H.O.E
H.O.R.S.E
H.O.R.S.E.L
1. (n)
A game or
tournament format in which six forms of
poker are played in
rotation, usually either half an hour of each or
one round of each. The games are
limit hold 'em,
Omaha/8,
razz, seven-
card stud (
high), seven-
card stud high-
low, and
lowball (the e standing for 8-or-better). Also
see half-and-half
game,
H.O.E,
H.O.R.S.E,
H.O.S.E,
R.O.E.
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H.O.S.E
h/e
1. (n) Shorthand, particularly in e-
mail and Internet postings, for
hold 'em. Also HE.
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half a bet
1. (n) A
bet equal to half the
limit. Such a
bet has significance only when a
player has no more chips left than those with which to
raise or
call, in which
case some establishments recognize it as a legitimate
bet that
can be reraised (
on the side). For example, in some
clubs, in,
say, a $4-
limit game, if I
open the
pot, and a few players
call, and
one player has $6 left, he
can raise the
pot. I
can reraise, but to do so I need to
put in
two more
full bets, that is, not a further $6, but a further $8. Some establishments do not
even permit a
player to
call if he has less than a
full bet. (He
can play the
hand through, but gets no
action on his few remaining chips). Also
see full bet,
legal raise.
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half a dollar
half a yard
half and half
1. (adv)
See cow. "Will you go half and half with me, so I
can get into the $20
game?"
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half and half game
half and half tournament
half century
half kill
half pot limit
1. (n) A form of
poker (particularly common in England) in which the current betting maximum is equal to half the money in the
pot at the moment the
bet is made. When calculating a
raise, it
can include the amount required to
call the previous
bet. For example, the
pot contains $100. You
bet the maximum permitted, $50. If I
call, the
pot contains $200. I am now permitted to
raise your
bet by $100. If I do, your
call brings the
pot to $400, and you could
raise my
bet by another $200, and so on.
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half smart
1. (adv) Partially aware of the workings of thievery, but not among the inner
circle.
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hammer
hand
1. (n) A hand is also everything that happens between shuffles -
cards are dealt, betting is done, a
winner is declared, and the
pot is pushed. To "
play a hand" sometimes means to be dealt in, and sometimes means to at least
call the initial
bet. Use context to
figure out which.
A hand also refers to the
cards you hold - in games where you have more than five
cards (e.g.,
seven card stud or
Texas hold'em), it's your best five
cards.
For your enjoyment, here are the different types of hands you
can make in
poker, in increasing order of strength:
no pair;
pair;
two pair,
three of a kind,
straight,
flush,
full house,
four of a kind,
straight flush.
34. (n) A
good hand. "I didn't
put him on a hand."
15. (n) The holder of a particular hand. "That hand never had to
put in a
raise because all of the other players kept raising for him."
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hand for hand
1. (n) The situation that arises near the
end of a
tournament in which, usually,
two tables remain and a few players must
bust out before the tables are combined for the
final table, all of the players at which will finish
in the money. Because some players might hope to guarantee a place
in the money by playing slowly, hoping to outlast someone else who might go broke, the
tournament director sometimes stipulates that whichever
table finishes a
hand first must
wait for the other
table before starting the next
deal, and the tables
play hand for hand.
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hand mucker
hand of showdown
hard
1. (n) Pertaining to chips in a change transaction. For example, when requesting
change in currency (as opposed to chips), a request made by a
dealer to a
floorman for "$20 hard, $80
soft" indicates a
player has a $100
bill and wants only $20 of it in chips.
See soft (definition 4).
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hard play
hard way
1. (adj) A
pair of somethings, usually used in
lowball. A
hard-way 8 is a
pair of 4s.
One player says, "I've got an eight," and some other
player is likely to
say, "I've got a
hard-way eight" (that is, he paired 4s).
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hardrock
Hart, Schaffner, and Marx
have a sign on one's back
have the worst of it
HE
head to head
1. (adv) Pertaining to (only)
two players in a
pot.
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head up
1. (adv) Pertaining to
two players playing
a game by themselves. "They're playing head up for a
big one." (
Two players are playing
freeze-
out for $1000.) Also,
two-handed, heads-up,
heads up, heads-up.
12. (adv) head-to-head. When a
house dealer says "Head up," he means that
there are exactly
two players in the current
pot.
