Gambling Terms P to Z

Paint – A face card.

Palette – The tool used to move cards on a Baccarat table.

Pass – To not bet or fold.

Pat – When playing draw poker a hand that doesn’t require any more cards. In blackjack a hand of a minimum of 17 is called a pat hand.

Payline – This the area on a slot machine where symbols must line up to win.

Payoff – Winnings

Payoff Odds – Usually casinos will post odds that indicate how much the casino pays depending on the number of chips bet and the outcome of the game.

Payoff Schedule – Same as payout table.

Payout Percentage – A certain amount of every dollar played in a slot machine that the game is programmed to return to the player. This is 100 percent minus the house advantage.

Payout Table – A posted list of the payouts on a slot machine showing the number of coins played, symbols needed and the amount of coins that will be paid out.

Pigeon – An uneducated or naïve gambler.

Pit – The area of a casino where a number of casino game table are arranged.

Pit Boss – The supervisor of the pit.

Pit Manager – Casino staff who manages all the casino games and enforces casino policy. They handle comps and handle customers trying to get free hotel rooms, food, etc.

Playing the Rush – when a poker player plays more aggressively after winning a large pot or having a short winning streak.

Plug – In card games like blackjack discarded cards are reinserted into the shoe at a given point and are referred to as a plug.

Pocket Cards – Face down player’s cards in a game of poker.

Poker – A card game with many variations all betting in rounds and using similar ranking of hands. They are divided in to three types stud, draw and flop. The variations number into the hundreds.

Pot – the betting money that accumulated in the middle of the table. The winner gets the pot.

Press a Bet – Adding to the winnings of a bet or “letting it ride”

Pressing – See ‘Press a Bet’

Probability – The mathematical calculation of the likelihood that an event will occur.

Progression Betting – A betting system where bets are increased or decreased during a certain number of rounds according to a preset formula.

Progressive – A slot machine in which a portion of each bet accumulates until a certain collection of symbols is displayed and the jackpot is paid out to the winner.

Pull Tab, Pulltab – A lottery type game with a perforated window that opens to reveal symbols and the resulting prize.

Punch Board – A lottery type game where a player punches out a slot on a board to win a prize, usually merchandise.

Punto Banco – Another name for Baccarat. Punto meaning player and Banco meaning bank.

Push – A tie between the dealer and player in casino games like Blackjack. Neither the casino nor player wins.

Quads – Four of a kind.

Qualifier – This is the minimum required hand in poker to be eligible for a portion of the pot.

Quartet - In a quartet pool, an investor must choose the first four place finishers in a given event in the right order.

Rack – the plastic container used to transport and count coins, tokens and chips.

Rake – A percentage or flat fee that the casino charges for every hand of poker and is taken from the pot after each round of betting.

Rank – the value of cards or hand of cards in poker.

Rated – A player who has been determined by the casino to be above average or professional.

RFB – Comps of free room, food and beverages.

Riffling – A form of shuffling. The deck is split in two and the two halves are interleaved by pulling up on the corners and letting the two halves shuffle together.

River – This is the final card dealt in a hand of stud or Hold’em poker. In seven card stud, the final round of betting is called the river.

Round of Play – Consists of single or many wagers during a short betting event. For example all activity between shuffling in a game of blackjack is considered a round of play.

RVP - Recreational Vehicle Parking.

Sawdust Joint – A less luxurious place to gamble.

Sawbuck - Ten dollars.

Scared Money – This is money that you can’t afford to lose.

Session – A certain period of time spent gambling.

Set – To organize your cards in two separate hands during a game of Pai Gow Poker.

Seventh Street – The final round of betting in a game of seven card stud, because the players all have seven cards.

Sharker, Sharper, or Sharp (Cardsharp) - A person who cheats at a casino game..

Shill – A person who is employed by the casino to sit and play at various casino games in order to fills seats or attract players.

Shiner – A small mirror used to see other players or the dealer’s cards.

Shoe – A small box used to store and deal cards. They usually hold 6 or 8 decks of cards.

Short Run – A small series of bets or events

Showdown – After the betting has ended in poker all remaining players must show their hands to determine the winner.

Shuffle Tracking – A strategy used by card counters in blackjack to track certain cards as they are shuffled through a deck.

