community card: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
LowTechnical / Gambling
Quick answer
What does “community card” mean?
In poker (specifically Texas Hold'em and Omaha), a card dealt face-up to the center of the table that all players can use to form their best five-card hand.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
In poker (specifically Texas Hold'em and Omaha), a card dealt face-up to the center of the table that all players can use to form their best five-card hand.
A card that is shared or available to all participants in a game or system, serving as a common resource. By metaphorical extension, it can refer to any shared piece of information, resource, or factor that influences multiple parties equally.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or grammatical differences. The term is international poker jargon.
Connotations
Identical connotations within the domain of poker. In broader metaphorical use, it may be slightly more common in American business or strategic discourse.
Frequency
Identical frequency in poker contexts. Metaphorical use is rare in both varieties.
Grammar
How to Use “community card” in a Sentence
[verb] + community card(s) (e.g., deal, reveal, use, share)community card(s) + [prepositional phrase] (e.g., on the table, in the center)[determiner] + community card(s) (e.g., the, a, five, these)Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “community card” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- No established verb form.
American English
- No established verb form.
adverb
British English
- No established adverb form.
American English
- No established adverb form.
adjective
British English
- No established adjective form.
American English
- No established adjective form.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rare. Could be used metaphorically: 'The quarterly sales figures are the community card everyone is playing from this week.'
Academic
Extremely rare outside of game theory or specific studies on poker.
Everyday
Virtually non-existent outside of discussions about poker.
Technical
Standard, precise term within poker rules, strategy, and commentary.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “community card”
- Using 'community card' to refer to a player's personal cards.
- Incorrect pluralisation: 'community card' as a collective term for the five cards (often used in singular when referring to the concept, but plural for the specific cards: 'the community cards are...').
- Spelling error: 'comunity card'.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
There are five community cards dealt in total: the flop (three cards), the turn (one card), and the river (one card).
Yes, this is called 'playing the board'. If the five community cards form a better hand than any player can make with their private cards, all active players will split the pot.
Essentially, yes. 'The board' is a common synonym referring to the set of community cards as a whole.
It is primarily used in community card poker variants like Texas Hold'em and Omaha. Most other poker games (e.g., Five-Card Draw) do not have community cards.
In poker (specifically Texas Hold'em and Omaha), a card dealt face-up to the center of the table that all players can use to form their best five-card hand.
Community card is usually technical / gambling in register.
Community card: in British English it is pronounced /kəˈmjuːnɪti kɑːd/, and in American English it is pronounced /kəˈmjunəti kɑrd/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “playing the board (using only the five community cards as your hand)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a 'community centre' – a place shared by everyone. A 'community card' is a card shared by every player at the poker table.
Conceptual Metaphor
COMMON RESOURCE IS A SHARED CARD / INFORMATION IS A CARD.
Practice
Quiz
What is a 'community card' in poker?