13. (adj) Pertaining to playing head up. "They're in a head-up
game."
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heads up
1. (adj) A
pot that is being contested by only
two players. Example: "It was heads-up by the
turn."
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heart
1. (n)
Guts; courage; the ability to flow with the tides of fortune in a
poker game. "He doesn't
play well, but he's sure got a lot of heart."
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hearts
1. (n)
One of the four suits in a
deck of
cards, whose symbol is shaped like a valentine (). Originally, hearts may have represented the upper
class, love being an abstract concept appreciated only by the
rich and educated. In both the traditional and four-color
deck, hearts are
red.
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heat
1. (n) Attention being drawn to thievery or thieves by (usually) the
management or (sometimes) other players; often preceded by
draw. "I've been drawing too much heat at the Pasatiempo lately; I better
stay away."
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heavy
1. (adv) In
lowball, pertaining to a
bad card. "I caught heavy" means I missed my
hand by a mile.
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Hector
heef a dooler
heel peek
Heinz
help
1. (v) Someone who says they need help means they need their
hand to
improve in order to have a
chance at the
pot. Or that they've just pawned their pacemaker to fund a few more hours of
poker. Use context to
figure out which.
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hen
here to there
hi lo
hidden hand
hidden pair
hidden trips
high
3. (n) The
high hand, either in terms of the
winner of the high half, as described in definition 3, or the highest
board, as described in definition 5. "Who's got the high?" might be heard with respect to either situation
14. (adv) In a high-
low split game, pertaining to the
hand that wins the high half, or is in contention for it. "I'm going high."
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high belly strippers
high breeze hummer
high card
2. (n) At the
showdown, a
hand that wins when
two no-
pair hands or
two flushes are in contention by virtue of containing a
card of higher
rank than any in the other
hand. For example, between K 5 4 3 2 and Q J 10 9 7, the first
hand wins because it has the high card (K). Between
two flushes, A 7 5 3 2 and K Q J 10 8, again the first
hand wins because it has the high card (A).
13. (v) To win a
pot by virtue of
holding the high card. For example, if your opponent holds K 5 4 3 2 and you hold Q J 10 9 7, he has
high-carded you.
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high draw poker
high hand
high limit
high low
high low poker
high low split
2. (n) A form of
poker in which the
pot is
split between the highest and lowest
active qualifying hands (if
there are
qualifiers, that is certain minimum
holdings for
high and for
low) or between the highest and lowest hands (if
there are no
qualifiers). If
there are
qualifiers, sometimes only the highest or lowest
hand wins the whole
pot. Sometimes both the highest and lowest
hand are held by the same
player, in which
case that
player wins the whole
pot. (
See scoop, definition 4.) This is further complicated in games in which
there is a
declaration, that is, the use of chips or voice to indicate whether players are going for
high,
low, or both.
Declaration is not common in public cardrooms, where
high-
low split games are usually played with what is called
cards speak. In games with a
declaration, the
pot is
split between the holder of the highest
hand who declares
high and the holder of the lowest
hand who declares
low. This makes it theoretically
possible for the highest
hand to win
low and the lowest
hand to win
high. More common is a
hand that would normally be in contention for only
one direction (that is,
high or
low) to
declare and win the other
direction.
High-
low split is often called simply
high-
low.
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high low split game
High Mambo
high man
high roll
1. (v) Try to increase the
stakes in
a game, or try to
run over the game by constantly betting more than the other players feel comfortable with. "We were happy playing $2-to-go until you came along jacking up every
pot;
quit trying to
high-
roll the
game."
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high roller
high society
high society chips
1. (n) Chips of the largest
denomination in a particular establishment. In a
small game, in which
dollar chips are used for most bets, and $5 chips are termed
society chips, $20 or $100 chips would be considered high society chips; in a $20
game, with most bets made with $5 chips, high society chips would probably be $100 chips.
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high spade
2. (v) To
play for the high spade. "I'll high spade you for the drinks" means that if, for example, I get the 7 on the next
hand and you get no
spades or a
spade lower than the 7, you're supposed to
buy me a drink, if you agree to the
proposition. Sometimes called just
spade. For both meanings, compare with
low spade.
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high spade in the hole
high stakes
3. (adj) Pertaining to
a game played for larger amounts than the other games in a particular establishment, or
one in which
big bets are permitted and common.
