| The
gambling dictionary is provided for a better understanding of online
gambling and gambling related terms. Click on a letter below to
find the word you're looking for. Click on the letter to bring you
back to the top. |
| A... |
|
Back to top |
| Action |
| The
amount of money wagered by a player during a playing session. In
poker, the placing of money into the pot. |
| Active |
| One
who is still in the pot. |
| Anchor |
| The
player sitting in the last position on a blackjack table before
the dealer. This is the person who makes the final decision, thereby
anchoring the game. |
| Ante |
| A
term usually used in poker to refer to the first money wagered on
a hand, or the minimum amount that each player is required to put
into the pot before a new hand can begin. |
| Any
Craps |
| A
one-roll dice bet covering the 2, 3, or 12. |
| Any Seven |
| A
one-roll dice bet covering any 7. |
| B... |
|
Back to top |
| Baccarat |
| A
card game where the winning hand totals closest to 9 discounting
all units of 10. |
| Banker |
| In
Pai Gow, the player who books the action of the other bettors at
the table. |
| Bankroll |
| The
total amount of money a player has for a gaming session. |
| Bar
the 12 |
| In
craps, makes the 12 a push on the Don't Pass Bar. |
| Base |
| Area
on the dice table where the majority of bets are made and paid. |
| Base
Dealer |
| Dice
dealer in charge of one of the bases. |
| Basic
Strategy |
| The
mathematically correct way to play blackjack in order to maximize
your advantage. |
| Bet |
| Wager
or gamble |
| Betting
Limits |
| The
minimum and maximum that can be wagered on one bet. |
| Betting
Right |
| Betting
on the Pass Line or with the shooter. |
| Betting
Wrong |
| Betting
on the Don't Pass Line or against the shooter. |
| Big Blind |
| A bet that must be posted by the player two seats to the left of the button. It is equal to the amount of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a 10-20 game, the big blind would be $10. |
| Blackjack |
| A card game
where the players try to beat the dealer by getting closest to 21
without going over. Also known as 21. |
| Blackjack
Hand |
| A hand whose
first two cards total 21. |
| Blind
Bet |
| A bet that
certain poker players are required to make as a result of their
betting position. |
| Bluff |
| In poker, players
bluff when raising a weak hand in the hope of driving out players
with a stronger hand. |
| Board |
| Usually used to refer to the visible cards on the table, e.g., "looking around the board," means looking at the visible cards. In Hold 'em and Omaha, everyone shares the same board. In Stud games, each player has his own board. |
| Box |
| In craps, the
area of the dice table controlled by the boxman, where the center
bets are placed. |
| Boxcars |
| In craps, when
you roll two sixes. |
| Boxman |
| The casino
dealer in charge of the craps table . |
| Bring-in |
| In seven-card
stud poker, this is the mandatory bet made by the player with the
lowest upcard in the first round of betting. |
| Bump |
| To raise |
| Burn
Card |
| Any card placed
in the discard rack without being entered into play. After the deck
is shuffled and cut, one card is burned. |
| Bust |
| To exceed 21
in Blackjack, making it a losing hand. Also known as break. |
| Button |
| A plastic disc used to represent the dealer position, in games where a professional dealer is used, and position remains constant throughout the hand (Hold 'em and Omaha). |
| C... |
|
Back to top |
| Call |
| To match a bet that has been made. |
| Card
Counting |
| A system to
keep track of the percentage of high to low cards since the last
time the deck was shuffled. The system can be used in blackjack
to reduce the house advantage. |
| Caribbean
Stud Poker |
| A five-card
poker game where all players play against the house. |
| Change
Color |
| To exchange
one-color denomination casino chip for another. All denomination
casino chips are different colors. |
| Check |
| To possess the option to bet, but decline. A player cannot check once someone else has bet; at that point, the player must call, raise, or fold. But if no one has yet bet, a player can check, allowing the betting option to pass to the next player. |
| Check-raise |
| To check, indicating weakness, with the intention of raising after someone else bets. Check-raises are allowed in all casino poker games; in some home games, they are frowned upon. |
| Chips |
| Tokens used
at gaming tables in lieu of cash. |
| Cold |
| A player on
a losing streak or a slot machine that does not pay out. |
| Color
Up/Out |
| Exchange smaller
denomination chips for larger denomination ones. |
| Come
Bet |
| A wager placed
on the Come Line in craps. Same rules as the wager on the Pass Line
except it is placed after the point has been established. |
| Come
Line |
| The area on
a craps table where the Come Bets are placed. |
| Come
Out Roll |
| The first roll
of the dice or the first roll after a point has been made in craps.
