R Rack: (1) A container in which chips are stored while being transported. (2) A tray in front of the dealer, used to hold chips and cards. Ragged: A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged. Raise: To increase the amount of a prior wager. Rake: An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer - this is the cardroom's income. Rank: The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example: "jack," "seven." Reraise: To raise someone's raise. Ring Game: A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips. River: The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street". Metaphors involving the river are some of poker's most treasured cliches - e.g. "He drowned in the river." Rock: A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable - if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts. Runner: Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand which was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river - "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "Backdoor."
S Saving Bets: Same as pushing bets. Scoop: To win both the high and the low portions of a pot in a split-pot game. Scramble: Mixing the cards facedown on the table. Second Pair: A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair. Semi-bluff: It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play. Setup: Two suited decks, each with different colored backs, to replace current decks in a game. Side Pot: A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Carl calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Al or Beth can win, but not Carl. Furthermore, any more bets that Al and Beth make go into that side pot. Carl, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot. Short Buy: A buy-in that is less than the required minimum buy-in. Showdown: The final act of determining the winner of the pot after all betting is completed. Shuffle: The act of mixing the cards. Slow Play: To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot Small Blind: In a game with multiple blind bets, the smallest blind. Split Pot: A pot that is divided among players, either because of a tie for the best hand or by agreement prior to the showdown. Splitting Blinds: When no one else has entered the pot, an agreement between the big blind and small blind to each take back their blind bets instead of playing the deal (chopping). Splitting Openers: In high draw jacks-or-better poker, dividing openers in hopes of making a different type of hand. Example: You open the pot with a pair of aces. One of your aces is a spade, as are the three other cards in the hand. If you throw away the non-spade ace to go for the flush, you announce to the table, "Splitting openers." Stack: A players Chips. Straddle: An additional blind bet placed after the forced blinds, usually double the big blind in size or in lowball, a multiple blind game. Straight: Five cards in consecutive rank. Straight Flush: Five cards in consecutive rank of the same suit. Street: Cards dealt on a particular round in stud games. For instance, the fourth card in a player's hand is often known as fourth street, the sixth card as sixth street, and so on. String Raise: A bet made in more than one motion, without a declaration of a raise (not allowed). Stub: Cards that have not been dealt. Supervisor: A cardroom employee qualified to make rulings, such as a floorperson, shift supervisor, or the cardroom manager.
