 C  |
| C |
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Clubs (the suit), in written text. Kc, for example, is the king of clubs (K ).
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| C-Game |
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Any low-stakes game, generally the third highest in a given establishment.
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| C-I-X |
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In lowball, a 6-high hand. When a player shows down a 6-high, he sometimes announces his holding by spelling out, "c-i-x."
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| C.H.O.R.S.E |
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A game or tournament format in which six forms of poker are played in rotation, usually either half an hour of each or one round of each. The games are Chowaha, limit hold 'em, Omaha/8, razz, seven-card stud (high), and seven-card stud high-low.
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| C.H.O.R.S.E.L |
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A game or tournament format in which seven forms of poker are played in rotation, usually either half an hour of each or one round of each. The games are Chowaha, limit hold 'em, Omaha/8, razz, seven-card stud (high), seven-card stud high-low, and lowball.
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| Cage |
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A room or an area, often behind a glass or behind bars, from which the cage person buys and sells chips. Also, window.
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| Cage Man |
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A cashier of the male persuasion.
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| Cage Person |
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Cashier, specifically, the person who dispenses chips to the floor personnel, cashes players in when they leave, cashes checks for players, sometimes sells chips to players, keeps track of players' banks, records the progress of stake players (if any), keeps track of time collections, etc.
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| Calamity Jane |
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The queen of spades. Named for the markswoman of the Old West (Martha Jane Canary, who is buried in Deadwood, SD, in 1903, next to Wild Bill Hickok), whose name some say was associated with prophecies of doom.
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| California |
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A form of poker found only in home games, a widow game in which each player receives five cards face down, as does a central area of the table, followed by a round of betting, and then the dealer turns up each central card, one at a time, each followed by another round of betting. At the showdown, each player uses the best five cards among his five and those of the widow. The game is often played high-low split. Also called Utah, Lamebrains, or California. Southern Cross is a variant of Cincinnati.
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| California Blind |
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Bet-or-fold, double limit draw poker (high), open on anything, with three traveling blinds.
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| California Draw |
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1) High draw poker as most often played in limit games: pass-and-back-in before the draw, jacks or better to open, each player antes, and there are no blinds. 2) As played in no-limit games, bet-or-fold (before the draw) draw poker, open on anything, usually played winner blind or with one or more traveling blinds (see traveling blind), and sometimes also with antes from each player. For both definitions, often called just draw or high.
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| California Game |
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Any of the games played in the California games section of a card room or casino.
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| California Games |
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A set of card room games, formerly called Asian games, some of which resemble poker, but are not strictly poker, in which players place bets before receiving the hands on which they wager. Others resemble blackjack. In these games, to get around the legal restriction against banking games, the only interest the house has is to take a portion of every bet; one player acts as banker, playing one hand against each player in turn. These games include pai gow (played with tiles, and not a card game at all), pai gow poker, super nine (also called super pan nine), California blackjack (also called X blackjack, where X is the name of the club), California Aces (a variant of blackjack in which the object is to get closest to 22, with two aces being the best hand; similarly often called X aces), 13-card (not played with a banker).
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| California Lowball |
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Five card ace-to-five low draw poker with the joker, bet-or-fold before the draw, sevens rule after the draw.
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| Call |
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To call is to match the current bet. If there has been a bet of $10 and a raise of $10 then it costs $20 to call. Calling is the cheapest (and the most passive) way to remain in a hand. See also cold call, flat call, and it - To put in to the pot the minimum amount of money necessary to continue playing. See also: SEE. (CALL is used mostly in the present tense with the bet as the object, see with future tense and the original bettor as the object).
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| Call Someone Down |
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Check each round, and call each bet made by an opponent (who presumably bets each round).
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| Called Hand |
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A hand that someone bet and someone else called, as opposed to a hand that was bet and no one called. The term often comes up when a bet is made, called, and lost, and the bettor who lost the hand now wants to throw the cards away unshown (perhaps from embarrassment at being caught bluffing).
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| Caller |
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One who calls. Sometimes used collectively, as in "3 callers".
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| Calling Hand |
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A hand with which a player feels he must call a (often any) bet. "I knew you made it, but I had a calling hand."
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| Calling Station |
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A player who calls much too often is called a calling station. Such a player will pay you off when you make hands, and will often fail to press their advantage when they have relatively strong hands. On the other hand, calling stations will hit more backdoor and other unlikely draws than other players, making it occasionally frustrating to play against them, especially in large numbers.
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| Can't Beat the Board |
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1) In a stud game, have an entire seven-card hand that cannot beat the four exposed cards of another player. 2) In hold 'em, have a hand that cannot beat the board (The exposed cards); this implies that the player is playing the board.
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| Canine |
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In hold 'em, K-9 as one's first two cards. Also, pedigree.
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| Cap |
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1) After dealing the first round, put a chip on top of the un-dealt cards for protection; usually followed by the deck. 2) Put in the maximum number of raises in a round of betting; usually followed by the bet, the bets, or the betting. Make the maximum raise permitted in the current round. "I'll cap it" means that someone has put in the, say, third raise.
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| Capable |
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Having the ability to cheat. "Is he capable?" means "Is he a thief or mechanic?"
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| Capitola. |
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Saying, often said by California dealers, that means "The betting is capped."
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| Capped |
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Describing the situation in which the maximum number of raises in a round of betting have been made.
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| Capper |
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The chip used to cap the deck.
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| Cappuccino. |
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Saying, often said by dealers, that means "The betting is capped."
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| Card |
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1) One of 52 (or 53) flat, rectangular objects, made usually of paper or plastic, with a uniform design on one side (the backs) and a representation of value (rank and suit) on the other; each card is either the joker, or one of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) and 13 ranks (A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T, J, Q, K). A complete set of cards is called a deck. Paper cards are sometimes called pasteboards. Collectively, cards are sometimes called the Devil's playthings. 2) A player's bank. 3) Check cashing card.
