This week’s term is tell. A tell is a hint or a clue that a player unknowingly provides about the strength/weakness of his/her hand, next action, or other potential move. In essence, the player tells you what s/he is going to do. Some believe this word originated from “telegraph.”

The best and most successful poker players don’t provide many tells themselves, and many are adept at detecting their opponents’ tells during play.

In fact, poker pro and casino executive Mike Caro devoted an entire book to identifying potential tells entitled Caro’s Book of Poker Tells: The Psychology and Body Language of Poker (2003) hailed as one of the ten greatest poker books ever written.

This week’s term is side pot. Quite simply, a side pot is a pot that is separate from the main pot that is created when a player goes all-in. Thus, the pot to which the all-in player(s) contributed is the main pot. This can get tricky when there are multiple all-in players and multiple side pots are created. It is important to realize that any all-in player is only eligible to win a pot to which s/he has contributed chips.

This week’s term is rainbow. In poker-speak—and specifically in flop games—a rainbow is when no two flop cards are of the same suit. For example, a rainbow flop would be Q♦ 5♠ A♥ or 8♣ 5♦ 2♠.

This week’s term is nuts. In the poker world, if you have the best possible hand at any given moment, then you have the nuts.

For example, if you have pocket 8’s and the flop comes 7-8-2, then you have the nuts as a set of 8’s is the best possible hand at that moment during the hand. However, if a Jack comes on the turn, then you would no longer have the nuts, as a player holding 9, 10 would have a straight. If the river pairs the board, then you would have the nuts again because you would have a full house (or quad 8’s if the river card was the last 8).

This week’s term is donkey. In poker, a donkey is a weak, inexperienced, and generally bad player.

Historically, the donkey has been associated with ignorance and stubbornness, and, at the poker table, a donkey—or donk—is frequently identified by his/her poor play. Among the most common donk plays are calling every hand, especially with poor cards, chasing hands, refusing to fold bad hands, going all-in on weak hands, and continuing to bet against other players who show strength by raising the bet.

This week’s far-out term is orbit. In poker, an orbit is a complete round of dealing. You can look at it as the number of hands based on the number of players at the table or as the period in which each player at the table has served as the dealer for that round. Thus, each time the button passes you, this is a complete orbit.

Oftentimes, players who break tournament rules are required to sit out for an orbit as a penalty.

This week’s term is muck. In poker, muck is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, muck is the pile of discarded cards accumulated during a hand. As a verb, to muck is to toss one’s cards into the muck.

This week’s term is flat call. Also known as a smooth call, this occurs when a player simply calls when a raise—or a reraise— would be more typical or expected.

This week’s term is texture which refers to the composition of and how connected the community—or board—cards are with respect to their potential to complete draws or otherwise make a hand.

Texture is often referred to as wet or dry. A wet—or draw heavy—board is one with suited or otherwise connected community cards that provide many possibilities for straights, flushes, sets, or even full houses. For example, a K♥ J♥ 10♦ 9♦ 7♥ board would be considered wet.

Conversely, a dry board has few or no draw options because the cards are barely connected and/or rainbow (different suits). Thus, the fewer possible draws on a board, the drier it is said to be. For example, a 2♦ K♣ 7♥ 4♠ Q♦ board would be considered quite dry—bad for poker but great for martinis.

This week’s word is gutshot. While it may sound a bit painful and/or somewhat messy, in poker, a gutshot refers to a straight that is completed by an inside card.

For example, if you have 9♥, 10♣ in your hand, and the flop is Q♦, 8♥, 4♠, then you would need a Jack—of any suit—on the turn or river to complete your straight.

A gutshot is the opposite of an open-ended straight (bonus word) in which any outside card would complete your hand.

In this case, if you have 9♥, 10♣ in your hand, and the flop is Q♦, J♥, 4♠, then you would need either an 8 or a King to complete your straight