AUTOMATIC: refers to a player who is usually low in chips and plays a hand to hopefully win. Occasionally referred to a player that plays every hand with other players stating “he’s an automatic”.
BAD BEAT: indicates that a player lost a great deal of money in the hand and/or lost the hand in a frustrating manner such as being peckered.
BEAUTY: reflects on a player who is always a bother to other players. Players may tell the annoying player that “you are a beauty”. Also, may refer to ones great hand.
BLOCK: is a block of wood cut at an angle and used by casinos to support the pan deck during play. Casinos also place chips referred to as “tops” on the top of the block.
BOARD: the portion of the gaming table in front of a player whereby the player puts down their melds.
BONG: is a kondition and/or meld made of identical pay cards in spades. Example: 3S3S3S, 5S5S5S, 7S7S7S. The bong is made up of three spades 3s,5s, and/or 7’s and is worth a pay 4, the highest payable kondition in pan.
BORROW: is a card borrowed from a valid kondition on the board to form another kondition on the board. Both konditions must be valid after the player discards and before the next player plucks a card. If not the hand can be fouled.
BOUGHT: indicates that you drew a card from the deck that helped your hand.
BOUNCE OUT: a player who puts out a hand with a card that creates an additional pay and/or pays when they pan the hand.
BUM CARDS: is a group of three cards of the same value whereby two of the cards are of the same suit and one from another suit and referred to (example “bum 6s”, “bum jacks”, etc.)
BUST-OUT: is when a player has 8 cards played to the board and the player has two cards left in their hand that are of the same denomination and cannot be meld to the cards on the table. When the player receives a card that makes a kondition with the two cards in their hand it is considered a bust –out. Mostly heard when the bust-out is associated with a pay.
BUY-IN: Is the amount of money necessary to enter the game. Buy-in is usually 20 times the amount of the kondition played at the table.
CALL-FOR-A-CARD: may be heard when a player to the left of the person calling for the card, either before or after the card is picked to call-for-a-card they want in their hand. It’s not good to call-for-a-card before the player has a chance to pluck the card for themselves.
CAPPED: refers to a rope meld on the board that receives a hit. Each time the rope gets hit it is being capped. This provides the ability of the player having the roped meld to borrow from the meld to create a new kondition. This changes every time the rope gets hit.
CHANGE-THE-PLUCK: is used when a player uses a discard rather than picking a card from the deck. This will change the succeeding player’s pluck from the deck.
CHIPS: monetary discs used by casinos instead of money. Usually the amount of the chip is equal to a single kondition pay.
CHOKER: a term used to describe a player who plays to many rope type melds in a hand. This limits the amount of hits one can get to the hand choking the ability to pan-the-hand.
COME-ON: a slang term used during the declaring phase of the game to indicate that he/she is going to play the hand.
COME DOWN: upon getting a hit, the ability to take cards from your hand and place them on your board to form a valid meld.
COMOQUER: refers to a card received and/or picked that is the same suit as one of the two cards in a partial meld in your hand, except aces and kings which any three of them form a valid kondition.
CORNER SEAT: the two seats on either side of the dealer.
COUNTING HITS: a method during play used by a player to determine how many hits it would take to pan-the-hand.
COUNTING OUT: left with only needing one pluck; the process of counting how many different types of cards will cause them to pan-the-hand.
CUT-OFF: is a card borrowed from your board meld coupled with a card from your hand that forms a new meld.
CUTTING-OFF-A-PAY: usually occurs when a player borrows from a pay kondition to form another valid kondition to the board. Mostly seen by a person panning the hand using such a cut-off.
DECK: is made up of eight decks, 320 poker type playing cards, with no 8s,9s,or 10s. Some casinos strip out one set of spades 10 cards using 310 cards. There are eight of each card in a deck except for a casino deck which may have eight of everything and only seven of each spade.
DECLARING: the time where after one is dealt a hand that it becomes their turn to declare if they are going to play or to throw in their hand. Once you declare to play you only have that period of time before the next person to your right declares to change your mind. Once declared you are committed to the hand for its duration, good or bad.
