Gambling Terms A to O

Action - The amount of money bet by a player during a gambling game.

Active Player - One who is still playing.

Add-on – An offer to purchase additional poker chips, often seen in tournaments.

Aggregate Limit – The payout limit of a casino during any single game.
Aggregate Winnings - Total winnings.

All or Nothing – A ticket wins only if all chosen numbers are drawn or no chosen numbers are drawn in a game of Keno.

Ante – In card games like poker this is the required bet to start a hand.

Arm – A craps player who is so good at throwing the dice they can alter the outcome and odds of the game.

Baccarat – A casino game that uses 6 or 8 decks and is a game of pure luck.

Banker – Another word for a dealer. In some gambling games players take turns acting as a dealer or in the dealer’s position.

Bankroll – The total amount of money that a player or casino has on hand to bet with or payoff winning bets.

Barred – Banned. Not allowed to enter the casino.

Bet - Wager.

Betting Limits – The minimum and maximum amount of money that players may wager in a single bet. Sometimes they are extended at players’ requests.

Bingo – A game played in large halls where they buy cards with a 5 x 5 grid of random numbers from 1 to 68 (75 in US and 90 in UK) When numbers are called out you mark the corresponding number on your card until a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line is completed and wins. The winner yells out “Bingo!”. Rules and payouts vary from hall to hall.

Black Book – A list of people banned from entering a casino.

Blind Bet – In poker, a bet before any cards are seen.

Blinds – In Hold’em Poker a bet that a player is forced to make.

Boxing – A single ticket with more than one parlay in horse racing.

Break-Even Point – the point at which the amount you have made in bets equals the amount you have received in pay outs.

Buck - A bet of $100.
<
Bug - A joker.

Bump - Raise.

Burn Cards – A certain number of cards discarded from the top of the deck.

Buy-in – The amount of money required to buy chips to play a casino game: blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, etc.

Call – Matching the current bet in poker.

Camouflage – Activities that a gambler may use to hide their activities from the casino and makes them appear as typical gamblers. They may do this to throw off casino security if they are counting cards or any other number of discouraged casino activities.

Capping – Adding additional chips to a bet after the game or deal has begun.

Card Counting – Often used in blackjack to gain advantage by keeping track of what cards have been discarded and what cards remain in the deck.
Card Sharp – An expert card player.

Carousel – A number of slot machines in standing in a circle with a change person in the middle.

Carpet Joint - A luxurious casino.

Case money – Money needed in an emergency.

Cashier’s Cage – The place to buy casino chips and trade in chips for cash.

Casino Advantage – The advantage the house has over players.

Casino Rate – A lower priced hotel room offered to preferred customers.

Catch – A number drawn that appears on your ticket in Keno.

Chase – An attempt to make up lost money on a previous bet.

Check – Another term for a chip or in poker, the player may check to stay in the game but not bet.

Chemin De Fer – A French game using 6 or 8 cards that requires some skill and is not a pure luck game.

Chips – Small plastic discs that casinos require players to use when betting. They can be purchased at the table or at the cashier’s cage.

Chip Tray – The tray that holds the table’s chips that sits in front of the dealer.

Coat-tail – Making the same bet that someone else is at the moment.

Cold – A slot machine that is not paying out or a person on a cold streak.

Color Up – Exchanging smaller denomination chips for larger ones.

Combination Way Ticket – When playing Keno a player may bet several groups of numbers allowing them to spread the bet over more combinations.

Comps – Free gifts from the casino awarded to regular players and high rollers including hotel rooms, meals, drinks, etc.

Copy – When playing Pai Gow Poker and the banker and a player have the same 3 card hand or 5 card hand. Banker wins.

Cracking The Nut – When gambling making enough money to cover all expenses and includes a net profit.

Craps – A popular dice table game found in most casinos.

Credit Button – On slot machines or video machine this button allow players to bank their coins in the form of credits.

Crossroader – A casino cheater. Originated in the old west when casinos where located at crossroads.

Croupier – A dealer in baccarat and roulette.

Cut – When a player divides the deck in two parts after a shuffle by the dealer and before the game begins. A cut card is used. (see below)

Cut Card – A black card usually black or red used to divide a deck of cards in half.

D'Alenbert System – A system of betting when one unit is added when a bet is lost and one unit is subtracted when a bet is won.

Deal – Giving out cards during a card game like poker.

Deuce – In dice, a two.

Dice – Two identically marked and numbered cubes.

Die – The singular form of dice.

Dime Bet – A wager of $1000.

Discard Tray – A container for cards that have been played or discarded in games like Blackjack and Poker.

Dollar Bet – A bet of $100.

Doubling Down – In Blackjack, an option that lets a player double their wager in exchange for one more card.

Doubling-up – Commonly used in many betting systems. After a loss, the player doubles the size of their bet to win back money and make a profit. Also called the Martingale System.

