Slang Terms and Terminology Used in the Casino
People who love casinos all over the world are very creative and inventive when it is about coining new terms to relate bets, playstyles, rules, and games. Many of these terms are straightforward, but some of them could be confusing to listen to first. These terminologies are referred to as slang.
Slang terms are considered as a kind of vocabulary that you won’t find at school. These are phrases and sets of informal words that represent a specific field. Slang is used often when you are speaking to someone rather than writing. People of different age groups use slang.
It also varies in different cities and countries. Casino slang is used by people in the casino world. Here are the most common slang terms and terminology used in the casinos in gambling terms. Brush up your knowledge with these slang terms before heading to your favorite casino.
A:
All-in – This term refers to betting all the money or chips on a single hand. The other players have to match that amount or they can go all-in if they desire.
Add-on – Purchase more chips, other than what you have prior to starting the game.
Action – It represents the amount of money a player has wagered throughout an entire playing session.
Ante – Minimum amount to start the game, everyone has to add to the pot before the game commences.
Arm – Some people believe that a certain kind of gamblers can manipulate the result of dice rolling. Players who have mastered this talent are referred to as ‘arms’. This technique involves throwing the dice to the far side of the fall to have the desired number.
Aggregate limit – The overall payout liability of the casino on a game.
Aggregate winnings – Term used for total winnings.
B:
Banker – The term is used in the absence of a dealer while playing card games. The player who deals with the cards is referred to as a banker.
Barred – A gambler who can’t enter the casino after being turned out. They have either created trouble inside the place or caught cheating.
Beef – Disagreement between dealers and players.
Beard – A player who bets on someone’s behalf, because that person remains to stay anonymous.
Buy-in – Money you bring to join the game.
Bug – Used in several card games to represent the Joker card.
Breaking the Bank – When you win a large amount of money at a casino or winning more money than the bank has.
Break-Event point – The point where your payoffs you receive matches with your bet
Blind bet – The bet which is made without going through the cards when playing in a poker game.
C:
Call – The act of staying in the game by matching a bet.
Cage – The place where you can find the cashier in a gambling casino.
Capping – Form of cheating commonly used in roulette. A gambler puts more money into the pile and increases the earnings.
Camouflage – Concealing the real mood and intention is very important. A gambler needs to have more than a poker face. Wearing sunglasses is one of them.
Card sharp – A player who has extensive mastery with cards.
Card counting – Players who are playing Blackjack count cards to gauge the chances of the upcoming card combinations.
Card washing – To prevent consistencies, the dealer mixes the cards in a way that it resembles washing them.
Chase – It describes a manner of playing when a player keeps in betting more money hoping to earn back what was already lost.
Cold – Casino games and gamblers who cease to have winning streaks.
Croupier – A dealer
Cracking the nut – Used by players to narrate their profit after a single playing session.
Crossfire – A condition where a dealer discusses with the payers, when not paying heed to the game.
Comp points – A kind of reward or compensation for playing at a specific casino. The payers are awarded the comp points.
D:
Deposit – The amount of money you pay to the online casino to add funds to your account. Read our guide to online casino payment methods.
Drop – The amount lost by the casino or a player.
Dime – A $1k wager.
Deuce – Rolling 2 in dice.
Down to the felt – Out of money for wagering; broke.
D’Alembert betting system – A strategy where a player raises the bet by one unit after losing the bet, and decrease by one unit after winning.
Doubling up – A player doubles the bet after losing so as to win back the wagered amount.
E:
En Plein – A straightforward and simple bet that you place on a single number.
Edge – Having an edge means to have any kind of dominance over the opponent. It is also known as the house edge. Quite the same as a casino advantage, but works when two gamblers are concerned.
Eye in the sky – While the casino staff scrutinizes the floor, a camera captures every action.
En prison rule – A casino may, on some occasions, allow a player to place a bet on the initial half of the amount after losing in roulette. The wheel is spun and the payer doesn’t have to add more money to the table. The player recovers the stake if they win. The rule is applicable only to even-odd bets.
End of the day betting effect – After gamblers near to the end of the playing session, or their amount is about to finish, they tend to raise the stakes. They wish to win back some amount that they have lost.
F:
Fish – A particular person who loses more money than the other players in the casino.
Firing – It means someone is betting considerable amounts of money.
