Advantage Play & Game Integrity

Hole card meaning

A hole card is a card dealt face down that stays hidden from other players until a later reveal. In advantage play, the term usually means the dealer's hidden card in blackjack.

Also called: Pocket card in poker glossaries³
Applies to: Blackjack, stud poker, Texas hold 'em, teen patti, and other games using hidden face-down cards¹²

Key points

In blackjack, the dealer’s hole card is the second card dealt face down; the dealer may peek for blackjack depending on the upcard.²
In poker variants such as Texas hold 'em, each player receives hole cards (private cards) that are revealed only as game rules require.⁵

Common questions

What are hole cards in poker?

In poker, hole cards (also called pocket cards) are the private cards dealt face down to each player. They are hidden from opponents until a showdown or as the game rules dictate.³

What is a hole card in blackjack?

In blackjack, the hole card is the dealer’s second card, dealt face down. It stays hidden until after players act or until the dealer peeks for blackjack.⁴²

Where this term is used

Advantage play

Not the same as

Hole card poker — a poker variant or situation involving hidden private cards, whereas hole card is the card itself

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Sources

Hole carding en.wikipedia.org Defines hole carding and lists games where hole cards appear.
Blackjack en.wikipedia.org Describes the dealer's hole card in blackjack and peek rules.
Glossary of poker terms en.wikipedia.org Provides the glossary term 'pocket card' as an alternative name.
Glossary of blackjack terms - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Defines hole card specifically in the blackjack glossary.
Texas hold 'em en.wikipedia.org Explains hole cards in Texas hold 'em.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.