Poker Glossary

Poker terms beginning with a "D"

Dead Blind

A blind that is posted by a player returning to the game after being away for a few hands. This blind is considered dead because it does not count towards any future bets.

Dead Hand

A hand that is no longer in play, typically because the player has folded or made an error.

Dead Money

Chips that are already in the pot and no longer belong to any active player, often from players who have folded.

Dealer

When you're playing poker with buddies, cards are shuffled and dealt in turns, but most official poker games have a dealer at the table. A dealer button is used to indicate the player whose turn it is to deal. If there's an official dealer, cards are dealt as if the player with the dealer button is dealing.

Dealer Button

Indicates the dealer's position in Texas Hold'em and Omaha. In casinos and larger tournaments, there will always be an official dealer, but a dealer button will be used to mark the nominal dealer (the one whose turn it is to deal).

Dealing Down

Dealing cards face-down to the players, typically referring to the initial deal in games like Texas Hold'em or Omaha.

Deep Stack

A situation in which a player has a large number of chips relative to the blinds, allowing for more strategic play.

Deuces

A pair consisting of cards with a value of 2 (e.g., 2 of Spades 2 of Hearts, or 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds).

Deuce-to-Seven (2-7) Triple Draw

A Lowball poker variant where the objective is to make the worst possible hand, with 2 of Any Color 3 of Any Color 4 of Any Color 5 of Any Color 7 of Any Color being the best hand.

Diamonds

One of the four card suits: spades (e.g., Ace of Spades), hearts (e.g., Ace of Hearts), clubs (e.g., Ace of Clubs), and diamonds (e.g., Ace of Diamonds).

Disconnection Protection

At online poker sites, there's always a chance of losing your connection. In such cases, disconnection protection kicks in, treating your current bet as an all-in. This means you don't automatically fold, and your current chip stack isn't at risk.

Dog

Short for underdog, it refers to a hand or player that is not favored to win.

Dominated Hand

A hand that is likely to lose to a better hand with similar cards. For example, King of Any Color Queen of Any Color is dominated by Ace of Any Color King of Any Color.

Donk Bet

A donk bet is a bet made by a player who called on the previous betting round and then leads out with a bet on the current round, often considered a weak or unconventional play.

Door Card

The first card of the flop. In Stud poker games, the door card is the first up card (face-up card) dealt to each player.

Double Up

Doubling your stack in one hand. Typically done by going all-in, being called by another player, and winning the hand.

Down Cards

The face-down cards known only to the player. In Texas Hold'em, each player has two down cards, while in Omaha, they have four. They're also known as hole cards or pocket cards.

Draw

Holding a hand that needs one more card to complete (flush, straight, etc.) either after the flop or turn. If you have four cards of the same suit after the flop or turn, you have a flush draw.

Drawing Dead

Attempting to complete a drawing hand when it is already known that even if the desired card is dealt, the player cannot win the pot.

Draw Out

To catch a card that turns a losing hand into a winning hand.

Drop

Drop is another term for fold, though less commonly used. See also fold.

Dry Board

A board with community cards that do not offer many draws or potential for strong hands, typically seen as uncoordinated and unconnected.

Dry Pot

A side pot that is created when one or more players are all-in, and subsequent bets go into a new pot that the all-in player(s) are not eligible to win.

Double Suited

A term used in Omaha poker, referring to a pocket hand with two suits (e.g., Ace of Hearts King of Hearts Ace of Spades Queen of Spades).

Ducks

A pair of twos, also known as deuces.

Dumping

Intentionally losing chips to another player, often associated with collusion.