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high stakes game
1. (n) Any
game played for larger amounts than the other games in a particular establishment, or
one in which
big bets are permitted and common. Also called a
big bet game.
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high variance
high variance play
highball
hill to climb
1. (adv) Obstacle to overcome. "You're
stuck $100? That's no hill to climb for a stepper."
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hit
1. (v) As in "the
flop hit me," meaning the
flop contains
cards that
help your
hand. If you have AK, and the
flop comes K-7-2, it hit you.
22. (v) To hit (or
miss) the
flop means to match (or not to match) the
flop in some way, usually to
pair one of the flopped
cards. You
can also hit or
miss on a
draw, depending on whether or not the
cards you were drawing for showed up. Players whose bluffs are called when they
miss their draws
on the river often mutter "I missed," as if to
point out that they weren't betting completely insanely.
The reason I
bet with
overcards was because I didn't
see how anyone who called my
raise could've hit that
flop.
33. (v)
Make a
hand, usually implying having caught a needed
card. "I have a
pat eight. Did you
make yours?" "Yeah, I hit."
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hit and run
1. (v) A
player who leaves the
table shortly after scooping a
big pot is sometimes described as playing hit and run
poker, especially if they'd only been at the
table a
short time. It's loosely implied that they would not have left if they hadn't won the
pot.
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hit and run artist
1. (n)
One who plays briefly in each of several games, usually with the intention of having a
short winning
session in each. This kind of a
player is usually disliked, because he takes money
out of the
game, leaving the remaining players trying to win from a reduced
pool of chips. Also,
chopper.
See chop.
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Hit it
hit the brief
hit the cage
hit the deck
hit the kicker
hit the table
hit with the deck
hitchhiker
1. (n) An unexpected participant in your
pot; usually preceded by
pick up a. "I was trying to win all Jim's chips, but I picked up a hitchhiker, and she drew
out on both of us."
12. (n) An expected participant, generally someone you're trying to
trap. "Looks like I got a hitchhiker" could be heard from someone who raised a
large amount in a
big bet game and probably will win the
pot, including many chips from the fool (that is, the hitchhiker) who elected to
trail along.
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hockey sticks
hog
hog it
hogger
Hogier
hold dead
hold em
hold 'em
hold 'em 8
hold 'em player
1. (n) Someone who plays
hold 'em poker (usually exclusively, or in preference to other forms of
poker).
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hold me darling
hold out
hold over
hold someone dead
1. (n)
Play a
lowball hand in such a way as to keep another
player pat on a worse
hand, with the effect of keeping the
player from drawing to a better
hand, thus preventing the other
player from winning the
pot. For example, in a no-
limit game, you
open for the minimum, $4, with 8 7 3 2 A. No
one plays except the
big blind, who raises $12. Both you and he have another $50 left. A lot of players would now
go all in. If the other
player has a
pat 9, he now very likely will
break (definition 3) the
hand and
draw one card. In most instances, if he makes what he's drawing to, you lose. The reason to
reraise is to
make more money if you win and to not have to worry about any bluffing after the
draw--if you're both
all in before the
draw, he
can't
bet after. The reason not to
reraise is to have the
player stay pat with a worse
hand than yours, that is, to hold him
dead. If you don't
reraise, and he has a
hand like 9 8 3 2
joker, he'll
stand pat. When you then
stand pat behind him, in most instances he will
check after the
draw, and you
can't possibly lose. Of course, if he had you
beat all along, you
can reason that it would have made no difference if you had
put all the chips in the
pot before the
draw anyway. And if he bets all his chips after the
draw even when you
stand pat behind him, you still have a
chance to
fold.
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holding
1. (v, n) Your
cards. "What are you holding?" or "What is your holding?" means "What is your
hand?"
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holdings
holdout
holdout artist
holdout device
holdout machine
1. (n) A mechanical device enabling thieves to surreptitiously
hold out.
Holdout machines used to be more popular many years ago, but are not often seen now, probably because thieves are becoming more sophisticated, and also because being caught with
one is dangerous. Also called a
string.
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holdout man
hole
4. (n) Losing; usually preceded by in the.
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hole card
3. (n) The
nuts, when part of the expression he'll
show you his hole card.
14. (n) Playing aggressively, when part of the expression he'll
make you
look at his hole card.
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hole card stud
Hollywood
1. (n) Acting. "
Quit the Hollywood; we know you've got the
Holy City."
