G

(n) Shorthand for "good one." Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.

1. (n) A cheating device or method, such as a holdout machine or marking the cards. 2. (v) To use such a device or method. To gaff the cards could mean to mark them by any of several means.

(n) 1. Watchers; onlookers; spectators on the rail observing the action at a particular table or at a tournament. 2. Any hand having lots of picture cards.

1. (n) Loose play, or the desire to play other than tight. "He must have a lot of gamble in him, because he never lets any of it out." Also, bounce, jump. 2. (v) Play loosely. Be willing to bet on situations with uncertain outcomes. Note: This word has special meaning among poker players, and is different from the more generalized definition of the word as found in most dictionaries.

(n) One who takes chances in a poker game, or one who exhibits gamble (definition 1). According to Doyle Brunson, in his Super System, this term "... is often used to describe the class (that is, the quality) of a poker player. When the word is used this way it describes the highest class of player--which actually means that the player is not really a gambler at all, but a highly skilled player."

(n) 1. A specific poker game, in the sense of a tableful of players (not in the sense of a variety of poker). "Good game on table three." 2. The specific form of poker being played; sometimes the size of a game. "Table 4 is a an Omaha game." "This is a 6-12 game." 3. A reference to the locale or format of a poker game, as a home game or private game.

(n phrase) shill (definition 1).

(n phrase) Betting or calling in a certain way when you don't know how an opponent plays so as to prevent the opponent from obtaining an edge by his own betting or calling. Against an opponent whose play you are familiar with, you bluff more or less often depending on what you know of his calling habits. Against one whose habits you don't know, though, you use game theory. For example, if there are five bets in the pot and you have a hand that can win only by bluffing, if you can get away with a (one-bet) bluff more than one-fifth of the time, you profit by this use of game theory. Or, against one player, if, on the end, you have a hand that can beat only a bluff, you figure the player would bluff in this situation 10% of the time, and the pot, including his bet, offers 9-to-1 or better, you call.

(n) 1. A missing card in a hand, particularly in the middle of an inside straight. 2. Empty seat. When a table has one or more empty seats, the dealer or one of the seated players may try to entice a prospective participant this way: "Siddown. There's a gap in the trap for a sap."

(n) gleamer.

(n) 1. The discards. "Pass the garbage; my deal next." 2. Poor hand. "Hey, dealer; can't you give me anything but garbage?"

(n phrase) muck (definition 1).

(n phrase) An extremely lucky draw, usually greatly defying probability, and often in such a way as to defeat a hand that has considerably the best of it. If, in lowball, you have a pat 6-4, and I make the blind good (see good, definition 1) and draw three cards and make a wheel, you will be justified in accusing me of having been blessed with a Gardena miracle. In draw poker, you can draw three cards to two cards of the same suit and make a flush and also be considered to have made a Gardena miracle. Many players consider drawing two and making a straight flush or even a flush also to fall into the class of Gardena miracle, but that is more correctly called a cathop. Also, freak draw. Named after the city of Gardena, in Southern California, which was once known as the poker-playing capital of America (at the time when only forms of draw were legal in California).

(n phrase) A form of lowball draw that used to be popular in Gardena, played as winner blind. This form of lowball is no longer very common, and the term razz usually refers to seven-card stud lowball.

(adj) Pertaining to double-limit games; so called because these games originated in the Gardena area. Also see double limit.

(n phrase) A term that describes the situation in which chips are locked up (definition 1). "You'll never get any of his chips; they're in a gar hole."

(n) Shorthand for "good call." Used in the chat facility while playing poker in an online cardroom.

(n) A good tipper.

(adj) Good, great. "Sit down. It's a George game." Opposite of Tom.

(adv phrase; interjection) Terrific. When someone says this, you know he's pleased about something.

(adj) George. "Sit down. It's a Georgy game."

(v phrase) Start a game. A floorperson might say, "As soon as we get one more player, we're going to get a game down."

(v phrase) Have a good hand beaten, usually by an opponent going against the odds.

(v phrase) Be in a situation of making every hand or having good hands in crucial pots, particularly when large pots are involved.

(v phrase) "You lose." This is what an uncouth player says about another player's hand when he spreads his own better hand.

(v phrase) Get into a pot, probably losing it.

(v phrase) 1. fold (definition 1). "Two raises to me? I'll get out." 2. Get even. See get well (definition 2). "I had to get stuck $2000 before I managed to get out."

(v phrase) The point at which a rough lowball hand becomes not-so-rough. For example, in the hand 9-8-3-2-A, which is a rough 9, the hand gets smooth after the 8.

(v phrase) 1. Lose one's money in a game. Generally implies the situation in which an inferior player who has been winning eventually loses back all his money, and (usually) then some. 2. Get cheated by thieves. See take [someone] off.

(v phrase) 1. Win a big pot that puts one even or ahead. "I flopped four sixes and beat two full houses. That pot got me well." 2. Win after having been losing, particularly if the period of being behind was lengthy.

(n phrase) Three 10s, from the phrase San Jose to Gilroy. Also, from here to Gilroy. Also see 30 miles.

