Have you ever felt frustrated having a list of casino-related words in front of you that are too difficult to understand?
With out specially-compiled Casino Dictionary, you won’t ever find it difficult to know what these terms mean!
A – Z
Click on any of the letters below to find the word you’re looking for in our Casino Dictionary:
0-243 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
0-243
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 21 + 3 (Blackjack) | In the 21 + 3 blackjack side bet you bet on whether the first two cards of your hand and the dealer’s face-up card combine to make one of the three-card poker hands: Flush, Straight, Three of a kind, Straight Flush. Players can expect a 9:1 payout if this happens. |
| 2 Dozen + 2 Column Strategy (Roulette) | The Two Column System is a Roulette Hedging Strategy that covers just under 2/3 of the table. This is a low variance system (more frequent hits, lower payout). |
| 3D Video Slots | Machines in land-based casinos with low bets (pennies). If more than one payline are present, players must place a bet way that is more than one penny to activate all penny slots. |
| 3 Reel Slot | Very advanced slots with different graphics and visual effects. |
| 5 Reel Slot | The new way most land-based and online pokie games are laid out (containing 5 reels). |
| 10 Count Strategy | Counting cards in such a way that players have to keep track of getting a 10-value card. The higher the count is, the better are the chances of getting a 10. |
| 86’d | Getting kicked out of a casino. |
| 243 Ways to Win | Pokies with no paylines, where symbols must line up on adjacent reels from either left-right or right-left. |
A
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ace (Blackjack) | A card known as Ace which can have a count value of 1 or 11. |
| Ace Deuce (Craps) | Another way of referring to rolling a 3 (Also known as Three Craps). |
| Ace Rich (Blackjack) | Another way of describing the deck, or shoe. This is when few aces have been dealt, which means a greater chance of getting one. |
| Aces (Craps) | A roll of 2. |
| Action | Accumulated pokies machine playing time which can refer to how many bets were made, or the time logged by a club card online account. |
| Action (Baccarat) | The total money used in a bet during a full gambling session. Can also be used to describe a bet on a game of Baccarat. |
| Action (Poker) | A player’s turn at a table. |
| Action (Roulette) | Being in a betting position. |
| Active Payline | A payline with a bet on it. While some slots let you select paylines, others work with fixed ones. |
| Advantage (Blackjack) | A hypothetical advantage one side has over the other. This is expressed as a percentage of the wager. While the casino usually has the edge, card counting can tip the scales in the player’s favour. |
| Advantage Player (Blackjack) | A strategic gambler who gains mathematical advantage over a casino. |
| All Ways | Usually online games and seen as very profitable, all ways is a slot that features paylines running left to right and right to left. |
| All-In (Roulette) | Betting on the entire pot in one bet. |
| All-in (Poker) | When players put all their chips in one hand. |
| American Roulette (Roulette) | A 2-zero pockets variant (0 and 00) together with the numbers from 1 to 36. Here, the American Roulette House Edge is higher than its European counterpart. |
| Anchorman (Blackjack) | The anchorman is the last player to act before the dealer does. |
| Annuity Winner | A jackpot paid in increments over several years. There are rarer jackpots paid at once. |
| Ante (Poker) | A minimum bet required before the hand begins. |
| Any Craps (Craps) | When a player makes a bet that the next roll is 2, 3, or 12. |
| Apron (Craps) | The outside part of the craps table felt layout. |
| Autospin | Very popular among online players, Autospin allows players to set how many spins they want on a bet. |
| AWP | A nickname for old-style fruit symbols slot machines. |
B
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Baccarat | Meaning zero, Baccarat is the worst hand for player and the bank. |
| Back Counting (Blackjack) | Sometimes referred to as wonging, spectators from behind the table count cards to avoid negative counts. |
| Back Off (Blackjack) | When a casino asks players to stop playing blackjack because of card counting. Players asked to back off are not banned or barred. |
| Backdoor (Poker) | When a player gets a river card and another card to make a hand. |
| Backtrack (Roulette) | The wheel’s outer rim where the ball is spun. |
| Bad Beat (Poker) | A twist that involves a player with a high hand losing to a player with a small hand after picking up a lucky card. |
| Balanced Count (Blackjack) | A counting system where the total of negative cards is the same as positive cards. There is a balanced count if the count at the end of a deck is zero. |
| Ballerina Special (Craps) | A roll of double 2’s. |
| Banco (Baccarat) | Meaning bank/banker in Spanish, this is another way of referring to the dealer. |
| Banco Prime (Baccarat) | If more than one player has called banco, this is the privilege of a player nearest to the dealer’s right in which the stake wagered by the bank is matched. |
| Bank Craps (Craps) | The proper name for the craps casino version. |
| Banker Bet (Baccarat) | One out of three bet possibilities, the banker bet offers a very small house edge, and a 1:1 pay if you win. |
| Bankroll | The money players put aside for gambling. There is always the risk of losing this money, which can be avoided by implementing Bankroll Management. |
| Banque (Baccarat) | A variant of baccarat in which the banker sits in the middle of two conjoined tables and plays with only one bet against two player bets at each table. |
| Bar | Among the most common classic slot machine symbols. They are shaped as a tiller and have the word ‘BAR’ printed on them in white. |
| Barber Pole (Craps) | A reference to how a player stacks different denominations casino chips. The proper way is to stack them with the highest denomination on the bottom. |
| Barred (Blackjack) | When a player is no longer allowed to enter a property. Refer to 86’d. |
| Basic Slot | Old slots with a single payline and having few features. |
| Basic Strategy (Blackjack) | The best blackjack strategy which suggests the most profitable decisions on any hand, by considering dealer up card and player hand. |
| Bet (Poker) | Placing a wager using your chips. |
| Bet | How much money is bet on a spin. |
| Bet Behind (Blackjack) | A gamble most popular in Live Blackjack when tables are full, the Bet Behind is when a player bets on another player’s hand. This bet adds large multiplayer scalability and increases the potential for a win. Refer to ‘Side Bet’. |
| Bet Correlation (Blackjack) | Particularly important in 6 or 8 deck shoe games, this refers to the link between the value of card points and removing cards. Bet correlation is used to make a prediction about how counting systems guess good betting situations when approaching 1.00 (or 100% correlation). |
| Bet Max | Maximum bet. |
| Bet Min | Minimum bet. |
| Bet on the layout (Roulette) | A bet placed on the numbers that are part of the table. |
| Bet One | Making a bet with one unit / credit on a slot machine per spin. |
| Bet Spread (Blackjack) | The amount of both maximum and minimum bets a player makes during a session. The larger the spread is, the more money a player should expect to make. Putting it simply, a 1-5 bet means a minimum bet of 1 unit, and a maximum of 5 units per hand. |
