A combo draw is a poker hand that has a chance to hit both a flush and a straight. These are very powerful hands in all poker games.   A common combo draw would be something like on a board of , giving you 8 outs to a straight (any 3 or 8) plus 9…

The phrase “chip and a chair” originated in 1982, when Jack Straus won the WSOP Main Event after his stack dwindled down to just a single chip. After completing his incredible comeback, Jack coined a phrase that has been a staple in the poker world ever since. Never give up while you still have chips,…

Many players use a card protector to keep their cards safe and protect their hand. This is especially important when playing in the 1 or 9 seat, sitting right next to the dealer. Even great dealers make mistakes, and once your hand hits the muck it’s dead. Protect your cards, it’s the number one rule…

Combos refer to the number of different possible card combinations that make up a starting hand. There are 52 cards in a deck, 13 of each suit, and 4 of each rank. This means there are: 16 possible hand combinations of every unpaired hand. 12 hand combinations of each unpaired offsuit hand. 4 hand combinations…

Crossbook or Crossbooking refers to a bet between players in the same tournament or cash game, in which the player who loses owes the winner a percentage of that player’s net winnings (vs. the losing player’s net winnings) in the event. For example, If Doug and Ryan agree to crossbook for 10 percent of the…

Chinese Poker is a poker variant in which players are dealt 13 cards each, and try to arrange those cards into two five-card hands and a three-card hand. Points are awarded based on which player makes the best hands. Traditional Chinese Poker involves all cards being played face down, while Open-Face Chinese Poker has all…

A term mostly used in Limit games, completing is the act of increasing the minimum bet to a full-size bet. For example, a $5/$10 Seven Card Stud game might use a $2 minimum bring in, with the full bet size for the first betting round at $5. If the bring-in player decides to call the…

“Crying Call” is poker lingo for calling a bet in a situation where you’re not confident about having the winning hand, typically on the river. “I made a crying call with my jack-high flush, even though I was pretty sure my opponent had a better flush.”

Cripple can mean: 1. To cripple the deck by having such a strong hand that opponents cannot have any strong hands. For example, if you hold AA on a board of A-A-2, you have the deck ‘”crippled”. 2. When a player loses most of their stack in a tournament, their stack is “crippled”.

Cracking a hand means beating a much better preflop hand, such as winning against pocket aces. For example if you’re dealt 99 and manage to beat a player with AA after the board has been dealt, you’ve “cracked” pocket aces. 

“Cowboys” is slang for a pocket pair of kings (KK) in Texas Hold’em.  Want to learn how to play Cowboys? Check out this guide: How to Play Pocket Kings Like a Pro in Cash Games (Even When an Ace Flops)

When a player is counterfeited it means that they hold a hand that loses value due to the community cards making a better hand. For example, if you hold 98 on a flop of A-9-8, and another A comes on the turn, your hand has been counterfeited, as now any player holding an ace, or…

The position directly counterclockwise of the dealer button is the cutoff (CO). If the dealer folds, the cutoff becomes the de facto button and is last to act throughout the rest of the hand. 

A cooler refers to a hand where a player holds a very strong hand, but loses to an even stronger hand and often loses the maximum amount of chips.  Example: “Jason made a full house With AA on AK772, but lost to Gary who had 77 for quads! What a cooler!”

A connector, or connected starting hand, is a hand that contains two cards of consecutive values, either suited or unsuited. Hands like AK, JT, 98 and 54 are connectors. Learn how to play suited connectors here: Suited Connectors: 5 Strategic Mistakes Poker Players Should Avoid

In Hold’em and Omaha, community cards, are the cards dealt on the table that are used by all players. Also known as the flop, turn, and river, or the board.