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Action
|
The amount of money wagered.
In 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 |
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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 un-busted 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 non-winning 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 pay lines, 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 un-busted 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. |