| Betting System (Blackjack) | A strategy that allows players to manage and add to their bankroll. With many betting strategies based on negative or positive progressions, while negative progressions are based on losing, positive progressions are based on adding bets upon winning. Paroli and parlay are two most popular betting systems based on wins. |
| Biased numbers (Roulette) | Numbers statistically proven to hit more often than others. |
| Biased Wheel (Roulette) | A land-based casino or live roulette studio wheel that is not balanced and may be askew in certain zones. |
| Big 6 (Craps) | A craps (even money) bet that the total of six will be rolled before a seven. |
| Big 8 (Craps) | A craps (even money) bet that a player will roll an eight before a seven. |
| Big Blind (Poker) | If two blinds are present, the Big Blind is the larger of the two. |
| Big Hit | Slang for big win which is usually the best prize offered by a slot as any winning combination is called a hit. |
| Big Player (Blackjack) | Slang for a card counting team member who bets big when faced with a favourable count and depends on “spotters” to call them in. This play is used by players to cover their intentions. |
| Big Red (Craps) | Either the number 7 or a bet to get any 7 to appear. |
| Black Book (Blackjack) | A list of players banned from the casino. |
| Black Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $100. |
| Blackjack | Apart from being the game’s name, blackjack (made up of one Ace, and one 10/J/Q/K), is the perfect hand to have as this makes up 21. Having a Blackjack means the player gets an automatic win. |
| Blind (Poker) | When players to the dealer’s left are forced to put down a bet before cards are dealt. |
| Block bet (Roulette) | Covering a block of numbers on the area where bets are made. |
| Bluff / Bluffing (Poker) | A lie a player tells to get the other players with better hands to fold. |
| Bones (Craps) | Slang for dice. |
| Bonus Round (Game/Feature) | Any gambling fan’s favourite part of a slot game – an extra round with rules differing from the regular game and with higher payouts. |
| Bottom Pair (Poker) | The lowest pair of cards – For example if the cards are 5 of Diamonds, 7 of Spades, Queen of Hearts, 6 of Spades, and a player is holding a 5 of Spades, they now have the bottom pair: 5 of Diamonds and 5 of Spades). |
| Bottom Track (Roulette) | The roulette wheel inner area. The roulette ball first slides down the bottom track before bouncing to the wheel head, then finally rests in a pocket. |
| Bowl (Craps) | The container that holds the dice, which is made of wood or plastic (sometimes made of metal). This container sits next to the stickman. |
| Box (Blackjack) | The area facing players which is where bets are placed. |
| Box Numbers (Craps) | The place numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. |
| Boxcars (Craps) | Also known as Midnight, Cornrows, or Twelve Craps, this is the outcome of dice rolling in craps and getting two 6s. |
| Boxman (Craps) | The craps table supervisor who ensures the game runs smoothly. |
| Branded Slots | Pokie games that use popular franchises (such as TV, movie, or book characters) to brand themselves. Some examples are Rick and Morty Megaways, Game of Thrones Power Stacks, and Deal or No Deal Megaways. |
| Brown / Chocolate Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $5,000. |
| Burn Card (Blackjack) | Before dealing, the dealer places the first card face-down to the side (burn card). This makes it impossible for the first player to know what the first card is going to be, thus changing the way a player bets. |
| Burning (Baccarat) | When the top three to six cards are discarded between shuffling and the game’s start. |
| Bust (Blackjack) | To lose (by going over 21 in a hand). |
| Bust Card (Blackjack) | The card that causes a player to lose (by going over 21). |
| Bust It (Blackjack) | A side bet having different variations dealing with the dealer busting (‘Buster’ or ‘Bust Bonus’). The bets only change names based on the provider. For a win to occur, the dealer has to bust with 3 cards (or more) – the greater the number of cards they bust with is, the bigger the payout is going to be. |
| Button (Poker) | A chip the dealer holds that tells other players it is their turn to deal. |
| Buy a Feature | A wager big enough to activate some features not accessible in certain games. |
| Buy a Pay | Another way of referring to placing a bet allowing players to compete for the big prize, this works with some slot machines that only reward a player the top prize, if their bet is bigger than a certain amount. This is similar to Buy a Feature. |
C
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Call / Calling (Poker) | When a player wants to call a bet by matching or raising another player’s bet. |
| Caller (Baccarat) | A casino staff member who turns the cards, calls out points, and deals extra cards depending on the third card draw rules. |
| Camouflage Play (Blackjack) | When skilled players hide how skilled they truly are by making mistakes on purpose. |
| Card Counting (Blackjack) | Strategically mentally keeping track of card values that have been dealt, to try to see how the remaining cards can help a player. |
| Card Roulette (Roulette) | A variant using a normal deck of cards with 2 jokers. The House Edge is between European and American Roulette. |
| Carousel | Slots placed together on the casino floor (usually a cluster). |
| Carte (Baccarat) | This is called out when a player asks for another card from the dealer (the French version of ”Hit me”). |
| Cascading Reels | A recent online casino feature that makes winning symbols explode when hitting a winning combination. This frees up space for new symbols that could trigger another win. |
| Cash Out | Cashing out is when you change your credits into real money after you finish playing a pokie game. This is usually done by clicking a cash-out button. |
| Cashback | An extra bonus (in monetary gains) for regular players which can be part of a loyalty programme, an award for holders of a slots club card, or a constant casino promotion. |
| Casino Bonus | This is the first bonus a new player receives (welcome bonus). These bonuses come in the form of extra money that should be used for pokie games. For more information regarding casino bonuses, you can check out our article on casino bonuses. |
| Center Field (Craps) | A Nine (also called a Center Field Nine). |
| Certified Slots | Pokie games with an over 98-100% guaranteed RTP. |
| Change only (Craps) | When a player must change cash into gambling chips before placing a craps bet rather than a cash money bet. |
| Charlie (Blackjack) | When a certain number of cards bust-free hand automatically gives a player a win. |
| Check (Poker) | When a player passes his turn to the player on his left without making a bet. |
| Check Raise (Poker) | A mix of checking and raising. When a player checks the bets first, he then raises the bet. |
| Chemin De Fer (Baccarat) | Also known as European Baccarat and Railroad, Chemin De Fer is one of the most popular variations. This game is mainly intended for hig rollers, where one of the players deals the cards, takes all bets, and plays the bank. |
| Cheque change (Craps) | Breaking a chip into smaller chips. |
