Four cards dealt facedown to Omaha players in the very beginning.
• Hook - A Jack. So named because the "J" resembles a hook.
• House cut - Generic term for how the house profits from hosting the game.
• Ignorant straight - The lower end of a straight in a game that has community cards.
• Implied odds - A refinement to Pot Odds, which includes money not yet, but expected to be in the pot.
• Inside straight - Four cards to a straight, where only one rank will complete the hand. (4-5-6-8).
• Jacks or better - Draw poker in which a pair of jacks is the minimum hand permitted to start the action.
• J hook - A jack.
• Jam - A pot where several players are raising.
• Joker - 53rd card in the deck, distinct from the others, used as a wild card or as a Bug.
• Kicker - A single high card usually held with a pair of another denomination in draw poker.
• Kicker - The highest side card that is not part of the basic final hand.
• Lady - A queen.
• Lay odds - To give favourable odds to an opponent.
• Leak - To show one's hole cards (often unknowingly).
• Lid - The top card of the deck.
• Limit poker - A poker game wherein the amount that can be bet is fixed, or at most variable within a prescribed minimum and maximum.
• Low cards - 2, 3, 4, 5.
• Limp in - To call along as cheaply as possible.
• Lock - A hand that cannot be beaten. Also called the nut.
• Maniac - A player who bets, raises and re-raises without much regard to the quality of his hand.
• Middle cards - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
• Middle position - Betting positions approximately halfway around the table from the first player to act.
• Misdeal - A hand dealt incorrectly that must be re-dealt.
• No-limit poker - A game where there is no maximum bet.
• Nut - An unbeatable high or low hand. Sometimes also called 'lock'.
• Nut player - A very tight Omaha player who plays only the best hands.
• Open-ended straight - Four cards to a straight in denomination sequence (5,6,7,8).
• Out - A card that will improve your hand, often substantially.
• Pair - Two cards of the same rank.
• Position - One's location in the betting sequence, relative to the players still in the hand.
• Pot - The total amount of money bet so far in a hand.
• Pot limit - A game where the maximum bet is determined by the size of the pot at the time.
• Pot odds - The amount of money in the pot divided by the amount of money you must bet in order to call.
• Premium hands - The best possible hands.
• Puck - A token denoting the dealer position. See Button.
• Quads - Four of a kind.
• Qualifier - A minimum standard that a hand must meet in order to win. Usually applied to the low side of a high-low split pot.
• Raise - A player raises by matching the initial ante and then betting more.
• Raiser - One who raises.
• Reraise - To raise after an opponent has raised.
• River - Fifth and last dealt community card.
• Rock - A very tight, solid Omaha poker player.
• Royal flush - This is a 5-card hand of Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 all of the same suit. This is the highest-ranking poker hand possible.
• Scoop - Wins either high and low ends of the pot or wins it all with a high hand when there is no low.
• Showdown - The point at the end of the hand where all active players reveal their cards and the pot is awarded to the winner(s).
• Slow play - To play a hand passively and risking as little as possible to keep other players in the game and increase the pot odds.
• Small blind - In games with two blinds the first blind is the small blind because it is usually one-half (or less) the amount of the big blind.
• Split pot - A pot that is split between two or more hands.
• Steal - To win the pot by bluffing.
• Steal position - The next to last or last position.
• Suited player hand (S) - Two of the four cards are of the same suit.
• Table charge - A fee paid for playing.
• Table stakes - A standard rule whereby during a hand Omaha players can only bet the money they have on the table.
• Tap - In no-limit games, to wager all of your money in one bet.
• Tapped out - Out of money.
• Tight - A style of play that entails playing fewer hands than average.
• Tight player - A person who plays on the premium hands.
• Trips - Three of a kind with one in your hand and two on the board.
• Turn - The fourth community card.
• Wheel - A-2-3-4-5. The best possible low hand since it can be played as the lowest possible hand, a straight for high or both. Also called a "Bicycle".
• Wild card - A joker or standard card that, by player agreement and/or dealer's choice, can be used to represent any card desired.

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