C-Note:

A one hundred dollar bill.

California:

Draw poker open on anything.

California Lowball:

Lowball in which ace, two, three, four, five is the best hand.

Call:

Money put in the pot to match a bet or a raise.

Calling Station:

A weak/passive player who calls a lot but does not raise or fold very often. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.

Canine:

King-nine (K9).

Cap:

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

Card Odds:

The probability of being dealt or drawing to various hands.

Carding:

To note exposed cards during a hand.

Cardroom:

The room in which poker is played, or the organizations who run these rooms. Most casinos that offer poker have a separate room, or at least a roped-off area, designated as the cardroom. In some places where poker is legal, you will also find separate cardrooms (not part of a larger casino) dedicated almost entirely to poker.

Cards Speak:

This is the rule that the value of your hand is determined solely by your cards. You do not have to declare your hand properly in order to claim the part of the pot you deserve.

Cardsharp:

An expert in cards.

Carpet Joint:

An upscale card room characterized by carpeted floors.

Case Card:

The last available card of a particular value or suit.

Case Money:

Emergency money.

Cash-In:

To exchange poker chips for cash, and then quit (or cash-out).

Casino Poker:

Public poker played in gambling casinos.

Cat:

Any tiger or cat hand. See Tiger.

Catbird Seat:

A position in high-low poker that assures a player at least half the pot.

Catch:

If cards are helping you or are treating you well, you are “catching cards”.

Catching Cards:

Getting favorable cards.

Center Pot:

The first pot created during a poker hand, as opposed to one or more side pots which are created if one or more players go all-in. See also Main Pot.

Chalk Hand:

An almost certain winner.

Change Gears:

To adjust play from loose to tight, or vice versa.

Chase:

To stay in against a better hand, trying to draw out.

Cheater:

A player who intentionally violates the rules in order to gain advantages otherwise unavailable.

Check:

(1) To not bet, with the option of calling or raising later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars. (2) Another word for a poker chip

Check Cop:

A paste palmed in a cheater’s hand and used to steal poker chips or to hold out cards.

Check Copping:

To steal poker chips.

Check-Blind (Check in the Dark):

Tocheck without looking at one’s own cards.

Check-Raise:

To check and subsequently raise in the same round of betting.

Checks:

Poker chips.

Chicago:

A form of seven-card-Seven-Card Stud in which the hand with the highest spade wins half the pot.

Chicago Pelter:

See Kilter.

Chicken Picken:

A game with eleven cards, two cards in hand and nine on the table in rows of three.

Chip:

Small round discs used in place of money at the poker table.

Chip Along:

To bet the smallest amount possible.

Chip Declaration:

To use chips when declaring high or low.

Chip Race:

When the lower denomination chips in tournaments are taken out of circulation as the limits increase.

Chip-In:

To call a small bet.

Chipping:

Betting.

Choice Pots:

Dealer’s choice.

Chop:

To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand (when no one wants to play the hand).

Cinch Hand:

A hand that is certain to win. Other names include Lock and Immortal.

Cincinnati:

A ten-card game, with five cards in each player’s hand and five cards face-up for everyone’s use.

Cincinnati Liz:

The same as Cincinnati, except the lowest face-up card is wild.

Clam:

A dollar.

Class:

The rank of a poker hand.

Close to the Chest:

To play tight or “close to the belly”.

Closed Card:

A concealed card in one’s hand.

Closed Game:

A game barred to newcomers or outsiders.

Closed Hand:

The concealed cards in one’s hand, as in draw-Draw poker.

Closed Poker:

Any form of poker in which all cards are dealt face-down.

Club Poker:

Poker played in public card clubs. (See Gardena, California.)

Coffeehousing:

To talk about one’s hand, usually done with the intention of misleading other players.

Cold:

A term used to describe a game which is going poorly and which you have not been winning for a long period of time. For example, “the game sure was cold last night.”

Cold Call:

To call more than one bet. For example, one player bets, the following player raises, and the next player “cold calls”.

Cold Deck:

(1) A deck from which poor hands are being dealt. (2) A pre-stacked deck.

Cold Feet:

A term used to describe a player who wants to quit the game early.

Cold Hands:

(1) Showdown hands. (2) A run of poor hands.

