Card Game Glossary

General Card Game Terms

Ante

A mandatory bet placed before cards are dealt, required from all players to participate in the hand.

Bid

A declaration of how many tricks or points a player expects to win, often required in contract games.

Blind

A forced bet made before seeing your cards, typically used in poker to start action.

Cut

To divide the deck into two portions after shuffling, with the bottom portion placed on top, to help prevent cheating.

Deal

To distribute cards to players according to the game's rules.

Deck

A complete set of playing cards. A standard deck contains 52 cards in four suits.

Discard

To remove a card from your hand, typically placing it face-up in a discard pile.

Discard Pile

The face-up pile of cards that have been discarded during play.

Draw

To take a card from the deck or stock pile into your hand.

Face Card

A Jack, Queen, or King in a standard deck.

Fold

To surrender your hand and forfeit any stake in the current pot.

Hand

The cards held by a player, or a single round of play from deal to finish.

Hole Cards

Cards dealt face-down that only the holder can see.

Kitty

A pool of chips or cards set aside, often used for special purposes like the winner's bonus.

Meld

A valid combination of cards, typically sets (same rank) or runs (sequential same suit).

Misdeal

An illegal or improper deal requiring cards to be reshuffled and dealt again.

Pass

To decline to bet or play when given the opportunity.

Pot

The accumulated bets in a hand that the winner will receive.

Rank

The value of a card (Ace, 2, 3... Jack, Queen, King).

Round

One complete circuit of play where each player has acted once.

Shuffle

To randomize the order of cards in the deck before dealing.

Stock Pile

The face-down pile of cards from which players draw.

Suit

One of four categories in a standard deck: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades.

Trump

A designated suit that beats all other suits in trick-taking games.

Trick

A round where each player plays one card, with one player winning all cards played.

Wild Card

A card that can represent any other card as designated by the rules.

Poker Terms

All-In

Betting all of your remaining chips.

Big Blind

The larger of two forced bets in games like Texas Hold'em, posted by the player two seats left of the dealer.

Bluff

Betting or raising with a weak hand to make opponents think you have a strong hand.

Board

The community cards face-up on the table that all players share.

Button

The disc indicating the dealer position, which rotates after each hand.

Call

To match the current bet.

Check

To pass the action to the next player when no bet has been made.

Community Cards

Shared cards dealt face-up that all players can use to make their hand.

Flop

The first three community cards dealt in Texas Hold'em.

Flush

A hand containing five cards of the same suit.

Full House

A hand containing three of a kind plus a pair.

Heads-Up

A game or hand between exactly two players.

Kicker

A card that breaks ties between similar hands.

Nuts

The best possible hand given the current board.

Outs

Cards remaining in the deck that will improve your hand.

Pot Odds

The ratio of the current pot size to the cost of calling.

Raise

To increase the current bet.

River

The fifth and final community card in Texas Hold'em.

Showdown

When remaining players reveal their hands to determine the winner.

Side Pot

A separate pot created when one player is all-in and others continue betting.

Small Blind

The smaller of two forced bets, posted by the player directly left of the dealer.

Straight

A hand containing five consecutive cards of any suit.

Turn

The fourth community card in Texas Hold'em.

Rummy Family Terms

Deadwood

Cards in your hand that are not part of any meld.

Gin

Going out with no deadwood in Gin Rummy (all cards in melds).

Group

A meld of three or four cards of the same rank (different suits).

Knock

To end the hand by laying down your melds when your deadwood is below the threshold.

Lay Off

To add cards from your hand to melds already on the table.

Run

A meld of three or more consecutive cards in the same suit.

Set

Same as a group; three or four cards of the same rank.

Undercut

When the non-knocking player has equal or lower deadwood than the knocker.

Cribbage Terms

Crib

A separate hand belonging to the dealer, formed from discards.

Cut Card

The card turned up after discarding to the crib, used by all players in scoring.

Fifteen

A scoring combination where cards total exactly 15.

Go

Called when a player cannot play without exceeding 31.

His Heels

When the cut card is a Jack, the dealer scores 2 points.

His Nobs (Nobs)

A Jack in hand matching the suit of the cut card, worth 1 point.

Muggins

A rule allowing players to claim points missed by their opponent.

Pair Royal

Three of a kind.

Pegging

The phase of play where players alternate playing cards toward 31.

Skunk

Winning by 31+ points (opponent under 91), counts as double victory.

Starter

Same as cut card; the card turned up that all players use in counting.

Scrabble Terms

Bingo

Using all seven tiles in one turn, earning a 50-point bonus.

Blank

A tile with no letter that can represent any letter but scores zero points.

Challenge

Disputing the validity of a word played by an opponent.

Double Letter Score (DL)

A square that doubles the value of the letter placed on it.

Double Word Score (DW)

A square that doubles the entire word's score.

Hook

Adding a single letter to an existing word to form a new word.

Leave

The tiles remaining in your rack after making a play.

Parallel Play

Playing a word alongside an existing word, creating multiple new words.

Rack

The holder displaying your tiles; also refers to your current tiles.

Triple Letter Score (TL)

A square that triples the value of the letter placed on it.

Triple Word Score (TW)

A square that triples the entire word's score.

UNO Terms

Action Card

Cards with special effects: Skip, Reverse, Draw Two.

Challenge

Disputing whether a Wild Draw Four was played legally.

Cross-Stacking

House rule allowing Draw Two and Draw Four to stack on each other.

Draw Pile

The face-down pile from which players draw cards.

Jump-In

House rule allowing out-of-turn play of an identical card.

Seven-O

House rule where 7 swaps hands and 0 rotates all hands.

Stacking

House rule allowing Draw cards to be played on other Draw cards, passing the penalty.

Wild Card

A card that can be played on anything; the player chooses the next color.

Wild Draw Four

The most powerful card; changes color and forces next player to draw 4.

Online Gaming Terms

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Computer-controlled opponent.

ELO Rating

A numerical measure of player skill based on game results.

Hot Seat

Local multiplayer where players take turns on the same device.

Lag

Delay in communication between client and server.

Lobby

The area where players wait before a game starts.

Matchmaking

System that pairs players of similar skill levels.

Room

A virtual space where a specific game takes place.

Spectator

A person watching a game without participating.

Turn Timer

A time limit for making a move.

WebSocket

Technology enabling real-time communication between browser and server.

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