Calling station
Encyclopedia
Calling station is a poker
term used to negatively describe someone who consistently calls bets and rarely (if ever) raises, regardless of the strength of his/her hand. In Texas hold 'em
and other community card poker
games, calling stations are sometimes rewarded for their poor play by lucky cards that come on the board, often encouraging unskilled players to overestimate their skill level. Many calling stations can be found on low stakes tables both on the internet in online poker rooms and in traditional bricks and mortar card rooms.
In games (especially limit games) with many calling stations, an effect called schooling can cause calling stations to accidentally play less incorrectly. For example, it is often incorrect to draw to an inside straight because the probability of making the draw is too low to justify the expense of calling a bet to see the next card. However, the presence of many calling stations can inflate the size of the pot, making it correct, or at least less incorrect, to draw to inside straights and other longshot draws.
In poker tournaments with rebuys, calling stations are common as they will often call bets with marginal hands in order to gain chips as a result of outdrawing their opponents. If they lose the hand, they can simply stake their 'buy-in' again and re-enter the tournament with the designated amount of starting chips. This is even common among well-known and skilled players, with the mindset being that they will either accrue a large amount of chips or there will be a large amount of chips in play at their table after rebuying, and their presence in the tournament is not at risk during the rebuy period.
Correct play against calling stations leads strategy adjustments like normally playing strong hands strongly without deception, while not betting marginal hands.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
term used to negatively describe someone who consistently calls bets and rarely (if ever) raises, regardless of the strength of his/her hand. In Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
and other community card poker
Community card poker
Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards , which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete hand , which are then combined with the community cards to make a complete...
games, calling stations are sometimes rewarded for their poor play by lucky cards that come on the board, often encouraging unskilled players to overestimate their skill level. Many calling stations can be found on low stakes tables both on the internet in online poker rooms and in traditional bricks and mortar card rooms.
In games (especially limit games) with many calling stations, an effect called schooling can cause calling stations to accidentally play less incorrectly. For example, it is often incorrect to draw to an inside straight because the probability of making the draw is too low to justify the expense of calling a bet to see the next card. However, the presence of many calling stations can inflate the size of the pot, making it correct, or at least less incorrect, to draw to inside straights and other longshot draws.
In poker tournaments with rebuys, calling stations are common as they will often call bets with marginal hands in order to gain chips as a result of outdrawing their opponents. If they lose the hand, they can simply stake their 'buy-in' again and re-enter the tournament with the designated amount of starting chips. This is even common among well-known and skilled players, with the mindset being that they will either accrue a large amount of chips or there will be a large amount of chips in play at their table after rebuying, and their presence in the tournament is not at risk during the rebuy period.
Correct play against calling stations leads strategy adjustments like normally playing strong hands strongly without deception, while not betting marginal hands.