Cold Turkey:

A pair of kings dealt as the first two cards in five-card-Five-Card Stud.

Collection or Axe:

See Time Cut.

Collusion:

Two or more players who are working together to cheat other players.

Color Up:

In order to reduce the number of chips one has on the table, a player will exchange his chips for those of a greater value.

Columbia River:

King-seven (K7).

Come:

See On the Come.

Come Hand:

A drawing-drawing hand.

Come In:

To call.

Come Off:

To break up a lower value hand in order to draw for a higher value hand.

Commerce:

A three-card game with three cards in the window.

Common Card (Communal Card):

An exposed card that can be used in every player’s hand.

Community Cards:

Cards dealt face-up in the middle of the table and their rankings are shared by all players.

Complete Hand:

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

Computer Hand:

Queen-seven (Q7).

Concealed Pair:

A pair where both cards are face-down.

Connector:

Cards of consecutive ranks, especially pocket cards, are called “connectors”. If they are also of the same suit, they are called “suited connectors”. For example, KJ off-off-suit, and 98 suited in Texas Hold’em. See also Pocket and Suited.

Consecutive Declaration:

A rule established to declare High-Low hands in consecutive order.

Contract:

To declare for high or low at the conclusion of split-pot poker.

Contract Poker:

High-Low split-pot poker with verbal declarations.

Cop:

To steal chips from the pot.

Corner Card:

An eight-card game, with five cards in hand and three on the table, with the last card up, and all like it, as wild.

Corner Flash:

To tear off a corner of a foreign card and flash it as a real card in one’s hand.

Cosmetics:

Methods used by cheaters for marking cards. Some examples include ashes, waxes, abrasives, aniline pencils, and luminous inks. This is also known as daub.

Count Cards:

A jack, queen, or king. These are also called court cards, face cards, picture cards, and paint cards.

Counter:

(1) One chip. (2) A player who continuously counts his chips.

Counterfeit:

To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. For example, in Texas Hold’em you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, giving you a straight. An eight comes on the turn. This card has “counterfeited” your hand and made it weaker.

Coup:

A brilliant play.

Courtesy Bet:

A bet, usually a bluff, made when it is fairly certain that an opponent will call or raise.

Cowboy:

A king.

Cowboys:
Kings.

Crabs:

Three-three (33).

Crack:

To beat a hand, typically a big hand. You will most often hear this in referral to pocket aces. For example, “this is the fourth time tonight that I’ve had pocket aces cracked.”

Crank:

To deal.

Crazy Otto:

Five-Card Stud with the lowest card as wild.

Crimp (Bridge):

To bend and hump the upper or lower section of the deck in order to make a false or illegal cut. See Debone.

Cripple:

This means that you have most, or all, of the cards that a player would want with the current board. If you have pocket kings and the other two kings flop, you have “crippled” the deck.

Crisscross:

Same as Southern Cross, except that five cards are laid out with the center one wild.

Crooked-Honest System (C- H System):

A system consisting of two cheaters allied in partnership. One player catches a strong hand and signals the other to raise, thus squeezing all callers. This is also called Cross Life or Crossfire.

Cross (The Cross):

Similar to Cincinnati, except the five cards are in a cross formation with the center card, and all similar cards, as wild.

Crosscards:

A ten-hand poker solitaire game. This is also called patience-Patience Poker.

Crossfire:

See Crooked-Honest System.

Crossover:

A combination of Draw and Stud poker involving wild cards.

Crying Call:

A call made by someone who is certain they will not win the pot.

Cull:

To arrange or cluster good cards together in order to cheat.

Curfew:

An agreed upon time for the game to end, also known as quitting-quitting time.

Curse of Mexico:

The deuce of spades. See Deuce.

Curse of Scotland:

The nine of diamonds.

Customer:

An opponent who calls.

Cut:

After the cards are shuffled but before they are dealt, the deck is split in the middle and the halves are reversed.

Cut Card:

A colored, faceless plastic card, used to cut the cards after the shuffle.

Cut the Cards:

To place the bottom cards of a deck on the top half of the deck.

Cut the Pot:

Money withdrawn from pots for a specific purpose, such as to pay for refreshments.