At a glance
- On the HUD
- CC
- Formula
calls of an open / times they faced one raise with no chips in voluntarily- Typical range
4–16%
- Where it shows
- Badge: players still to act after an open, from their seat, and players who called the open.
- Read hint
- Above: Flats a lot: squeeze them.
- Trust it after
- 12 chances. Below that the number is faded; reads need 12 chances and a number at least one standard error outside the typical range.
What it measures
A cold call is entering a raised pot by calling, with no chips of your own in by choice. Someone opens, the action reaches the player, and they call instead of folding or 3-betting. “Cold” means the call is their first voluntary money in the hand.
A posted blind doesn’t count as voluntary, so a big blind or small blind calling an open is a cold call. An overcall is too: if the open already has a caller and the player calls as well, that counts.
Three spots look similar but aren’t cold calls. A player who limped and then calls a raise is making a limp-call. Calling after an open and a 3-bet is a cold call of a 3-bet, a separate stat. And VPIP counts every voluntary call or raise, so it mixes cold calls with opens, limps and 3-bets.
How it’s calculated
A chance is the player’s first action after the open when they face exactly one raise and hadn’t put chips in voluntarily before. It counts if they called.
- CC = calls / times they faced exactly one raise with no chips in voluntarily
What that includes and leaves out:
- Blinds are in. A big blind calling a steal counts here and in BB call vs steal.
- Callers in front don’t matter. Calling behind another caller counts.
- Limpers are out. A limp is voluntary, so their later call is a limp-call.
- If a 3-bet comes before they act, the spot is no longer one raise, so it isn’t a chance.
CC is kept by seat, so you can see how often someone flats from the button, the small blind or the big blind.
Example: Sam faced a single raise with no chips in 60 times and called 9 → 9 / 60 = 15%. Five of those calls came in 12 chances from the big blind (42%); the other four came in 48 chances from other seats (8.3%). His overall number is ordinary, but the seat split shows where his calls come from.
Why it matters
Cold callers shape preflop pots. They turn heads-up pots into multiway ones, they add dead money for anyone behind who wants to squeeze, and since most players 3-bet their best hands, their flatting range is usually capped: plenty of pairs, suited hands and broadways, few aces and kings.
That changes three of your decisions. When you open with a frequent cold caller behind you, expect a call and pick hands that play well against one: strong broadways and pairs over weak offsuit hands. When they flat someone else’s open in front of you, you have a squeeze spot. And after the flop, their capped range lets you keep betting on high cards.
PokerNow games tend to run high here. Flatting with suited hands and small pairs, often out of position and multiway, is a common leak at home-game tables, and a profitable one to attack.
Too low, about right, too high
Too low: under 4%
What it says
The player almost never flats an open. They 3-bet or fold, including from the big blind, which is unusual. That is either a tight, aggressive player with a clear 3-bet-or-fold plan or a Nit who simply folds nearly everything. Check 3-bet to tell them apart: a high 3-bet with a low CC is the aggressive kind. Either way, a big blind who almost never calls is folding many hands that get a good price.
How to exploit it
- When you open in front of them, expect a fold or a 3-bet, not a call. Play hands that can call or 4-bet a 3-bet; skip hands that only want a cheap flop.
- Respect their rare flat. A player who almost never calls may be trapping with a big pair; don’t squeeze light into it.
- Against the Nit version, open wider with them behind, since your open rarely meets resistance.
- Steal more when they’re in the big blind. Without flats, their only answers are fold or 3-bet, and most hands fold.
About right: 4–16%
What it says
A normal flatting range, most of it from the button and the big blind, where calling makes sense. Inside the band the seat split is where the leaks show. A player who flats 20% from the small blind or from early seats, but sits in the middle of the band overall, still makes the costly calls: out of position, often with a player behind who can squeeze.
How to exploit it
Use the seat versions on the badge rather than the total. Squeeze the out-of-position flats: a small blind flatting an open in front of you, or an early seat calling an early open. Check their fold to squeeze before you do it light. After the flop, assume their range holds few big pairs, so keep betting on ace-high and king-high boards that hit your opening range more than their flats. If they flat a lot from the button, open tighter from the cutoff: you’ll play many pots out of position against them.
Too high: over 16%
What it says
They flat a lot of opens with a wide, mostly capped range: small pairs, suited cards, offsuit broadways, sometimes worse. This is a loose, passive player, often a Fish, Station or Whale, who prefers seeing flops to raising or folding. With enough chances the HUD makes the read “Flats a lot: squeeze them.” Check their 3-bet first: if it’s very low, their big pairs may be in the calls too.
How to exploit it
- Squeeze them. When they flat an open in front of you, 3-bet with strong hands and with hands that have blockers and play well, such as suited aces and suited broadways. Make it bigger than a normal 3-bet: more players can call, and there’s more dead money to win.
- Check fold to squeeze: if it’s low, squeeze for value only and size up.
- When they sit behind your open, raise bigger with your value hands and tighten your light opens; you will play many pots against them, often multiway.
- After the flop, value-bet top pair hard and bluff less in multiway pots.
When it’s your own number
Your own high CC is visible to everyone who watches, and the read it creates says players can “squeeze when you flat a raise.” A player who flats a lot and folds to squeezes hands free money to the aggressive players behind them.
Check your number by seat. Flatting from the button and the big blind is normal; flatting from the small blind or from early seats is where it costs. A simple fix: from the small blind, 3-bet or fold; from early seats, flat only hands that can stand a squeeze, such as pairs and strong suited broadways, and fold the rest.
Using it on the HUD
PokerNow HUD Advanced shows CC on two kinds of badges after someone opens: players still to act, where it uses the version from their seat, and players who already called the open, beside fold to squeeze. Gold means above 16%, blue below 4%, and under 12 chances the number is faded; when a seat version is thin the HUD steps back to the overall number and the tooltip says so.
The typical range is one range for every seat, so a big blind’s seat version will often sit above 16% and show gold without meaning much. The big blind is supposed to call a lot; judge it with BB call vs steal instead.
Chances come quickly, because nearly every open a player faces is one. Small numbers still need sample: a 10% CC over 30 chances is ±5.5 points, over 100 it’s ±3. Read it with 3-bet and squeeze.
Questions
What does cold call mean in poker?
A cold call is calling a raise when you have no chips in the pot by choice yet. If someone opens and you call from the button, or from the big blind with only your posted blind in, that’s a cold call. Calling a raise after you limped is not; that’s a limp-call.
What is a good cold call percentage?
The HUD treats 4–16% as typical across all seats. A solid player flats mostly from the button and the big blind and rarely from the small blind or early seats, so the seat split matters more than the total. Over 16% usually means a loose, passive player who is easy to squeeze.
Does the big blind calling a raise count as a cold call?
Yes. A posted blind isn’t voluntary, so a big blind or small blind calling an open counts as a cold call. That’s why a player’s CC from the big blind is much higher than from other seats, and why the big blind’s seat version often shows above the typical range.
What is the difference between cold call and VPIP?
VPIP counts every hand where a player put money in voluntarily: opens, limps, 3-bets and calls. Cold call looks only at one spot, facing a single raise with no chips in, and counts how often they call. Two players with the same VPIP can flat very differently.