The Poker Player and Their Moves
Poker is a game of actions, each of which is vital to a properly mastered and executed strategy. Most actions, if not all of them can only be performed after the initial forced bet - the most basic actions are the call, the open, the fold and of course, the ever aggressive raise. Whichever action you should, it should be the one that most closely reflects the strategy that you're employing in that particular hand of poker.
Checking is an option only available if nothing has been opened or if you're already matching the bet set before you. This is one of the most passive moves available to a poker player, though it is not without its own merits despite poker's aggressive leanings. There are many ways of signifying that a player checks, though most players prefer a non-verbal method of communication such as by tapping the table with two fingers. This is essentially a bet of zero for that hand. Once a round has been opened up by a bet or a raise, then checking becomes an illegal move.
Calling is a more expensive form of the check and is the main method by which poker players can stay in a hand. Calling simply means that a player matches the amount of chips or money that was bet before their turn. Betting rounds or hands end when players have all put in an equal amount of chips or money into the pot or if only one player remains through a sea of folds. Folding, of course, is the action by which a poker player gives up their chances to win the current round through guile or card power.
Calling has a variety of versions. Overcalling is basically when more than player decides to call a bet. Overcalling also easily applies to poker players who already had a turn at raising or betting. Cold calling is essentially when a player simply meets a raise in their first turn in any betting round. Cold calling is easily considered the most passive of moves and is usually used to sandbag or slow play.
As with many things about poker, declarations whether physical or verbal are binding and are taken seriously. If you say you call, you call - if you say you fold, then you fold. You can't follow up a move with something else just to look cute - take it seriously. Money's on the table, after all.