Gambling Slang Dictionary for Beginners

Gambling Herald’s Gambling Slang Dictionary aims to manage your complete integration to the gambling world. After improving your gambling knowledge through our online gambling guides, you can move onto learning the gambling lingo.

In this short but very thorough glossary, we aim to fill in all the blanks in your betting terminology understanding. Going through each letter one by one may take a good few minutes. Hence, we’ve attached a table of contents for your ease, to get to where you want just one click away.

A

Action: The total sum wagered by a player throughout a playing session.

Add-on: Buying more chips.

Aggregate Limit: Total payout liability of a casino during a game.

All-in: Moving all the chips into the pot. For instance, in a No Limit game, a player raises his all 1000 chips. Then the other players have to match this number unless they want to fold.

Ante: It is the minimum amount of bet placed by every player to initiate the game.

Arm: It is believed that some keen players can manipulate the outcome of dice rolling. People who have this talent are called as “arms”. The technique requires throwing the dice towards the far end of the fall to get the desired number. It is usually used in Craps.

B

Banker: In card games, which require players to deal cards in turn, the player who deals the cards is called banker.

Barred: A player who has received red card from a casino is barred. Barred players cannot enter specific casinos due to a wrongdoing committed previously.
Beard: The person who wager bets on behalf of another person in order to hide the entity of the actual bettor.

Beef: The dispute between a player and a dealer.

Blind Bet: It is a bet made without checking the cards in a poker game. It resembles the “I’m fleeling lucky” option of Google.

Blinds: A forced bet in Hold’em Poker.

Break-Event Point: This is the point where your bets match the amount of the payoffs that you receive.

Breaking the Bank: Winning a huge amount of money from a casino.

Britbrag: It is a 3-card poker game player against the casino. It is also called  as 3-Card Casino Brag and 3-Card Poker.

Buy-in: Turning cash into chips in order to join a game.

C

Cage: It is the place where you can find the cashier in a casino.

Call: It is the act of matching the current bet.

Camouflage: A professional gambler has to have more than a poker face. Concealing the real intention and mood is essential.

Capping: It is a form of cheating, mainly utilized in roulette. A player puts more chips on to the original pile to increase his earnings.

Card Counting: Blackjack players count cards in order to assess the probability of the next card combinations.

Card Sharp: A gambler who is talented with cards is called card sharp.

Card Washing: Dealer mixes the cards as if he washes them in order to prevent consistencies. Here is a video about how to wash a deck of cards.

Croupier: Dealer.

D

D’Alembert Betting System: It is a betting system in which a player raises the bet one unit if he loses the previous bet. If he wins the previous bet, then he reduces the bet one unit.

Deposit: Depositing money to online casino accounts before wagering money on online casino games.

Deuce: 2 in dice.

Dime Bet: $1K wager.

Double or Nothing: A bet which either doubles the wagered amount or gives nothing.

Doubling Up (Martingale System): A bettor doubles his previous lost bet so as to recover the loss amount.

E

Edge: Advantage over an opponent.

End-of-the-day Betting Effect: Bettors tend to stake higher amounts through the end of their betting sessions in order to recover the money they have already lost.

En Plein: A bet placed on a single number.

En Prison Rule: Some casinos allow players to stake half of their bet if they lose in roulette. If the player loses the bet, another spin is granted to player to recover the lost stake. If the second bet is lost zero as well, then the player loses the entire stake. This is valid only for even-odd bets.

F

Ficheur: In American Roulette, croupiers hand out chips in different colors to each player so that chips won’t be mixed.

Fish: Gambler who loses more than the others.

Flop: In some cards games where five cards are dealt such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, the first three cards are dealt face up. There are called flop.

Fourth Street: In seven card stud poker, players have four cards on the second round of betting. Therefore, the round is called the fourth street.

Fifth Street: In seven card stud poker, players have five cards on the third round. Therefore, this round is called the fifth street.

G

Gambler’s Fallacy: Gamblers usually believe that if something happens to frequently, it will cease to occur in the future and vice versa.

Gambler’s Ruin: Some gamblers raise their bet when they win; however they do not reduce it when they lose. Eventually, they use up all of their bankrolls.

George: We are not talking about the former US President Bush. In a casino, George is the gambler who tips the dealer.

Grease: There is a term to hide every illegal activity in casinos. Grease is bribe which is offered to a dealer in a casino.

H

Hand: The set of cards a player possess during a single round.

Hard Count: It is the act of counting coins in a room protected by security guards and cameras.

