Poker jargon - C - MultiMedia

calling station: A weak player who frequently checks and calls, but rarely raises.
cap: A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round. Typically three or four (in addition the opening bet). In most casinos, the cap is removed if there are only two players remaining either (1) at the beginning of the betting round, or (2) at the time that what would have otherwise been the last raise is made.; Also, term for the chip, token, or object placed atop one’s cards to show continued involvement with a hand.
case card: The last available card of a certain description (typically a rank). The only way I can win is to catch the case king., meaning the only king remaining in the deck.
cash plays: An announcement, usually by a dealer, that a player requested to buy chips and can bet the cash he has on the table in lieu of chips until he receives his chips.
catch: To receive needed cards on a draw. I’m down 300–I can’t catch anything today. or Joe caught his flush early, but I caught the boat on seventh street to beat him. Often used with an adjective to further specify, for example “catch perfect”, “catch inside”, “catch smooth”.
catch up: To successfully complete a draw, thus defeating a player who previously had a better hand. I was sure I had Alice beat, but she caught up when that spade fell.
catch perfect: To catch the only two possible cards that will complete a hand and win the pot, usually those leading to a straight flush. Usually used in Texas Hold ‘Em.
center pot: The main pot in a table stakes game where one or more players are all in.
chase

To call a bet to see the next card when holding a drawing hand when the pot odds do not merit it.
To continue to play a drawing hand over multiple betting rounds, especially one unlikely to succeed. Bob knew I made three nines on fourth street, but he chased that flush draw all the way to the river.
To continue playing with a hand that is not likely the best because one has already invested money in the pot.

check

To bet nothing.
A casino chip.

check out: To fold, in turn, even though there is no bet facing the player. In some games this is considered a breach of etiquette equivalent to folding out of turn. In others it is permitted, but frowned upon.
cheese: A poor hand. Throw that piece of cheese in the muck and move on to the next hand.
chip along: To bet or call the minimum required to stay in, often done with little or no thought.
chip declare: A method of declaring intent to play high or low in a split-pot game with declaration.
chip dumping: A form of collusion that happens during tournaments, especially in the early rounds. Two or more players decide to go all-in early. The winner gets a large amount of chips, which increases the player’s chance of cashing. The winnings are then split among the colluders.
chip up: To exchange lower-denomination chips for higher-denomination chips. In tournament play, the term means to remove all the small chips from play by rounding up any odd small chips to the nearest large denomination, rather than using a chip race.
chop

To split a pot because of a tie, split-pot game, or player agreement.
To play a game for a short time and cash out. Also “hit and run”.
A request made by a player to a dealer after toking a large-denomination chip that he wishes the dealer to make change.
To chop blinds.

coffeehouse: To make annoying smalltalk during a game, to make comments about a hand in progress, or to make deceptive comments about one’s own play.
cold

Consecutive. I caught three cold spades for the flush.
Unlucky. I’ve been cold all week.

cold call: To call an amount that represents a sum of bets or raises by more than one player. Alice opened for $10, Bob raised another $20, and Carol cold called the $30.
cold deck: A deck previously arranged to produce a specific outcome, then surreptitiously switched into the game. Called “cold” because such a deck switched in during play will not have been warmed by the dealer’s hands. I can’t believe David got those four kings the same time I got four sixes–it was like being cold-decked. Also “ice”.
collusion: A form of cheating involving cooperation among two or more players.
color change, color up: To exchange small-denomination chips for larger ones.
combo, combination game: A casino table at which multiple forms of poker are played in rotation.
come bet, on the come: A bet or raise made with a drawing hand, building the pot in anticipation of filling the draw. Usually a weak “gambler’s” play, but occasionally correct with a very good draw and large pot or as a semi-bluff.
completion: To raise a small bet up to the amount of what would be a normal-sized bet. For example, in a $2/$4 stud game with $1 bring-in, a player after the bring-in may raise it to $2, completing what would otherwise be a sub-minimum bet up to the normal minimum. Also in limit games, if one player raises all in for less than the normally required minimum, a later player might complete the raise to the normal minimum (depending on house rules).
connectors: Two or more cards of consecutive rank.
continuation bet: A bet made after the flop by the player who took the lead in betting before the flop (Hold ’em and Omaha).
countdown

Especially in lowball, two hands very nearly tied that must be compared in detail to determine a winner, for example, 8-6-5-3-2 versus 8-6-5-3-A.
The act of counting the cards that remain in the stub after all cards have been dealt, done by a dealer to ensure that a complete deck is being used.

cow: A player with whom one is sharing a buy-in, with the intent to split the result after play. To “go cow” is to make such an arrangement.
crack: To beat a better hand, mostly heard in reference to the best Hold em hole cards, AA. eg “My aces were cracked again”
crossfire: When a player is caught in the middle between two raisers and is induced to call each bet because of the pot odds.
crying call: A call made reluctantly on the last betting round with the expectation of losing (but with some remote hope of catching a bluff).
cutoff: The seat immediately to the right of the dealer button. Also “pone”.