This roll establishes the point. |
| Community cards |
| Cards that are turned face up in the middle of the table, and which belong to all players still in the hand. Community cards are used in Hold 'em and Omaha. |
| Complete
Hand |
| A poker hand
that is defined by all five cards. That is a straight, flush, straight
flush, or a full house. |
| Craps
Out |
| Rolling a Crap
(2, 3, or 12) on the come-out roll. |
| Craps |
| Dice term for
2, 3, or 12. |
| Credit
Button |
| A button in
video poker that allows the player to bank coins won as credits
and to use the credits to play without depositing more money. |
| Crew |
| Dice/craps
dealers assigned to the game. |
| Croupier |
| The French
word for casino dealers, mainly referring to roulette and baccarat
dealers. |
| Cycle |
| In video poker
it's the statistically predicted average number of hands dealt per
top jackpot, usually a royal flush. |
| Cut |
| The dealer
divides the deck of cards into two parts and then inverts them after
they have been shuffled. |
| Cut
Card |
| A hard plastic
card used to cut the deck or a card of a different color. |
| D... |
|
Back to top |
| Dealer |
| A casino employee
who deals the various games. |
| Dice |
| Two or more
identical numbered cubes |
| Die |
| Singular for
dice, a cube with numbers 1-6 on each side. |
| Discard
Rack |
| Area of the
table where the used cards are placed. |
| Don't
Come Bet |
| A bet placed
on the Don't Come Bar. Same rules as the Don't Pass Line except
it is placed after the Come-Out Roll. |
| Don't
Pass Bet |
| A bet placed
prior to the Come-Out Roll that a seven will be rolled before a
point is repeated. |
| Don't
Pass Line |
| Area of the
table where the Don't Pass bets are placed. Also known as the Back
Line. |
| Double
Down |
| To increase
a wager after the first two cards are drawn, in exchange for receiving
only one more card, by placing an amount equal to the original bet
on the layout. Also known as Double Up. |
| Dozen
Bet |
| A bet on twelve
numbers in roulette, i.e. 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. |
| Draw |
| In draw poker,
the second round of cards that are dealt. |
| Draw
Button |
| Allows video
poker player to draw up to five new cards. |
| Drawing Hand |
| A hand that has the potential to become a strong hand but which without improvement is relatively worthless. The most common types of drawing hands are four card straights and four card flushes. |
| Drop
Box |
| On a gaming
table, the box that serves as a repository for cash, markers, and
chips. |
| E... |
|
Back to top |
| Edge |
| The casino's
advantage over the player in any game. Also known as house edge. |
| Even
Money |
| A bet that
pays you back the same amount you wagered, plus your original wager
- a pay-off of 1-1. |
| Expected
Return |
| In video poker
it's the average amount paid back on a particular play for a particular
bet. |
| Expected
Win Rate |
| A percentage
of the total amount of money wagered that you can expect to win
or lose over time. |
| F... |
|
Back to top |
| Face
Cards |
| The king, queen
or jack of each suite. |
| Fifth Street |
| The fifth community card in Hold 'em or Omaha (in these games, 5th street is more often called "the river."). Also sometimes used to refer to the fifth card received in 7 card stud. |
| First
Base |
| The first seat
nearest the shoe in blackjack. This position is dealt with first. |
| Five
Number Bet |
| A bet only
possible on the double zero roulette games which includes 00,0,1,2,3
and has the highest house edge of 7.89%. |
| Flat
