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Welcome to the GGPoker Poker Glossary — your complete reference for poker terms and concepts. Use the jump links below to navigate, or browse the full list alphabetically.

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C-Bet | California Lowball | Call | Calling Station | Call the Clock | Cap | Card Protector | Card Sharp | Cards Speak | Card Squeeze | Case Card | Cash Game | Cash Out | Cashback | Catch | Center Pot | Chase | Check | Check-Raise | Chinese Zodiac | Chip | Chip Dumping | Chip Leader | Chip Race | Chip Up | Chop | Clicking It Back | Click Raise | Coin Flip | Cold Call | Cold Deck | Collusion | Color Change | Color Up | Combo Draw | Come Hand | Community Card | Community Cards | Connectors | Continuation Bet | Cooler | Coordinated | Counterfeit | Cowboys | Crabs | Crack | Crazy Pineapple | Cripple | Crying Call | Cut | Cut Card | Cutoff

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C-Bet	Also known as a Continuation Bet occurs when the aggressor from the previous betting round bets again in the current betting round.
California Lowball	The most common version of Lowball used in poker. Also called Ace-to-Five, this lowball system ignores straights and flushes, and counts Aces as low. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5. Also see Kansas City Lowball and London Lowball.
Call	A standard betting action where the active player matches the current bet.
Calling Station	A player who calls almost any bet while rarely taking the lead with their own bets or raises. Calling stations are generally profitable to play against with the right strategy. Do not try to bluff them.
Call the Clock	If a player is taking too long to act, another player can ‘Call the Clock’, after which the slow player will have a limited amount of time to make a decision. If the time expires, their slow players hand is declared dead. Whether at a cash game or in a tournament calling the clock is governed by the house rules.
Cap	A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round, typically three or four in games that have a cap. The cap is generally removed if there are only two players remaining in the hand.
Card Protector	An object, such as a specialty chip or lucky charm, placed on top of a player’s hole cards to prevent them from being accidentally mucked or exposed by the dealer. Most poker rooms have rules on size and shape for what can be used as a card protector.
Card Sharp	A highly skilled card player, often implying an ability to win through cunning, guile, or deception. Also known as a Card Sharp.
Cards Speak	A rule that stipulates that the actual cards in a player’s hand determine the winner of a hand, rather than any verbal declarations made by the players. This means that if a player accidentally misreads their hand or announces an incorrect hand, the actual cards they hold will determine the outcome of the hand, rather than what they said. The “cards speak” rule helps to prevent misunderstandings and disputes at the table, and ensures that the game is played fairly and objectively.
Card Squeeze	A technique where a player slowly bends back the corner of a hole card to reveal its value gradually. The process is drawn out for theatrical effect.
Case Card	The last remaining card of a particular rank in the deck. For example, if there are already three aces on the board, the fourth ace would be the “case ace”.
Cash Game	A type of game in which players buy-in using real money and play with chips representing that value. Unlike tournament play, in a cash game, players can come and go as they please and can buy more chips if they run out or cash out their chips for their real monetary value at any time.
Cash Out	To exchange chips for regular currency when leaving a game, or to withdraw funds from an online poker site.
Cashback	A loyalty reward program where players receive back a portion of the rake they generate, often through a points-based, tiered system. See GGPoker’s Ocean Rewards for GGPoker’s specific program.
Catch	Successfully completing a hand by getting a needed card on a later street. It can also refer to correctly calling a bluff and winning the pot.
Center Pot	Another term for the main pot, it is the primary pot in a hand, contested by all players who remain in it. If a player goes all-in, additional bets from other players are placed in a separate side pot.
Chase	Continuing to draw to a hand, often across multiple betting rounds, despite unfavorable pot odds. Often driven by a reluctance to abandon prior investment in the pot (sunk cost thinking).
Check	To decline to bet when facing no prior action in a betting round, passing the action on to the next player. Check is also an older term for a poker chip.
Check-Raise	Raising a bet after initially checking during a single round of betting.
Chinese Zodiac	A GGPoker-exclusive daily tournament series focused on Asian time zones, played in Chinese yuan (CNY). Each event offers one of twelve zodiac-themed avatars for the winner, with a bonus White Tiger avatar awarded to players who collect all twelve.
Chip	A small disk or token used to represent money in a game of poker.
Chip Dumping	The unethical practice of deliberately losing chips to another player. Usually done as a way to transfer funds between players, this is a form of collusion and will likely lead to the players involved being banned.
Chip Leader	The player with the most chips in play either on a single table in a cash game, or across the entire field in a tournament.
