Don’t be left out when playing games in the casino! Learn gambling vocabulary as you learn the games. It’s important to understand this so you won’t feel like a novice when playing table games.To get you started, here is the meaning of some of the terminology used in popular gambling games:
BLACKJACK
Basic Strategy – Plays you should make to maximize your advantage
Burn Cards – Removed cards after the shuffle
Bust/Break – Exceeding a hand total of 21
Card Counting – Memorizing played cards with an assigned value
Color Up – Cashing in your chips
Double Down – To double your initial bet following the initial 2 card deal
Even Money – Cashing in your bet for a 1/1 payout when you have a blackjack against a dealer ace
Face Cards – Jacks, Queens, Kings (AKA picture cards)
First Base – First seat to the dealer’s left
Hit/Draw – Calling for another card to add to your hand
Hole Card – The dealer’s face down card
Insurance – A side bet for the player when the dealer has an ace showing
Pat Hand – A had worth at least 17 points
Push/Tie – Player and dealer with the same hand total
Shoe – A device used for holding and dispensing cards
Soft Hand- A hand with an ace counted as 11 or 1
Stiff Hand – A hand with little chance of winning if hit
Surrender – Giving u your hand to lose one half of your bet
Third base – Last seat to the dealer’s right
Up Card – Dealer’s first dealt card face up
CRAPS
Any Craps – A dice total of 2, 3, or 12
Big Red – a bet in the Any Seven box
Boxcars – When the dice total 12
Capped Dice – Crooked dice
Cold Table – When most shooters are not winning
Come Bet – A bet made after the point is established
Come Out Roll – First roll of the dice in a round
Don’t Come Bet – A bet made after the point is established (Outcome is opposite of the Come Bet)
Don’t Pass Bet – Betting against the shooter before the Come Out Roll
Free Odds – An additional bet behind the Pass Line Bet taken at true odds
George – A good tipper
Hardway – A 4,6,8,10 thrown as pairs
Place Bet- Betting that a place number (4-6, 8-10) will be thrown before a 7
Point Number – One of the numbers 4-6, 8-10 made on the come out roll
Press A Bet – To double your bet amount
Proposition Bets – (AKA Prop Bets) one roll and Hardway bets
Right Bettor – Betting that the shooter will win
Seven Out – When a 7 is rolled before the point number
Shooter – Player currently rolling the dice
Snake Eyes – When the dice total 2
Stiff – A poor tipper
Toke – A tip given to the dealer
Vigorish – ( AKA Vig) commission taken by the house
Wrong Bettor – Betting that the shooter will lose
Yo – The number 11 (AKA Yo-Leven)
POKER (TEXAS HOLD’EM STYLE)
Aces Up – A pair of Aces with another pair
All In – Betting all your remaining chips
Ante – The opening bet before dealing begins
Belly Buster – An inside straight draw
Big Slick – An Ace and a King
Blinds – 2 forced bets before any cards are dealt (small blind & big blind)
Boat – Slang for a Full House
Broadway – The highest straight possible with mixed suits, 10, J, Q, K, A
Button – A disk placed in front of a player acting as the dealer
Bullets – A pair of Aces
Call – To match the current bet
Check – To defer making a bet until another player does
Cowboys – Slang for a pair of Kings
Dead Hand – A hand with no chance of winning
Donkey/Fish – A bad player
Drawing Dead – A hand that will lose even if it improves
Flop – The first 3 community cards
Flush – 5 cards of the same suit
Full House – (AKA Boat ) 3 of one kind and 2 of another
Kicker – The highest unpaired card in a hand
Ladies – Slang for a pair of Queens
Muck – Face down discarded hands
Nuts – The highest possible hand
Overcard – A card that is higher than another
Quads- 4 of a kind
Rag(s) – Cards that add no value to your hand
Rainbow – Cards with different suits
River – The 5th and final community card
Rounder – One who makes a living at playing cards
Royal Flush – The highest hand possible, a suited 10, J, Q, K, A
Set/Trips – 3 of a kind
Short Stack – Having the fewest chips at the table
Straight Flush – 5 suited cards in sequential order
Tells – Behavior that gives other players information about how you might play your hand
Tight – Someone who only plays premium hands
Tilt – Desperate to re-coup losses, causing bad decisions
Turn – The 4th community card
Under the Gun – First player to bet after the big blind
Wheel – The lowest straight possible with mixed suits A, 2, 3, 4,5
Wired – A pair dealt in the first 2 cards
So there you have it. Learning this jargon will assist you on your path to becoming a seasoned responsible gambler. Good Luck!
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