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| Card Down |
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The situation in which a card has been dealt off the table or otherwise dropped to the floor, and a floor person must be called to pick up the card, because, in many casinos and card rooms, the house dealer is not permitted to retrieve the card, nor is a player. If a card falls on the floor, the dealer may announce, "Card down," and a floor person comes over to pick it up. Whether the card or cards that fell to the floor are still live or dead is subject to individual card room interpretation.
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| Card Mob |
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Two or more cheaters working together in a card game.
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| Card Money |
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Money allocated by a gambler for playing at cards; bankroll.
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| Card Player |
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The premier magazine devoted to card playing.
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| Card Rack |
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Someone who gets a lot of good hands; usually used facetiously or humorously. Sometimes called human card rack.
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| Card Room |
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1) An establishment, usually open to the public, in which cards, usually poker, are played. 2) The section of a casino in which poker is played. 3) A room in a club devoted to card playing.
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| Card Sense |
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In a poker game, an acute awareness of the totality of what is going on, not narrowing your focus to just what's happening in your own hand. Card sense implies the ability to act on your observations, and to think on your feet. You must have imagination in playing your own hand, almost x-ray vision in being able to reconstruct opponents' hands. It is card sense that causes a player to play the same cards differently in different situations. A player without card sense usually plays the same cards the same in all situations.
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| Card Shark |
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An expert card player, usually a professional gambler. The term is not necessarily synonymous with cheater.
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| Card Smith |
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A card player, particular one who plays for a living.
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| Card Table |
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1) Poker table. 2) Any table designed specially for playing cards. Different styles of tables are used for bridge, blackjack, baccarat, and poker, which itself has several types, depending on the specific game.
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| Card Wrench |
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A device to pry apart cards so that the card you caught will fit the hand; used humorously. If, in high draw poker, a player draws to 4-5-6-7 and catches a 9, he might say, "I need a card wrench to fix this hand."
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| Card-Holder |
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A player who seems to get more good hands than random chance would dictate.
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| Card-Room License |
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A specific gambling license issued by any combination of municipality, county, state, or country, to a card room, usually specifying the types of games permitted, the stakes, hours of operation, and other restrictions.
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| Carder |
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One who plays cards, particularly a professional.
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| Carding |
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1) Playing at cards. 2) Noting exposed cards (particularly at seven-card stud), and using that information in the play of a hand.
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| Cards |
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1) The playing of a card game, often poker. "I'm going out to play some cards tonight." 2) A deck. "Give me the cards; it's my deal." 3) Any portion of a deck. "You're not supposed to pick up the cards for the next deal until the previous hand is completely over."
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| Cards Break Even |
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The theory that states in the long run everyone gets the same cards implies that if the cards are running bad for awhile for a particular player, they will eventually fall back into a normal pattern. "I'll get even if the cards ever start breaking even."
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| Cards Speak |
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1) Cards speak is simply the rule that the value of your hand is determined solely by your cards. You don't have to declare your hand properly in order to claim the part of the pot you deserve. The alternative to this is mainly declare games, usually played in home games for low stakes 2) A name for high-low split with no declaration.
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| Cardshark |
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An expert card player, usually a professional gambler. The term is not necessarily synonymous with cheater.
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| Caribbean Stud |
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A casino game, banked by the house, that resembles poker only in the ranking of the hands. The game is sort of a cross between poker and a slot machine. Players bet before receiving their cards that their hands will be better than the dealer's; they can increase the bet after seeing their hands. Certain combinations, usually three of a kind or better, pay premiums, and a royal flush wins a progressive jackpot.
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| Carpet Joint |
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A well-appointed casino or card room, as opposed to a sawdust joint. Also called rug joint.
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| Carry a Slug |
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Shuffle a slug into prearranged position. For example, in draw, a cheat might carry a slug full of spades in it so that it ends up in a position one beyond the cards required to deal the hand. When he or his partner draws, he can draw two or three cards and make a spade flush.
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| Carry Over |
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Credit a stake or a cow with his chips from one shift to the next. A stake player is usually liable for the amount of his last press. For example, if he was staked $20, lost it, given a $10 press, and then carried over, only $10 would go on the sheet of the next shift. In such case, a stake could lose for the house and still make money for himself. If the stake were given $20, and then a $10 press, and went broke while still in the same shift, he would have no carry-over and could not make money on that shift. That is why some stakes try to get staked near the end of a shift, and then, if they are short near the end of the shift, contrive to lose the last chips so they can get pressed just before the next shift starts. That way they can start the next shift with just $10 on the sheet, and, if they lose that, get still another press.
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| Case |
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1) Descriptive of the only remaining card of a rank or suit. "I caught the case ace" means there was only one left to draw (in a draw game) or hit (in a stud game) and the player got it. 2) All; said of money. "He bought in for his case money" means that all he had in his pocket went to buy chips; if he loses these, he can't buy anymore.3) The last card of a denomination or suit, when the rest have already been seen.4) Look over; usually said of a card room, referring to checking out the action. "He only comes in to case the joint, and never lights."
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| Case Bet |
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A gambler's last bet, when he has lost his bankroll or stake.
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| Case Card |
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The last card of a denomination or suit, when the rest have already been seen.
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| Case Money |
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The last of a gambler's bankroll or stake.
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| Cash in |
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To leave the game and convert one's chips to cash, either with the dealer or at the cage.
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| Cash Out |
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To leave a game and cash in one's chips at the cage.
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| Casino |
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1) A building or establishment devoted to gambling games of all kinds. 2) A large, usually opulent, card room.