Shuffle Up – The shuffling of cards by the dealer before an expected shuffle.

Shuffling – The act of mixing cards and preparing to deal and play. There are many different techniques including “riffling”, “boxing” and “plugging”. Often used by casinos to thwart card counters and card trackers.

Shutter – A cover on a bingo card that leaves a number exposed to be marked as they are called.

Silver Mining – Looking for coins left in slot machines.
Single – One bet on one selection.

Singleton – A single card from a poker ranking hand.

Sixth Street – the fourth round of betting in a game of seven card stud. At this point players have six cards.

Skin – One dollar.

Skin Game – Two or more cheater working together in a game of poker.

Skinning the Hand – A way to get rid of extra cards used by cheaters in poker.

Skoon - One dollar.

Slot Club Member – A club in which members play slots. Members use a card that keeps track of their game play and makes them eligible for comps.

Slot Walking – See Silver Mining.

Snake Eyes – A roll of two in craps. A bad roll for the shooter.

Soft Hand – Any hand that has an ace in blackjack.

Spinner – A series of wins or a winning streak.

Spooking - Standing behind the dealer in order to get a look at the dealers hole card and then secretly signal that information to a player.

Spot – In Keno, a number from 1 to 80.

Stack – A pile of chips.

Standing Hand – A hand of 17 or more in blackjack. If the player takes another card, they will likely bust, so players will usually stand.

Steaming – Similar to “tilt” in poker. A player has become frustrated during a game of blackjack and starts betting and playing more aggressively to make up lost money.

Stiff – A hand that will bust if hit once in a game of blackjack. This includes hard hands of twelve to sixteen.

Straight Keno – a basic game of Keno that involves marking numbers on a ticket.

Streak Betting – A system of betting that involves raising or lower bets based on what has occurred in previous rounds.

Stripping – A form of shuffling that reverses the order of cards in a deck.

Stud Poker – A form of poker where some cards are dealt face up and some dealt face down, known as “hole cards”.

Suit – Any one of the four types of cards including clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.

Surrender – To end play in a round of blackjack and giving up half of your bet.

System – A form of betting based on mathematics used to gain an advantage over the casino. Most dictate when bets should be raised or lowered.

TAB - Totalisator Agency Board. An organization used to regulate those who bet “off course” and not physically at the track.

Table Hold – The total money won from players by the casino during an eight hour shift.

Table Stakes – Players in poker are limited to betting and raising according the the amount of money on the table in front of them.
Taking the Odds – A form of betting in which a player bets less than they are likely to receive.

Tapping Out – Loss of all your gambling money and having to quit playing.

Tell Play – Watching the dealer’s body language to determine his hole card. In a game of poker, a tell is something a player does without knowing to indicate what cards they have.

Third Base – The seat farthest to the right of the dealer that receives cards last and is last to play.

Third Street – The first round of betting in a game of seven card stud. Players have three cards.
Three-Card Monte – A game similar to Bragg.

Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same number or face in a game of poker.

Ticket - A card.

Time Cut – A fee charged to players by a casino usually on a 3 minute or hourly basis.

Toke – Short form of token. A tip of money or chips for the dealer from a player. Heavy tokers are known as ‘George’ or ‘Real George’.

Touch Wand – A device used on video keno machines to select numbers.

Tournament – A series of games between a number of players during a certain period of time played until one player remains. The rules by which tournaments operate vary widely

Trips – Three cards all having the same rank.

True Odds – The actual odds of an event occurring accounting for the advantage of the casino. Odds posted in a casino are not usually the true odds.

Underlay – A bad bet. When more money is bet than is justified by the probability of winning.

Unit – The smallest amount of money used to bet without specifying an actual currency amount.

Up Card – In blackjack, the dealer’s initial card that is face up.

Vig. or Vigorish – A casino fee or commission.

VIP - A Very Important Person.

VLT - Video Lottery Terminal

Wager – A bet.

Washing – A form of card shuffling where the cards are spread out face down and mixed around the table in a washing action before a normal shuffle.

Whale – Someone who makes very large bets. They usually bet thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands per round.

White meat - Profit.

Wild Card – A card, usually a joker, which can be used as any other card in the deck.

Wired cards – These are a pair, trips or four of a kind dealt back to back in a hand of poker.