Call

To call is to match the current bet so you stay in the hand. You don’t raise the price; you just pay it.

When can you call?

Only when someone has bet or raised on the current betting round. If nobody has bet, there’s nothing to call, and your options are to check or bet.

Before the flop, the big blind counts as a bet, so players can call it. Calling the big blind when nobody has raised is called a limp.

How much is a call?

You put in enough to match the biggest bet on this round, minus anything you’ve already put in.

Example: blinds are 1/2 and a player raises to 6.

• A player who hasn’t put anything in calls 6.
• The big blind has already posted 2, so calling costs 4 more.

If you don’t have enough chips to match a bet, you can still call all-in for what you have. Anything extra goes into a side pot that you can’t win.

How to call in a live game

Say “call” clearly, or put the exact amount out in one motion. In most card rooms, pushing out a single chip bigger than the bet without saying anything counts as a call, not a raise.

Should you call?

Compare the price with your chance of winning. If you have to call 50 and the pot will then be 200, you need to win at least 25% of the time. That’s pot odds, the quickest test of whether a call makes sense. Try the pot odds calculator.

Calling too often is one of the most common leaks at low stakes. If a hand isn’t good enough to raise and the price is wrong, folding is fine.