Learning to speak Texas Hold’em as well as you play it is all part of the fun and excitement of the world’s most popular poker game!
Some of the terms and slang used are self-explanatory, some humourous, others startlingly apt, but all very relevant to the game and your knowledge of it.
To help you along we have put together a comprehensive list of terms. Read them, memorise the ones you find worthy of repeat, and begin to speak Hold’em as well as you play it!
This is part 3 covering the letter C. The remainder of the alphabet will be introduced gradually to allow meanings to soak in.
Have fun reading!
C is for:
Call:
• To make a “call” a player needs to match another player’s bet if they are to continue the hand and either see the next card or force a showdown. A call will define who wins the pot.
Calling Station:
• Don’t become a Calling Station! This term is used for a player that calls bets excessively and it is rare to see them Fold or Raise.
Cap:
• Taking the last of the maximum number of raises allowed for each round of play.
Case Card:
• This is the last card in the deck of a certain rank. Example: If you are holding 3-of-a-kind you will be hoping to get the fourth matching card (the case card).
Case Chips:
• Not what you want, but it will happen! This relates to a player’s last chips.
Cash Game:
• Chips have a point value in tournaments. In cash games the value is cash!
Check:
• Opting not to bet and passing the action to the next person in the hand. In table games a check can either be verbal or by a hand pat on the table.
Check-Raise:
• This should be a tactic you employ profitably. You Check in the hope (expectation!) of drawing other players into the bet. When they commit, you raise.
Chop:
• If participating players have the same value in their hand on showdown they “Chop the pot” and receive and equal share of it. This is also referred to as “Split the pot”
Coin Flip:
• Texas Hold’em regulars will come across this fairly frequently. It is when 2 players are all in and both have a fairly even chance of winning. Example: 1 player is holding high suited “connectors”.
E.g. Ace, King – The other has a “pocket pair” such as pocket 10’s. Coin Flip is also known as a “race”.
Cold Call:
• A Cold Call in Hold’em is classed when 1 player raises in a “pre-flop” round and then another player “calls” it.
Collusion:
• Don’t do it! Don’t partner up! As the term suggests, collusion is when 2 or more players conspire to cheat in a game.
Community Cards:
• The cards that are dealt face up on the table. All players can use these cards in order to make their hand with their two “hole” cards.
Connectors:
• 2 cards in sequential order. These are usually a player’s “hole” cards.
Continuation Bet:
• As a general rule, when a player opts to bet pre-flop they will almost always bet on the flop. Continuation betting can also be used as a type of bluff: If you have what appears to be a strong pre-flop hand and place a bet, but post-flop things are not looking so positive you bet again anyway. Your opponent will often assume your hand remains strong as they are not aware of this change.
Cooler:
• When multiple players have strong hands this inevitably results in a big pot as well as unavoidable actions. When this happens, the outcome is usually all-in bets and calls.
Cowboys:
• A pair of Kings.
Cut Off:
• A player to the right of the dealer is termed as being in the Cut Off position.
That’s it for the letter ‘C’ in our installment of “Texas Hold’em – The A-Z of Poker speak”. There is little doubt you will be familiar with some of the terms above, but hopefully you have added to your Texas Hold’em vocabulary with ones previously unheard of.
There’s lots more to come:
Do keep a close eye out as we build this extensive compendium on the A-Z of Hold’em jargon. It will add to your knowledge of common terms as well as the more obscure ones. What is more, you will be able to impart your knowledge to friends as well as foes!
Our next article continues with the letter’s ‘D’ to ‘F’ and includes ‘Ducks’ and ‘Drawing Dead’. Where the term ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ originated from as well as ‘Fish’ ‘Float’ and ‘Fourth Street’!