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Call (a Bet)
To 'call' (or 'make the call', 'call down' or 'look him up') a bet in poker is to match a players bet and so stay in the hand. In poker, there are four different actions that you can undertake when the action gets round to you. The idea of the game is to either bet enough to 'force' other players to fold their hand, leaving you alone to take down the pot.
In terms of the four actions, you can fold (through your cards away putting you out of contention of winning the pot), call (match the highest bet made to stay in the hand), raise (increase the bet) or re-raise (raise the pot after the pot has already been raised).
As previously mentioned, the only way you can win a pot in poker is to make everyone else fold through making bets or you can have the best hand at showdown. To stay in the hand, you will need to judge the strength of your hand, particularly when you come up against a bet. If you feel that you still have the best hand or enough outs to warrant the call, then you would 'call the bet'.
To give you an example, lets assume you are in a no-limit Holdem game and third to act. You hold Big Slick and with no raises pre-flop, the board reads A-3-7. Player one checks (makes no bet). Player 2 then puts in a bet of $30 and with the blinds, there is now $35 in the pot. You now have to make the decision as to whether to continue in the hand or fold and leave the game. You would need to call the $30 to stay in (match the bet) or might want to re-raise. If you called, you would have been raise to have 'made the call'.
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