Call (poker)

To make the total amount of one's bet equal to the amount of the immediately preceding bet (which will be the largest bet made in that round). All players must eventually call an equal amount for the betting round to end, or else one player must bet an amount that no one calls, thus ending the entire deal and awarding him the pot.

When no one has yet /Opened the betting round, one may /Check, which is equivalent to calling the current bet of zero.

In public card rooms and casinos where verbal declarations in turn (and sometimes even out of turn) are binding, the word "call" is such a declaration. In particular, the practice commonly seen in poker games on television and in moives of saying "I call, and raise $100" is considered a string /Raise and is not allowed in a serious poker game. Saying "I call" commits you to the action of calling, and only calling.