D

Dangler n. In Omaha holdem, a card that does not coordinate (work together with) any of the other three.

Dead card n.  A card out of play, such as discards, or one involved in a foul, such as falling off the table.

Dead hand n.  Ruled unplayable for some reason, such as touching discards.

Dead man's hand n.  Two pair, aces and eights.  From Wild Bill Hickock's abruptly ended final hand.

Dead money n. 1. The funds of a less skilled player, likely to be gobbled up by sharks.  2. Money put in the pot by players who have folded.

Deal in v.  Giving cards to a player just entering the game.  Deal me in, Gus.

Deal out v.  Stop giving cards to a player.  Deal me out, Gus, I gotta see a man about a horse.

Dealer n.  In home games, the dealer likely plays, but even if there is a professional dealer, the last player to act (who has the dealer button) is still referred to as the dealer.

Dealer button n.  Also the button.  A big round piece of plastic with a "D" on it.  In hold'em, it is advantageous to be the dealer and last to act.  If there is a professional dealer, the button passes from player to player after each hand.  It keeps track of who the "dealer" would be if it was a self-dealt game.  This way, the privilege of being last to get cards is shared fairly.

Deep stack np.  Many chips, especially in a tournament.

Defensive bet n.  Designed to appear strong, especially in big bet poker, in order to dissuade large raises.

Disconnectors n.  Cards too far apart to make a straight, such as T,5.  Contrast connectors.

Deuce n.  Two.

Dog n.  A hand unlikely to win.  From underdog.

Domination n.  When a hand is uniquely inferior to another particular hand.  AQ is dominated by AK, because an ace is useless to it (see kicker).  A king also destroys AQ.  AQ is helped only by a queen -- provided no king falls.  AK dominates AQ so thoroughly that 72o actually has a better chance of winning (34% vs. 26% heads up).   The concept of domination, popularized by authors Sklansky and Malmuth, further demonstrates the importance of careful hand selection.  If a tight opponent raises before the flop, good players will often throw away hands like AJ, AT, even AQ, because of the danger of domination, while keeping hands like JJ.  A hand is dominated even more devastatingly if its top card faces a pair of the same rank.  TT wins 87% of the time against T9 offsuit.

Donk n. v.  1. Abbreviation for donkey.  2. To make a poor, donkey-like play, even if successful.  3. To bet first after limping the previous street, especially for inexplicable reasons. Donking often reveals a poor hand.  When a blank falls, the player realizes her hand isn't going anywhere, so she donks in a desperate attempt to steal.  "She donked the turn." 

Donkey n. An unknowledgeable and thoughtless player.

Double belly buster n.  Aka double inside straight.

Double inside straight draw n.  Two inside straight draws, giving the same odds as one open ender.  If the board is 59Q, a player holding 7T completes a straight with either 6 or J.  Easy to miss.

Double suited adj.  In Omaha, when the four down cards are of just two suits, giving good flush possibilities.

Double through v.  Double up.

Double up v.  Also double through.  Doubling your chips in one hand, especially when short stacked in big bet poker.

Down cards n.  Aka hole cards.

Down to the felt adj.  Also down to the green.  Being all in. Broke.  Chips are gone, exposing the table.

Draw n., v.  Also drawing hand. A hand needing more cards to be worth anything.  If you have four spades (say two in your hand, two on the board) then you are on a draw.   Another spade must fall to complete your flush.  If you hold 6-7-8-9, then you are drawing for a 5 or 10.  Contrast pat hand.

Draw out v.  To complete a draw.  He had three queens to my four hearts, luckily, I drew out when another heart arrived.   See also suck out.

Draw to v.  For specifying the type of hand a player is trying to complete.  He was drawing to a flush.

Drawing dead v.  When a hand will lose no matter what cards come.  Example: Board 7 8K.  Hand 1: 9T.  Hand 2: A2.  Even if hand 1 finishes a straight, it loses to hand 2's already completed flush. 

Drawing hand n.  See draw.

Drawing thin v.  Holding a weak hand that has few outs (less than four) to improve.

Drop n., v.  1. Fee taken out of each pot by the house and dropped through a slot in the table.  See rake.  2. To lose money.  Gilda dropped $500 in ten minutes.

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