Top 5 Poker Terms Only Real Players Know

All communities have their own customs and practices and the world of poker is no different. Players dress in a certain way, they treat their bankroll in a certain way, and they talk in a certain way. Many phrases exist in our everyday language that come from poker including, ‘holding your cards close to your chest’, ‘upping the ante’, or you may have told someone they have to ‘play with the hand they have been dealt’.

There are, however, some additional words that the poker community has developed that simply do not work unless they are used in the context of playing poker. Here are my five favourites in descending numerical order. I think I play poker just so I can use them!

5. “Under The Gun (UTG)”

Thankfully this is a term I have only encountered when playing poker and I intend to keep it that way. A player is deemed ‘under the gun’ when they sit immediately to the left of the player posting the big blind. In terms of strategy, it is one of the weakest positions at the poker table because you act first in every round of betting throughout the hand.

The term has proven useful to players telling poker stories where they describe themselves as sitting, for example, UTG+1 (one seat to the left of the player who is ‘under the gun’) to help illustrate the action. Savvy poker players have used the perceived weakness of being ‘under the gun’ to deceive their opponents about their hand strength by acting strong when in that position.

By the way, if you find yourself ‘under the gun’ or indeed anything to do with a gun away from the poker table, remember to tread carefully!

4. “Nit”

Being called a ‘nit’ is not a term of endearment. Poker players like action and they can only win your chips if you gamble them. ‘Nits’ are very tight players and —like their namesake insect that lives in clean hair and causes mega angst for parents when their children come home riddled with them— your opponents will be frustrated when you fold most hands, avoid chasing draws, and only play with premium hands.

Outside of poker, being called a “nitwit” is not a nice thing either. Note the subliminal guidance here. Being predictable at the poker table is a bad idea and if your opponent continues to bet when it is obvious you must have with Aces, Kings, Queens, or Ace-King (because you are a nit!) they could be exploiting your tendency to play very tight. So being ‘nitty’ is not necessarily the key to poker success.

3. “Donk”

The term donkey is abbreviated into ‘donk’ and this term is directed at poker players who play badly. Quite often the term is used in frustration when a player sucks out (to follow) and gets lucky, and more often than not, your choice of starting hand may cause your opponent to state you are playing like a ‘donk’.

Other players will not welcome hearing the term thrown around, but their intention is not necessarily to defend the donks honour. It is well-known that if you identify a fish you should not ‘tap the aquarium’ (there’s another poker term for you!). You should keep bad players welcome and thinking they are playing well, doing nothing to scare them away. This means that the person calling someone a donk can quite often turn out to be the donk themselves.

2. “Suckout”

We will only discuss the poker term here, as we will head into dark and murky waters by discussing the term away from the poker table! Innuendo is part of the fun of this word, but as per the term ‘nit,’ you are not being showered with love from your opponents when they complain about you ‘sucking out’ on them.

Luck is an essential part of poker as it is keeps poor players coming back and it should be celebrated. Again, the joke is on the villain. ‘Sucking out’ on the opponent means you hit an unlikely card, but of course you must have had outs to hit and they forget that. So you simply smile and pretend it was an accident. Only you will know whether you got lucky or whether it was a calculated gamble. Either way, you won the pot, even if it took a filthy suckout on your part to get there!

“Bink!”

A truly wonderful word, to “bink” something means you have won a large amount of money and one such use of the word could be “I have binked (the prize).” There is a subtle deception in the use of the term because when you say “bink” it implies a degree of luck without actually saying it.

Bink is such a great word, I often try to break the rules and use it in everyday life. Unfortunately for me, I don’t bink too much in normal life and unless the person I am speaking to plays poker, they do not have a clue what I am on about. The word even came up as misspelled when I wrote the previous sentence, so it can't be legit if the mighty spell checker software doesn’t recognize it.

Enjoy these words and the poker spots that led you to be able to use them!