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| Casino Cage |
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A room or an area, often behind a glass or behind bars, from which the cage person buys and sells chips. Also, window.
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| Casino Chowaha |
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A hold 'em variant invented in a private game by RGPer Mike Chow, and popularized at BARGE, in which each player gets two down cards, the dealer flops nine cards, arranged in three rows of three, then turns two cards vertically at the ends of the "corridors" between the preceding rows, and rivers one card in the middle and to the right of the two, the whole arrangement forming a large arrow-like structure. Players form their best five-card hand using their two plus any three cards from the four possible five-card board combinations: top row of three plus top card of two plus river card, bottom row of three plus bottom card of two plus river card, middle row of three plus either one of the two turn cards plus river card.
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| Cat |
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Any one of big tiger, little tiger, big cat, little cat.
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| Cat Flush |
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A nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, a big tiger or little tiger, all in the same suit, ranking above a straight flush (since a tiger beats a straight).
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| Cat Hop |
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In draw poker, a draw of two (or more cards) to a straight or flush, or, sometimes, to a pair with (usually) an ace kicker. The term has two implications. One is just the attempt to make such a draw. "He draws to every cat hop that comes along" implies the player draws two cards every time he starts with three cards to a straight or flush. The other is actually making it. "Wouldn't you know I'd get beat by a cat hop when I finally made a straight?"
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| Catbird Seat |
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The position immediately to the right of the dealer. This is a restricted usage of the more general term, which means advantageous situation or position.
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| Catch |
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1) Receive a card. 2) Receive a card that makes a hand (that is, in draw poker, draw a card that fills the hand or makes specifically what one was trying to make, or, in a stud game, be dealt the card one needs). "As soon as he started to bet, I knew he caught."
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| Catch Inside |
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1) In lowball or razz, make the particular hand you're drawing to. If you have 7-4-3-2, and catch a 6, 5, or ace, you catch inside. 2) In any high game, make an inside straight.
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| Catch Outside |
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1) In lowball, catch a card above the particular hand you're drawing to. If you have 7-4-3-2, and catch an 8 or higher, you catch outside. 2) In any high game, miss a straight.
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| Catch Perfect |
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Make precisely the hand you're drawing to. In lowball, if you're drawing to 8-4-3-2, and catch a 7, 6, 5, or ace you make your hand; if you catch precisely the ace, you catch perfect. In high draw, if you start with 4-5-6-7, all in diamonds, and catch any diamond, you make a flush; if you catch any 3 or 8, you make a straight. If you catch either the 3 or 8 or diamonds, you make a straight flush, and you can say you have caught perfect. The term is also heard in hold 'em, in a situation in which only one or two cards remain that will turn a losing hand into a winner.
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| Catch Rough |
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In lowball, draw a card that makes the hand rough (A hand of a particular type that will not beat many other hands of that type.) For example, if you draw to 7-3-2-A and catch a 6, you catch rough.
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| Catch Smooth |
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In lowball, draw a card that makes the hand smooth (best possible low hand). For example, if you draw to 7-3-2-A and catch a 4 or 5, you catch smooth.
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| Cats and Dogs |
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Draw poker in which certain nonstandard hands (the big and little cat or tiger and big and little dog) have value.
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| Caught in the Middle |
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Being whipsawed. To whipsaw is to raise before, and after, a caller who gets caught in the middle. "I had a joker-wheel to draw to. They both had pat sixes, and kept raising, and I was caught in the middle."
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| Cellar |
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Bottom of the deck; usually preceded by from the. Usually refers to the move of a bottom dealer. "I saw him coming from the basement" means I saw him deal a card from the bottom of the deck.
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| Cellar Dealer |
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A cheat who deals cards from the bottom of the deck. Also sometimes called b-dealer, subway dealer, or cellar dealer.
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| Center Pot |
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The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main pot."
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| Chance |
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The likelihood of a particular event, usually expressed in the form of some kind of fraction (as chances of one third, or, more often a decimal, as chances of 0.33, or percentage, as chances of 33%) or in the form of one number out of or in another (as chances of 1 out of 3, or 1 in 3).
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| Chances |
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The likelihood of a particular event, usually expressed in the form of some kind of fraction (as chances of one third, or, more often a decimal, as chances of 0.33, or percentage, as chances of 33%) or in the form of one number out of or in another (as chances of 1 out of 3, or 1 in 3).
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| Change Color |
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Replacing chips of one color with those of another. Usually implies getting rid of many smaller denomination chips for fewer of a higher denomination.
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| Change Gears |
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Alter the pace of one's playing, usually as a deceptive move against the other players, as, for example, change from fast, aggressive play to a more conservative style.
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| Change List |
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A list, usually maintained by a floor man or the house dealer, of those who want to change seats within a particular game or move to another game of the same size.
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| Change of Color |
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Replacing chips of one color with those of another. Usually implies getting rid of many smaller denomination chips for fewer of a higher denomination.
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| Change-in |
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The minimum amount required to get into a game. "The buy-in for limit games is 10 times the lower limit; for example, in a $2-$4 game, the buy-in is $20."
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| Charles |
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The king of hearts. May come from Charlemagne, or King Charles VII of France.
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| Charlie |
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The third position to the left of the dealer. Sometimes called just C.
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| Chase |
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1) To make the blind good. That is, if you have the blind, the pot is opened, and you elect to put in the extra chip to try a longshot, you might say, "I'll chase." 2) When losing, bet recklessly, often desperately, in the hope of getting of even. "How's he doing?" "Stuck, and chasing." 3) Try to catch a better hand with a worse holding, usually in a stud game.
