Active Player - In poker, one who is still in play.
Add-on - In poker, the facility to buy additional chips in
tournaments.
Aggregate Limit - Total payout liability of a casino during any one
game.
Aggregate Winnings - Cumulative or total winnings.
All-in (Also known as "Going All-In") - In card room poker, to call
with (to bet) all your chips. If another player bets more chips than
you have in a No Limit game, you can go All-in and stake your total
stack against an equivalent amount of your opponent's stack.
All or Nothing - In Keno, a ticket that only pays if either all
picked numbers are drawn or none of the picked numbers are drawn.
Ante - In card games, a bet required to begin a hand. The initial
compulsory bet before you receive your cards in Casino Stud Poker.
Baccarat - Also called Punto Banco and Chemin De Fer (similar to
Baccarat but requires skill). A table game using 6 or 8 decks of
cards which does not require skill. See Baccarat on this site.
Banker - In card games, the dealer. In some card games, each player
becomes a banker/dealer in turn.
Bankroll - Also known as 'roll' or 'wad' (colloquial). It pertains
to the total money that either the player or the casino has on hand
to back their wagering activities. A player's bankroll can be
classified as existing on several different levels. At the highest
level it pertains to all money specifically set aside to support all
gambling activities. A subset of this bankroll is the players
traveling bankroll, or the amount of money carried along to support
gambling on a particular trip. The traveling bankroll can be further
divided into a specific lesser amounts for each day of the trip, or
into even smaller amounts called table sitting or session playing
stakes which predetermine how much will be risked during any given
session or table sitting. These different types of bankrolls often
figure into the overall money management strategy the player uses to
keep control over their gambling cash activity.
Barred - Same as Banned. Not allowed to enter the casino premises
permanently.
Beginners Luck - In gambling, new players often are on a winning
streak when they start gambling.
Bet - Wager.
Betting Limits - In a table game, the minimum and maximum amounts of
money that a player can wager on one bet. You cannot wager less than
the minimum or more than the maximum amount posted.
Black Book - The list of undesirable people who are forbidden to
enter any casino in Nevada.
Blind Bet - In poker, a bet posted without the player sees any of
his/her cards.
Blinds - A forced bet in Hold'em Poker.
Brick - A card that appears not to help a player's poker hand. A
'blank' in 7-card stud poker.
Buck - A $100 wager.
Bump - To raise.
Burn Cards - Remove cards from the top of the deck, not to be dealt,
and place them in the discard tray after a shuffle and cut.
Buy in, Buy-in - Converting cash into chips. The amount of cash used
to purchase casino chips before entering a table game: blackjack,
poker, craps, roulette, etc.
Call - In Poker, to call is to match the current bet.
Capping - Referred to capping of bets. Placing extra chips on top of
initial bet after the deal has begun. It is a serious form of
cheating by a player.
Card Washing - A card shuffling technique where the dealer spreads
the cards on the table face down and then proceeds to mix them
around with his hands flat in a face-washing-like action before
gathering them up and performing a more normal shuffle. Card washing
is intended to remove any consistencies in the sequencing among the
cards that new decks of cards have, or that were produced in play
prior to the present shuffle. In standard table poker the cards are
washed after every hand before they are subjected to a more
conventional shuffling. In blackjack and baccarat, the the cards are
washed when old decks are taken out of play and fresh new decks
brought in to replace them.
Caribbean Stud Poker - Also called 'Casino Stud Poker', A casino
table game based on the standard 5-card stud poker game played on a
Blackjack-type table. Some casinos also offer a progressive jackpot
paid to high ranking hands. This table game is played with one deck
of cards.
Cashier’s Cage - The casino cash desk for cashing in the chips.
Casino Advantage - The edge or advantage that the House (casino) has over the
players.
Catch - In keno, to catch a number means that a number you have
marked on your keno ticket has been drawn.
Cheque - A cheque is the proper name for a casino chip. A cheque has the value placed on it. A chip has NO value shown. example: a Roulette chip
Chemin De Fer - (French) A table game using 6 or 8 decks of cards,
similar to Baccarat but requires skill.
Chip, Chips - Also see Cheque. Casinos require that you use
chips for betting. They are purchased at the gaming tables and
exchanged at the cashier's booth or cage. The proper term 'Chip' applies to a chip that has NO value shown on it as a Roulette chip does.
Chip Tray - The tray in front of a dealer that holds that table’s
inventory of chips.