Top |
| A slot machine
whose jackpot is always a fixed amount, as opposed to a progressive
jackpot. |
| Float |
| The table bank. |
| Flop |
| In Hold 'em or Omaha, the first three community cards, turned up all at once. |
| Flush draw |
| To hold four cards of the same suit, for example, 3-4-8-10 of hearts, and thus to be hoping to catch a fifth suited card (in this case another heart) that would give you a flush. |
| Flush
In poker |
| A hand consisting
of five cards of one suit. |
| Fold |
| In poker, when
a player declines a bet and drops out of the hand. |
| Four
Of A Kind |
| Four cards
of the same rank. Also known as quads. |
| Fourth Street |
| The fourth community card in Hold 'em or Omaha (in these games, 4th street is more often called "the turn."). Also sometimes used to refer to the fourth card received in 7 card stud. |
| Full
House |
| In poker, a
hand consisting of a three of a kind and a pair. |
| Full
Pay |
| In video poker
it's usually the best payoff schedule offered for a particular game. |
| H... |
|
Back to top |
| Hand |
| Refers to the
cards that you hold, or to everything that happens in a card game
between shuffles of the deck. |
| Heads-up play |
| When a hand has been reduced to only two players. |
| High-Low poker |
| Any poker game where the highest and lowest hands split the pot. It is possible to have a hand that wins both, for example, A-2-3-4-5 is a straight but is also (in most forms of high-low poker) also considered the lowest possible hand. In some forms of high-low, the lowest possible hand is A-2-3-4-6, and in others (although usually this is true only in low-only games), the lowest possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7 (because this hand does not contain an Ace). |
| Hit |
| To take another
card. The card received is also called a hit. |
| Hole
Card |
| The dealer's
face down card. This card is unseen. |
| Horn
Bet |
| A one-roll
bet that combines the 2, 3, 11 and 12. |
| I... |
|
Back to top |
| Inside
Bet |
| A bet in roulette
on a single number including 0 or 00, or any combination of numbers. |
| Inside Straight draw |
| Four cards that can make a straight by hitting one specific card, somewhere in the middle, such as 4-6-7-8 (where only a Five could give the player a straight). Compare this to an Open-ended straight draw, where cards on either end could complete the hand. |
| Insurance |
| A side bet
in blackjack that's offered when the dealer's upcard is an ace.
If the dealer has a blackjack, the bet is paid 2-1. If the dealer
does not, the insurance bet loses. |
| K... |
|
Back to top |
| Kicker |
| 1) A single card kept along with a pair, in draw, in an attempt to make two pair. For example, someone might keep 3-3-K, drawing two cards, in the hope that he might get either a Three (for trips) or a King (making two pair, Kings-up). |
| 2) The highest single card held by two players in Hold 'em who each hold the same pair. For example, if the board in Hold 'em is A-10-8-5-2, and Player One holds A-J as his hand, and Player Two holds A-Q, each player has a pair of Aces, but Player Two has a better kicker and would win the hand. |
| L... |
|
Back to top |
| Let
It Ride |
| A poker game. |
| Limit Poker |
| The most common variety of poker, where the size of the bets are pre-determined. For example, in a "10-20" game, the bets and raises can be only $10 in the early rounds and $20 in the late rounds. Compare to No-limit poker. |
| Loose/Tight
Slots |
| A loose slot
indicates a machine with a higher payout over a period of time.