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| Cheat |
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1) Use of any of a number of crooked devices, card manipulation, deceptive tactics, and so on, to gain an unfair advantage over opponents or otherwise win dishonestly. 2) One who employs cheating techniques; A thief.
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| Cheater |
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One who employs cheating techniques; A thief.
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| Cheating Device |
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A mechanical device for cheating, such as a holdout machine. Also called tool.
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| Check |
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1) Make no bet, but still hold your cards. You can check, and then call a later bet, fold when the action gets back to you, or raise. Technically, to check is to make a bet of nothing. 2) A card room chip; often plural. When a player cries out "Checks!", he is signaling to a floorperson his intention to buy more chips. The term check is generally limited to card rooms and casinos, while chip is more heard in home games, though common in both.
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| Check and Raise |
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Permitting players to pass and still retain their cards. "This is a check-and-raise game before the draw."
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| Check Blind |
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1) Without looking at the cards you have been dealt. 2) The card or cards you have drawn, make no bet; usually accompanied by a verbal announcement of this fact. Also check dark.
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| Check Cashing Card |
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A sheet on which the cashier keeps track of a player's transactions against a blank, signed check.
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| Check Cop |
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1) A thief whose specialty is stealing chips from pots or other players, usually by palming them. 2) A sticky substance a thief rubs on his palm to permit chips to stick to the palm without having to close his fingers around the chips. Also, glue.
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| Check Copper |
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A thief whose specialty is stealing chips from pots or other players, usually by palming them.
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| Check Dark |
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The card or cards you have drawn, make no bet; usually accompanied by a verbal announcement of this fact.
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| Check in the Dark |
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1) To check before looking at the card or cards just dealt. 2) Intention of folding on the turn and the river, but no one ever bet.
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| Check Rack |
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A box, or tray, that has indentations to neatly hold chips in (often five) stacks.
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| Check Raise |
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To check initially, then raise a bet made later on in the same betting round. Frequently a sign of strength, but may be a bluff.
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| Check-Rack |
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Request a player to leave. Comes from what a player usually does before cashing in: fill a chip rack with his chips, and head for the cage. "When the floor man saw Danny come from the cellar, he chip-racked him" means "When the floor man saw Danny deal a card from the bottom of the deck, he asked Danny to cash in (and leave the premises)."
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| Checker |
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A card room chip; often plural. When a player cries out "Checks!", he is signaling to a floorperson his intention to buy more chips. The term check is generally limited to card rooms and casinos, while chip is more heard in home games, though common in both.
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| Checks |
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Chips. Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table. The ones used at casinos are typically made of clay, while home poker games often substitute cheaper plastic chips. Using chips instead of cash has a number of advantages, mostly just that they're easier to count and manipulate. Color designations for chips are arbitrary, but many casinos use white for $1 chips, red for $5 chips, green for $25 chips, and black for $100 chips.
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| Cheese |
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"Throw that cheese in the muck" is sometimes said by someone who has made a bet, usually large, to the person contemplating calling that bet, implying that the caller cannot win with his (supposedly) inferior hand.
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| Chicago |
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1) A form of poker found only in home games, usually played with seven cards, and ending up as a mixture of draw and stud. 2) high spade in the hole.
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| Chicago Bankroll |
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A bankroll consisting of a large number of singles rolled over with one 20, which one might chuck in one direction when about to be mugged, while simultaneously running in the other direction.
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| Chip |
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1) Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table. The ones used at casinos are typically made of clay, while home poker games often substitute cheaper plastic chips. Using chips instead of cash has a number of advantages, mostly just that they're easier to count and manipulate. Color designations for chips are arbitrary, but many casinos use white for $1 chips, red for $5 chips, green for $25 chips, and black for $100 chips. 2) To Bet.
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| Chip Along |
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Call, but never raise, all bets; in a no-limit, pot-limit, or spread-limit game, make the smallest bet allowed.
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| Chip Copper |
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A thief whose specialty is stealing chips from pots or other players, usually by palming them.
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| Chip Declaration |
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In a high-low split game, using chips to indicate whether you're going for high, low, or both. This is done in two ways, either the color of the chips indicates the players' intentions (as red for high, white for low, blue for both ways), or the number of chips (as none for low, one for high, two for both ways).
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| Chip Girl |
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A female wearing an apron with pockets full of chips, whose job it is to sell chips to the players, and sometimes to perform other duties, such as collect time, sell drinks, etc. The term chip boy does not exist.
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| Chip in |
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Ante, or call a small bet. The term has passed into general usage meaning contribute to a collection, usually of cash.
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| Chip Person |
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A person wearing an apron with pockets full of chips, whose job it is to sell chips to the players, and sometimes to perform other duties, such as collect time, sell drinks, etc.
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| Chip Race |
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As the limits increase in tournaments, lower denomination chips are taken out of circulation. Rather than rounding odd chips up or down for each player, the players are dealt a card for each odd chip. The player with the highest card is given all the odd chips, which are then colored up.
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| Chip Rack |
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A box, or tray, that has indentations to neatly hold chips in (often five) stacks.
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| Chip Runner |
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A person wearing an apron with pockets full of chips, whose job it is to sell chips to the players, and sometimes to perform other duties, such as collect time, sell drinks, etc.
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| Chip Tray |
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A box, or tray, that has indentations to neatly hold chips in (often five) stacks.
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| Chip Up |
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To exchange one's chips for ones of higher value.
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| Chip-Rack |
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Request a player to leave. Comes from what a player usually does before cashing in: fill a chip rack with his chips, and head for the cage. "When the floorman saw Danny come from the cellar, he chip-racked him" means "When the floorman saw Danny deal a card from the bottom of the deck, he asked Danny to cash in (and leave the premises)."