| Cheques (Baccarat) | Special chips used in land-based casinos to give an exclusive gaming experience. |
| Cheval (Baccarat) | Depending on the game type, this bet is won if both players win bets. The bet is lost if both players lose. When one player wins and the other loses, the cheval bet remains, in a standoff situation. |
| Chip Down (Blackjack) | To make a smaller bet from the previous one. |
| Chip Up (Blackjack) | To make a bigger bet from the previous one. |
| Chips (Poker) | Tokens used instead of money in a poker game. |
| Classic Slots | Also known as retro slots, these still popular 3-reel slot machines can also be found at different online casinos. |
| Coin | While old slot machines used to be played with real coins, today (especially with online casinos) this is no longer the case. Despite this, slot machines still allow you to measure your wager in coins or in credits. |
| Coin Size | Coin denominations used to bet with. Many machines let players set both coin number and denomination used per payline. |
| Coin Slot | A slot machine paying out winnings in coins. These machines are becoming hard to find. |
| Cold Deck (Blackjack) | The name given to the box with the cards when it gives out bad cards (which makes a player lose too much). |
| Cold Dice (Craps) | When shooters fail to make any points (also referred to as Cold Table). |
| Cold Numbers (Roulette) | Numbers that for at least 37 spins haven’t come up. |
| Cold Slot | Slang for a slot not paying much, or a bad streak slot (also known as tight slot). This is no longer viable nowadays, whereas playing with old slot machines required a technique of playing on cold slots before turning hot. |
| Collect Button | A button that lets you change credits back to cash in online slots. |
| Colour Up (Blackjack) | If a player has many low-denomination chips, he could ask the dealer to colour some of them and change many small-value chips for chips with higher values. |
| Column Bet (Roulette) | A bet that pays out 2:1 and covers almost one third of the wheel. |
| Come Bet (Craps) | Just like a pass line bet but made after the come out roll. |
| Come Out Roll (Craps) | The first dice roll in a betting round. |
| Commission (Baccarat) | Although baccarat has an extremely low house edge, some casinos subject winning bank and player bets to a 5% commission. |
| Community Cards (Poker) | These cards are placed face-up on the poker table and can be used to form a winning hand with the cards they have in hand. |
| Comps | Awards for regular slot players which in land-based casino would be perks such as meals and free accomodation. Online casinos offer comp points as an alternative. |
| Console Slot Machines | Slot machines that are considered more comfortable as they are designed to angle down a bit towards the player. |
| Corner Bet (Roulette) | A four-number bet – at their corner of the numbers – paying out 8:1 with a probability of 10.8% of a European Roulette bet. |
| Counterfeit (Poker) | When a decent hand loses even more value after the community cards have been placed. |
| Coup (Baccarat) | French for a Baccarat round dealing one Banker hand and one Player hand. |
| Crapless Craps (Craps) | A variation of craps where the 2, 3, 11, and 12 are treated as point numbers such as 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. |
| Crazy 7 (Blackjack) | A side bet wagering on player getting trip 7’s on their first three cards. A suited Three of a Kind is the best possible hand you could have. |
| Credits | Another way of referring to coins you insert in a slot machine which are changed to credits used for betting. |
| Croupier (Roulette) | The dealer who takes the bets, spins the wheel and pays out winnings. |
| CSM (Blackjack) | It means Continuous Shuffling Machine, used to constantly shuffle cards and prevent card counting. |
| Cut (Blackjack/Baccarat) | Splitting decks after shuffling them, and before dealing them. |
| Cut Card (Blackjack/Baccarat) | A plastic card that cuts the deck after shuffling. The cards are then reshuffled after reaching the cut card when hands are dealt. |
D
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| D9 (Blackjack) | Doubling the 9, 10, 11 cards. Soft hands cannot be doubled. |
| DA9 (Blackjack) | Doubling any 2 cards. |
| DAS (Blackjack) | Acronym for Double After Split – A rule that benefits the player as it allows doubling down after splitting a hand. |
| Dead Table (Roulette) | An open table with no players. |
| Dealer (Blackjack) | The person who makes sure the game runs smoothly by dealing the cards. |
| Dealer Pair (Blackjack) | A side bet which pays out when a dealer gets a mixed, suited, or colour pair, with the return that varies depending on which pair it is. Refer to ‘Player Pair’ and |
| Dealer Peek (Blackjack) | When the dealer checks for Blackjack if their up card is either an Ace, a 10, a Jack, a Queen, or a King. |
| Deck (Blackjack) | A standard 52-card deck. In most casinos, several decks are shuffled together (1-8). |
| Deck Penetration (Blackjack) | The amount of cards as a percentage played out of a deck (or shoe) before being reshuffled. |
| Denomination | Refer to coin size. |
| Deux Tableau (Baccarat) | Also known as Baccarat en Banque. |
| Deviation (Blackjack) | Any changes made to the basic strategy that are played at some times. These changes are based on. the count. |
| Die Rich Craps (Craps) | A single-die version of a traditional game of craps with less wagering options. |
| Discard Tray (Baccarat) | Where cards are discarded. |
| Discards (Blackjack) | Cards that have been dealt which then are placed to one side until a new shoe is needed and cards are reshuffled and used again. |
| Don’t Come Bet (Craps) | A don’t pass bet made after the come out roll. |
| Don’t Pass Bet (Craps) | The opposite of a pass bet, when on the come out loses on a seven or eleven, but wins on a 2 or 3. |
| Double (Down) (Blackjack) | Betting up the original bet again, and getting one more card. |
| Double Ball Roulette (Roulette) | European Roulette using two balls rather than one. |
| Double Pitch (Craps) | When the dice stay on the axis, but one turns two faces more than the other. The roll may likely result in a seven if players set the dice with the same face, such as a hard ways. |
| Double Street Bet (Roulette) | A bet of 4 separate bets: 2 on separate streets, 1 corner bet, and 1 straight up number. A street is a group of 6 numbers paying out 5:1. |
| Double Up System (Roulette) | When a player doubles a bet after a loss. |
| Double Zero (Roulette) | A type of pocket only present in American Roulette. |
| Down Card (Baccarat) | Also called a hole card, a down card is a card turned face down. |
| Dozen Bet (Roulette) | A bet placed on an available group of 12 numbers (1-12, 13-24, 25-36) that pays out 2:1. |
| Dragon Bonus (Baccarat) | A type of side bet some casinos allow, if a chosen hand wins by at least four points, the Dragon Bonus is a winning hand. |
| Draw (Blackjack) | To have another card dealt: another way of referring to a Hit. |
| Drop (Roulette) | How much a player deposited. |
| Drops | A new online slots feature where symbols fall in place rather than spinning reels. The pokie game Gonzo’s Quest contains this feature. |
| Duker or Duke (Craps) | These terms refer to big money suddenly entering a game of craps. When this happens, the dealers and boxman prepare for action. When this happens usually more than one high betting player is there and is usually at both ends of the craps table. |
