A term often used in stud games referring to cards that will improve one's hand that have not yet appeared among other players' up cards, thereby increasing the chance they are still in the deck and thus remain "live."

The term is also used in hold'em to refer to a player having hole cards that no other player has, thus similarly improving the chances of the community cards including cards that make that player a pair. For example, and player is all in with versus an opponent holding . While the all-in player is an underdog, both the ten and nine are "live cards" in that if he makes a pair and the player with ace-king doesn't improve, he'll win.