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| Chippers |
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Chips. Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table. The ones used at casinos are typically made of clay, while home poker games often substitute cheaper plastic chips. Using chips instead of cash has a number of advantages, mostly just that they're easier to count and manipulate. Color designations for chips are arbitrary, but many casinos use white for $1 chips, red for $5 chips, green for $25 chips, and black for $100 chips.
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| Chippies |
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Chips. Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table. The ones used at casinos are typically made of clay, while home poker games often substitute cheaper plastic chips. Using chips instead of cash has a number of advantages, mostly just that they're easier to count and manipulate. Color designations for chips are arbitrary, but many casinos use white for $1 chips, red for $5 chips, green for $25 chips, and black for $100 chips.
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| Chips Declare |
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In a high-low split game, using chips to indicate whether you're going for high, low, or both. This is done in two ways, either the color of the chips indicates the players' intentions (as red for high, white for low, blue for both ways), or the number of chips (as none for low, one for high, two for both ways).
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| Choice Pots |
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An announcement, in a home game, by the dealer that the next hand will be dealer's choice.
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| Chop |
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To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand, if nobody calls the blind.
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| Chop a Game |
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Play for a short time in a game, win a lot of chips, and cash out.
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| Chop it Up. |
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An announcement by a player or dealer that the result of the current showdown is a split pot.
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| Chop the Blinds |
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In a traveling blind game, when everyone has folded except the two blinds, make an arrangement between those two players not to play out the hand, but instead take back their posted blinds.
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| Chop-Chop |
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1) Split a pot in a high-low game. 2) Make an agreement among two (sometimes, rarely, more) to split a pot without having a showdown. 3) Put a chip up for the dealer (as a toke), and instruct the dealer to take half. For example, a player wins a pot, throws the dealer a dollar chip, and says, "Chop-chop"; he wants the dealer to take 50 cents and give him back 50 cents.
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| Chopper |
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One who chops. (To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand, if nobody calls the blind.)
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| Chopping |
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Playing briefly in each of several games, usually successfully in each.
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| Chowaha |
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A hold 'em variant invented in a private game by RGPer Mike Chow, and popularized at BARGE, in which each player gets two downcards, the dealer flops nine cards, arranged in three rows of three, then turns two cards vertically at the ends of the "corridors" between the preceding rows, and rivers one card in the middle and to the right of the two, the whole arrangement forming a large arrow-like structure. Players form their best five-card hand using their two plus any three cards from the four possible five-card board combinations: top row of three plus top card of two plus river card, bottom row of three plus bottom card of two plus river card, middle row of three plus either one of the two turn cards plus river card.
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| Chump |
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Inexperienced poker player, sucker.
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| Chute |
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The slot on a poker table above the drop box where the dealer places bills that have been exchanged for chips.
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| Chute Number 1 |
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First position to the left of the dealer, usually describing someone opening the betting from that position. "Here comes an opener from chute number 1."
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| Cigarette Pot |
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An arrangement between two or more players to pay for their cigarettes in the same manner as a drink pot.
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| Cinch Player |
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One who plays only the nuts (usually used in a derisive sense).
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| Cincinnati |
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A form of poker found only in home games, a widow game in which each player receives five cards face down, as does a central area of the table, followed by a round of betting, and then the dealer turns up each central card, one at a time, each followed by another round of betting. At the showdown, each player uses the best five cards among his five and those of the widow. The game is often played high-low split. Also called Utah, Lamebrains, or California. Southern Cross is a variant of Cincinnati.
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| Circle |
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Pot boundary. A mythical demarcation within which bets are "legal" and outside of which they are not. In some clubs, an actual circle is drawn on the table. In some clubs, a bet, or a motion to make a bet, is not considered binding unless the chips physically enter the circle; in others, the concept of the circle does not exist.
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| Clean |
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1) Honest. "He runs a clean joint." 2) To run out of chips. 3) Win all the money from one or more opponents, or from a game. Also, clean out.
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| Clean Dealer |
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Smooth and efficient dealer, usually said of a professional dealer.
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| Clean Move |
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A hard-to-detect cheating manipulation, whether by slSeven-of-hand or with a cheating device; cleverly concealed misdeal.
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| Clean Out |
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Win all the money from one or more opponents, or from a game.
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| Clean Up |
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Get rid of the evidence after making a cheating maneuver. A thief may deal himself six cards, and play the best five. When he conceals the extra card among the discards, he is cleaning up. Also called skin the hand.
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| Clerk |
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Smooth and efficient dealer, usually said of a professional dealer.
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| Clip |
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A cheating device to hold a card up a sleeve or under a table.
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| Clip Joint |
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An illegal card room or casino whose denizens include thieves, usually with the consent of the house.
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| Close to the Chest |
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Tight. "He plays them close to the vest." Comes from the way players held their cards to avoid their being seen by others.
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| Close to the Vest |
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Tight. "He plays them close to the vest." Comes from the way players held their cards to avoid their being seen by others.
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| Closed Game |
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A game in which no other participants than those currently seated are permitted. In poker, the term usually applies only to private games. In casinos, the term is used for a game, usually blackjack, in which one player is making very large bets, does not want other players interfering with his play, requests to play alone, and the house, wanting his action, accedes.
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| Closed Hand |
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A hand consisting of all cards face down. Usually the term refers to a draw poker hand, rarely to no peeky.
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| Club |
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1) Any card in the clubs suit.2) Public card room.
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| Club Poker Dictionary |
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Poker played in a public card room (as opposed to a private game), usually with posted rules and sometimes limited to certain games, such as lowball and draw, according to licensing restrictions.
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| Club Stakes |
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Posted rules regarding wagering, usually found in licensed card rooms.
