Poker Terms That Are Part of the English Language

English may be the richest language in the world. It probably has borrowed more words from other languages than has any other language. I don’t mean to sound Anglocentric or chauvinistic here, but that has helped make English the most international language. You can find words in English that came from Hungarian (goulash, paprika), German (angst, schuss), Finnish (sauna), Inuit (igloo), French (chateau, menu), Canadian French (mush), Yiddish (kibitz, yenta), Portuguese by way of Brazil (bossa nova), Hebrew (cherub, seraph), Russian (sputnik, apparat), Scots Gaelic (loch), Irish (leprechaun, shillelagh), Chinese (shih tzu, pai gow), Japanese (sushi, aikido), Arabic (algebra, souk), Spanish (rodeo, burrito), Italian (espresso, zero), Afrikaans (knobkerrie, aardvark), Wiradhuri (billabong), Old Norse (blather), Norwegian (ski), Greek through Latin (mausoleum), Malay (kris), Sanskrit (yoga, chakra), Latin (lavabo, rex), Hawaiian (luau, aloha), Samoan (lavalava), Turkish (casaba), not to mention countless Anglo Saxon words, many of which you hear regularly in cardrooms. This is not the case in other languages. France, for instance, has a government organization whose charter is to make sure that foreign words are not assimilated into French. The Dutch speak English when they want to express technical concepts.

English also adopts many terms from sports and games. Business people regularly use a football term when they assign someone to carry the ball or when they call a desperate position a fourth-down situation; they use a tennis phrase when they opine that the ball is now in your court. We speak of something not being cricket, or, in a baseball borrowing, an estimate being in the ballpark. We invoke golf when we say someone who has succeeded in a wild grasp for glory has hit a hole-in-one.

Of greatest interest to readers of this broadsheet, several poker terms have passed into common usage as part of the English language.

I imagine that a lot of non-poker-players who use the phrase ace in the hole don’t know where it came from, but we do:

ace in the hole

(noun phrase) In a stud game, having an ace as one’s downcard or one of one’s downcards. This being a desirable condition, the expression has moved from the world of poker to general usage in the English language with the wider meaning of an advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed.

And a related term:

ace up the sleeve

(noun phrase) Describing the situation in which a cheater has withdrawn an ace from the deck to be introduced into the game later, or, more generally, has taken some unfair advantage. The phrase passed into general usage to describe the situation in which someone is hiding some probably unfair advantage.

We all know what to cash in means in a poker game, but the general public also knows the term:

cash in

(verb phrase) Take your chips to the cage (or, in a private game, turn them over to the banker) to exchange them for cash, thereby finishing your playing session. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning to die, usually as part of the phrase he cashed in his chips. That probably came from the figurative meaning of ending the game.

Have you ever been asked to chip in to an office collection for a coworker’s birthday or wedding?

chip in

(verb phrase) Ante, or call a small bet. The term has passed into general usage meaning contribute to a collection, usually of cash.

How about this one?

double-dealing

(noun phrase) A cheating move in which a dealer gives more cards (usually two at a time rather than one) to his confederate or himself than to the other players. The presumption is the player with more than the requisite number of cards will form his best five-card hand, and then get rid of the one or more excess cards. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning cheating someone or the public in general.

A wealthy person is said to be in the chips:

in the chips

(adv. phrase) 1. Winning. 2. The state of having lots of money. The phrase has passed into general usage.

My first poker experience was a penny-ante game at Stanford, and then I “graduated” to nickel-dime-quarter. Many of you probably also started in such a game, but you have also heard the term referring to small-time aspirations:

penny-ante

(adjective) Describing a small game, often referring to small limit; usually part of the phrase penny-ante game. The phrase has passed into general usage meaning petty or small-time.

What do you call it when a car dealer gives you an honest shake? Well, you might call it a miracle, but you might also call it a:

square deal

(noun phrase) An honest deal, as indicated by a deck containing no trimmed or shaved cards. The term has passed into general usage.

You can find these, and tens of thousands of other terms unique to the wonderful world of poker, in The Official Dictionary of Poker, the on-line version of which is at http://www.poker1.com/archives/7515/index-dictionary-of-poker/. ♠

Michael Wiesenberg has been a columnist for Card Player since 1988. He has written or edited many books about poker, and has also written extensively about computers. His crossword puzzles are syndicated in newspapers and appear online. Send cheers, censure, and contributions to [email protected].