Face cards – Jacks, Queens, and Kings.
Fourth Street – The 2nd round of wagering in the 7-card stud poker.
Fifth Street – 3rd round in 7-card stud poker
Ficheur – Name was given to the special machine used by the dealer to classify different colored chips and hand out them to the gamblers in American Roulette.
Flop – In poker alternatives like Omaha and Hold’em, an overall of 5 cards can be dealt on the table. Here the first three are known as the flop. Turn and river represent the 4th and 5th cards.
Flea – An annoying gambler who has casino rewards and higher expectation of comps, despite not following the casino’s criteria.
Flat betting – Wagering the same amount irrespective of winning or losing.
G:
Grind – The term is used while playing the tables on a consistent basis. Based on the probabilities of the game, the player is ‘grinding’ planned bets.
Grease – The term is used to hide each and every illegal activity in the casinos. It is a bribe given to the dealer.
George – in a casino, the word George is referred to the player who tips the croupier.
Gambler’s ruin – A master plan that can ruin any player who attempts it. It is a way to increase the bets while you are winning and denying to decrease the amount while you are losing.
Gambler’s fallacy – There is a misconception among the casino players. Because of the inherent inability to digest the randomness of the results, people assume that if something happens too fast, it should stop happening thereafter, and vice versa. That’s when the concept of a slot machine ‘eventually has to pay’ arises.
H:
House edge – Because of the nature of games in a casino, they have an upper hand over the gamblers. On average you will find that slots always pay you less than what they take from you. If some slot machine has about 96% of return to player, around 4% will be the house edge. Read more about the house edge here.
Honeymoon period – You may call it a beginner’s luck, or a winning streak for a new player at the casino.
Hit – When a player makes a request for an additional card in Blackjack, they tend to say, hit me. See our guide how to play blackjack for more info.
Hot – Although not a good looking gambler, it is on a winning streak for some time.
Hard count – The way of counting coins in a bank or a casino. The task is done under the protection and watchful eye from the cameras and guards.
Hand – The number of cards a player holds until the round ends.
I:
Irregular playing patterns – Playing styles that involve drastic and abrupt changes in terms of betting sizes, or switching between different games. This style is frowned over by casinos and some of them even consider this betting behavior as erratic and signs of cheating.
Insurance bet – Used in blackjack, only when the first face-up card of the dealer is an ace. Apart from the standard bet, the gamblers can have the liberty to wage on the dealer having the blackjack. In general, the insurance bet is only half of the original bet. In that scenario, whether the dealer has a blackjack, you can lose the initial bet.
Inside bet – An inside bet in roulette is regarded as a bet each player places on a separate number.
J:
Juice – A term used for the commission taken by bookmaker, sportsbook, or casino.
Jacks or better – When you play videopoker, you need to have higher ranking cards or Jacks so as to win. Can be played at Jackpot city see more here.
Jackpot – It is referred to as the grand prize in a slot machine. Jackpot is a huge amount of money that can change a life.
K:
Kicker – An elevated ranking card in Poker that doesn’t contribute to straight or flush.
L:
Low poker – It is a kind of poker game where the pot is handed over to the lowest poker value.
Low roller – It is opposite to high roller. The term represents a player who plays casino games without placing many wages and keeps gravitating to the smallest wager sizes.
Load up – Wagering to the maximum amount allowed.
Layout – The place on the gambling table that shows you where to put the bet.
Lay the odds – Wagering on your favorite side.
Ladderman – A referee, judge, or a mediator in a Baccarat game.
Lobby – The front page on the casino.
Locals casino – It’s the casino that attracts the local people rather than tourists.
M:
MVG – It is an abbreviation for the most valued guest or a VIP.
Mechanic – The slang term used for a dealer who has the habit of cheating.
Maximum bet – The term is used to denote the highest amount of money you can bet, read about maximum bet casinos here.
Marker – It denotes a check that is written by a gambler who has credited with a casino.
N:
Nut – It is the expected amount a player hopes to win.
Non-negotiable chips – These are the chips that should be played and not to be cashed out.
Net winnings – Typically it means the profit, or the total fortune you won at the casino after deducing the amount you betted.
Natural – When you have a total of 21 in the game Blackjack along with the combination of two cards. The term is utilized in Baccarat for marking an 8 or 9.