(n) In lowball, when a player says "Gin!" it means he has a wheel.

(n) Queen (the card). Also, lady, mop squeezer.

(n) Start; usually preceded by from the. "He had four girls right from the git-go."

(v phrase) Permit a free ride, that is, in stud poker or hold 'em, not bet on a particular round, so that opponents can get another card without having to call a bet.

(v phrase) 1. Usually expressed as give someone action. Gamble with someone, usually implying taking the worst of a situation for the sake of generating a larger pot that is potentially up for grabs, or in return for having won a large pot from the other. "I should call a raise with this hand? Well, you gave me a gamble in that last big pot; I'll give you action this time." Also, "How can you give him that much action? You know he never gets in a pot with anything less than the mortal nuts." 2. gamble (definition 2).

(v phrase) See air (definition 2).

(v phrase) Reveal your hand by obvious play or by a tell.

(v phrase) Let an opponent have a free card.

(v phrase) See a give action.

(n) Use by a cheating dealer of a mirror or other reflective device (such as a shiner) to read the faces of the cards while they are being dealt face down.

(n phrase) A card that has been sanded slightly, to allow a cheating dealer to find it among the others card. Also see belly strippers, end strippers, humps, strippers.

(n) shiner.

(n) shiner.

(n phrase) A cheater who uses glass-work.

(n) check cop (definition 2).

(v) 1. See to go. 2. Participate in a pot. "A hundred more to me? I'll go."

(v phrase) See all in.

(v phrase) go hog.

(v phrase) See cow (definition 1).

(n phrase) lowball god.

(n phrase) poker god.

(v phrase) 1. Perform a cheating maneuver with the deck. If a bottom dealer goes for it, it means he is just in the process of dealing a bottom. 2. Draw to a hand. "What's it cost me? I'm going to go for it."

(v phrase) Deal a card from the bottom of the deck.

(v phrase) In a high-low split game with a declaration (definition 2), use chips or voice to indicate you're going for both high and low simultaneously. Also, hog it or just hog.

(v phrase) 1. Put money into a pot, thereby remaining eligible to win the pot. 2. move in.

(n phrase) A hand on which a player has wagered his last chips and will go home if he loses. Generally the player puts all his chips in the pot prior to the call from another player, or prior to the draw in draw poker or lowball, stands up, and says, "If I lose this one, I'm going home." A going home hand usually beats an Oh shit! hand.

(n phrase) 1. Overblinding. See overblind (definition 1). 2. Playing at a higher limit than the house has set for the game, usually for the purpose of paying time to the house at the nominal rate for the game. For example, playing 8-limit stakes in a 6-limit game, or playing 4-8 in a 3-6 game. See discussion at soft (definition 2). 3. Playing, among players who agree, at higher limits when those who are not part of the arrangement have dropped. See discussion at overs button.

(n phrase) A liquid for marking the backs of cards, a form of daub.

(v phrase) Withdraw lights.

(n) The nuts; usually preceded by the.

(adj) 1. Not foul, that is, describing a legitimate, playable hand, one that has not run afoul of the house rules. 2. See make the blind good. 3. In lowball, smooth. "I've got a good eight" means the hand is probably an 8-5 or 8-4. 4. Describing a, or the, winning hand, often said by the loser of a pot with respect to the hand that has beaten him, before he has shown his own hand. Saying "That's good" essentially surrenders the pot. See Good hand.

(n phrase) One in which you expect to win a lot of money, presumably because the game is full of worse players than you.

(interjection) A verbal acknowledgment by a player on the showdown that another player has the best hand.

(n) In hold 'em, Q-T as one's first two cards.

(n) In hold 'em, two kings as one's first two cards. Comes from King Kong.

(v phrase) 1. Remove chips surreptitiously from the table (so called because on a map that's the direction they go), or pocket winnings while playing. Also called rathole. 2. Palm or otherwise surreptitiously remove cards from the deck for later introduction (by a thief) at an opportune moment. 3. Leave a game or cardroom with money obtained dishonestly. 4. Disappear. "I lent him $20 and he went south with it."

(v phrase) See going the overs.

(v phrase) go all in.

(v phrase) Defy the odds trying to beat a hand you know to be better than yours. In stud or hold 'em games, this means call another bet, with an inferior hand, to see one more card, and probably be willing to see subsequent cards if the next one doesn't help, or if the next one gives one a draw to a possible winner. In draw games, this means call a bet with the intention of drawing multiple cards trying to make a Gardena miracle or freak draw. Also see chase.

(n) $1000.

(n phrase) Three fours. (A grand jury has 12 members.)

(n) graveyard shift. "When do you work?" "I'm on graveyard."

(n phrase) One of the three shifts (see shift) in a 24-hour cardroom or casino, the shift between swing and day. Graveyard shift usually starts anywhere between midnight and 2 a.m and ends eight hours later.

