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Sailboats - A Pair of fours in the hole.
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Sandbagging - Holding back and calling despite the fact that you have a very good hand, usually to disguise strength, provoke bluffs, and to check-raise.
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San Francisco Busboy - Queen and a three in a hole. Also known as The Brighton hand (U.K.)
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Sandwich - Two players betting with another player in the middle (can also be a method of cheating if those two players are in collusion.)
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Satellite - A mini-tournament to gain an entry into a larger tournament.
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Scare card - A card dealt face up (either to a player in a game such as stud or to the board in a community card game) that appears to create a strong hand for someone. The Jack of spades on the turn was a scare card because it put both flush and straight possibilities on the board.
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School - A noun used to describe a group of players in a regular game.
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Scoop - To win the entire pot.
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Scramble - A face down mixing of the cards.
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Seat position - The position a player sits in relative to the other players.
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Second best - The best losing hand.
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Second Pair - In flop games, when you pair the second highest card on the board.
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See - To call.
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Sell - In spread limit poker, to sell a hand is to bet less than the maximum with a strong hand, in the hope that more of your opponents will call the bet.
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Semi-bluff - Betting with a mediocre or drawing hand.
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Set - Having a pocket pair that matches one of the cards on the board.
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Set-up - A deck that has been ordered, usually King to Ace by suit (spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds). In casinos, it is customary to use a set-up deck when introducing a new deck to the table. The set-up is spread face up for the players to demonstrate that all of the cards are present before the first shuffle.
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7 Card Stud - A well-known poker game in which players get three down cards and four up cards. You play the best five of those seven cards.
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Seventh Street - This is the final round of betting in 7 Card Stud and Stud 8 or Better.
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Sevens rule - A rule in many A-5 lowball games that requires a player with a seven-low or better after the draw to bet, rather than check or check-raise. In some venues a violator loses any future interest in the pot; in others he forfeits his interest entirely.
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Shark - A skilled/crafty player who often purposely underplays her/his skill initially.
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Shills - Shills are paid props who help start and maintain poker games.
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Ship it - Colloqualism used to instruct the dealer where to send the chips following the conclusion of a particularly large pot; so-called due to the potential of needing a container ship to carry the chips.
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Shootout -A poker tournament format where the last remaining player of a table goes on to play the remaining players of other tables. Each table plays independently of the others; that is, there is no balancing as players are eliminated. This format is particularly common in European televised poker programs.
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Short Buying - Purchasing chips after your initial purchase. Usually the minimum for a short buy-in is less than the initial buy-in.
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Short-handed - A ‘short-handed’ game has few players.
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Short Stack - A stack of chips that is relatively small for the stakes being played.
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Short Odds - The odds for something that is likely to occur.
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Showdown - At the end of the final betting round, it's when all active players turn their cards face-up to see who has won the pot.
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Shoe - A slanted container used to hold the cards yet to be dealt, usually used by casinos or in professional poker tournaments.
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Side Pot - A separate pot(s) which is contested by remaining active players when one or more players are all-in.
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Siegfried and Roy - A pair of Queens in the hole.
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Sit and Go - A poker tournament with no scheduled starting time that starts whenever the necessary players have put up their money.
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Single - table sit-and-goes, with nine or ten players, are the norm, but multi-table games are common as well. Also called sit n' gos and a variety of other similar spellings.
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Skin - (1) To draw a card. (2) To cheat.
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Sixth Street - In 7 Card Stud, this is the fourth 'up' card dealt to a player (their 6th card). It is also the 4th round of betting.
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Slow play - To play a strong hand weakly so that more players will stay in the pot.
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Slow roll - Stalling before showing a hand to the opponent.
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Small Blind - The amount put in the pot by the person immediately to the left of the dealer 'button' prior to the cards being dealt.
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Smooth call - Making a call with a raising hand.
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Snake eyes - A pair of Aces.
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Snapped off - When a good hand is beat.
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Snow job - When a player bluffs successfully.
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Snow - To play a worthless hand misleadingly in draw poker in order to bluff.
The worthless hand in question.
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Snowmen - Pocket Eights.
