A poker glossary

(CNN) -- Poker has its own language -- so much so that author Andy Bellin includes a glossary with "Poker Nation." Here are some of those terms:

Words and phrases:

Aces up: Two pair, aces being one of them.

Bad beat: When a huge hand is beaten by an underdog with an improbable draw.

Bicycle (or wheel): A five-high straight.

Broadway: An ace-high straight.

Checks: Chips.

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Coffeehousing (or Hollywood): Poker play augmented by lots of talk or dramatics.

Dead Man's Hand: Two pair, aces and eights. Named for the hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding August 2, 1876, when he was shot to death by Jack McCall in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota).

Drawing dead: When a player has no chance to win, even though he (or she) is still drawing cards.

Flop: The first three up cards in Texas Hold'em or Omaha.

Gut shot: An inside straight draw, such as drawing to a 7 on a 5-6-8-9 hand.

Muck: The pile of discards.

The nuts: The highest possible hand on the table.

Rabbit hunting: Looking through the discards or undealt part of the deck.

River: The last card dealt in a game.

Steel wheel: A five-high straight flush.

Tilt: As in pinball, when a player loses his equilibrium and starts to play badly.

Turn: The fourth up card in Texas Hold'em or Omaha.

Some Texas Hold'em starting hand nicknames:

A-A: American Airlines, Pocket Rockets or Sticks.

A-K: Big Slick.

A-J: Ajax.

A-3: Baskin-Robbins.

K-Q: The Marriage (or the Divorce, if it doesn't hold up).

K-9: The Dog.

Q-J: Oedipus Rex or Maverick.

Q-3: A San Francisco Busboy.

J-5: Motown.

9-8: Oldsmobile.

8-8: Little Oldsmobile.

5-7: Heinz.

3-9: Jack Benny.

3-3: Crabs.

Source: "Poker Nation" by Andy Bellin (HarperCollins, 2002)