All casino games are filled with jargon — but none are filled with as much jargon as the game of poker. Indeed, you will have your work cut out for you as you really learn the terms for each and ever component of a good poker game. When you’re just beginning your hobby as a poker player, this can be overwhelming. However, you will need to gain familiarity as fast as possible so that you will get the best advantage when you decide to play against other people.
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t allow the jargon of online poker to throw you off, or make you feel like you don’t have what it takes to really do well at the tables. It will just take time before all of these terms make sense. The more you play and interact with other players online, the easier your poker playing hobby will actually be.
The basic terms of online poker are similar to offline poker. For example, both styles of game play refer to the community cards, which are the cards that first hit the board. In the case of Texas Hold ‘Em; this is divided into the flop, turn, and river. The flop are the first three cards that hit the board, the turn is the 4th card that hits the board, and the river is the last card that hits the board. Many poker games have been won by that 5th card, so don’t think that the game is immediately over once the flop hits the board. Knowing these terms will help you greatly when you start looking into poker theory because you will need to take different actions based on not only where you are at the table, but what stage you are in the game. The actions that you might take at the flop level could be far different than that of the river-stage, where that last card determines so much of the gameplay.
You also have terms like big blind and small blind, which are forced bets that certain players have to put up depending on their place around the table. It’s usually to the left of the dealer, but some poker variations state otherwise.
Overall, there is a lot to do when it comes to learning the nuts and bolts of online poker. However, before you really do anything else, you would really do well to learn the jargon of online poker. If you really take the time to learn the jargon of online poker, there’s really no limit to what you can do!