Hit: A Blackjack player asks for another card saying hit me.

Honeymoon Period: It is a fact that new casino players tend to win more than they actually can. It is also called Beginner’s Luck. Try and see it for yourself!

Hot: A gambler who is on a winning streak.

I

Inside Bet: It is a bet wagered on any individual number on the roulette table.

Insurance Bet (in Blackjack): When a dealer opens a face up ace, he asks the players if they want to wager insurance bet. It means that players wager a side bet on the dealer’s having a natural blackjack in his hand. For instance, dealer opens a face up ace and a player accepts the insurance bet. So, he bets $10 next to his original $20 bet. If the dealer has an original Blackjack in his hand, the player loses the original bet. However, he recovers $20 from the side bet.

Irregular Playing Patterns: Online casinos usually offer some bonuses which make the online casinos more attractive than the land-based casinos. However, in order to claim these bonuses, players have to play a certain amount of spins in order to obtain the bonuses.

J

Jackpot: A great amount of money gained through playing a slot machine or lottery.

Jacks or Better: In videopoker, players have to have Jacks or higher ranking cards in order to win.

Juice (Vigorish): Commission taken by the casinos.

Junket: VIP Junket Operators prepare package tours to high-roller gamblers. Casinos usually pay the travel costs and accommodation fees of VIP players while forcing them to play at their casinos for a minimum designate time. In Macau, the Junket system is one of the main features of the gambling industry.

K

Kicker: A high ranking card which doesn’t contribute to Flush or Straight in poker.

L

Ladderman: Referee of a baccarat game.

Lay the Odds: Betting on the favorite side.

Layout: The clothing on a gambling table which indicates where to place the wager.

Load Up: Wagering the maximum amount allowed.

Lobby: The main page on an online casino.

Low Roller: A gambler who wagers small bets.

Locals Casino: It is a casino which attracts local people rather tourists.

Low Poker: It is a poker game in which the pot is given to the hand with the lowest poker value.

M

Marker: It is a check written by a player who has credit with the casino.

Maximum Bet: The highest amount of bet that you can wager.

Mechanic: A cheating dealer.

MVG: Most Valued Guest is the VIP member of a casino.

N

Natural: Having a total of 21 in Blackjack and 8 or 9 in Baccarat.

Net Winnings: The Total Winnings – The Loses = Net Winnings

Non-Negotiable Chips: Chips which cannot be exchanged for cash.

Nut: The minimum amount of money that a player expects to earn in a casino.

O

Odds: Probability of winning a bet. A player can calculate his winnings through multiplying the odds with the amount of wager.

Open: A poker player who place wager first.

Outside Bet: Placing the bets outside of the numbers in a roulette game. If you want to learn more about how to play Roulette, you can check our Roulette for Beginners Guide.

Overlay: The odds which favor the player rather than the house.

P

Paint: Ace, Jack, Queen or King.

Pallet: A wooden stick which is used to move cards on the Baccarat table.

Paroli: An effective betting system mainly utilized in Roulette and Baccarat. It is based on increasing the amount of wager after a win thinking that winning streak would continue for a while.

Pass: Folding instead of calling.

Pat: A hand which has the value of at least 17 in Blackjack. It means that this hand does not need any more cards.

Payline: It is the line where certain symbols from each reel must coincide in order to pay off in a slot game. Each slot game has to have at least one payline. However, some slot games have more than 20 paylines such as Mega Fortune Online Slot game which has 25 paylines.

Payoff: Money received as a result of a bet.

Pigeon: A gambler who is doomed to lose due to his lack of intelligence.

Pit: An area which is only available for casino workers.

Pit Manager (Pit Boss): A person who supervises the casino employees.

Plug: A card dealing technique.

Pocket Cards: The cards which are dealt face down in a poker game.

Pot: It is the amount of money accumulates in the middle of the table during a Poker game. The winner of the hand gets the money.

Progressive Jackpot: It is a cumulative jackpot which is offered by some online slot games. The jackpot amount increases slowly each game until somebody wins the jackpot.

Provably Fair: It is an online gambling algorithm which can be analyzed and verified by the service provider. Bitcoin casino operators usually utilize this technique to show their credibility.

Q

Quads: Four of a kind.

Qualifier: Minimum ranking hand which is eligible to get a share from the pot in a poker game.

Queer: Counterfeit money.

R

Racino: A racetrack casino.

Rack: A plastic container in which casino chips, slot machine tokens and coins are carried in a casino.

