Poker - Definitions of Common Terms
  
  Before we start - The various hands are not covered here but rather on the Poker Hands page.    
  Suit - The four basic suits of any deck of cards, Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. There is no ranking of suits in poker (as there is in Bridge), so a straight flush with the same high card in Hearts is exactly the same value as one in Clubs, etc.    
  Aces (or anything) up - When declaring two pair, the player will generally state the highest pair in his hand and "up" (e.g., with Kh, Ks and 3h, 3d, you would say " I have Kings up").    
  53 Card Deck - Generally only used in Draw and Stud, the 53 card deck is one containing the normal 52 cards (A through 2 of each suit) and a joker. The joker is not a wild card (you might call it partially wild) and can only be used for filling out Straights and Flushes. If it isn't used for the missing part of a straight, it becomes the highest card in a flush that isn't already present (e.g., if you hold Ad, Jd, 9d, 4d, and the joker, the joker becomes the Kd and so on). If you don't use the joker for either a Straight or a Flush then it is simply the 5th Ace. The use of the 53 card deck is strictly by house rules, you will find it in general use in So. California but not in Northern California or Nevada.    
  Table Stakes - This rule is in general use in almost all public poker rooms and in most home games and simply means that what you have on the table at the beginning of the hand is all you can bet (you can't go to your pocket for more money while you hold a hand).    
 
Pocket - This term is used in Stud and "community card games" such as Hold Em' and Omaha and refers to the players down cards.
    
  Wired - This refers to any two cards of the same rank, though is generally used only for large cards and usually concealed cards (e.g., "I thought he was on the Flush come but he had wired Aces in the pocket).    
  Come - Being "on the come" is a term that means that you are drawing for a Straight or a Flush (generally used when you have a one card draw to either a Straight or a Flush). It would seem logical that you could be "on the come" for a full house, but the term is never used in that context.    
  Boat - A Full House.    
  Cat Hop - This refers to a two card draw to a straight (usually inside).    
  The Nuts or The Nuts Hand - This term refers to an unbeatable hand and can be kind of subjective. Certainly, if you have a Royal Flush you have "the nuts" but it is entirely possible to have the nuts while holding other hands. (e.g., If you're playing Hold Em' and there are 3 Aces and two little cards on the board, you have the nuts if you hold the fourth Ace, But if the board includes 3 parts of a Royal and two more aces, say Ah, As, Ac, Kh, 10h and you have say, Ad, 4s in the pocket, you don't have the nuts because it is possible that another player has the Qh, Jh in their pocket).    
       
 
Required Reading
    
  As always I advocate a complete education. Some of the best books that I've found on Poker are: Caro's Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker and The Body Language of Poker: Mike Caro's Book of Tells.