If an opponent is staring you down, he’s trying to represent strength. Usually though, he has a weak hand – he might have something, but it’s something that can be beaten or drawn out on.
W
| put the clock (on someone) | See call the clock. | U |
| pocket cards | See "hole cards". | U |
| Facial Expression | Many pros try to disguise their entire face by wearing a cap and looking downward. This is to avoid the classic stare-down that poker pros are famous for. They may try to study your face for nervousness (detecting a weak hand), or even look for repetitive characteristics like a body "tic". You may have obvious unhappiness in your face when your hand is weak, and conversely, you may show a contrasting show of confidence when your hand is strong. | U |
| passive | A style of play characterized by checking and calling. Compare to "aggressive", "loose", "tight". | U |
| cutoff | The seat immediately to the right of the dealer button. In home games where the player on the button actually shuffles and deals the cards, the player in the cutoff seat cuts the deck (hence the name). | U |
| countdown | See counterfeit (poker). Also "duplicate". | U |
| fold | See fold. | U |
| scoop | In high-low split games, to win both the high and the low half of the pot. | U |
| back into | To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw "backs into" winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush. | U |
| quarter | To win a quarter of a pot, usually by tying the low or high hand of a high-low split game. Generally, this is an unwanted outcome, as a player is often putting in a third of the pot in the hope of winning a quarter of the pot back. | U |