Conversely, tight slots have a lower payout over a period of time
and thus have a higher advantage over the player. |
| M... |
|
Back to top |
| Mini-Baccarat |
| A scaled-down
version of baccarat, played with fewer players, dealers, and formality
but following the same rules as baccarat. |
| Miss |
| To hold a drawing hand but not receive the card you needed to improve. For example, someone holding four hearts and whose final card is a spade has "missed his draw." |
| Monkey |
| Colloquial
term for a card with the face value of ten. |
| N... |
|
Back to top |
| Narrowing the Field |
| To bet or raise in the hopes that you will drive out some players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but who might improve if allowed to stay in. |
| Natural
in blackjack |
| An ace and
a ten-value card in the original hand. In Baccarat - an eight or
nine dealt in the first two hands. A natural may also be referred
to as a blackjack. |
| No-Limit poker |
| Considered the most skillful and most dangerous form of poker, where any player can bet all of his chips at any time. |
| Non-negotiable |
| A promotional
chip that can't be exchanged for cash. |
| Nut |
| A fixed amount
that a gambler sets out to win. |
| Nuts, The |
| The best possible hand. This phrase is almost always used in the context of a particular hand (otherwise "the nuts" would just be a term for a royal flush). For example, in Hold 'em, a player holding 8-9 would hold "the nuts" if the flop came 6-7-10. At that moment, the 6-7-8-9-10 straight is the best possible hand. However, if the Turn card were a Jack, and the River a Queen, a player holding A-K would then have the nuts-a 10-J-Q-K-A straight. |
| O... |
|
Back to top |
| Odds |
| Ratio of probabilities
or the amount a bet pays. For example 2-1, 3 -2. |
| Off |
| Bets that are
not working. |
| Omaha |
| Community card poker game with significant similarities to, and equally important differences from, Texas Hold 'em. In Omaha, all players received four cards of their own (rather than two in Hold 'em), but unlike Hold 'em where the players may choose to play zero, one, or two of the cards in their hand, in Omaha a player must use two and exactly two of his cards. Thus in Hold 'em, if the community board showed 7-7-8-8-J, and a player held A-8 as his hand, that player would have a full house (using the Eight from his hand and the two pair on the board). In Omaha, with the same board, a player holding A-8-4-3 would have only 3 Eights, because he would have to use two cards from his own hand. Omaha is frequently played in a high-low version. |
| One-Roll
Bets |
| Wagers that
win or lose depending on the next roll of the dice. |
| Open-ended straight draw |
| Four consecutive cards, such as 5-6-7-8, which allows the player to complete his straight with a card on either end (in this case, a 4 or a 9 would complete the straight). Compare this with an Inside Overcards: Cards that are higher than shown on the board. For example, in Hold 'em, if the flop came 4-6-9, and your hand was K-Q, you would be said to hold two overcards; there is a good chance that someone currently holds a Four, Six, or Nine, giving them a pair, but if the Turn or River brings a King or a Queen, your paired overcard might win the hand for you. |
| Outside
Bets |
| Roulette bets
located on the outside part of the layout. They involve betting
12 to 18 numbers at one time and result in a lower payout. |
| P... |
|
Back to top |
| Pair |
| Any two cards
that have the same rank. Generally, pairs can be split and played
as two hands. |
| Palette |
| The flat paddle
used on the baccarat table to scoop the cards. |
| Pass |
| To not bet,
to fold. |
| Pass
Line |
| The area where
a Pass-Line Bet is placed. Also known as the Front Line. |
| Pass
Line Bet |
| A wager made
prior to the Come-Out roll that a point will repeat. |
| Pat hand |
| A hand that is complete and would not be broken up to try to improve. Straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kind, and straight flushes are all pat hands. |
| 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. |
| Pay
Line |
| 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
Schedule |
| 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.
Also known as the Payout Table. |
| Pit |
| The area inside
a cluster of gaming tables, where the center is restricted to dealers
and other casino personnel. |
| Player |
| A person gambling
at a casino. |
| Point |
| In craps, dice
term for the number rolled on the Come-Out Roll if a 4, 5, 6, 8,
9, or 10 are rolled. The point has to be repeated before a seven
rolls for the Pass Line bets to win. |
| Position |
| Extremely important, often underrated poker concept. In most forms of poker, there is a big advantage to going last. In hold 'em, the player holding the button goes last on all rounds. By being the last to act, you have much more information available to you at the time you must decide whether to check, bet, raise, or fold. |
| 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. |
| Pot-Limit poker |
| Compare to Limit poker and no-limit poker. In pot-limit, a player may bet an amount up to but not greater than the size of the pot at that particular moment. |
| Pot odds |
| Often it is important to evaluate the size of the pot in deciding whether or not to call a bet. If there is a great deal of money in the pot, sometimes even a mediocre hand is worth calling if it has a small chance to improve to the best hand. On the contrary, if the pot is very small, even a fairly good hand may not be worth a call, because the amount one is risk, relative to the amount one stands to gain, is not enough. |
| Press |
| Increasing
a bet by double. |
| Progressive
Slots |
| Slots that
allow you to increase the potential jackpot each time a new coin
is inserted for play. When the progressive jackpot finally hits,
the amount resets to the starting number. |
| Proposition
Bet |
| Dice bets on
number combinations. |
| Punter |
| A casino player. |
| Push |
| A tie or standoff
when the dealer and the player have the same total. No one wins
and no money changes hands. |
| Q... |
|
Back to top |
| 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. |
| R... |
|
Back to top |
| 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. |
| Reels |
| A wheel inside
a slot machine window on which the slot machine symbols are printed.
