Poker Glossary - C-D

Call - To put into the pot an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise. The term “see” (as in “I’ll see that bet”) is considered colloquial.Calling Station - A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn’t raise or fold much. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.

Cap - To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the third or fourth raise. Dealers in California are fond of saying “Capitola” or “Cappuccino.”

Case - The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: “The flop came J-8-3; I’ve got pocket jacks, he’s got pocket 8’s, and then the case eight falls on the river, and he beats my full house.”

Center Pot - The first pot created during a poker hand, as opposed to one or more “side” pots created if one or more players goes all-in. Also “main pot.”

Check - 1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars. (2) Another word for chip, as in poker chip.

Check Raise - To check and then raise when a player behind you bets. Occasionally you will hear people say this is not fair or ethical poker. Piffle. Almost all casinos permit check-raising, and it is an important poker tactic. It is particularly useful in low-limit hold’em where you need extra strength to narrow the field if you have the best hand.

Cold Call - To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after that must call two bets “cold.” This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.

Come Hand - A drawing hand (probably from the craps term).

Community Cards - Cards that are presented face-up in the middle of the poker table and shared among players in games like Hold’em and Omaha. These are also referred to as board cards or “the board”.

Complete Hand - A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush.

Connector - A hold’em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76.

Counterfeit - To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.

Crack - To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often applied to pocket aces: “Third time tonight I’ve had pocket aces cracked.”

Cripple - As in “to cripple the deck.” Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.

Dealer - The player in a poker game who actually (or theoretically) is dealing the cards. When a professional dealer (casino or cardroom) or automated dealer (online) is present - it is necessary to identify the player who would be dealing the cards because the blinds and the betting action are to the left of the dealer. This is done by utilizing a marker called a dealer button which travels around the table in a clockwise manner, moving to the next player after each hand is completed.

Dog - Shortened form of “underdog.”

Dominated Hand - A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play. For instance, K3 is “dominated” by KQ. With the exception of strange flops (e.g., 3-3-X, K-3-X), it will always lose to KQ.

Draw - To play a hand that is not yet good, but could become so if the right cards come. Example: “I’m not there yet - I’m drawing.” Also used as a noun. Example: “I have to call because I have a good draw.”

Draw Dead - Trying to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you’re drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are “drawing dead.” Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.