E
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Early Surrender (Blackjack) | Giving up after receiving the first two cards. |
| Easy Way (Craps) | When an even number with any combination other than doubles is rolled. This applies to 4, 6, 8, and 10 only. |
| Edge Sorting (Baccarat) | A method of identifying card values based on small pattern differences on the card’s back due to the manufacturing of the cards. |
| En Prison (Roulette) | A French Roulette rule applied to even-money wagers in which when a zero is hit, players in some casinos are allowed to either take half their bet, or leave it for another go. If another zero is hit, the bet is forfeited. |
| European Roulette (Roulette) | A Roulette variant (which was the original Roulette version) having only one zero pocket |
| Even Money (Blackjack) | If a player has a blackjack and the dealer has an ace, even money is the option of taking a 1:1 payout on your bet. |
| Even Money (Craps) | A wagering proposition with even odds where the person betting loses or win the same amount of money. |
| Even Money Bet (Roulette) | A 1:1 paying bet. |
| Expected Value (Blackjack) | The expected value is the measure of what a player can expect to win or lose per bet placed on the same odds time and time again. |
| Eyeballs (Craps) | Slang for rolling two Aces, or ones for a total of two. |
F
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Face Card (Blackjack/Baccarat) | Also referred to as a Paint Card (or Paint), a Face Card is either a Jack, Queen, or King. |
| Fading (Baccarat) | A term used when placing bets, fadin applies only to land-based Baccarat games. |
| Feature | Features normally refer to different bonuses offered by a game which involve the top bonus round with the biggest payouts. |
| Fever five (Craps) | Also called five fever, this is a roll of 5. |
| Fibonacci (Roulette) | In this system, players increase bets after losing to try to get back some losses. Similar to The Martingale system. |
| First Base (Blackjack) | When the first hand is dealt to first-base – the seat on the dealer’s far left. |
| Five Liner | An old-style slot machine with 5 paylines usually two diagonal and three horizontal ones. |
| Five Number Bet (Roulette) | An American roulette bet covering the 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 which is arguably the worst bet due to horrible odds. |
| Fixed Value Slots | Slots where the bet total is fixed, and no changes can be made to the coin number or denomination used to bet. |
| Flat Bet (Blackjack) | Making the same bet on every consecutive hand. |
| Flat Bet (Baccarat) | Betting the same amount of money, no matter the hand (winning or losing). |
| Flat Betting (Roulette) | Betting exactly the same at every spin. |
| Flop (Poker) | The first three cards in Texas Hold’Em and Omaha turned face-up. This comes before the Turn and River cards. |
| Fold (Poker) | When a player gives up their hand. When this happens, the player loses loses their bets. |
| Foul (Poker) | If a player cannot play a hand, that is a foul, with the player no longer being allowed to win anything from the pot. |
| Four-Number Bet (Roulette) | A bet like the American Roulette Five Number bet, covering the 0, 1, 2, and 3 in European Roulette. This bet pays out 8:1. |
| Free Card (Poker) | When a player is allowed to see an extra card without making more bets. |
| Free Odds (Craps) | The odds which can be taken or laid behind the Pass / Come or Don’t Pass / Don’t Come paid at true odds. |
| Free Spins | Free spins are promotions that consist of rounds handed by the casino for free to be used either on one particular pokie only or else on a small selection of online pokies. |
| Free-to-Play | Slot machines that can be used with credits handed out by the casino |
| French Roulette (Roulette) | A European Roulette variant which could offer either La Partage or the En Prison. |
| Fruit Machine | How classic slot machines are referred to in the UK based on the fruit symbols on screen in the 1920s. |
G
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Gamble Feature | Slots that include a gamble feature typically offer players the chance to double their winnings that have just been accrued on the board or in a bonus game. They generally consist of a 50/50 choice where winnings are doubled if you win. If you make the wrong prediction all winnings are lost. |
| George (Roulette / Craps) | A big tipping player. |
| Green Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $25. |
| Green Pockets (Roulette) | The Roulette wheel’s 0 and 00 slots. |
H
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Hammer a Machine | Slang for playing the same machines repeatedly to try to win a progressive jackpot or get a hot streak. |
| Hand (Baccarat) | How many cards are dealt and played in one Baccarat round. |
| Hard Hand (Blackjack) | A hand without an Ace (only one total value). For example a 10 and 7 is a hard 17. |
| Hard Total (Blackjack) | The total of cards in a hand, when Aces are counted as 1. |
| Hard Way (Craps) | A bet on 4, 6, 8, or 10 and only wins when two of the same number are shown on the dice. |
| Hi-Lo (Craps) | A single roll bet for either a 2 or a 12. |
| Hi-Lo (High-Low) (Blackjack) | A way of counting cards that is among the best level-ones available when it comes to difficulty. This method is designed to ease and make more pleasant players’ counting on the table. |
| Hi-Lo-Yo (Craps) | A single roll bet for either a 2, 11, or a 12. |
| High Card (Poker) | One of the worst hands a player could have, this is the highest card in a hand of 5 different cards. |
| High or Low (Roulette) | An even money bet on the 1-18 numbers (low) or 19-36 (high numbers) with 1:1 odds. |
| High Point Craps (Craps) | In this exotic craps variation, rolls of 2 and 3 are ignored. |
| Hit (Blackjack) | When a player takes another card. |
| Hit | A term for getting winning combinations. |
| Hit 17 (H17) (Blackjack) | A rule that requires the dealer to take another card when they have a soft 17. This is like the Stand 17 rule, which asks the dealer to stand on a Soft 17. |
| Hit and Run | A tactic used by players who use a slot for a bit, then stop using it if it doesn’t seem to give out profits. |
| Hit Frequency | A theoretical number which shows players how often winning combinations landing can be expected. Lower frequency slots will pay out more often, but will give out smaller winnings. |
| Hold Percentage | The percentage of total bets on a pokie machine kept by the casino. Also known as the House Edge. |
| Hole Card (Blackjack) | The dealer’s card which is face-down and was received on the first deal. |
| Hole Cards (Poker) | A card kept secret from the other poker players. |
| Hopper | Found in land-based slots, this is a container that holds the coins available to be cashed out. While this is no longer the case in modern machines, there are some old machine designs that still have the slant top. |
| Horn Bet (Craps) | A bet that the next dice roll results in a 2, 3, 11, or 12. |
| Hot 3 (Blackjack) | A side bet used in the Infinite Blackjack game (by Evolution) which is very similar to Lucky Lucky. Both games are based on the player’s initial 2 card and the dealer’s up card. They win for 19 to 21 total points. |
| Hot Slots | These involve games giving faster payouts. The main idea behind this is that since RNGs are programmed to award a winning percentage, this has to be given out at a point in playing the game. Today this is no longer viable. |