Color Up - When a player exchanges smaller denomination chips for
larger denomination chips.
Combination Way Ticket - In keno, a ticket in which groups of
numbers are bet several different ways, allowing the player to
spread money over more combinations.
Comps - Complimentary gifts given by the casino to entice players to
gamble. Typical comps include free hotel room, meals and beverages.
Croupier - French word for Dealer, used in the games of baccarat and
roulette.
Cut - In card games following a shuffle before the start of a new
round of play, when the dealer or player divides a deck into two
parts and inverts them, using a cut card (see below).
Cut Card - A faceless card of different color, usually red or black,
that is used to cut a deck of cards.
Deuce - A two in dice.
Die - Singular for dice, a cube with numbers on each side, 1 to 6.
Discard Tray - A tray on the dealer’s right side that holds all the
cards that have been played or discarded in card games like
Baccarat, Blackjack and Poker.
Dolly - Unlike the French roulette where the croupier simply points
with the stick on the winning number on the table, in the American
roulette the croupier uses a marker made of wood or plastic and
places it on the table in the square of the winning number. The
score marker is called 'dolly' because it has the outline that looks
like a doll. Its functionality is primarily to help the players know
the winning number until all winnings are paid.
Doubling Down - A betting option in blackjack where the player's
opening two-card hand is turned face up and player's original wager
is doubled. The player is then dealt one additional card only, to
complete the hand. In the event that the player beats the dealer's
hand or the dealer busts, then the player wins twice the amount of
their original wager. If the player loses, then the player loses
twice the amount of their original wager.
Doubling-up - The basis of some widely used systems. After a loss
the player doubles the size of his previous bet hoping to win back
the money lost and make a profit. Also known as the Martingale
System.
Down Card - A face down card.
Drop Box - On a gaming table, the box that serves as a repository
for cash, markers, and chips.
En Prison - (French word) The stake left on the table in roulette
for another spin after backing an 'Even-money' bet and the outcome
was zero or double zero. It is like a bonus, offered in some
casinos.
Even Money Bet - A bet with odds of 1:1. A bet that pays you back
the same amount that you wagered, plus your original wager.
Eye in the Sky - Slang for video surveillance cameras used by
casinos, usually placed on the ceiling above the gaming area.
Face Cards - The Jack, Queen, and King of any suit of cards.
Fill - In poker, to draw a card that makes a five-card hand
(straight, flush, full house, straight flush).
First Base - At the blackjack table, the position on the far left of
the dealer is considered to be first base and is the first position
dealt to.
Flat Bet - is the wager in craps that pays even money($5 bet will pay exactly $5)and it is made only on the pass line, don't pass, come and don't come bets. You can only take the ODDS bet if you first make a flat bet.
Flat Betting - A way of betting where the same amount is bet on each
wager. For example, if a player always bets $5 on each hand or spin
and never raised or lowered their bet, they would be said to be flat
betting.
Flea - An annoying person who wants something for nothing. One who
expects to be comped for a small wager.
Flop - In poker games, such as hold'em and omaha, where five
community cards are dealt. The first three of these cards are dealt
all at once, face up, and are called the flop. Games with a flop can
be called flop games.
Foul - In Pai-Gow Poker, a hand is fouled when the two-card low hand
is set higher than the five-card high hand, or when the hands are
set with the wrong number of cards. A fouled hand is a losing hand.
Hand - Refers to the cards that you hold, or to everything that
happens in a card game between shuffles of the deck.
High Roller - A player that wagers big bets.
Hit - In blackjack, to take another card. The card received is also
called a hit.
Holding Your Own - Neither winning nor losing, just breaking even.
Hole Card - In blackjack, the facedown card that the dealer gets. In
stud and hold‘em poker, the facedown cards dealt to each player.
House - A casino or gambling center. Also the operators of a
gambling game.
House Edge - The casino in-built advantage on a bet, usually gained by paying
less than the true odds.
Inside Bets - A roulette bet placed on any number, or small
combination of numbers.
Insurance - In blackjack, a side bet that the dealer has a natural.
Insurance is offered only when the dealers up card is an ace. The
insurance bet wins double if the dealer has a natural, but loses if
the dealer does
Jacks or Better - In videopoker games the payout starts at a certain
level ranking of hands. When playing Jacks or Better, if you get a
pair of Jacks or a higher ranking, you win. You don't win anything
on a pair of tens or lower.
Juice - Vig. or Vigorish. Commission taken by the house.