DEFENSIVE PLAY: may be a card used by a player to keep another player from panning-a-hand and/or receiving another pay card to a kondition.
DISCARD: the throwing away of a card from a hand once hit with a card on their board or using a card in a new meld. Also, discarding a card that was picked from the deck and not used to form a meld on the board.
DOUBLE-BOUNCE-OUT: an unusual event where a player pans-a-hand using a card and forming two different pay meld konditions.
DOUBLE PLUCK: the first player in a hand is given the opportunity to pick two cards from the deck. If that player uses the first card they forfeit their right to pick a second time. The person entitled to pick twice is the individual who put out the prior hand.
DOUBLES: is where two or more players have agreed to pay each other twice the normal pay kondition value for pay type melds at the table.
DROP: refers to the amount of money (chips) taken from the tops that the casino collets for dealing a hand.
DROP BOX: the box in which the tops is placed on behalf of the casino.
FAST HAND: is a hand that goes out quickly usually with minimal hits.
FLAT: indicates that a player who has laid all ten cards in melds on their board. The next hit will cause the player to pan-the-hand.
FORCE-A-CARD: there are two types of force. The first is when you pick a card that doesn’t work in your hand but plays to a meld of the player to your right. Placing the card on the players meld to your right is forcing-a-card and requires a discard from that players hand. The second is when you observe any player at the table discard a card that can be played to a meld on their board. If you’re playing, you have the right to force back the discarded card to the players meld requiring them to discard another card.
FOUL: any illegal act of playing the game of Pan will cause your hand to be fouled. A hand that is fouled is out of the game and required to return all chips colleted and pay the winner of the hand. In some casinos, the fouled player may be required to return chips collected, pay all pays in the game, and pay the panning hand.
GET DOWN: the ability to lay a meld on your board.
GOLDEN ARM: is a player who plucks great hits one after another.
GOOD: refers to any card in a meld that makes it valid. Can be a third card in a run, a card that makes three different cards of a value or three cards of the same value.
GO ON TOP: to indicate that you are not going to play the hand.
GRAND SWITCH: the ability to take three melds and convert them into three runs or vice versa. For example three Jacks JSJHJC, three Queens QSQHQC, three Kings KSKHKC and make three runs JSQSKS, JHQHKH, and JCQCKC this example would then convert to a pay 4.
HAND: is to be dealt ten cards and participate by posting tops n your board. When you forget to post tops the dealer sometimes asks if you want a hand.
HIT: is a card that is plucked that creates or adds to a meld and/or a forced card on a meld.
HIT-THE-BOARD: indicates that a player has laid down a valid meld on their board.
HOLDING-A-PAY: is a player who has a made pay in their hand and gets hit on an already made meld or another meld in there hand and forgets and/or doesn’t put down the made pay meld.
HOLD-TO-ME: is a term used by a player who has not yet finished their turn and the player to the left of them is about to pluck from the deck. Most players will wait without being told. It’s the few that don’t that cause this term to be used.
HORROR STORY: is a story about a pan game whereby a significant incident fell upon a player. You will have Horror Stories of your own. Trust me.
HOT: is a player that pans one hand after another and can’t seem to lose regardless of the hand played. Said to be on a rush or a lucky streak.
IN-JAIL: refers to a player who has a made pay kondition in their hand and uses one of the cards in that made pay kondition to form a new kondition played to the player’s board. The two cards remaining is dependent on the kondition receiving a hit to free that card to lay down their pay and/or picking another card that would reform the original pay kondition.
IN-MY-HAIR: is when a player to your left uses cards that works in your hand.
JOKER: a particular card that makes your hand much better than what was dealt to you. Also, a card that forms a pay such as 2 – 5S and you pick a 5S making a bong. Another example would be getting a QH hit making a run with your JH and KH.
KEY CARD: is a card a player plucks and/or receives from the player to their left that makes a kondition that suddenly makes the hand much more likely for that the player to pan-the-hand.
KNOCKED-OFF: refers to a player with a partial meld in their hand is forced to discard one of the cards in the partial meld do to a hit on a meld on their board.