Casino Terminology for Beginners

It would be hard for a beginner to be a super gambler without the knowledge of the casino terminology. This text makes a casino dictionary that covers some of the basic terminologies beginners need to know before mastering the art of gambling. The casino dictionary lists the casino terminology in alphabetical order as follows:

A

Active Player
The player in the pot.

All In
Players go All-In when they bet or call all their remaining chips.

Ante
This is the portion of the minimum wager that every player should put in the pot before starting a new hand.

Affiliate
This is the business entity or person who earns a commission from promoting a casino.

Advantage Player
This is a player who looks for various ways to get money from casinos.

B

Baccarat
This is a table game that doesn’t require skills to play and uses 6 or 8 card decks.

Bankroll
The total amount of money a player has for gambling. Find more about bankroll management here.

Bingo Marker
A dauber used to cover numbers on the bingo game cards.

Blind Bet
This is a bet that some poker players need to make due to their betting positions.

Bluff
This is the act of a weakly handed player raising while hoping to drive out strong handed players.

Boxing
This refers to one ticket with more than one parlay in horse racing.

Break-Even Point
This is the point where your entire bets would be approximately equal to the payoffs you would receive.

Bring-In
This is a compulsory bet that has to be made by any player with least up card during the first betting round.

Bump
This means to raise.

Burn Card
This is the card that is usually temporarily removed from play in card games.

Bust
In Blackjack games, This is when you go over twenty-one in a blackjack game; you lose if you bust.

Button
This is the marker disc used in poker. It is moved from a player to another after every hand to decide the dealer position.

C

Call
This means drawing the numbers for every game in bingo and keno while it in poker, it is when a player equals the present bet on the table.

Caller
This is the person with the called bet in poker while it is the person responsible for
deciding the game pattern in bingo games.

Card Counting
This to keep track of all the cards played since the shuffle.

Chase
This is the act of placing another bet in order to try to recover losses from a previous bet lost.

Check
This is a synonym to chip. Chips are round tokens used on the casino gambling table in lieu of cash.

Cold
This is either a slot machine that does not pay out or a player on the losing streak.

Color Up
This happens when a player leaving the game trades chips with smaller denomination for those with a larger denomination.

Craps
This is the casino dice table-game – it has its own rules.

Credit Button
This is the button that enables the player to bank coins in the slot or video machines. The coins are banked in the form of credits.

Cut
This is dividing the deck into two parts. The dealer does this and inverts the cuts after shuffling.

D

Deal
This is the process of issuing out cards during the hand.

Designated Dealer
This is the player on the left side of the dealer and is usually required to bet first.

Deuce
A two in card or dice games.

Draw
This is the second round of the dealt cards in draw poker.

E

Edge
A casino term used to refer to a player who has an advantage over their opponent.

Even Money
This is the bet that pays back an equal amount you wagered in addition to your initial wager.

Expected Win Rate
This is the percentage of all the money wagered that you expect to lose or win over time.

F

Face Cards
A casino term for the King, Queen and Jack of any suit of the cards.

Family Pot
This is when everyone enters the pot at the table in poker.

Fill
This is drawing a card that makes the five-card hand in poker.

First Base
This is the first position that is dealt with at the blackjack table; it is on the far left side of the dealer.

Fishing
Staying longer than required in a poker game in order to fish for one or two of the cards that can make a winning hand.

Flat Betting
A form of betting in which the same amount is placed on every wager.

Flat Top
This is a slot machine with a fixed amount of jackpot.

Flop
These are the three cards that are dealt face-up at the centre of the poker table in Hold’Em.

Flush
This is the hand with five cards of a single suit in poker.

Fold
When a player refuses a bet in poker and abandons the hand.

G

Grind
Playing small stakes with the aim of winning small stakes.

H

Hand
The cards that a player holds. Also refers to whatever happens in a card game in between deck shuffles.

Hole Card
It is the facedown card given to the dealer in blackjack while it is the facedown cards each player is dealt in stud or Hold’Em Poker.

I

Inside Straight
Refers to the four cards occurring in a sequence where the straight is completed in only one way in poker games.

Insurance
The side bet offered to the dealer when they have a neutral in blackjack.

J

Jacks Or Better
When playing the Jacks or Better in video poker games, you win when you find a pair of either the Jacks or a bigger ranking. You win nothing on the pair of tens or below.

K

Kicker
This is an odd high card that is held but does not add anything to a straight or flush.

L

Late Surrender
This is a rule of the blackjack game where a player might surrender half of the initial bet after seeing the up card of the dealers as long as the dealer hasn’t hit a blackjack.

Limit
This is a game with a fixed limit on the amount one can raise or bet in every round.

Load Up
To play the maximum number of coins per spin that a slot machine or video game will allow.

Loose
These are slot machines that pay off in a way that the house receives a minimal advantage over the player.

M

Marker
This is a way in which a casino allows players credit leading to a commencement or continuation of a wager.

Match Play
This is a form of competition in tournaments where two participants, mostly in card games, play a string of games which end when one of the players accumulates the required number of points.

Money Plays
A declaration that the money a player puts on the table is not changed to chips.

N

Nut
A fixed amount of money that a gambler decides to be won in a day.

O

Odds
The ratio of probabilities.

Open
The player who puts the first bet in poker.

Overlay
A considerable bet in which you have an edge above the casino.

P

Pair
Two cards with the same rank.

Pass
Not to fold or bet.

Pay Line
This is the line on the slot machine screen on which symbols from every reel has to line up. Read more about pay lines.

Payoff
The return/payback a player sees on a bet.

Payout Table
The table that tells the player what every winning hand can pay for a certain number of credits or coins played.

Push
The tie hand between the dealer and the player – in this situation, no money changes hands.

R

Raise
This is when a player matches the initial bet then bets more to make the stake higher for the remaining players.

Rake
The amount of money that a casino charges for every hand of poker.

Reel
The wheel inside the slot machine screen on which the slot symbols are printed. Read more about Stacked Reels and Shifting Reels.

River
This is the final card that is dealt in the stud or Hold’Em hand.

Royal Flush
This is the best possible hand in poker – an ace-high straight flush.

S

Session
The length of time one plays or the series of plays in a gambling game.

Shutter
The window covering a certain number on the reusable bingo card.

Straight Keno
This is the basic keno game which is played by marking single numbers on the keno ticket.

U

Underlay
An unfavorable bet.

Unit
Used to represent the smallest wager without referring to the value of the dollar.

V

Vigorish
The casino term referring to the fee, edge, or commission that the house takes.

VLT
Video Lottery Terminal.

W

Wong (Wonging, Wonger)
The technique of counting cards to determine if the game is on the players advantage in blackjack games.

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