12. (adj) In a showoff manner. When a
player has only a few chips left, and someone bets him $1000, knowing that he
can't
call even 1% of that
bet, that's a Hollywood
move.
13. (v)
Act; ham it up. "Don't Hollywood me. If you're gonna
bet, do it; otherwise just
show down your
hand."
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Holy City
1. (n) The
nuts; usually preceded by the. "Get in a
pot with him and he'll
show you the Holy City."
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home
home Chowaha
home game
1. (n) A
private game played at someone's
home, often
one regularly scheduled, perhaps weekly. Players might refer to such
a game as "the Friday-night
game."
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honest
1. (adj) Not bluffing, with respect to calling a
bet, and usually part of the phrase
keep someone honest. "Well, I know you're not bluffing, but I've got
trips, so I'll keep you honest." Related to
pay off.
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honest reader
1. (n) A
deck that has not been trimmed, or otherwise deliberately marked, but that, nonetheless, contains irregularities or factory defects (
see factory defect), which permit observant players to identify some (or, rarely, all) of the
cards from the
back. Also called
imperfect deck.
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honor card
hook
hooker
hoop
1. (n) A worthless ring. This has
cardroom relevance, because you will often encounter a
broker trying to
sell you a hoop or a
block.
12. (n) Someplace to do
something unspeakable to yourself, as an insult, and part of the expression, "Ah,
stick it in yer hoop."
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hop
hop the cut
hop the fence
horn
1. (n) A drink. "How about a horn?" is a suggestion to join someone in a libation.
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horse
1. (n) Someone playing for you, with your money, or with money owed you. "I'm losing, but I've got a horse in the 20 who's way
ahead" means that I have a part (or all) of someone's
action (definition 4) in the 20-
limit game.
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horsing
1. (v) Another word for scooting - the practice of passing a small amount of money to another
player after winning a
pot.
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hot
1. (adv, adj) Doing well; catching
good cards. "Don't get in his way; he's hot tonight" means "
Stay out of his pots; you
can't
beat him because he's making every
hand he draws to."
12. (adv, adj) Angry. "I'm hot enough to eat fried
ice cream."
13. (adv, adj) With reference to a
deck,
one that has recently produced a series of
good hands.
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hot deck
1. (n) A
deck that has recently produced a series of
good hands.
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hot one
hot seat
hot streak
house
house chips
1. (n) Chips being played for the establishment, that, is those belonging to a
dealer while he is working, to a
shill, or
stake, as opposed to
live chips.
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house cut
1. (n) A portion of each
pot taken by the
house (definition 2), for the purpose of paying expenses and making a profit. Also,
rake.
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house dealer
1. (n) A
house employee who deals the
cards, sells chips, settles arguments, makes minor rulings in
case of irregularities, and generally runs the
game. Compare with
deal-yourself
game.
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house player
house rule
1. (n) A rule specific to a particular gaming establishment.
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house rules
1. (n) The rules by which a
house runs its games, usually including establishing of betting limits, number of raises, what causes a
hand to become
dead, how to handle violations of playing conventions, and so on.
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houseman
2. (n)
house dealer. Players often address the
dealer as houseman. "What's it cost me, houseman?"
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Hoyle Edmond
1. (n) (1672-1769). English barrister and codifier of rules of games, author, in 1742, of A
Short Treatise on the
Game of Whist, which
set down the rules of the
game. Subsequent editions of the
book contained treatments of quadrille, piquet, and backgammon. Hoyle wrote other books about games, and earned a
reputation as an expert on rules.
Over the years, the phrase "
according to Hoyle" came to be synonymous with "by the highest authority." Although Hoyle never wrote a word about
poker--in fact, the
game was probably not played in his
time--his name has nonetheless
come to be associated with the
rules of poker. Since Hoyle's death, several rules books on
card games in general have had his name in their titles; those books have dealt with
poker.
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Huey, Dewey, and Louie
human card rack
humps
hung
1. (adv) Awaiting someone's
action. "Where's it hung?" is asked when it seems the
player whose
action is next is either dreaming and aware it's her
turn or the
player is taking her
time making a
decision.
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Hurricane
hustle
hustler
2. (n) A
player who takes unfair
advantage of others, particularly of newcomers.
13. (n)
thief; this usage is rare.
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hustling