There are usually three or five per machine. |
| Right
Bettor |
| A person betting
on the Pass Line. |
| Ring
Game |
| A regular poker
game rather than a tournament. Can be referred to as a live game
because actual money is used rather than chips. |
| River |
| In Hold 'em or Omaha, the fifth and final community card. Also sometimes called fifth street. |
| RNG |
| The random
number generator, which is a computer chip inside a slot machine.
It is constantly generating thousands of numbers every second. |
| Rock |
| A player known to be very conservative, who usually bets or raises only when he has a very powerful hand. |
| Royal
Flush |
| In poker, an
ace-high straight flush; the best possible hand. |
| S... |
|
Back to top |
| Seven-Out |
| Rolling a seven
after the point has been established, thus losing the bet. |
| Shoe |
| The box in
which the dealer places the shuffled cards from two or more decks.
Cards are then dealt from the shoe. |
| Shooter |
| The person
rolling the dice. |
| Singleton |
| In poker, a
card that is the only one of its rank. |
| Slot
Schedule |
| The details
usually at the top of a slot machine detailing the type of machine,
denomination, and payout details. |
| Slow-play |
| To act weak when you hold an extremely powerful hand, in the hopes of luring in other players. For example, if in Hold 'em your hand was the 5-6 of clubs, and the flop came 2-3-4 of clubs, you would have an unbeatable hand. But if you bet and raised aggressively right away, everyone else might fold and you would win only a small pot. By merely checking or calling, you might lure other players into thinking their hands had a better chance, and win more money from them. |
| Small Blind |
| A bet that must be posted by the player one seat to the left of the button. It is usually equal to one half of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a 10-20 game, the small blind would be $5. Occasionally, the small blind is some other fraction of the big blind. I have seen 15-30 games where the big blind is $15 and the small blind $10, and also 15-30 where the small blind is $5. |
| SnakeEyes |
| In craps, when
you roll a two. |
| Soft
Hand |
| A hand in blackjack
that contains an ace counted as eleven. |
| Split
Bet |
| A combination
bet across two numbers on the inside of the roulette table. |
| 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 |
| To refrain
from taking another card. |
| Steal |
| In poker, to
win the pot by bluffing. |
| Stickman |
| The dice dealer
who calls the numbers rolled and controls the stick. |
| 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. |
| Stud
Poker |
| A poker game
with no draw. |
| Suits |
| Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. In most forms of poker, suits are unimportant, except for decided who must begin the betting. At the end of a hand, if players hold identical cards, except that the suits are different, they are considered to hold identical hands and split the pot. |
| Surrender |
| In blackjack,
to give up half your wager before the hand is complete, for the
privilege of not playing out a hand, thus saving half the wager.
In roulette, you effectively lose only half on an even-money bet
when the ball lands on 0. |
| T... |
|
Back to top |
| Three
Of A Kind |
| Three cards
of the same rank. |
| Token |
| The casino
coins used to play slot machines. |
| Trips |
| In poker, three
of a kind. |
| Turn |
| In Hold 'em or Omaha, the fourth community card. Also sometimes called fourth street. |
| Two
Pair |
| In poker, a
hand consisting of two sets of pairs and a singleton. |
| U... |
|
Back to top |
| Upcard |
| The dealer´s
exposed card that is face-up for all the players to see before they
play their hands. |
| W... |
|
Back to top |
| Wild Card |
| A joker or other card that can be used as any other card to complete your hand. |
| Whale |
| A high roller. |
| Working |
| Dice term meaning that the bets are in place. |
| World
Bet |
| A one-roll
dice bet on the horn including the seven. |
| Wrong
Bettor |
| A dice
player who bets on the Don't Pass Line. |
|