Down Card – A card sitting face down.

Down to the Felt – Broke, out of money.

Draw – In poker games, it means to take an additional card or cards with the hope of improving your hand.

Drop – Money that has been lost.

Drop Box – At a gaming table the box that holds cash, markers and chips.

Edge – Your advantage over your opponent.

En Prison – A French term used in roulette to indicate the bet left on the table for another spin after an even money bet when the outcome was zero or double zero.

Even Money Bet – A bet where the payout is your wager plus an additional amount the same size as your wager.

Expected Win Rate – When playing slot machines this the total amount of money that you can expect to win over time.

Eye in the Sky – The video surveillance cameras used by casino security.

Face Cards - The Jack, Queen, and King in a suit of cards.

Fifth Street – When playing Seven-Card stud, this is the third round of betting because players have five cards left. In Hold’em poker, this is the fifth card on board and the final round of betting.

Fill – When playing poker this is the card that makes a five card hand like a straight or flush.

Fill up – When playing poker to fill up a full house.

Firing – Betting large amounts of money

First Base – In blackjack this is the player on the far left of the dealer and receives its cards first.

Flat Betting – Consistently betting the same amount.

Flat Top – A slot machine with a fixed jackpot.

Flop – In poker when five community cards are dealt, the first three are dealt face up at once.

Foul – In the game of Pai Gow Poker a hand is foul when the low hand is set higher than the high hand or if the hands have the wrong number of cards. This is a losing hand.

Fourth Street – during a game of Seven card stud poker this is the second round of betting because the players have four cards. In Hold’em poker this is the third round of betting and the fourth card on board.

Front Money – Money deposited with a casino to setup credit for a player who bets against that money.

Grease - A bribe.

Gross Winnings – The total payout including your original bankroll.
Hand – This refers to your cards or a complete round of a card game from shuffle to shuffle.

Hard Count – The counting of hard currency like coins from slot machines done under tight security.

Hard Hand – A hand in blackjack that doesn’t have an Ace.

Hard Way Bet – In craps, betting on the total of the two dice on doubles.

High Poker – High hand wins.

High Roller – A gambler that make large bets.

Hit – Asking for another card in blackjack.

Holding Your Own – Breaking even.

Hole Card – In the game of blackjack this is the face down card of the dealer. In stud and Hold’em, they are the face down cards of the players.

Hot – A player on a winning streak or a slot machine that frequently pays out.

House – A gambling establishment or the operators of a gambling game.

House Edge – The built in advantage of the casino.

Inside Bets – In roulette, a bet placed on a number or set of numbers.

Insurance – A side bet in blackjack that the dealer has blackjack. Offered when the dealer’s up card is an ace. Wins double if the dealer has a double, loses if the dealer doesn’t.

Jackpot – the largest payout of a slot machine.

Jacks or Better – A common video poker game where payout is based on poker hands of a pair of Jacks or higher.

Joker – An additional card in a deck of 52 cards often used as a wild card.

Juice – A house commission.

Kicker – In a game of draw poker, the kicker card is an odd high card that doesn’t make up a ranking poker hand.

Laying the Odds – When betting on sports the odds are so much in favor of the expected winner that winning bets often get paid less than the amount wagered.

Layout – The fabric on a gaming table marked to show you where to place your bets.

Load up – Betting the maximum number of coins in a slot machine.

Long Run – The number of plays required for a ratio of wins to losses to come to a point where they change very little by the effect of the outcomes.

Loose – A slot machine with generous payouts.

Low Poker – A form of poker where the winning hand is the lowest poker hand.

Marker – an IOU to a casino.

Martingale – A betting system based on doubling your bet after every loss.

Match Play – A form of tournament play where two players play a number of gambling games and ends when one gets a number of points.

Mechanic – A dealer who cheats.

Mini-Baccarat – A scaled down version with fewer players and dealers but with the same rules.

Money Put In Action – An amount of money bet time the number of bets. Often used by casinos to determine who is eligible for comps.

Natural – In the game of blackjack, a two card hand totaling twenty one points.

Negative Expectation – The average amount you figure to lose after a certain period of play or after a number of similar plays.

Net Winnings – Your total bankroll minus your original stake.

Non-value Chip – A chip whose value is set by the buy-in amount and number of chips taken. Therefore, a buy in of $500 for 50 chips is a value of $10 per chip.

Number Pool – a range of numbers to select from in a lottery game like keno.

Nut – A fixed amount that a gambler tries to win in a day or the overhead costs of a casino

Odds – The chances of a player winning or losing.

On tilt – A bad reaction to a losing streak resulting in large, wild bets.

Open – In the game of poker the person who bets first, opens.

Outside Bets – In Roulette, bets on the outside area of the table involve 12 or 18 numbers with a single chip.

Overlay – A bet in which the player has an advantage over the casino.