Rake: It is the amount which is taken by the house as commission after each round during a poker game.

Rapid Roulette: A roulette game without outside bets.

Rating: A player’s potential which is monitored by the casino officials.

Reels: The lines full of symbols on a slot machine.

RFB: It refers to Room, Food, and Beverage which are given to gamblers by casinos as comps. Most casinos give free alcohol and soft beverages within their premises. Some of them offer packages including room, food and beverages in order to attract mainly high-roller players.

River: The final card dealt in a hand in stud poker or Hold’em. In seven card stud, going to the river means staying in the game until the final fifth round of the game.

Royal Flush: It is a hand in poker. It contains ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. It is the best poker hand.

S

Sawdust Joint: It is an American slang term which refers to a non-luxury gambling club.

Sawbuck: Ten dollars.

Scared Money: The amount of money that players do not want to lose.

Session: A player’s playing time.

Seventh Street: The 5^th and the final round of betting in seven-card stud. It is called the seventh street because in this round, players have seven cards.

Shark: A good player who acts like a newbie.

Shill: It is a player who plays for the house spending the casino’s money in order to keep the level of players high so that the game keeps running.

Shiner: It is a tiny mirror through which a cheater can see the face down hole cards and any other unexposed cards.

Shoe: A wooden box which is used for keeping cards before they are dealt. It usually consists of six or eight decks.

Showdown: In the last round of a poker game, the players who remain in the pot have to reveal their hands so that the winner can be determined.

Shuffle Tracking: A card counting strategy used by Blackjack players.

Shutter: It is a window where numbers are exhibited in a bingo game. Whenever a number is called, the sign equivalent of that particular number is crossed on the window.

Silver Mining (Slot Walking): Checking for forgotten coins in slot machines.

Sixth Street: It is the fourth round of betting in seven-card stud. The term derives from the fact that players have six cards in this round.

Skin: A dollar.

Skimming: Transferring money from a casino to a third person in order to evade tax or fund criminal activity.

Stack: A pile of chips.

Spinner: Winning streak.

Spooking: It is the act of telling information to a player regarding the hole cards of the dealer. It is a form of cheating.

Standing Hand: It is a hand in Blackjack which has a card value of 17 or more. It is quite risky to ask for one more card in this situation.

Streaming: In Blackjack, a player starts playing more aggressively after a losing streak.

Suit: This term identifies any of the four card groupings in a deck which consists of spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds.

Surrender: A player loses half of his bet if the ball stops on zero in Roulette. In Blackjack, a player loses half of his bet if he decides not to complete a hand.

System: It is a betting method used by a gambler to gain advantage against the house.

T

Table Hold: It is the money earned by a single table during 8-hour long shift.

Table Stakes: It is the money or chips possessed by a player on the table. This is the limit for the player.

Table Limit: It is the minimum or maximum bet which can be made wagered by a gambler at a gaming table.

Tap Out: Losing all the bankroll while gambling which also means the end of the gambling session for that player.

Tells: Behaviors or actions of a player or a dealer which reveal the cards that they hold.

Third Street: The first round of seven-card stud poker. The name stems from the fact that players possess 3 cards in this round.

Three of a Kind: Having three cards of the same rank.

Time Cut: Money charged from players in a poker room based on the time that they have spent in the room.

Trips: Three cards of the same rank.

Tronc: A box which is used for collecting tips for dealers.

U

Underplay: It is an unfavorable bet. Underplay bets are still attractive despite being less favorable due to the payout that they offer.

Unit: It is the smallest amount of money which is wagered. The wager is made without mentioning the currency since it is specified as one betting unit or one chip.

Up Card: Face up card of the dealer in Blackjack.

V

Vigorish: The commission received by the casino.

Viking Power: It is the equivalent of Caribbean Stud Poker in some European casinos.

VIP: A high roller player.

W

Wager: Bet.

Washing: Dealers rub their hands to show that they do not carry chips.

Web Walet: An online money transfer platform.

Whale: A player who makes humongous wagers. A whale player wagers thousands of dollars per round.

Withdrawal: Withdrawing a specific amount of money from the account.

As you can see, we’ve reached the end of the gambling slang dictionary. There isn’t anymore betting terms for X, Y or Z (at least not yet!). We do hope that this gambling glossary can help you flirt around casinos with a greater understanding of all the complex words. If you’ve enjoyed this guide, please come back to visit our many unique articles at the latest online gambling news.