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| Clubs |
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1) One of the four suits in a deck of cards, whose symbol is shaped like a shamrock. Originally, clubs may have represented the warrior class, the club being an early weapon. In the traditional deck, clubs are black. In the four-color deck, they are green. 2) A club flush, that is, five cards of the same suit, all clubs. "I've got a straight; whadda you got?" "Clubs."
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| Coat Card |
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An old term for face card. Comes from coated, from the garments worn by the figures. The term was in use until the late seventeenth century, at which point the pronunciation was probably corrupted into court card.
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| Coaxer |
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A small raise of an opponent's raise, the object of which is to coax a re-raise from the original raiser, so that the maker of the coaxer can now make his move in the form of a very large raise.
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| Coffee Housing |
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An attempt to mislead opponents about one's hand by means of devious speech or behavior.
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| Coffee Pot |
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An arrangement between two or more players to pay for their coffee in the same manner as a drink pot.
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| Coffeehouse |
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To talk about a hand one is involved in, usually with the intent of misleading or manipulating other players, is coffeehousing. It's usually considered just barely on one side of ethical, although which side depend who you ask.
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| Cojones |
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The nuts, usually preceded by loss. (Pronounced co-HO-nayss.)
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| Cold |
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1) Serial, or in a row. "I caught three cold aces" means the player, in a draw game, drew three cards and (likely) ended up with aces full. 2) Not doing well. 3) Having no action. "No hands coming out: the game's cold."
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| Cold Call |
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To call a raise without having already put the initial bet into the pot.
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| Cold Deck |
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A deck, presumably with preset hands in it (usually with several good hands, the best of which will go to the dealer or his confederate), surreptitiously substituted by a cheat for the deck he is supposed to be dealing. So called because, after cards are dealt for awhile, they warm a bit to the touch, while a cold deck actually feels cool.
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| Cold-Deck |
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To deal a cold deck; usually to someone. "Those bastards cold-decked me."
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| Cold-Decker |
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Thief, generally one who prepares or introduces into a game a cold deck.
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| Collusion |
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A form of cheating in which two or more players signal their holdings or otherwise form a cheating partnership to the detriment of the other players. Best-hand is a form of collusion.
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| Color Change |
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Replacing chips of one color with those of another. Usually implies getting rid of many smaller denomination chips for fewer of a higher denomination.
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| Color Up |
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To exchange one's chips for ones of higher value, usually in order to reduce the number of chips one has on the table. In tournaments, players are forced to color up periodically as the tourney money becomes divided among fewer and fewer players and the sizes of the forced bets go up (it makes no sense to play with $25 chips when the blinds are $10000).
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| Colors |
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In a draw game, a side bet arrangement between two players. If one is dealt before the draw five cards of the same color (that is, all red, or all black), the other pays him a certain amount. Usually played in conjunction with points, and is more common in lowball than high. This sort of bet arrangement is particularly frowned on by the house, because it involves exposing too many cards, and also slows the game down while comparisons and verifications are made.
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| Come |
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Playing a worthless hand in the hope of improving it is called "playing on the come."
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| Come Back at |
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Re-raise; always followed by the name of the player. "He bet $10, I raise him $40, and he came back at me."
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| Come Back on |
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Break one hand, and make a better hand; with reference to the hand made. "I broke the 8 and came back on a slick 7." "I started with a pat straight, and four to a straight flush. When Mary stood pat ahead of me, I knew she had the straight beat, so I drew one and came back on a flush; sure enough, she had an ace-high straight, and I won."
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| Come Down |
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1) Happen. "This is how it came down." 2) Show down. "I had a full house, and he came down with four of a kind."
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| Come Hand |
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A hand which must improve in order to have a realistic shot is a come hand.
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| Come in |
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Call, usually referring to any betting round but the last.
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| Come in Cold |
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Call a bet and one or more raises without yet having any money in the pot.
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| Come in for a Raise |
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Open for more than the minimum. In a limit game, this means open for two bets.
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| Come in on the Blind |
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Sit down at the precise moment it is your turn to put in the big blind. Some clubs do not let a new player (new to the particular game) be dealt in until it is his turn to put in the blind, supposedly to prevent his getting any "free" hands. Also, if a seated player has missed the blind in a particular round, he can receive his next hand only in the blind position.) In such a case, a player must come in on the blind, or, if not in the big blind position, over blind to receive a hand. Also see blind.
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| Come Off |
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Break the top one or more cards of an otherwise pat lowball hand. "When he stood pat, I knew my hand was no good, so I came off both the 9 and the 8" means that a player has something like 9-8-4-2-A, threw the 9 and the 8, and drew cards to the 4-2-A.
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| Commit Fully |
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To put in as many chips as necessary to play your hand to the river, even if they're your case chips.
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| Common Card |
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One card dealt to the center of the table and considered part of each active player's hand.
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| Community Cards |
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Face-up cards that are shared by all the players in a hand. Flop games have five community cards.
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| Comoque |
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In lowball, to pair. This comes from pan, in which you can draw a card of the same rank as one in your hand and not be able to use the drawn card. Sometimes spelled komoke.
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| Comoquer |
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In lowball, a card that pairs one in your hand. "I drew to a bicycle and caught a comoquer."
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| Complete Bluff |
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A bluff made with a hand that has no potential in succeeding rounds, and cannot possibly win if called.
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| Complete Hand |
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A hand that is defined by all five cards: a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush etc.
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| Complete the Bet |
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When an all-in player initiates the betting with a bet that is less than the current limit, the next player can complete the bet by bringing it up to the limit. For example, in a $20/$40 hold 'em game, on the last round a player has only $35 remaining, which he bets. If the next player puts in $40, he has completed the bet. Clubs have various rulings on whether a player with less than a full bet may even initiate the betting (or call, for that matter) and also on whether succeeding players may just call that amount, must complete the bet, or are permitted to raise.