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Soft Seat - A seat or game that is favorable because of the lack of skill at the table.
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Soft-Play - To intentionally go easy on a player (e.g. not betting or raising against him when you usually would).
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Soixante-neuf - French for sixty-nine, an expression for when a player’s two cards showing are a six and a nine.
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Solid - A fairly tight player (and reasonably good).
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Speed Limit - A pair of fives.
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Splash The Pot - To throw one's chips in the pot in a disorderly fashion. Not typically allowed, because the dealer can't tell how much has been bet.
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Split - Tie.
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Split pot - A pot which is shared by two or more players who have equivalent hands.
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Split Two Pair - In community card poker, a two pair hand, with each pair made of one of your hole cards, and one community card.
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Spread - The range between a table's minimum and maximum bets.
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Spread-Limit - A form of limit poker where the bets and raises can be between a minimum and maximum value. The spread may change between rounds.
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Squared deck - A deck that is evenly stacked and ready to deal.
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Squeeze - To look at cards by slowly spreading them apart.
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Squeeze Play - A more advanced play relying on the loose or aggressive reputation of one player and another player in between who knows this and is responding to the first player. A third player then raises thus squeezing the first player against the second and the second into an uncomfortable situation where he isn’t strong enough to call the re raise as his requirements often are lower against the original bettor rather than the re raiser.
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Stack - A pile of chips.
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Stacked deck - A deck that has been arranged in order to give one player a major advantage.
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Stakes - The definition of the amount one buys in for and can bet. For example, a "low stakes" game might be a $10 buy-in with a $1 maximum raise.
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Stand Pat - In draw poker, playing the original hand using no draws, either as a bluff or in the belief it is the best hand.
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Starting Hand : The first cards dealt in any poker game.
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Straddle Bet - Essentially a third ( or more ) blind ( and a live one)that is usually posted from UTG but can be posted from anywhere on the table ( missisippi Straddle ).
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Strategy card - A wallet sized card that is commonly used to help with poker strategies in online and casino games.
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Streak - A run of particularly good cards.
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Street - In Stud and Hold ’Em poker, a round of one card dealt to each player. For example, the fifth card dealt to each player is called Fifth Street.
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String Bet - A call with one motion and a later raise with another, or a reach for more chips without stating the intended amount. String bets are prohibited in public cardroom rules. A player can (and should) defend himself against string bet complaints by declaring his intention before moving any chips. Note that the "I call, and raise..." cliche is a string bet.
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Structured - A structured betting system is one where the spread of the bets may change from round to round.
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Stay - When a player remains in the game by calling rather than raising.
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Steal Raise - A raise by someone in late position in an attempt to reduce the number of players and/or steal the pot.
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Steam - On tilt.
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Stop and Go - Stop and go or stop 'n' go is when a player bets into another player who has previously raised or otherwise shown aggression.
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Steam - When a player plays wildly; specifically calling and raising frequently.
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Steamrolling - Re-raising to make a player(s) call two bets instead of one.
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Steel Wheel - A five high straight (A-2-3-4-5) of the same suit.
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Straddle - A straddle is a Blind bet which is usually double the size of the Big Blind, (and one that a player may raise when the action gets to him).
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Straight - Five consecutive cards of any suit.
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Straight Flush - Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
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Stranger - A new or unfamiliar card in a hand after the draw.
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Strategic bluff - A bluff made with a longer term goal in mind.
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Streak - A stint of winning or losing hands.
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Structure - The limits put on the blinds/ante, bets, and raises in any particular game.
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Stud Games - Games in which players get both down cards and up cards.
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Stuck - A player who is losing in a game.
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Suit - A characteristic of a playing card. The card being either of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades
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Suicidal King - The King of Hearts, named such as it appears he is piercing his own head with his sword.
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Suited Cards - Cards of the same suit in one hand. A player with enough suited cards is likely pursuing a Flush.
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Sweeten the pot - To raise.
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Suited Connectors - Same Suit and conecting pocket cards.
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Super Satellite - A multi-table poker tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to a satellite tournament or a tournament in which all the top finishers gain entrance to a larger tournament
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