| House (Poker) | Where the poker game is hosted (and potentially where players are charged to join the table). |
| House Edge (Blackjack) | The casino House Edge is a percentage amount that the casino takes as a profit margin on any bet placed. |
I
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| i-Slot | A new type of online pokie game that allows players to save their progress and resume it later in a bonus game. |
| Icons | Also known as symbols. |
| Index (Blackjack) | This refers to the integers on the Deviations chart (S17 or H17). When compared to the True Count these indexes are used to see when a player should move away from the basic strategy. If True Count = Index, implement the deviation. |
| Inside bet (Roulette) | When a player places a wager on the outside of the roulette table layout. Such bets cover large sections of the wheel, while paying out at lower odds. |
| Inside number (Craps) | An inside number refers to the numbers 5, 6, 8, 9. |
| Instant Winner | When the lucky winner gets paid a jackpot in one instalment – the opposite of an annuity winner who gets paid over a year. |
| Insurance (Blackjack) | A side bet only offered when the dealer has an Ace in hand, and is paid at 2:1 odds if the dealer gets a Blackjack. |
| Insurance Correlation (Blackjack) | In insurance situations, this is the he link between a strategy’s card tag values and the value of cards. |
J
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Jackpot | A slot machine’s biggest prize, this may refer to the highest-paying winning combination, or a randomly separate triggered jackpot. Refer to ‘Progressive Jackpot’. |
| Jackpot (Poker) | When a player is allowed to see an extra card without making more bets. |
K
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Kicker (Poker) | A card that can break a tie between two hands. |
L
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| La Grande (Baccarat) | French for The Big One, this is the best hand in Baccarat (which totals nine). |
| La Partage (Roulette) | A rule that says that if a ball lands in zero, all bets that are even-money are divided in 2, with half the original bet being returned. The House Edge thus becomes 1.35% on all even-money bets. |
| La Petite (Baccarat) | French for the Little One, this is the second best hand in Baccarat (totals eight naturally). |
| Late Surrender (Blackjack) | Giving up after the dealer checks for Blackjack and not taking any more decisions. This comes at the cost of half the first bet. |
| Lay Bet (Craps) | A bet where the player bets a seven will be rolled before the point being rolled for. |
| Layout (Baccarat) | A series of boxes and betting sections for gamblers to place bets (Player, Banker, or Tie). |
| Level (Blackjack) | A strategy where the number of values assigned to cards are referred to. While Levels 2 and 3 are more efficient, these are more difficult for many people. |
| Lever | This was a feature in old machines that were replaced by a ‘spin’ button in online versions, while some modern video slots have them, these have the same function of a button. |
| Lightning Roulette (Roulette) | A special variant which offers the traditional Roulette excitement with an increased chance of adding to winnings. Players get extra chances to win thanks to Randomly Generated Lucky Numbers and randomly generated Lucky Payouts through 50x, 100x, 200x, 300x, 400x, and 500x multipliers. |
| Limp (Poker) | Considered a weak poker strategy, limping is the minimum amount wagered to stay in the hand. |
| Line | Refer to ‘Payline’. |
| Line Bet | The bet amount per payline. A $10 on a slot with 10 paylines means that the line bet is $1 |
| Line Bet (Roulette) | A bet on six numbers that pays out 5:1. |
| Linked Progressive Jackpot | Progressive jackpot slots linked across several casinos which contribute to a growing jackpot pot. |
| Little Joe (Craps) | Point 4. |
| Loose Slot | Slang for a slot game likely to hand out frequent wins. (Similar to hot slots). |
| Loss Bet (Baccarat) | A bet against the Bank. |
| Low Limit Craps (Craps) | Letting players engage their favourite dice game and being comfortable with the bets they make. |
| Lucky Lucky (Blackjack) | A side bet using the player’s first 2 cards and the dealer’s up card, where various combinations win (from a suited 7-7-7-7, down to 3 cards with a total of 19). There are different payouts depending on the pay table. Refer to ‘Top 3’. |
M
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Marker (Roulette) | What the croupier uses after each spin to mark the winning number. |
| Martingale System (Roulette) | A system famous for doubling bets after losing one. |
| Maximum Bet | The maximum money you can bet on a pokie. This includes all active paylines and the highest possible coin size. |
| Megabucks | A famous Las Vegas slots brand with the highest land-based progressive jackpots. Mega Moolah holds the Guinness Record for largest win online. Megabuck slots are the best at land-based jackpots. |
| Mini Baccarat (Baccarat) | A smaller Baccarat table which offers lower table limits and a faster gameplay. In online Mini Baccarat, the dealer draws cards face-up, while at a real casino cards are dealt face-down. |
| Mini Roulette (Roulette) | A variant with a smaller wheel made up of 13 numbers. |
| Minimum Bet | The minimum sum of money you can place on a game which can apply both to running a single payline, or the minimum bet on paylines. |
| Monkey (Blackjack / Baccarat) | A card which has a value of 10. |
| Monster Roll (Craps) | Any roll by a shooter lasting more than 20 minutes or any roll that wins lots of money. |
| Muck (Baccarat) | 8 decks of 52 cards each used at the beginning of shuffling. |
| Mucker (Roulette) | Another (second) croupier on a roulette table during the casino’s busy hours. |
| Multi-deck (Blackjack) | Since many blackjack games use more than one deck, they will use between six and eight decks at a time. |
| Multi-Line | Pokies having more than one payline, which is contrary to modern video slots (with multiple paylines). You can have fixed and adjustable lines, depending on if you can choose how many should be active paylines. |
| Multi-Way | A type of slots which do not differentiate whether winning symbols are from left to right or right to left. These slots can increase the chance of big wins. |
| Multiplier | A special symbol that increases payout only if part of a winning payline. Multipliers can be x2, x3, x4, and beyond that. While some pokies feature them in the base game, others only add them during the bonus rounds. |
N
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| N0 (Blackjack) | N-Zero is the abstract number of rounds to overcome 2/3 of the variance. Refer to ‘Standard Deviation’ and ‘Variance’. |
| Natural (Baccarat) | When two initially dealt cards total eight or nine, a natural eight is a winning hand and ends the round unless the other hand is a natural nine (the best Baccarat hand). |
| Natural (Craps) | When a 7 or 11 is rolled out on the come out roll. |
| Natural (21) (Blackjack) | Another way of saying Blackjack (also known as ‘natural 21’, or ‘natural’), used when a player gets an Ace and a 10-point card as the first two cards. The hand is usually a 3:2 on the player’s bet, depending on the house rules. |
| NDAS (Blackjack) | This means No Double After Split. |