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| Complimentary Play |
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Giving someone action where it is not necessarily warranted. For example, in a Southern California double blind lowball game, you have beaten someone in several large pots. Now you have the blind. He opens for a raise. You have absolutely nothing, something like four face cards and one small card. Normally you would not call the bet, but would just throw the hand away. Instead you take decidedly the worst of it, perhaps drawing four cards, in order to appear to "give" him back of the few of the many dollars you won from him. This is a courtesy play.
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| Computer Hand |
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1) Any hand that computer analysis/simulation determines is positive but turns out to be difficult to play in practice. 2) In hold 'em, Q-7 as one's first two cards. Comes from an apocryphal story that "someone" did an extensive computer simulation of hold 'em hands in which those two cards appeared most frequently in the flop, or, in some stories, among the down cards. The simulation was atypical, however, because the chances are the same for any two cards of different ranks.
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| Concave |
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A card trimmed such that its middles are narrower than its ends.
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| Concave Card |
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A card trimmed such that its middles are narrower than its ends.
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| Concealed |
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Pertaining to cards in the hole that complete a hidden, winning hand. In seven-card stud, concealed trips would be three hole cards of the same rank, a hand that other players might not suspect.
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| Concealed Hand |
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A hand played in such a way that you would not suspect it of being very good, but that turns out to be so. For example, if, in lowball, two players kept raising each other back and forth, and a third just kept calling all the bets, you might suspect that he was drawing one to a good hand. If he turned out to have a pat wheel, that would be a concealed hand. In any poker game, if one player lets the others do all the betting for him, usually because the situation allows him to just keep calling without ever having to make a raise or leading bet of his own, and that player actually holds a hand that cannot lose, he is said to have a concealed hand. Also called hidden hand.
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| Concealed Pair |
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In stud, a pair, both cards of which are among a player's first two down cards.
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| Connector |
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Cards of consecutive ranks, especially pocket cards, are connectors. If they're also of the same suit, they're suited connectors - A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76 - Consecutive cards which might make a straight.
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| Consecutive Declaration |
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In a high-low split game, a method of indicating, prior to the showdown, whether you're going for high, low, or both. In home and private games, such declaration is usually done simultaneously, by everyone, for example, opening his hand at once to reveal none, one, or two chips, representing, respectively, low, high, or both ways (sometimes called scoop or hog).
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| Conservative |
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Describing a player, or the play of one, who does not bet unless it is very likely that he has the best hand.
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| Convex |
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A card trimmed such that its middles are narrower than its ends.
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| Convex Card |
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A card trimmed such that its middles are narrower than its ends.
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| Cop Checks |
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Steal chips out of pots, usually done by a check cop.
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| Corner Bend |
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A crimp on the corner of a card, for identification by a cheat.
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| Corner Seat |
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In a game dealt by a house dealer, either one of the two seats next to the dealer.
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| Cosmetics |
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Markings put on the backs of cards with wax, paint, ink, or some other fluid, even smudges, so that a thief can read the ranks (and sometimes suits) of the cards from the back; alterations made to the natural design on the backs of the cards.
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| Count Down |
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Count someone's chips (usually in a no-limit game), often when all have been bet, to determine how much is required to make a call.
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| Count Down the Stub |
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In a draw poker or lowball game, after dealing all the cards, including those drawn by participants, count the remainder of the deck to ensure that the deck contains the correct number of cards. This is done as a protection against someone possibly holding out.
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| Count Someone Down |
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Determine the total value of a player's chips. When, in a no-limit or pot-limit game, someone bets an amount equal to another player's stack, that player may say, "Did you count me down?"
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| Countdown Hand |
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In lowball, a hand tied in its top three or four cards. For example, Chloe has 9-7-6-4-3 and Emilie has 9-7-6-4-2. The winning hand is determined at the fifth card, since their hands are otherwise the same.
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| Counterfeit |
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In Omaha Hi/Lo, when the board pairs your key low card, demoting the value of your hand - In flop games, when your great hand is subsequently made less powerful because of cards that hit the table (especially cards that duplicate the strength of your hand), your hand is said to be counterfeited.
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| Counterfeited |
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In a high-low split community card game, having one of one's low cards duplicated on the board, thus considerably weakening one's hand, because it is now much easier for another player to tie or beat the hand.
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| Country Straight |
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In high draw poker with the joker, an open-ended straight draw, that is, one that can be improved by only nine cards, as 4-5-6-7 of mixed suits, which becomes a straight with any 3, 8, or the joker, or a straight draw that can be improved by only eight cards, as 4-5-joker-8, which is helped by any 6 or 7. In high draw poker without the joker or seven-card stud, an open-ended straight draw, that is, one that can be improved by only eight cards, as 4-5-6-7 of mixed suits, which becomes a straight with any 3 or 8 .
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| Courchevel |
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A form of Omaha popular in Europe, particularly France, and private games, in which players start with either four or five down cards and the first flop card is exposed before the first round of betting. The name of the game comes from that of a posh ski resort in the French Alps.
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| Courtesy Bet |
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A bet made in a situation in which a bet is not mandated, and sometimes implying a bet that should not be sensibly made. In a no-limit lowball game, Jim opens and Curly raises. Jim calls and draws two cards, and Curly draws one. Jim makes a smooth 8, and says, "I'll give you a courtesy bet." The bet is small, and the implication is that Curly will now raise. A courtesy bet often occurs in the same situation in which a protection bet is made.
