A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

S

Sanding - A system of marking cards by sanding the edges or ends of cards.

Sawbuck - Ten dollars.

Say - The turn of a player to declare what to do.

Scare Card - Makes a better hand more likely when it appears.

Scarne Cut - To cut by pulling cards from the center of the deck and placing them on top of the deck.

Schenck's Rules - First known rules of poker printed in England in 1872.

Schoolboy Draw - An unsound draw.

Scooping - See Shoot the Moon.

Scoot - Scooting is the practice of passing chips to another player after winning a pot.

Screwy Louie - Similar to Anaconda, except discards are passed to the player on one's left.

Seat Position - The position of a player relative to the other players.

Seat Shot - A bet or raise made from an advantageous seat position.

Seating List - If there is no seat available for you when you arrive in a card room, you can put your name on a list to be seated when a seat opens up.

Second - The second card from the top of the deck being dealt.

Second Best - The best losing hand.

Second Deal - To deal the second card from the top of the deck when cheating.

See - To call in the final round of betting.

Seed - An ace.

Selling a Hand - A strategy to get opponents to call.

Semi-bluff - Similar to a bluff except that the semi-bluffer has some chance of making a winning hand.

Sequence - Cards of consecutive value as in a straight (e.g., four, five, six, seven, eight).

Sequential Declaration - The last bettor or raiser being required to declare his hand in high-low poker.

Session - The period in which a poker game is held.

Set - Three or four of a kind.

Set You In - To bet as much as your opponent has left in front of him.

Seven-Card Flip - Seven-card stud in which the first four cards are dealt down and then the player turns any two up.

Seven-Card Pete - Seven-card stud with all sevens as wild ... or one's low-hole card (or one's last card) and all like it as wild.

Seven-Card Stud or Seven-Toed Pete - Stud poker played with three hole cards and four exposed cards.

Seven-Toed Pete - Seven-card stud.

Sevens Rule - A rule in low-ball in which anyone with seven low or better must bet or forfeit further profits from the pot.

Sharp Top - An ace.

Sharp, Sharper, or Sharker - A cheater (Cardsharp).

Shifting Sands - The same as Mexican stud except one's hole card and all matching cards are wild.

Shill - A house man or woman who actively plays in the game for the house, club, or casino.

Shiner - A tiny mirror or any reflecting device used by a cheater to see unexposed cards.

Shoe - A device from which cards are dealt.

Shoot the Moon - To declare both high and low in an attempt to win both halves of a high-low pot (Moon, Scooping, Swinging).

Shootout - A format in which a single player ends up with the entire prize money in a tournament.

Short - Insufficient money or cards (Shy).

Short Call - To call part of a bet in table stakes with all the money one has on the table.

Short Pair - A pair lower than openers, such as a pair of tens in jackpots.

Short Stud - Five-card stud.

Shorthanded - A game is said to be shorthanded when it falls below a certain number of players.

Shotgun - Draw poker with extra rounds of betting that start after the third card is dealt.

Shove Them Along - Five-card stud in which each player has the choice to keep his first up card dealt to him or to pass it to the player on his left (Take It or Leave It).

Show - To expose one's cards.

Show Cards - The exposed cards in stud.

Show One Show All - Some card rooms have a rule that if a player shows their cards to anyone at the table they can be asked to show everyone else as well.

Show Tickets - (1) The third best hand. (2) Draw poker in which the third best hand wins.

Showdown - (1) The showing of cards at the end of a hand. (2) An open hand played for a predetermined amount.

Shuffle - To mix the cards prior to dealing.

Shy - See Short.

Side Arms - The second pair of two pair.

Side Bet - Any bet made outside the pot.

Side Cards - Cards that do not influence the value rank of a hand.

Side Money or Side Pot - The amount set aside from the main pot in table stakes.

Side Strippers - Cards tapered along the Sides for cheating.

Sight - To call for a show of hands after tapping out.

Signals - The system that collusion cheaters use to secretly exchange information about their cards and instructions about betting and raising.

Silent Partner - An innocent player used by a cheater as an unwitting partner.

Simultaneous Declaration - High-low poker in which everyone declares his hand at the same time.

Sixty-six - Six-card stud with sixes wild.

Skeet - See Pelter.

Skeet Flush - A skeet in one suit.

Skin - A dollar.

Skin Game - A game having two or more collusion cheaters.

Skinning the Hand - A cheater's technique to get rid of extra cards.

Skip Straight or Skipper - See Alternate Straight.

Skoon - A dollar.

Sky's the Limit - A game in which no maximum is placed on any bets or raises.

Slicked-Aced Deck - A deck with chemically treated slippery aces that allows a cheater to locate the aces from within a deck.

Slow Play - Passively allowing opponents to bet while holding a strong hand.