O:
Overlay – In casino language, an overlay isn’t about the user interface in online casinos. It is the term used for a wage that favors the gambler rather than the house.
Open – The slang is used by the player who places the first bet.
Outside bet – These bets aren’t put on individual numbers when playing roulette see more here.
Odds – Chances of winning a wager. A gambler can calculate his earnings by multiplying those odds with the number of bets.
P:
Pallet – A stick, probably made of wooden used to move the cards on the Baccarat table.
Paint – King, Queen, Jack, and Ace.
Pass – The same thing as fold. A passing player chooses not to bet and penances the round.
Paroli – A betting system utilized in Baccarat and Roulette. It’s based on rising the quantity of wager after winning and thinking that the winning streak could continue for some time.
Pat – A hand that has the value of 17 or even more than that in Blackjack. That means the hand doesn’t require any more cards.
Payline – This is referred to as the line on a slot machine where the symbols accumulated from the separate reels combine together to form a winning combination. Certain slot games have over 20 paylines like the Mega Fortune Online Slot game that has about 25 paylines.
Payoff – The amount of money received because of a bet.
Pit – the area available only to the casino workers.
Pit manager – A person who is in charge of supervising the casino employees.
Pigeon – Refers to a gambler who tends to lose because of his absence of intelligence.
Pot – The amount of money gathered in the middle of a poker game table. The person with the strongest hand gets the money.
Plug – It is a card dealing technique.
Pocket cards – The dealt face-down cards in a poker game.
Povably fair – The online gambling algorithm that is analyzed, audited, and verified by an outside service provider. It is done to make sure that the games are fair enough and the results are randomly generated.
Progressive jackpot – This represents the cumulative jackpot that is provided by some of the online slot games. The jackpot increases in size as more gamblers play the slot. The jackpot grows massive until someone wins them all. It can reach absurd amounts before a lucky player gets the winning combination.
Q:
Quads – Four of a kind
Queer – Forged money
Qualifier – The lowest hand eligible for a segment of the pot.
R:
Rack – The plastic container for holding the casino chips, coins, and slot machine tokens.
Racino – A blend of a casino and racetrack.
Rake – The amount taken by the house at the end of every round in a poker game.
Reels – The lines within the slot machines that contain the symbols.
RTP is also called real-time payouts, and It is how much the casino game pays back to the players over time. You can see the online slots with the highest RTP here. Here is a guide to understanding RTP.
Rapid roulette – A roulette game wherein you can place inside bets.
S:
Sawbuck – An amount of $10.
Session – A gambler’s playing time.
Shark – A fine gambler who behaves like a beginner.
Scared money – The number of money gamblers doesn’t want to lose.
Streaming – A gambler begins to play aggressively following a losing streak in Blackjack.
Spinner – A winning streak.
Shill – A person who plays on account of the house
System – Betting methods used by a player to gain an advantage in the house.
T:
Table stakes – The chips or money possessed by the gambler on the table.
Table hold – The money earned by an individual table at the casino during the 8-hour shift.
Table limit – The maximum or minimum bet that could be wagered by the player at a table.
Tells – Actions or behaviors of a gambler or a dealer that reveals the card they hold.
Trips – 3 cards of similar rankings.
U:
Up card – The dealt face-up dealer’s card in Blackjack.
Unit – The smallest amount of money to be wagered. The betting units aren’t connected to a specific currency. They can represent EUR or USD depending on the casino.
Underplay – It’s an unsuccessful bet. These bets are least favored because of the payout they provide.
V:
VIP – A very important gambler, a high roller who spent a fortune at the casino. See The Best high roller online casinos here.
Viking power – Another name for Caribbean Stud Poker in the European casinos.
Vigorish – Commission received by a casino.
W:
Withdrawal – Request to pay out your earnings. See the fastest withdrawel online casinos here
Whale – A gambler with an extensive bankroll, who bets thousands of dollars on a single round. See best online casinos for whales here.
Washing – A movement where the dealer rubs their hands to show the players that they aren’t carrying any chip.
Wager – The amount of bet.
Conclusion:
So that was a comprehensive glossary of the slang terms and terminology used in the casinos. The main goal of these terms isn’t to brag but understand when you can use these terms to improve your casino experience.
