Poker Glossary and Laws

Poker Definitions

Open Pair: An exposed pair in Stud.
Pat Hand: A straight or better.
Roodles: A roodle hand is one in which the stakes are temporarily increased. Thus, in many games of Draw Poker it is customary to increase the limit for one round following the holding of any four of a kind or better.
Sandbagging: When a player merely checks or calls with a good hand in the hope that he will be able to raise later, he is “sandbagging.”
Short Pair: In Jack Pots any pair lowers than jacks.
Standing Pat: Not drawing any cards.
Stay: To call.
Under The Guns: The first player or players to act are said to be “under the guns.”
Up Card or Up Cards: The exposed card or cards in Stud Laws.

The Poker Hand

A poker hand consists of five cards. In variations where a player is dealt more than five cards he uses the best five to make his poker hand.

Rank of Cards

Australia poker is played with a standard fifty-two-card deck; the cards rank as in bridge, i.e., the ace high, the king next, etc. There is an exception, however, in that the ace is counted as a one with a combination of two, three, four, and five to form a straight. All suits rank the same.

Rank of Hands

Poker hands are ranked in nine categories, any hand in one category outranking all hands in a lower category. These categories are as follows:
1. Straight flush: Five cards in sequence of the same suit. (The Royal Flush is simply the highest possible straight flush-Le., A, K, Q, J, 10 in one suit.)
2. Four of a kind and one odd card.
3. Full house: Three of one kind and two of another.
4. Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
5. Straight: Five cards in sequence.
6. Three of a kind and two odd cards.
7. Two pairs and an odd card.
8. One pair and three odd cards.
9. No pair.
Between two hands in the same category the relative rank is determined as follows:
Categories 1 and 5: The top card. For example, the highest straight is A, K, Q, J, 10; the lowest, 5, 4, 3, 2, A.
Category 2: The higher four of a kind.
Categories 3 and 6: The higher three of a kind.
Category 7: The highest pair. Thus, aces and deuces outrank kings and queens. If each player has the same high pair, the second pair determines. If each player has the same two pairs, the odd card.
Category 8: The higher pair. If each player has the same pair, the highest outside card. If those tie, the next highest, etc.
Categories 4 and 9: The highest card. If they are identical, the next highest, etc.

Local Option Hands

There are any numbers of additional combinations of cards which are given rank in various localities. Some of these are the Dog, the Tiger, the Skeet, the Kilter, the Cat hop, the Mississippi Bearcat, the Blaze, etc. The only ones that are used to any extent at all are the Dog and the Tiger. They are:
1. Big Tiger: A king to an eight with no pair. Ranks below a flush.
2. Little Tiger: An eight to a three with no pair. Ranks below a Big Tiger.
3. Big Dog: Ace to a nine with no pair. Ranks below a Little Tiger.
4. Little Dog: Seven to a two with no pair. Ranks below a Big Dog and above a straight.

The Joker

The game may be played with a joker. In this event the joker may be counted as any card, even one held by the player who holds the joker. Thus, four of a kind and the joker count as five of a kind. This makes the highest hand and outranks any straight flush. The joker may also be used with a combination of cards, such as the ace, eight, seven, and six of hearts to form a double-ace flush. This double- ace flush will outrank any other flush.