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| Courtesy Play |
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Giving someone action where it is not necessarily warranted. For example, in a Southern California double blind lowball game, you have beaten someone in several large pots. Now you have the blind. He opens for a raise. You have absolutely nothing, something like four face cards and one small card. Normally you would not call the bet, but would just throw the hand away. Instead you take decidedly the worst of it, perhaps drawing four cards, in order to appear to "give" him back of the few of the many dollars you won from him. This is a courtesy play.
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| Cow |
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Go half and half with a player on his buy-in to a game; usually preceded by go; sometimes followed by up. When the player quits, he splits with the person with whom he went cow. Sometimes the house goes cow with a player to enable him to get into a larger game than he could otherwise afford, generally with the no altruistic purpose of filling what would otherwise be a shaky game. At some point when the player (the house hopes) gets far enough ahead of the game, the house may split him out, that is, remove half of his chips and put him on his own.
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| Cow Up |
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Go half and half with a player on his buy-in to a game; usually preceded by go; sometimes followed by up. When the player quits, he splits with the person with whom he went cow. Sometimes the house goes cow with a player to enable him to get into a larger game than he could otherwise afford, generally with the no altruistic purpose of filling what would otherwise be a shaky game. At some point when the player (the house hopes) gets far enough ahead of the game, the house may split him out, that is, remove half of his chips and put him on his own.
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| Crab |
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Three (the card); so called because a 3 looks like it has pincers.
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| Crabs |
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In hold 'em, 3-3 as one's first two cards.
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| Crack |
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To beat a powerful hand.
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| Cracked |
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Beat, referring to a particular hand.
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| Crank |
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Start a game; usually followed by up.
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| Crazy Pineapple |
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A variant of pineapple in which players do not discard one of their down cards until after the flop, at which point the game proceeds as in ordinary hold 'em.
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| Crier |
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One who complains a lot while playing, usually about his bad luck.
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| Crimp |
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Bend one or more cards in such a way as to force the deck to be cut to the spot desired by a cheat.
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| Cripple |
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In hold 'em, have most of the cards that would make someone else a hand based on the current board, such that you are not likely to get action; usually followed by the deck. For example, you start with pocket aces, and two aces come in the flop. You have crippled the deck, because everyone else is worried about someone having an ace.
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| Crossfire |
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Perform the action of two players who keep raising and re-raising each other, while one player between them keeps having to call further bets to remain in the pot. This can happen in a high-low game in which one player has an excellent high, another thinks he has a lock on low, and a third is trying to make a hand that he thinks will beat one or both of them. While a whipsaw situation may be quite honest, it sometimes also involves collusion between the raisers for the purpose of extracting the maximum from the sandwiched player. To prevent this sort of situation, most card rooms limit the number of raises in any one round in limit games. Comes from the action of two men wielding a whipsaw (a large, two-handled crosscut saw) to cut down a tree.
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| Crossroader |
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1) Thief, particularly one who moves from club to club looking for ways to cheat. 2) Rounder (A professional player who "makes the rounds" of the big poker games in the country.).
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| Cry |
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Complain a lot while playing.
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| Crying Call |
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A call made with little chance of ultimately winning, but marginally better than an immediate fold.
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| Crying Winner |
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One who complains a lot while playing, even, and particularly, while winning, probably to convince others that he's losing when he is in fact doing the opposite. Someone with a reputation as a crying winner usually fools no one, and usually alienates most players, who wouldn't particularly mind his winning if he would only shut up.
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| Cull |
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Perform the cheating move of arranging cards prior to shuffling, in such a way that their order can be set, so that by various methods of slSeven-of-hand the cheat can give himself or his partner winning cards, and, perhaps, slightly worse cards to a mark.
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| Cut |
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Separate the deck into two packets, after the cards have been shuffled, usually by the player to the right of the dealer, in player-dealt games, or by the house dealer in games dealt by a house dealer, after which the former bottom half is placed atop the former top half, and then the cards are dealt.
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| Cut Cards |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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| Cut Checks |
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Divide stacks of chips into equal amounts, often smaller stacks of five. This is the method pit dealers and cage persons count chips for the purpose of paying off a winning bet or changing the chips to cash, or poker dealers use to count a bet or change chips from a small to a larger denomination.
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| Cut for High Card |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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| Cut Out |
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1) Split out. 2) Terminate a partnership.
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| Cut Someone Up |
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1) Participate, by two partners, in a whipsaw situation. 2) Cheat a player, usually by two or more thieves.
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| Cut the Cards |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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| Cut the Deck |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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| Cut the Game Down |
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Reduce the stakes, usually at the request of the players. For example, the players of a short-handed 60-120 hold 'em game may be told by the management that the game would fill up if they played 40-80, so the players may agree to cut the game down.
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| Cut the Pot |
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Take a portion of the pot to cover expenses.
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| Cutoff Seat |
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The position to the right of the button, particularly when the button plays in a given hand.
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| Cutout |
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A card marked by scraping its back or otherwise removing some of the ink.
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| Cutout Work |
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Markings placed on cards by scraping off part of the design on their backs.
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| Cutter |
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The person who cuts the deck.
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| Cutthroat Game |
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A, usually, high-stakes poker game, in which the prime objective of the players is to win money. Also called cutthroat game. The opposite of a social game.
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| Cutthroat Poker Dictionary |
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1) A, usually, high-stakes poker game, in which the prime objective of the players is to win money. Also called cutthroat game. The opposite of a social game. 2) Playing poker primarily for money, as opposed to social reasons.
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| Cutting |
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Performing a cut (of the deck, prior to dealing).
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| Cutting Cards |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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| Cutting the Cards |
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Participate in a quick method of determining the player to first deal when a game starts, or apportion odd chips at the end of a private game. Each player takes a portion of the deck, similar to the way a cutter cuts the deck, and then turns up his section so that its bottom card is exposed; the player who cuts either the highest or, by agreement, the lowest, card wins.
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