Calling the clock
Also: the clock, clock call
Asking the dealer or floor to put a time limit on an opponent who is taking too long. Once granted, the player gets a fixed countdown - commonly a minute or so - and their hand is dead or checked if they have not acted when it expires.
The clock is the game's defence against the tank being used as a weapon rather than as thought. Any player at the table can ask for it, though in practice the request carries a social cost and the floor may refuse it if the deliberation has been brief.
It matters most at a tournament bubble, where a large stack can slow every decision to burn the blinds of the short stacks waiting to be paid. Deliberately stalling in that position is a form of angle, and the clock is the remedy.
Online the same function is automated and nobody has to ask for it: a fixed time bank runs down, and in events with a shot clock every decision is capped from the start, with time-extension chips for the hands that genuinely need them.
Related terms
Full glossaryFrequently asked questions
Who can call the clock?
Any player at the table may ask the dealer or floor for it, including a player not in the hand. The floor decides whether to grant it and may decline if the deliberation has been short.
What happens when the clock runs out?
If the player has not acted by the end of the countdown, their hand is dead where there is a bet to call, or checked where there is not.
Is calling the clock rude?
It is accepted practice and sometimes necessary, but it carries a social cost at a friendly table. On a tournament bubble, where slow play can be deliberate, it is the correct response rather than a discourtesy.