| Negative Progression (Blackjack) | A strategy in which players increase the bet amount after losing which is aimed at getting back money lost, and winning small profit amounts often. Refer to ‘Betting System’. |
| Negative Progression (Roulette) | A system that increases bets after losing (such as Martingale and Fibonacci systems). |
| New York Craps (Craps) | The table and layout of this craps version called a double-end dealer, are a bit different from those used in Bank Craps. This Bank Craps version is popular in Eastern US, the Bahamas, and England. |
| Nina (Craps) | When a player rolls or bets on a 9. |
| No Hole Card (Blackjack) | Present in European casinos, the dealer’s second card is not drawn until everyone plays their hand. |
| No Limit (Poker) | In this poker variation players can bet and raise as much as they want. |
| NRSA (Blackjack) | An acronym that means No Resplit Aces. |
| Nudge | A feature that lets players move slot reels up or down. While common in online slots, this bonus can be found in UK fruit machines. |
| Nuts (Poker) | Also known as a Royal Flush (in Hold’Em), this is the strongest hand a player can have. |
O
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Odd or Even (Roulette) | A predictive bet that sees whether the winner is an odd or an even number. |
| Off (Craps) | Referring to lammers or marker pucks that are placed on bets made by craps players to show they are inactive. |
| Off-Suited (Poker) | A hand with different suits. |
| Offsuit (Poker) | When the dealer gives a player two cards of different suits. |
| Omaha (Poker) | A poker variation in which players need to use 2 out of 4 cards, along with 3 community cards to win. |
| One-Armed Bandit | An old term for slot machines normally linked to old slots with levers. |
| Online Slot | Slot games have been migrating to the online world with huge success since 1994. The first of these slots were computer versions of pre-existing games. Nowadays the majority of games are online. |
| Orphans (Roulette) | Betting on three numbers close to each other on the Roulette wheel. |
| Out (Poker) | The card that gives a player a winning hard. |
| Outrun (Poker) | When a poker hand beats another poker hand. |
| Outside bet (Roulette) | The opposite of an inside bet. |
| Outside number (Craps) | Betting on 4, 5, 9, 10. |
| Over-Pair (Poker) | A pair of cards that beats community cards. |
| Overcard (Poker) | The highest card in a hand, which beats all community cards. |
P
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Paint (Blackjack) | A picture card – Either the Jack, the Queen, or the King cards. |
| Pair (Blackjack) | A two-card hand that has cards of the same value. Pairs of cards can be split. |
| Palette (Baccarat) | A long tool made of wood used to move cards around the table. |
| Parlay (Roulette) | Having a bet doubled after winning. |
| Parlay (Craps) | To let winnings ride on the next bet. |
| Pass (Baccarat) | A Baccarat game win. |
| Pass (Craps) | The same as pass bet and pass line bet, this bet wins when before rolling a seven, an established point is made, or when a seven or eleven is rolled on the come out roll. This bet is popular because of the 1.41% house advantage it carries. |
| Pay Off (Poker) | When a player calls a bet even though they think they are going to lose. |
| Payback Percentage | Refer to Return to Player Rate (RTP) |
| Payline | When matching symbols become a winning combination. |
| Payout | Money received for getting a winning combination. |
| Paytable | Another name for ‘payout table’ which lists the winnings amounts for several combinations of symbols. |
| Penny Slots | Machines in land-based casinos with low bets (pennies). If more than one payline are present, players must place a bet way that is more than one penny to activate all penny slots. |
| Perfect Pair (Blackjack) | A bet also known as ‘Any Pair’ which uses the two cards initially dealt. Without the cards, this bet becomes a loss. If the player has a pair, they can benefit from three payouts |
| Perfect Play (Blackjack) | Playing a hand according to an accepted blackjack strategy. |
| Pink Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $2.50. |
| Pit (Blackjack) | Where players sit around (the table). |
| Pit (Baccarat) | This is the area in a casino where high-rollers play Baccarat at high stakes. This is an exclusive casino area, and is separated by a red rope. |
| Place Bet (Craps) | A wager that a particular point or number will be rolled before a seven. |
| Play the Board (Poker) | When all 5 community cards are used to make a hand (instead of using hole cards). |
| Player Bet (Baccarat) | Along with Banker and Tie bets, a player bet (which is the opposite to banker bets) is one other type of bet that pays 1:1 and has a house advantage of slightly more than 1%. The person playing the game is known as a Punter. |
| Player Pair (Blackjack) | A side bet that pays a player when a pair is dealt to the player (either mixed, colour, or suited). The return varies depends on the type of pair. Refer to ‘Dealer Pair’ and ‘Perfect Pair’. |
| Ploppy (Blackjack) | A player who is very bad at playing Blackjack. The origins of this word come from Frank Scoblete who coined it to describe a person who sits at a table without knowing how to count cards and play with a good strategy. |
| Pockets (Roulette) | The spaces where the Roulette balls land on the wheel. |
| Point (Craps) | When, on the come out roll, a shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. That number becomes the point and must be re-rolled before a seven is rolled b y the shooter. |
| Pokies | How Australians refer to slot machines. |
| Positive Progression (Blackjack) | A strategy in which players to up the amount of the bet after winning, which is aimed at maximizing profits when winning streaks happen, and limiting losses. |
| Positive Progression (Roulette) | Increasing bets after a win. |
| Pot (Poker) | All of the blinds and bets combined in a game. |
| Pot Limit (Poker) | Limits on the bet or raise made by a poker player. In Omaha, bets cannot be higher than the pot. |
| Pre Flop (Poker) | The first poker game betting round. |
| Primary Jackpot | The highest prize from a pokie machine. |
| Progressive Jackpot | These jackpots, which have a slightly lower RTP, are not fixed. Each wager builds a progressive pot that continues growing. |
| Prop Bets (Craps) | A one-roll bet where you either hit the bet on the next roll, or lose. |
| Punto (Baccarat) | Also known as Punter, this term refers to the players. |
| Punto Banco (Baccarat) | One of the most widespread Baccarat variations, Punto Banco (meaning Player Banker) was developed in 1950s Argentina, before being played in Cuba, then the USA. |
| Purple / Barney Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $500. |
| Push (Blackjack) | When a player and the dealer have the same hand value, the player’s bet is returned. |
| Push (Baccarat) | A neutral bet that is neither a winning nor a losing one. The amount players have decided to bet, is held over for then next round. |
Q
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Quads (Poker) | When a player has four of the same value (for example a 5 of diamonds). |
| Quarter bet (Roulette) | Just like Corner Bet. |
R
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Railroad (Baccarat) | A Baccarat version commonly known as Chemin de Fer, Railroad was very popular in late 19th century France. When the game made it to the USA, it was referred to as Chemmy. |