Slow Roll - To reveal one's hand slowly one card at a time at showdown.

Smooth - The lowest lowball hand of a given value, such as seven, four, three, two, ace, for a seven low.

Smooth Call - Making a call with a raising hand.

Snap Off - To beat a bluffer with a weak hand is to snap them off.

Snarker - A player who wins a pot and then ridicules the loser.

Snatch Game - A casino or house game in which pots are excessively cut or raked, often covertly.

Snow - To fake or bluff.

Snowing Cards - See Fuzzing.

Sorts - A deck of cards made up of irregular or imperfect cards sorted from many normal decks of cards.

Southern Cross - A variation of Cincinnati with nine up cards arranged in a cross.

Speed - Refers to the level of aggressiveness with which you play.

Speeding - You are said to be caught speeding when you are caught bluffing.

Spider - A hold-out device attached to the cheater's coat or vest.

Spike - (1) An ace. (2) A pair in lowball.

Spinner - A winning streak (Hot Streak).

Spit Card - A card turned up that is used in every player's hand.

Spit in the Ocean - A draw game in which an exposed card and all matching cards are wild.

Splash (the pot) - To throw your chips into the pot instead of placing them in front of you.

Split Openers - To break up the hand required to open.

Split Pair - A pair in stud with one card in the hole and the other exposed.

Split Pot - A pot equally divided between two winners.

Spot - An ace.

Spot Card - Any card from the deuce to the tell.

Spots - The printed marks on the face side of a card.

Spread - (1) A hand. (2) An illegal exchange of cards between two collusion cheaters.

Spread Limit - For each betting round there is a fixed minimum and maximum bet.

Squared Deck - An evenly stacked deck ready for cutting or dealing.

Squeeze - To look at cards by slowly spreading them apart (Sweat).

Squeeze Bet or Raise - To bet or raise against another strong hand in order to extract more money from a third player holding a weaker hand.

Squeezed Player - A caller who is being bet into and raised by players on both sides of him (Whipsaw).

Squeezers - Cards with suit and value indicators printed at the corners.

Stack - (1) A pile of chips. (2) To cheat by prearranging cards to be dealt.

Stacked Deck - A deck with prearranged cards for a dishonest deal.

Stake - The money with which a player enters a game.

Stand - To decline a draw.

Stand Pat - To play the original hand without drawing.

Stand-off - A tie.

Stay - To remain in the hand by calling the bet or raise.

Steal - To make a bet when it appears no one else has anything.

Steam - A player who is on tilt is sometimes said to be steaming.

Steel Wheel - A straight flush, five high.

Stenographers - Four queens.

Step - See Jog.

Still Pack - The deck not in play when two decks are used.

Stinger - A sequence.

Stock - (1) The cards remaining in the deck after dealing. (2) The stacked portion of a deck.

Stonewall - One who calls to the end with a poor hand.

Stormy Weather - Similar to Spit in the Ocean, except three cards are dealt in the center.

Straddle - (1) A forced or a compulsory raise (Blind Raise). (2) The right to buy the last-bettor position.

Straight - Five cards in sequence, such as three, four, five, six, seven.

Straight Draw - Draw poker not requiring openers.

Straight Flush - Five cards of the same suit in sequence.

Stranger - A new or unfamiliar card in a hand after the draw.

Streak - A run of winning or losing hands.

Street - The cards that come out one at a time are referred to as different numbered streets.

String Bet - A hesitating bet made in segments to lure giveaway reactions from other players, especially those on one's left--not allowed in most casinos and poker clubs.

Stringer - A straight.

Strip Poker - A game in which the loser of each pot must remove an article of clothing.

Stripped Deck - A deck used with certain cards purposely removed, such as the deuces.

Stripper Deck - A dishonest deck with slightly wedge-shaped cards (usually one thirty-second of an inch tripped off the card's edge or side) allowing the cheater to pull certain cards from the deck. (See Belly Strippers, Side Strippers, End Strippers, Brief.)

Structure - Refers to the details about the betting. This will include antes, blinds, and the amount that may be bet on any round.

Stud Poker - One of the two basic forms of poker (the other is draw) and played with open or exposed cards (up cards) and with one or more concealed hole cards (down cards).

Substitution - An exchange of a card for one from the deck (Twist).

Suck - To call when the proper play is to fold.

Sudden Death - High-low five-card stud.

Suicide King - The king of hearts ... the king with a sword pointed at its head.

Suit - Any of the four sets (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) in a deck of cards.

Super Seven-Card Stud - A game starting with five cards to each player, then after discarding two, the game proceeds as in seven-card stud.

Sweat - To watch them play from the rail in order to lend your support.

Sweeten - To add more money to a pot such as an extra ante.

Swinging - See Shoot the Moon.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z