Laying the Odds - There are two fundamental forms of wagering,
'taking the odds' and 'laying the odds'. In most forms of sports
betting, some odds are so high in favour of the likely winner that
winning wagers get paid an amount less than the amount wagered by
some percentage, and this is what is meant by 'laying the odds'. In
most casino games the player is 'taking the odds' by wagering an
amount that is less than they will receive if they win, that is; if
you wager $1 you would win more than $1.
Layout - Cloth on a gaming table. Markings tell you where you can
place your bets.
Long Run - The number of rounds of play, hands or spins, needed for
the ratio of wins to losses to reach a point where they are changed
very little by the cumulative effect of outcomes.
Loose - Referred to slot machines that have a generous payout.
Marker - A check that can be written at the gaming tables by
a player who has established credit with the casino. An IOU.
Martingale - Betting system based on doubling-up after each loss.
Maximum Bet - The highest bet you are allowed to make. Also in slot
machines, a button that lets you bet the maximum coin size and the
maximum number of coins taking into account the total number of
paylines.
Natural - In blackjack, a natural is a two-card hand of twenty-one
points. Only made with aa Ace and a Ten (face) card.
In baccarat a natural is a two-card total of eight or nine.
In craps a natural is a come-out roll of either a 7 or 11 (natural winner for the pass line) or a 2, 3,12 (natural loser for the pass line)
Negative Expectation - The long-run disadvantage or average loss of a given
situation without reference to any particular outcome; that is, what
you figure to lose on average after a considerable time of play, or
after a large number of repetitions of the same situation.
Net Winnings - Total payout less your stake.
Non-value Chip - A gaming chip which the dollar value is determined
by the amount of the buy-in and the amount of chips taken (example:
in roulette). Thus, a buy-in of $300.00 for 60 chips equals a value
of $5.00 per chip. In roulette, this is uaually established by the
"Table Minimum Bet" amount displayed on the table.
Outside Bets - Roulette bets located on the outside part of the
layout. They involve betting 12 or 18 numbers with one chip.
Pass - In card games, to not bet, to fold.
Pat - In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more cards. In
blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points.
Payline - The line on a slot machine window on which the symbols
from each reel must line up. Slot machines can have as many as 20
paylines, although most have only one.
Payoff - The return or payback the player receives for their
wager.
Payoff Odds - The form of odds that are conventionally posted in the
casinos. Payoff odds specify how much a winning wager will be paid
for each wager or chip that was bet. The casinos post the 'payoff
odds' in terms of the number of chips won relative to the number of
chips bet.
Payout - The amount of money paid out to you as a win.
Payout Percentage - Also referred to as the payback percentage, the
percent of each dollar played in a video or slot machine that the
machine is programmed to return to the player. Payback percentage is
100 percent minus the house edge.
Payout Table - A posting somewhere on the front of a slot or
videopoker machine that tells you what each winning hand will pay
for the number of coins or credits played.
Pit - An area of a casino in which a group of table games are
arranged, where the center area is restricted to dealers and other
casino personnel.
Pit Boss - A supervisor who oversees a gaming area. Usually
supervises more than one table at the same time.
Pit Manager - A pit manager is in charge of all the table games,
enforcing casino policy. He deals with any problems that may arise
during the shift where a crucial decision must be made that may lead
to a customer being dissatisfied or angry. Also, he handles Comps
and dodges undeserving customers who are trying to get free Room,
Food, Beverage (free RFB).
Point (The Point) - The number that is established on the come-out
roll. Only place numbers in a normal craps game (4,5,6,8,9,10) can become the point. The
shooter will attempt to repeat throwing the point before throwing a
7 in order to win that round of betting.
Press a Bet - Adding the winnings to the current bet, normally to double the bet.
Probability - A mathematical calculation that establishes the
likelihood that an event will occur. Probabilities are expressed as
numbers between 0 and 1. The probability of an impossible event is
0, while an event that is certain to occur has a probability of 1.
Progression Betting - A system of betting applied to many games
where bet-size is systematically changed, up or down, across as
series of rounds of play according to some predetermined formula.
Punto Banco - European name for Baccarat; Punto is for Player and
Banco is for Bank
Push - A tie hand between a dealer and a player. An outcome of play
where neither the player nor the casino wins.
Quads - In poker, four of a kind.
Qualifier - In poker, the minimum ranking a hand must have in order
for it to be eligible to take part of the pot.
Racinos - Racetrack casinos.
