Let it Ride Meaning & Other Poker Phrases to Know

What does Let it Ride mean? In casual terms, ‘letting it ride’ means to let something go or ignore it — this also goes for this unique poker-based casino table game. Basically, if a player doesn’t withdraw part of their wager, they ‘let it ride’. But where does this, and some other poker phrases come from? Let’s get into it.  

The precise origins of poker are not 100% clear. Some claim that the world’s most established card game has roots that go back to 16th-century Persia and As Nas, while others believe that its inception stems from a 10th-century Chinese domino game. Whatever the exact lineage of poker is, everyone can agree that it rose to prominence in the US during the country’s Civil War. And that it gained global notoriety in the early-2000s thanks to the rise of online poker.

Those who have explored internet poker variants or have visited physical card rooms more than once have likely quickly picked up that those who enjoy this gambling form regularly have created a distinct sub-culture with slang exclusive to this community. That is the main identifiable trait of those a part of it. They do not follow any defined clothing style, other than many of its members favoring keeping their sunglasses on indoors to better bluff rivals. The use of unique signs, symbols, and rituals are also characteristics that get often observed among card gamblers, but their language stands as their chief identifier.

Without argument, one of the most frequently used terms at online poker real money sites is ‘let it ride’, a word combo applicable to multiple gambling options. It refers to allowing something previous, such as a wager, to stand as a new bet. A more formal definition: It entails not taking a novel action to improve a specific, predefined situation in hopes of a better future result. It is also the name of a casino poker variant invented by John Breeding, Shuffle Master’s founder, in 1992. Let It Ride Poker is a player vs. dealer game, representing a casino variation of five-card stud that boasts a house edge of 3.51%, an operator advantage that is significantly higher than the one in blackjack and baccarat.

It is never wise to enter through the doors of a card room jam-packed with super savvy or semi-experienced players and not know their lingo. The same logic applies to using a poker app with a chat function. You need to know what others are saying to get 100% engrossed in the game and follow all its goings-on. To prepare you to talk poker, or just to get yourself familiar, we cover 15 phrases commonly said at the felt.

1) Angle Shooting

Angle shots get defined as underhanded, deceptive tactics that seek to take advantage of inexperienced opponents. In the past, angle shots got seen as a standard method of advantage play. Today, they have since gotten banned by various tournament organizers, and generally, the poker community frowns upon them, even if they are not against the rules. A classic angle shoot is card gamblers hiding high denomination chips behind lower-value stacks. They do this to give off a false impression of their session form. Someone intentionally miss-declaring a hand before laying it down to confuse others at their table is another traditional angle shot.

2) Big Blind Special

Visual depiction of the big blind seat.

As likely more card enthusiasts know, forced bets in poker get called blinds, and each seat has a name relative to its location to the dealer (button). A small blind position is the one left of the button. Before the hand starts, it must put the small blind into the pot. The big blind is the position two left of the dealer. It puts the big blind in the middle. A big blind special is a term that describes a scenario when a player who occupies the big blind position wins a pot they likely would have never claimed if they sat in any other position at the table. It is akin to a sizeable casino bonus falling in their lap during a hand.

3) Check-Raise

Some call a check-raise an angle shoot. Many others do not agree, as it is not as nefarious of a move. Still, this is a deceptive play in which a gambler will check at the start of a hand, praying that another player will open. Then, in the same round, the player that checked raises. In most instances, experienced card handlers opt for this strategy to beat players they believe have an inferior hand and are planning to bluff.

4) Calling Station

Here is a poker pejorative to describe a player that continuously calls wagers but seldom raises. He may not do so even when he has a quality hand. In community card poker, such gamblers sometimes get rewarded for their predictive play via lucky cards that find their way onto the board. Usually, such strokes of randomness play a role in unskilled players overestimating their card prowess. Gamblers who get this label attached often get found at legal online poker rooms or real-world low-stakes tables.

5) Clicking Buttons

Clicking buttons is a phrase that derives from the world of online poker. It signifies someone that is seemingly playing hands without implementing any strategy, having no plan whatsoever, and not adequately reacting to other people’s moves, as an educated pro would do. In limited-time sessions, it is sometimes hard to spot who is clicking buttons and which players are attempting to seem like they are doing so to deceive others.

6) Dolly Parton

An 9-5 gets called a Dolly Parton after the singer’s 1980 film and song of the same name.

Though somewhat outdated, a straight 5-9 gets referred to as a Dolly Parton by old-school poker sharks. That is a nod to the 1980 film starring the famous American country singer. It is also the name of this comedy’s title track, which featured Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda as Parton’s movie cohorts. The song reached the number one spot on the Billboard Country Chart in 1981.

7) Draw Dead

Here is a simple one, drawing dead expresses a situation in which a gambler has zero chance of winning. That will apply regardless of what card comes up next. An example is one player having a straight draw, yet, his opponent has already formed a full house.

8) Gutshot Straight

Also called a belly buster, a middle-pin, or an inside straight draw, a gunshot straight is essentially a case when a card in the middle of the structure gets required to complete the straight draw.

9) High Society

Those who have seen the 1998 movie Rounders, which many believe to be one of the main factors for the Texas Holdem poker online craze of the 2000s, have likely heard of the expression high society. It refers to the top denomination of chips used in a card room, and it is one of the most commonly used phrases at poker tables.

10) Hole Cards

These are private cards that can only get viewed by the player, like those dealt face-down in card stud poker games, which their holders do not need to expose before a showdown. A hole card is as frequent of a poker term as a rake. What is ‘rake’ in poker? For the uninformed few card gamblers out there, it is the fee taken by a cardroom operating the game.

11) Under the Gun

The position left of the big blind in flop games like Omaha poker and Texas Holdem is the under the gun seat. The player that occupies it is the first to act prior to the flop. It bears this name to describe the pressure that those who fill it are under, as they must make decisions before everyone else in an active hand.

Runner Runner is also the name of a 2013 high-budget poker film.

12) Runner Runner

Capturing two cards, one after the other, to complete a powerful holding is a Runner Runner. It is a phrase more or less exclusive to snagging running cards on the turn and river in Omaha poker and Texas Holdem and is the name of a 2013 poker movie starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake that did not wow audiences and critics.

13) Set Mining

When someone calls with a preflop raise with a pocket pair aiming to flop a set, that is set mining, a variation on nut camping. According to virtually all professional players, creating a poker strategy around this concept is no longer a viable path to becoming a winning player.

14) Suicide King

The king of hearts in poker is the suicide king. It has gotten this name because, in most decks, a male monarch usually gets depicted holding up a sword, which he seemingly sticks into the side of his head. Suicide Kings is also the name of a 1997 crime thriller starring Christopher Walken, which uses poker as a minor plot point.

15) Whiff

Here is a bit of basketball jargon that somehow made its way into poker, and it now gets utilized to describe instances of missing draws in hands. It is slang for failing to improve one’s hand, often on a flush draw or a big straight. You can frequently see it get posted in the chat rooms and message boards at some of the online poker rooms we have reviewed on our platform.