|
Action
|
The
amount of money wagered. tn poker,
the placing of money into the pot. |
| Active
player |
One
who is still in the pot. |
| Ante |
In
poker, a small portion of the minimum bet that each player is required
to put into the pot before a new hand starts. |
| Bankroll |
A
player’s total available gambling money. |
| Banker |
In
a card game, dealer or the players who books the action of the other
bettors at the table. |
| Basic
strategy |
In
blackjack, the set of plays that you should make to maximize your
advantage. |
| Bet |
Wager |
| Betting
limits |
In
a table game, the minimum and maximum amounts of money that you
can wager on one bet. you cannot wager less than the minimum or more than the maximum
amount posted. |
| Bingo
marker |
A
crayon or ink dauber that is used to cover the numbers on a bingo
game card. |
| Black |
The
most common color used for $100 chips. |
|
Blind
bet
|
A
bet that certain poker players are required to make because of their
betting positions. |
|
Bluff
|
In
poker, players bluff when raising with a weak hand in hopes of driving
out players with stronger hands. |
|
Board
|
In
poker, the community cards dealt face-up in the center of the table
are referred to as on the “board.” |
|
Boat
|
Another
term for a full house. |
|
Break-even
point
|
The
break-even point is the point at which if you played forever, the
bets you made would approximately equal the payoffs you’d receive. |
|
Bring-in
|
In
seven-card stud, the bring-in is a mandatory bet made by the player
with the lowest upcard in the first round of betting. |
|
Buck
|
A
$100 wager |
|
Bug
|
A
joker |
| Bump
|
To
raise |
|
Burn
card
|
In card games, the card temporarily removed
from play. After a shuffle
and cut, one card is placed on the bottom of the deck or in the
discard tray, which is called burning the card. |
|
Bust
|
In
blackjack, to go over twenty-one. If you bust you lose |
|
Button
|
In
poker, a small plastic disc used as a marker that is moved from
player to player after each hand to designate the dealer position. |
|
Call
|
In
poker, when a player matches the current bet on the table.
In keno and bingo, to
draw the numbers for each game. |
| Caller |
In
a bingo game, the person who is responsible for choosing the game
pattern, drawing each bingo ball and reading each number clearly.
In poker, someone who has called a bet. |
| Card
counting |
Keeping
track of all cards that have been played since the shuffle. |
| Card
sharp |
A
person who is an expert at cards. |
| Carousel |
A
group of slot machines that are positioned in a
ring, enabling a change person to stand in the center. |
| Cashier’s
cage |
The
place in a casino where players may redeem their casino chips for
cash. |
| Casino
advantage |
The
edge that the house has over the players |
| Casino
rate |
A
reduced hotel-room rate that the casinos offer good customers. |
| Catch |
In
keno, to catch a number means that a number you have marked on your
keno ticket has been drawn |
| Check |
In
casino gambling, a check is another term for a chip.
In poker, a player can check in order to stay in the game but
not bet. |
| Chips |
Round
tokens that are used on casino gaming tables in lieu of cash. |
| Chip
tray |
The
tray in front of a dealer that holds that table’s inventory of chips. |
| Cold |
A
player on a losing streak, or a slot machine that isn’t paying out. |
| Color
up |
When
a player leaving a game
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 used by casinos to entice players to gamble.
Typical comps include free room, food and beverage. |
| Copy |
In
pai gow poker, when a player and the banker have the same two-card hand, or the
same five-card hand. The
banker wins all copies. |
| Credit
button |
In
slot machines or video machines, the button that allows players to bank coins
in the form of credits. |
| Croupier |
The
French word for dealer, used in the games of baccarat and roulette. |
| Cut |
When
the dealer divides a deck into two parts and inverts them after
they have been well shuffled. |
| Cut
card |
A
card of different color that is used to cut a deck of cards. |
| Deal |
To
give out the cards during a hand |
| Designated
dealer |
In
poker games like Texas hold’em, the player to the left of the dealer bets first.