| Raise (Poker) | When a bet made by another player is increased by a different player. |
| Rake (Poker) | The percentage that casinos take from a poker game pot. |
| Rakeback (Poker) | Often offered as a promotion by online casinos, rakeback is when a player is given the chance to win a percentage of the rake. |
| Random Number Generator (RNG) | RNGs work by having a pokie game’s numbers or symbols randomly generated, and eliminate a person’s ability to predict a future numerical result. |
| Red Bet (Roulette) | An even money Outside Bet paying out 1:1. |
| Red Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $5. |
| Red or Black (Roulette) | A bet that is based on the colours that a roulette table has (red and black) except for the colour green (zero). The odds for this bet are 1:1. |
| Reel Stop | Refer to skill stop. |
| Reels | The part of a pokie machine that shows the symbols. Although the majority of modern slot machines are 3 and 5-reel ones, these can have any number of reels. |
| Resplit (Blackjack) | Splitting a hand after an initial split. |
| Return to Player Rate (RTP) | The percentage of money you might get returned on your bets over time as winnings. Although volatility seems more important during a session, RTP shows how profitable a pokie game will be. |
| Reverse Martingale (Roulette) | Halving a bet whenever a trade loss occurs. Every time there is a gain, this bet is doubled. |
| Right Bettor (Craps) | Craps players who bet on the pass line. |
| Risk of Ruin (Blackjack) | The mathematical chance of a player losing their whole bankroll. |
| River (Poker) | The last community card (out of 5 cards). |
| Roulette Chip (Roulette) | Unmarked chips used for Roulette which come in different colours and in one denomination. |
| Round (Blackjack) | A game round which, in blackjack, starts with having no cards on the table when bets are placed. The round stops when hands have been played and bets have been paid out. |
| Rows | Symbols’ horizontal lines displayed in the slot screen. It is very important that although slot games show different numbers of rows, the paylines are active. |
| RSA (Blackjack) | An acronym that means Resplit Aces. |
| Run (Baccarat) | A side bet that allows players to bet on a series of hands. |
| Running Count (Blackjack) | This is the total value of the count (when card counting) |
S
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Scatter Symbol | Extremely popular, most new games have this feature. These symbol types are special bonus symbols markes in a game’s paytable. |
| Seven Out (Craps) | When a seven is rolled by the craps shooter after establishing the point. |
| Shark (Poker) | A person who is seen as a master poker player. |
| Shills (Baccarat) | A casino staff member whose job is to get players to play a game of Baccarat. |
| Shoe (Blackjack) | A designated box where cards are placed and dealt from. |
| Shoe (Baccarat / Blackjack) | An automatic dealing machine that contains six or eight decks of cards, used to prevent human factor errors in manual dealing. The shoe is used in both land-based and online Baccarat games. |
| Shooter (Baccarat) | This term describes the Bank. |
| Shooter (Craps) | The person rolling the dice at the craps table who is required to place a line bet to roll the dice. |
| Short Win | Slang for a big win obtained quickly. Hitting the jackpot with few spins makes it a short win. |
| Showdown / Heads Up (Poker) | When more than one person remains after the last round, players must show their cards to reveal the winner. |
| Shuffle Up (Baccarat) | The early card shuffling done by the dealer. |
| Side Bet (Blackjack) | Especially popular in Live Blackjack, a side bet that is separate from the main bet where a player must first place the main bet. Since side bets are independent of the main bet’s result, the player could win one bet and not the other. |
| Side Card (Poker) | Refer to Kicker. |
| Side Count (Blackjack) | Counting cards by finding out how many Aces have been drawn so far and is done where betting accuracy is different from playing accuracy. There are many side count techniques such as specially-made counts for games that do not have a standard profitable-play option. |
| Signature Slots | A brand of pokies that are unique to a particular casino. |
| Simplified Craps (Craps) | A very simplified craps version involving no side bets. |
| Single number Bet (Roulette) | Exactly like Straight (up) and pays out 35:1. |
| Single Zero Roulette (Roulette) | European Roulette. |
| Six Card Charlie (Blackjack) | When a 6-card bust-free hand automatically gives a player a win. Refer to Charlie. |
| Six Line Bet (Roulette) | A line bet that pays 5:1 on 6 numbers. |
| Skill (Baccarat) | This term is jokingly used to show a player’s good run. |
| Skill Bonus | Although rare since many pokies are built to be accessed by the wider public, skill bonus require players to have certain skills (such as a shooting game during a bonus round). |
| Skill Stop | A special feature which helps players stop a spin earlier. |
| Slant Top | A modern land-based slot machine that is becoming popular around the world, that saves space and provides a more immersive experience for its players. |
| Slot Club | This casino aimed at regular players is also known as ‘player’s club’. In many cases players receive a special card that helps them track their games and awards comp points and different casino rewards. |
| Slot Host | A land-based casino employee who assists customers and handles slot club issues. |
| Slot tournament | A competition taking place on slot machines that has many different formats and rules. |
| Small Blind (Poker) | The player on the dealer’s left. Refer to Big Blind. |
| Snake Eyes (Craps) | Slang for rolling two ones, or a total of two |
| Soft Hand (Blackjack) | A hand that counts an Ace as having a value of 11. Having an Ace and a 6 makes it a soft 17. |
| Soft Total (Blackjack) | The total of any cards in a hand which includes an Ace’s 11 value – without going over 21. |
| Sound of Rain | The sound of coins falling when a player hit a win in classic land-based slot machines. |
| Spin | A replacement for the classic pokie machine lever, the spin button activates the spin. |
| Split (Blackjack) | When a player has a pair, they can either play or split that pair, and get a new card on both to start two completely new hands. The player will be asked to place another bet that is the same as the original bet. |
| Split Bet (Roulette) | Betting on 2 side by side numbers on a table. Such a bet pays out 17:1. |
| Square bet (Roulette) | Just like Corner Bet. |
| Stacked Symbols | A feature found mainly in online pokies which features stacked matching symbols on nearby positions in one reel. Stacked symbols add up to the odds of landing a winning combination. |
| Stacked Wilds | Wild symbols stacked vertically – similar to stacked symbols. Stacked wilds are good for multiple paylines which is what many players look out for. |
| Stand (Blackjack) | To stop receiving cards from the dealer. |
| Stand 17 (S17) (Blackjack) | A Blackjack rule that says that the dealer must stand when sitting on a Soft 17. |
| Stand Off (Blackjack) | When a player and the dealer have the same hand value, the player’s bet is returned. |
| Standard Deviation (Blackjack) | Defined as the way numbers are spread out, Standard Deviation refers to how far or how often an outcome will move away from the average. |
| Standing Hand (Blackjack) | A hand with a value of 17 or higher. |
