What Is A Cold Call In Poker?
1 minute
Last Updated: December 18, 2023
In poker, a cold call is a term used to describe a situation in which a player calls a raise. A player’s call is described as a cold call only if the player did not previously bet or raised in the same betting round.
Advantages of cold calling in poker:
- If no one behind you calls, you get to play in position unless you are in the blinds
- You leave room for the weak players behind you to join the hand
- You give yourself a chance to see a cheap flop
Disadvantages of cold calling in poker:
- You can’t win the pot preflop
- There is a high chance that you will go multiway to the flop (which decreases your equity in the hand)
- You can get pushed out of the pot if the players behind you make a squeeze bet
- You allow players with high equity hands to continue (hands that they would normally fold if you made a raise)
Cold calling can be a great strategy in some situations, but for the most part, you should avoid cold calling with most of your range and raise with the hands you want to play.
Poker Cold Call Example:
Let’s say that you are playing 6-max No Limit Hold’em, UTG folds, HJ open-raises, CO re-raises, and you make a call on the BTN while SB and BB make a fold.
In this situation, there has been a 2-bet and a 3-bet before you made a call which means that your call will be characterized as a cold call.
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