In a poker room where each game has a resident dealer, a
different player serves as the designated dealer for each hand. |
| Deuce |
A
two |
| Dice |
Two
identical numbered cubes |
| Die |
Singular
for dice, a cube with numbers 1-6 on each side. |
| Dime
bet |
a $1000 wager |
| Discard
tray |
A
tray on the dealer’s right side that holds all the cards that have
been played or discarded. |
| Dollar
bet |
a $100 wager |
| Double
down |
In
blackjack, it is the players option to double their original bet
in exchange for receiving only one more card. To do this the player turns over their first
two cards and places an equal bet alongside the original bet. |
| Draw |
In
draw poker, the second round of cards that are dealt. |
| Draw
button |
In
video poker this button allows the player to draw up to five new
cards. |
| Drop
box |
On
a gaming table, the box that serves as a repository for cash, markers,
and chips. |
| Edge |
An
advantage over an opponent |
| Even
money |
A
bet that pays you back the same amount that you wagered, plus your
original wager. shown as a ratio of 1:1. |
| Expected
win rate |
A
percentage of the total
amount of money wagered that you can expect to win or lose over
time. |
|
Face
cards
|
The
jack, queen, and king of any suit of cards. |
| Family
pot |
In
poker, when everyone at the table decides to enter a pot |
| Fifth
street |
In
seven-card stud, the third round of betting is called fifth street
because players have five cards. In hold’em , fifth street is the fifth card
on board and the final round of betting. |
| 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 with. |
| Fishing |
A
player who stays in a poker game longer than advisable generally
is fishing for the card or two that will make the hand a winner. |
| Flat
top |
A
slot machine whose jackpot is always a fixed amount,as opposed to
a progressive. |
| Flop |
In
a game of hold ‘em, the three cards dealt face-up in the center
of the table. |
| Flush |
In
poker, a hand consisting of five cards of one suit. |
| Front
money |
Cash
or bank checks deposited with the casino to establish credit for
a player who bets against that money. |
| Fold |
In
poker, when a player declines a bet and drops out of the hand. |
| 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. |
| Four
of a kind |
Four
cards of the same rank, also known as quads. |
| Fourth
street |
In
seven-card stud, the second round of betting is called fourth street
because players have four cards. In hold ‘em, fourth street is the fourth card
on board and the third round of betting. |
|
Full
house
|
In
poker, a hand consisting of a three of a kind and a pair. |
| Green |
The
most common color used for $25 chips. |
| Hand |
Refers
to the cards that you hold, or to everything that happens in a card
game between shuffles of the deck. |
| Hard
hand |
In
blackjack, any hand that does not contain an ace valued at eleven. |
| High
poker |
Standard
poker, as compared to low poker or lowball.
In high poker, high hands win. |
| High
roller |
A
big bettor. |
| Hit |
In
blackjack, to take another card. The card received is also called a hit. |
| Hold
‘em |
A
class of poker games |
| Holding
your own |
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. |
| Hot |
A
player who is on a winning streak, or a slot machine that is paying
out. |
| House
edge |
The
percentage of each bet that you make that the house takes in.
Winning bets are paid off at less than the true odds to generate
income for the house. |
| Inside
bets |
A
roulette bet placed on any number, or small combination of numbers. |
| Inside
straight |
In
poker, four cards of a straight where the straight can only be completed
one way. |
| 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 not. |
| Jackpot |
A
big win on a slot machine. |
| Joker |
The
53rd card in a deck, sometimes used as a wild card. |
| Keno
board |
A
large electronic board that displays the winning keno numbers. |
| Keno
lounge |
The
main area within a casino where keno is played. |
| Keno
runner |
A
casino employee who shuttles your keno bet from wherever you are
to the keno writer, and also delivers payment for winning tickets. |
| Kicker |
In
a draw poker game, an odd high card held that doesn’t contribute
to a straight or a flush, usually an ace or a king. |
| Limit |
In
poker, any game that has a fixed limit on how much you can bet or
raise in each round. |
| Load
up |
To
play the maximum number of coins per spin that a slot machine or
video game will allow. |
| Loose |
Slot
machines are loose when they are paying off and giving the house
only a small advantage over the player. |
| Low
poker |
Also
called lowball, is poker in which the pot is awarded to the hand
with the lowest poker value. |
| Marker |
A
check that can be written at the gaming tables by a player who has
established credit with the casino |
| Mini-baccarat |
The
scaled-down version of baccarat, played with fewer players, dealers,
and formality but following the same rules as baccarat. |
| Natural |
In
blackjack, a natural is a two-card hand of twenty-one points.
In baccarat a natural is a two-card total of eight, or nine. |
| Number
pool |
The
range of numbers from which you select the ones you want to play.
A typical lottery pool ranges from 1 to 60, and the keno
pool is 1 to 80. |
| Nut |
Either
the overhead costs of running a casino, or the fixed amount that
a gambler decides to win in a day. |
| Odds |
Ratio
of probabilities |
|
Open |
In
poker, the player who bets first. |
| Outside
bets |
Roulette
bets located on the outside part of the layout.
They involve betting 12 to 18 numbers at one time. |
| Overlay |
A
good bet where you have an edge over the casino. |
| Pair |
Any
two cards that have the same rank. |
|
Pass |
To
not bet, to fold. |
| Pat |
In
draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands.
In blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points. |
| Pay
cycle |
A
theoretical expression that reflects the number of plays required
for the machine to cycle through all possible winning and nonwinning
combinations. |
| 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 eight paylines, although most have only one. |
| Payoff |
Your
payback; the return you see on a wager. |
| 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 video poker 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 |
The
person who supervises all the games and casino personnel associated
with a pit during a particular work shift. Pit bosses are in place to watch for cheating,
settle disputes, and give comps to big bettors. |
| Pot |
In
a poker game, the amount of money that accumulates in the middle
of the table as each player antes, bets, and raises.
The pot goes to the winner of the hand. |
| ressing |
A
player is pressing the bet when they let winnings ride by wagering
them along with the original bet. |
| Probability |
A
branch of mathematics that measures 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. |
| Progressive |
A
slot machine whose potential jackpot increases with each coin that
is played. When the progressive
jackpot finally hits, the amount resets to the starting number. |
| Push |
A
tie hand between a dealer and a player; no money changes hands.
A push at blackjack occurs when both the player and the dealer
have a unbusted hands with the same total points. |
| Quads |
Four
of a kind. |
| Qualifier |
In
poker, the minimum standard a hand must meet in order for it to
be eligible for part of the pot. |
| Rack |
A
plastic container in which you can transport and count large-denominational
coins, slot machine tokens, and casino plastic chips. |
| Raise |
In
poker, a player raises by matching the previous bet and then betting
more, to increase the stake for remaining players. |
| 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. |
| Rank |
The
worth of a set of cards. |
| Red |
The
most common color used for $5 chips. |
| Red-black
bet |
In
roulette, an outside wager on whether the next spin will be a red
or a black number. This bet is played off at even money. |
| Reel |
A
wheel inside a slot machine window on which the slot machine symbols
are printed. The number
of reels per slot machine may very but are usually three. |
| RFB |
High
rollers are comped with free room, food, and beverage. |
| 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 |
In
poker, an ace-high straight flush; the best possible hand. |
| Session |
A
series of plays at any gambling game. |
| Set |
In
pai gow poker, players set their seven cards into two separate hands
of two and five cards each. |
| Seventh
street |
In
seven-card stud, the fifth and final round of betting is called
seventh street because players have seven cards. |
| Shoe |
A
plastic or wooden box that holds multiple decks of cards for dealing
more than two decks of cards. |
| 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. |
| Shuffle |
Before
each hand the dealer mixes up the order of the cards. |
| Shutter |
A
window covering a number on a reusable bingo card.
The shutter can be pulled down to mark each number as it
is called. |
| Singleton |
In
poker, a card that is the only one of its rank. |
| Sixth
street |
In
seven-card stud, the fourth round of betting is called sixth street
because players have six cards. |
| 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. |
| Stand |
In
blackjack, to stand is to refrain from taking another card. |
| Stiff |
In
blackjack, a hand that is not pat and that may bust if hit once.
Stiffs include hard twelve through sixteen. |
| Steal |
In
poker, to win the pot by bluffing. |
| Straight |
In
poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks. |
| Straight
flush |
In
poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the
same suit. |
| Straight
keno |
The
basic keno game, played by marking individual numbers on a keno
ticket. |
| 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. |
| Third
base |
In
blackjack, the spot nearest the dealer’s right hand, which will
be played last before the dealer’s hand is played. |
| Third
street |
In
seven-card stud, the first round of betting is called third street
because the players have three cards. |
| Three
of a kind |
Three
cards of the same rank. |
| Toke |
A
tip given to the dealer in the form of money or chips. |
| Touch
wand |
A
pointing device used on some video keno machines to select numbers. |
| Trey |
A
three |
| Trips |
In
poker, three of a kind. |
| True
odds |
The
ratio of the number of times one event will occur to the number
of times another event will occur. The odds posted in a casino are usually not
the true odds. |
| Two
pair |
In
poker, a hand consisting of two sets of pairs and a singleton. |
| Underlay |
A
bad bet; an event that has more money bet on its happening than
can be justified by the probability of it happening. |
| Upcard |
In
the blackjack dealer’s hand, the card that is face-up for all the
players to see before they play their hands. |
| Vigorish |
The
fee, or commission taken by the house. |
| VIP |
A
big bettor that is worthy of full complimentary treatment. |
| Way
ticket |
In
keno, a ticket that groups different numbers to create more than
one way to win. |
| White |
The
most common color used for $1 chips. |
| Wild
card |
A
joker or other card that can be used as any other card to complete
your hand. |