| Standoff (Baccarat) | A standoff happens when both Player and Bank hands have the same value. |
| Stickman (Craps) | The craps table employee responsible for returning the dice to the craps shooter and for calling out the dice roll results. This employee also places proposition bets, as well as paying them out. |
| Stiff Hand (Blackjack) | A hand with a value of 12-16. |
| Straight (up) Bet (Roulette) | A single number bet that pays out 35:1. |
| Streaky Slots | Slot games which used to have hot and cold streaks, which are becoming less frequent due to complex modern Random Number Generators (RNG). |
| Street Bet (Roulette) | A bet that has 11:1 odds and an 8% winning chance. A bet number on the betting surface is called a street. |
| Super Pan Nine (Baccarat) | A Baccarat variant popular at Los Angeles poker casinos. In this game, all players are dealt three hands-down cards. One player acts as the bank. |
| Surrender (Blackjack) | This is an option to let go of half your bet if you don’t think you can beat the dealer. Refer to ‘Early Surrender’ and ‘Late Surrender’. |
| Symbols | The icon on the reels, symbols are important for gameplay not just visually, but also to aid in the gameplay. There are numerous special symbols in modern video slots. |
T
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Table of Play (Baccarat) | The rules describing the scores which allow players to be given a third card. |
| Taking the Odds (Craps) | Placing an odds bet. |
| Texas Hold’Em (Poker) | This most common type of poker game involves playing with 5 community cards after players are given 2 cards. A winning hand must be created by using the cards in the player’s hand together with the community cards. |
| The Field Bet (Craps) | A bet that the next roll is either a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. |
| The James Bond Strategy (Roulette) | A system based on three unique bets covering more than 67% of possible roulette table outcomes. |
| Third Base (Blackjack) | The position of the player who has to act last before the dealer. |
| Three-Liner | A slot type featuring 3 reels where players must hit 3 matching symbols to win the big prize. |
| Tie (Blackjack) | When a player and the dealer have the same hand value, the player’s bet is returned. |
| Tie (Baccarat) | The Tie bet is one of three possible Baccarat bets (besides Player and Banker bets). If a Tie bet occurs, the player and banker get their bets returned. The Tie bet pays 8:1 or 9:1 and has a more than 14% House Edge. |
| Tight Slots | These pokies are seen as less frequently paying ones that have bad streaks (similar to cold slots). |
| Tilt (Poker) | Slang for a player who is irritated after losing their bet. |
| Toke (Blackjack) | Also known as a tip. Although you don’t need to tip staff in a real casino, it is nice to do so. |
| Top 3 (Blackjack) | Another bet used along with the 21 + 3 bet, in which the player’s first two cards and the dealer’s up card combine for a 3-card poker hand. If the three cards make a Suited Three of a Kind, a Straight Flush, or a Three of a Kind, the player wins. Refer also to the Blackjack variation called ‘Lucky Lady’. |
| Total Bet | All money wagered on a single spin. |
| Trail | A bonus feature that allows players to progress and unlock new awards on a prize track. |
| Trio Bet (Roulette) | Exactly like Street Bet. |
| True Count (Blackjack) | The count per deck calculated by dividing the Running Count by remaining number of deck of cards to be dealt. |
| Tumbling Reels | Refer to ‘Cascading Reels’. |
| Turn (Poker) | The card facing up (normally the fourth community card), after the flop cards. |
U
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Under the Gun (Poker) | The player who starts the pre-flop round and is on the big blind’s left. |
| Underdog (Poker) | The player no one expects to win. |
| Up Card (Blackjack) | The dealer’s card received on the first deal – facing up. |
V
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Variance | Refer to ‘Volatility’. |
| Variance (Blackjack) | The difference in advantage expected by a player, and the results achieved. |
| Video Poker (Poker) | A poker variant played in a slot machine. When playing online, the game is played between the player and the computer, instead of the player against another player. |
| Video Slots | The type of pokie games that were popular since the 1980s. Video slots are usually virtual and have better visual effects together with 5 reels and many paylines. With Fortune Coin being the first of its kind (in 1978), video slots quickly took over mechanical games. |
| Vigorish (Baccarat) | The percentage of winnings taken by the casino. |
| Virtual Reel | Certain reels that are not mechanical, are virtual. Reels like this help increase the jackpots and allow for more combinations. |
| Visual Wheel Tracking (Roulette) | Measuring how fast a wheel spins and its characteristics to gain an advantage and predict where the ball will land. |
| Volatility | Another name for variance, the volatility of a pokie game ranges from low, medium, or high. Pokies that have a low volatility offer frequent payouts and smaller prizes, thus making them low-risk. Highly volatile pokies give out big payments, but their risk is high because players could walk out without any winnings. |
W
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Wager | Refer to ‘Bet’. |
| Whale (Blackjack) | A player who plays at high limits due to being rich. |
| Wheel (Roulette) | A horizontal spinning wheel split up into 37 or 38 numbered coloured slots. |
| Wide Are Progressive (WAP) | Slots with this type of jackpot form part of a slot machine network linked in a single pot for jackpot wins. Most online progressive jackpot slots could be seen as WAP jackpot, as these are generally bigger. |
| Wild Multiplier | A wild symbol also acting as a multiplier. |
| Wild Symbol | A special symbol in a slot that is replaceable by another symbol (a Joker). When this lands on a payline it can change a much-needed symbol. Wilds increase the chance of getting a good combination. |
| Win | Wins come in the form of matching symbols on an active payline which can differ from one game to the other due to the different bonus features and rules. |
| Win marker (Roulette) | A marker that designates the winning number. |
| Win-Both-Ways | Games where combinations pay from left-right and right-left. |
| Wonging (Blackjack) | To count back and only bet when a player has the edge. |
| Wrong Bettor (Craps) | A player who bets on don’t pass or don’t come. |
Y
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Yellow/Orange/Pumpkin Chip (Blackjack) | A chip worth $1,000 |
| Yo (Craps) | Slang for the Number 11 to differentiate from the Number 7. |
Z
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Zig-Zag | Modern video pokies contain many more paylines than the classic slots that had straight lines. This means that paylines nowadays feature a zig-zag rather than straight lines. |
Learning the casino lingo
The aim of this dictionary is to make sure that you are well-equipped before your next casino game round. After all, playing your favourite casino games without knowing what’s going on, is not a good strategy!
Your gaming experience becomes way better when you know what each casino term used at casino sites in New Zealand mean.
Apart from keeping Responsible Gambling in mind, don’t forget to go out there and have fun!