Gambling Terminology

Action
The amount of money wagered. In poker, the placing of money into the pot.

Active player
One who is still in the pot.

Basic strategy
In blackjack, the set of plays that you should make to maximize your advantage.

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.

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.

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 shark
A person who is an expert at cards.

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.

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.

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 card
A card of different color that is used to cut a deck of cards.

Die
Singular for dice, a cube with numbers 1-6 on each side.

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

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.

Green
The most common color used for $25 chips.

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.

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.

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.

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 unbusted 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 nonwinning 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 paylines, 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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

Straight keno
The basic keno game, played by marking individual numbers on a keno ticket.

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.

Wild card
A joker or other card that can be used as any other