Get to grips with the jargon and strike fear into your opponents

Aggressive: A player that raises and bets often, trying to buy pots and intimidate players.

Bad beat: When a player with a weaker hand, hits a fluke card to beat a far superior hand.

Bluff: A bet or raise by a player holding nothing, to make her opponent/s think she's holding a good hand.

Boat: Full boat (Full house)

Capped: When the betting has a maximum number times players can bet. Usually three after the initial raise.

Check-raise: When a player checks and then raises after another player bets in later position. See also Sandbag.

Fish: A poor poker player, who throws her money away at the tables.

Free card: When a player sees the next card without paying a bet to do so.

Gut-shot draw: When a player needs an exact card in order to make a straight.

Loose: A player who plays many hands, and isn't frightened of throwing money away.

No-limit: A player can move all in with all the chips at any betting stage of the game.

Open-ended straight: When a player needs either of two cards in order to make a straight, such as an 7-8-9-10.

Outs: The number of cards you can catch that will make your hand into a winner.

Passive: A player who bets and raises infrequently.

Pay off: Calling a bet when you think you are unlikely to have the best hand, but have a chance to catch a bluff.

Pot-limit: The players may bet any amount between the size of the big blind and the size of the pot.

Quads: Four of a kind.

Sandbag: To check and then raise a bet from a later position.

Shark: A good strong player taking a lot of money from poorer players.

Showdown: After all betting rounds are completed, when two or more players show their hands and determine the winner of the pot.

Slowplaying: Playing meekly with a hand on one betting round in order to allow players to make second-best hands so that you can win more from them on later betting rounds.

Tight: Players who fold most of their hands and wait for premium cards to get involved in a pot, and will fold if the action indicates they are beaten.

Tilt: When a player is not playing her best game because of factors such as desperation to get even, or suffering a bad beat, where the players mind gets in the way of her game.

Trips: Three of a kind.

Wired: Starting with a pair in the hole in stud or hold 'em. Three of a kind in seven-stud is also known as 'wired trips'.

Hold'em slang

Bullets: Two aces in the hole. Also called pocket rockets and American Airlines.

Big slick: A-K offsuit.

Cowboys: Two kings in the hole.

Fifth street: The river card (fifth community card on board).

Flop: The first three community cards dealt. Also used as a verb. (ie if you have an 8-5 as your hole cards and the flop comes 8 - 5 - 5, you 'flopped a full house').

Fourth street: The turn card (fourth community card on board).

Nuts: The best possible hand given the five community cards on board. If the board includes a 10 - Jack - Queen - King - 6 of four different suits, the 'nuts' is an ace-high straight, and any player with an ace in his hand has the nuts. If the board is King - 7 - 7 - 7 - 3, the nuts is four 7s, and a player who has the remaining 7 will win the pot. Also used in combination with hand rankings: 'nut straight', 'nut flush', etc all refer to the best possible straight or flush.

Overpair: Pocket pair higher than all the community cards. Q-Q on a J-7-4 flop is an overpair.

River: The fifth and final community card. Also used as a verb for being beaten by a hand that an opponent makes on the river card (ie 'I got rivered when that ace hit!').

Set: When a player has a pair in the hole and a third card of the same rank appears on the board, giving her three of a kind, she has a 'set'. If the third card comes on the flop, she is said to have 'flopped a set.'

Top pair: When a card in your hand pairs the top card on board.

Turn: The fourth community card.