Chip Race	A procedure in tournaments used to eliminate smaller-denomination chips once the blinds increase past their practical value. Players with leftover odd chips that cannot be exchanged evenly receive a card for each chip and compete for the remaining higher-denomination chip. Standard rules cap chip race winnings at one chip per denomination per player. The floor manages the procedure, and no player can be eliminated during a chip race – they receive at least one chip if they had any to begin with.
Chip Up	1) Exchanging smaller-denomination chips for higher-denomination ones to clean up a stack. This happens during tournament breaks when low-value chips are removed from play or when a cash game player is leaving the table to reduce the quantity of chips they have to carry. This definition of Chip Up is also known as Color Up and Color Change. 2) To increase one’s chip stack over time, typically by winning pots.
Chop	To split a pot at the end of a hand due to either a split-pot game, a tie, or player agreement. In a tournament, it can also be used to describe a final-table deal where the remaining funds are split.
Clicking It Back	Making a minimum re-raise. Originally used exclusively online, referring to clicking the online buttons, it is now used in live games.
Click Raise	A minimum allowable raise, made by clicking the appropriate button on an online poker table.
Coin Flip	A situation where two hands have roughly equal equity before all cards are out – typically around 50/50. The most common example is a pocket pair against two overcards, such as JJ versus AK, where each side wins roughly half the time. Calling it a coin flip is a slight simplification, but the term has become standard shorthand for any close equity situation where the outcome is largely determined by luck.
Cold Call	To call any bet and raise(s) made by previous players when you have not yet put any money into the pot. Most often heard preflop when a player calls an opening raise; it can also describe calling a 3-bet, 4-bet, or higher.
Cold Deck	A situation where a player is dealt a very strong hand that loses to an even stronger hand, with no real way to have avoided it (also called a “cooler”). It can also describe a prolonged run of bad cards. The term comes from old cheating practices involving a pre-arranged deck, but today it usually just means bad luck.
Collusion	When two or more players secretly work together against the rest of the table by sharing hole card information, coordinating bets, or soft-playing each other. It’s cheating, and all legitimate poker rooms take it seriously.
Color Change	See Chip Up
Color Up	See Chip Up
Combo Draw	When a player has multiple draws to complete a strong hand, such as having both a straight draw and a flush draw at the same time.
Come Hand	A drawing hand, one that isn’t yet complete but has the potential to become strong with the right cards. The term likely borrows from craps terminology.
Community Card	A card that is placed face-up in the center of the table, which can be used by all players to form their hand. Also known as a Board Card.
Community Cards	Cards dealt face-up in the center of the table and shared by all active players. In Texas Hold’em and Omaha there are five community cards are dealt across three rounds. Players combine their hole cards with the community cards to create the best 5-card hand.
Connectors	Two hole cards in sequence that have the potential to make a straight.
Continuation Bet	See C-Bet
Cooler	A very strong hand which loses to an even stronger hand due to the nature of the cards dealt. It is often considered an unavoidable loss rather than a mistake made by the player.
Coordinated	See Wet Board
Counterfeit	When new community cards don’t improve a player’s hand but let an opponent tie or beat it, usually because the board pairs a card or weakens a two-pair hand’s kicker.
Cowboys	Slang term for Pocket Kings.
Crabs	Slang term for Pocket Threes. Named based on the shape of the number.
Crack	To beat a favored hand, especially a premium one like pocket Aces. Implies the winning hand was an underdog going in..
Crazy Pineapple	A Hold’em variant where players are dealt 3 hole cards and discard one after the flop, unlike standard Pineapple, where the discard happens before the flop. Keeping the extra card through the flop leads to more informed decisions and more action. It is a less common game that is occasionally spread in mixed game formats and home games.
Cripple	In tournaments or in cash games, to drastically reduce an opponent’s chip stack in a single hand, leaving them very short-stacked.
Crying Call	A Call by a player when they do not believe they have the winning hand but feel that they have to make it. Often done in frustration, desperation, or if they are committed to the pot.
Cut	The act of dividing the deck after a shuffle, typically done by the player to the dealer’s right as a final randomization step before the deal. A cut card, a solid-colored card placed at the bottom of the deck, is also used to prevent the bottom card from being visible during play. The cut is a small but procedurally important part of maintaining game integrity.
Cut Card	A distinctive opaque plastic card that is placed on the bottom of the deck to prevent players from seeing the bottom card.
Cutoff	The player to the right of the dealer button. In home games, the player on the button shuffles the cards while the player in the cut-off seat cuts the deck before dealing.

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About the Author: Shawn Altbaum has been writing and editing in the online gaming industry since 2007, reporting live from the WSOP Main Event and conducting interviews with professional players. An active poker player, he combines industry expertise with firsthand knowledge of the games he covers. He currently serves as Global Head of Copywriting at NSUS Group, overseeing brand voice and content strategy across GGPoker.