Part of learning to play a solid game of poker is learning to talk smack. If you currently think that a flush is something that happens in the bathroom, or that a kitty is a nice pet, we urge you to read on.

This is a quick rundown of some basic poker terms and strategies. If you're reading this introduction to poker lingo, we assume that you know the basic rules of the game.

For a more an extensive list of poker terms and slang, visit the Tower Gaming Poker Glossary.

Limit Poker: Poker with fixed bets. For example, in a $10-20 limit game, all bets and raises are ten dollars in the first two rounds (preflop and flop), and all bets and raises are twenty dollars in the last two rounds (turn and river).

Shorthand: A poker game with six people or less.

Longhand: A poker game with seven people or more.

Position: Where you sit at the poker table. The dealer has the best position because he or she bets last and therefore has a better understanding of what other people have in their hand. The small blind has the worst position because he or she bets first.

Preflop: When you just have two cards in your hand and there are no cards on the board yet.

Flop: This is when the first three community cards come out in Hold'em.

Turn: This is the fourth community card that comes out in Hold'em; this is the card after the flop.

River: This is the fifth and final community card that comes out in Hold'em; this card is called the river.

Community Cards: The cards in the middle of the table that are shared by everyone. Community Cards are also referred to as board cards, or simply, the board.

Blind: In Hold'em poker there are two blinds posted - a small blind and a big blind. These are the forced bets that take the place of an ante. The person to the left of the dealer must pay the small blind and the person after him or her must pay the big blind.

Draw: To improve your hand with cards dealt on the turn and river. In other words, you are on a draw when you want certain community cards to come out to complete your hand. If you have K,Q (unsuited) and the flop is J, 10, J, you are trying to draw a nine or an ace on the turn or river.

Outs: The number of cards that can improve your hand. If the flop is K,J,2, and you have Q,10, you want an ace or an nine to complete your straight. There are four aces and four nines in the deck, so you have eight total outs. It's that simple!

Hand Odds: This is also referred to as Card Odds. Basically, hand odds are the odds of hitting your hand. If you have 8 outs at the flop, you hand odds are 4.88 : 1. On average, you will catch your straight on the turn one time for every 4.88 times you miss. You should at least call on the flop any time the pot odds are offering you greater odds than the odds that you will make your draw. It is definitely profitable to call a bet with 6 to 1 pot odds when you have 4.88 to 1 odds to make your hand.

Pot Odds: The ratio of the amount of money in the pot compared with how much money it takes to call. If there is $100 in the pot and it takes $10 to call, your pot odds are 100:10, or 10:1. If there is $50 in the pot and it takes $10 to call, then your pot odds are 50:10 or 5:1.

The higher the ratio, the better your pot odds are.

Implied Odds: This is essentially the same as pot odds, except it takes into account your bets in the future. For instance, you may call a bet at the flop, but have implied odds of making bigger bets on later rounds if you hit your draw. For example, if you have A, K of diamonds and the flop provides two diamonds, your implied odds are what you have to call at the flop compared to how large the pot will be at the end of the hand.