Rake - The money that the casino charges for each hand of poker. It
is usually a percentage (5-10%) or flat fee that is taken from the
pot after each round of betting.
River - In poker, the final card dealt in a hand of stud or hold‘em.
In seven-card stud, staying in until the fifth and final round of
betting is called going to the river.
Royal Flush (Also, Royal Straight Flush or Royal) - An Ace-high
straight flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten, all of the same
suit); the best possible poker hand.
Session - A period of play or a table sitting at any gambling game.
Shoe - Device used for holding and dispensing
playing cards to be dealt. Shoe games are typically composed of six
or eight decks of cards.
Short Run - A short series of wagers or game events. How long is short?
Showdown - In poker, after the last betting round, the players who
remain in the pot must show their hands in the showdown to determine
the winner.
Snake Eyes - When you roll a two in craps, it is called 'Snake Eyes'
- eyes because they look like a pair of snake eyes.
Soft Hand - In blackjack, any hand that contains an ace counted as
eleven is called a soft hand.
Spot - Any number from 1 to 80 that a player selects on a keno
ticket. It also refers to the number of numbers that are marked on a
ticket.
Stack - A stack of chips, usually 20 chips in a column commonly used
in Roulette or the bankroll at a craps table.
Stiff (A Stiff Hand) - In blackjack, a hand that is not pat and that
may bust if hit once. Stiffs include hard twelve through sixteen.
Straight Keno - The basic keno game, played by marking individual
numbers on a keno ticket.
Streak Betting - Also known as 'Progressive Betting'. A system of
raising or lowering the size of one's wager based on what happened
on the previous round or rounds. There are basically two kinds of
streak betting systems; negative and positive. In a positive streak
betting or positive progression betting system the size of the
player's wager is raised on the next round after a winning round. In
a negative streak betting or negative progression betting system you
do exactly the opposite by increasing the wager size on each
subsequent loss. There is an almost endless number of variations of
both negative and positive streak betting progressions, each one
distinguished by when the progression is invoked, how much the
wagers are raised or lowered, and when the progression is
terminated.
Surrender - In blackjack, to give up half your bet for the privilege
of not playing out a hand. In roulette, you effectively lose only
half on an even-money bet when the ball lands on 0.
Table Stakes - In poker, stakes in which the betting and raising is
limited to the amount of money a player has on the table in front of
him.
Taking the Odds - There are two fundamental forms of wagering,
'taking the odds' and 'laying the odds'. In most casino games the
player is 'taking the odds' by wagering an amount that is less than
they will receive if they win, that is; if you wager $1 you would
win more than $1. In most forms of sports betting, some odds are so
high in favour of the likely winner that winning wagers get paid an
amount less than the amount wagered by some percentage, and this is
what is meant by 'laying the odds'.
Third Base - In blackjack, the spot nearest the dealer’s right hand,
which will be played last before the dealer’s hand is played.
Three of a Kind - In poker, three cards of the same rank.
Toke - Toke is short for 'token'. A tip given to the dealer in the
form of money or chips. Unlike tokens, tokes are more specifically
the tips that the game dealers receive from the players. A player
who is known to toke the dealer heavily is sometimes referred to as
a 'George'.
Token - The casino own coins used to play slot machines instead of
real coins.
Touch Wand - A pointing device used on some video keno machines to
select numbers.
Trips - Three cards of the same rank. Three of a kind.
True Odds - The exact probability of something to happen. The payout odds
posted in a casino are usually not the true odds.
Unit (Betting Units) - Technical term used to express the smallest
amount of money used in wagering without specifying the actual
Dollar or other currency amount. The player's actual 'chip' bet may
be $1, $5, $25, $100 or other value. However, for purposes of
simplifying gambling related calculations, the wager is specified as
simply one betting unit or one chip.
Up Card (Upcard) - The face up card of the dealer's initial hand in
blackjack. Standard casino rules require the dealers to deal their
own opening hands with one card face-up and one card face-down. The
card that is dealt face-up is the dealers 'up card'. The card the is
dealt face-down is said to be the dealers 'hole card'.
Vig., Vigorish - The casino edge, fee or commission taken by the
house.
Wager - Any bet made with real money. It is what gambling is all about. Making wagers.
Whale - A player who makes extremely large wagers. Unlike high
rollers who consistently wager $100 or more per round, whales are
typically those who make wagers amounting to thousands if not tens
or hundreds of thousands of dollars per round.