(n) 1. Unexpected profit on a hand. For example, in a no-limit lowball game one player has only $20 and is all in. You have created a side pot of $200 by raising another player. You and the other player both have money left. The all-in player and the other player each draw one card. You are snowing and stand pat on a queen-jack. After the draw, the player with remaining chips checks, you bet $200, and he folds. You know that the side pot is all yours, already a profit of $80, but you think that the $60 main pot probably will belong to the all-in player, however, on the showdown he cannot beat your hand, because he was drawing to a wheel and paired one of the small cards. That $60 is gravy. 2. The amount by which a player is ahead, usually implying that he is in a lot and was stuck until fairly recently. "Boy, you're winning a lot! Look at all those chips--must be over a grand." "Uh huh. I'm in a thousand. There's $1040 here, so $40 is gravy."

(n) greek.

(n) 1. A card cheat; thief; card sharp. 2. By extension (or guilt by association!), any professional gambler. Also, grec.

(n phrase) 1. A cheating maneuver, in which the second card from the bottom of the deck is dealt. 2. The card itself, that is, the second card from the bottom of the deck.

(n) A general term for cheating or thievery.

1. (n) felt; usually preceded by the. The cloth surface covering a card table. He went to the green means he bet all his chips. 2. A green chip.

(n phrase) A $25 chip, also called a quarter.

1. (v) To cheat, usually involving stealing small amounts of money. 2. (n) grifter. 3. A cheating scheme used by a cheat.

(n) A swindler or cheater, generally one who steals small amounts of money on an irregular basis. Also called grift.

(v) grind out. "Been playing big lately?" "Nah, just grinding."

(n) One who grinds. See grind out.

(v phrase) Win gradually, but consistently The implication here is that this is done by someone in a game smaller than he is used to and by playing tighter than he usually does. Also said disparagingly of a conservative, winning player who never wins big, but also never gets caught gambling (see gamble).

(n phrase) In hold 'em, a ranking of starting hands, according to a chart originally developed by David Sklansky. Group 1 hands include aces, kings, queens, ace-king suited, and so on.

(n) inside. To catch in the gut means to make an inside straight.

(n) guts to open.

(n phrase) The card that makes an inside straight, or, more commonly, the making of a straight by catching a card inside. If you draw to 4-5-7-8 of mixed suits in draw poker, or have those cards in a stud or hold 'em game, and catch a 6, you have made a gut shot. A gut shot card is sometimes called a belly card.

(adj) Pertaining to an inside straight, usually part of the phrase gutshot straight. See gut shot.

(n phrase) straight draw. Sometimes shortened to just guts.

(n phrase) inside straight.

(n) A gutshot draw.

(v, n) See gypsying in. This term is often used in the negative, no gypsy, meaning that the minimum open is always two bets.

(v phrase) In the smaller double-limit games, usually up to 15-30, a pot can be opened for the minimum bet. For example, in the 2-4 game, the dealer puts a dollar chip in the pot before the cards have been dealt, the player to the left of the dealer also puts in a dollar chip before the cards have been dealt, and the player two positions to the left of the dealer puts in two dollar chips. After the cards have been dealt, the players look at their cards. Starting three positions to the left of the dealer, each player makes a decision in turn whether to play the pot. If a player does not want to play, the player discards his or her cards, and has no further interest in this pot. The first player to put money into the pot after having seen his or her cards is said to open the pot, or, simply, to open. That player has two choices on the opening bet. He or she can open for $2, that is, the size of the big blind. Or he or she can open for $4, which is called coming in for a raise (see come in for a raise). Opening for the minimum permitted is called gypsying in. If a player opens for $2, any succeeding player can fold, call the $2 bet, or raise it to $4. Similarly, if a player opens for $4, any succeeding player can fold, call the $4 bet, or raise it to $6. After the first raise, further raises proceed in $2 increments. If the pot is opened for the minimum, and no one raises, when the betting gets to the dealer or middle blind, either can call for just $1. And, when the betting gets to the big blind, the big blind can stop the betting, or raise it. This kind of blind is called a live blind. When the big blind elects not to raise a minimum opening bet, the player usually signifies by tapping his or her cards on the table, or saying something like, "Deal 'em," signifying that it's time to draw cards, because the first-round betting action is over. In another example, in the 15-30 game, the dealer blind is $5, the middle blind is $10, and the big blind is $15. As in the previous example, the first player to put money into the pot after having seen his or her cards has two choices on the opening bet. He or she can open for $15, that is, the size of the big blind. This is gypsying in. Or he or she can open for $30, that is, come in for a raise. As in the smaller game, if a player opens for $15, any succeeding player can fold, call the $15 bet, or raise it to $30. Similarly, if a player opens for $30, any succeeding player can fold, call the $30 bet, or raise it to $45. After the first raise, further raises proceed in $15 increments. If the pot is opened for the minimum, and no one raises, when the betting gets to the dealer, that player can call for $10, while the middle blind can call for $5. (Of course, either has the option of folding, or raising.) And, when the betting gets to the big blind, the big blind can stop the betting, or raise it. Games in which gypsying in is not permitted are called no gypsy. Also see option (definition 1).