Gambling Glossary

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All In
A player is considered to be all-in when he/she bets all his/her remaining chips.

Ante
In poker, a small portion of the minimum bet that each player is required to put into the pot before a new hand starts.

Banker
In a card game, dealer or the players who books the action of the other bettors at the table.

Bankroll
A players total available gambling money.

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

Bet
Your wager.

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.

Board
In poker, the community cards dealt face-up in the centre of the table are referred to as on the board.

Bring-In
In seven-card stud, the bring-in is a mandatory bet made by the player with the lowest upcard in the first round of betting.

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.

Casino Advantage
The edge that the house has over the players.

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.

Comp Points
A loyalty scheme run by William Hill Casino which rewards players with comp points which can be converted into cash.

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
When the dealer divides a deck into two parts and inverts them after they have been well shuffled.

Deal
To give out the cards during a hand.

Designated Dealer
In poker games like Texas hold'em, the player to the left of the dealer bets first. In a poker room where each game has a resident dealer, a different player serves as the designated dealer for each hand.

Deuce
A two.

Dice
Two identical numbered cubes.

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

Discard Tray
A tray on the dealers right side that holds all the cards that have been played or discarded.

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.

Even Money
A bet that pays you back the same amount that you wagered, plus your original wager. shown as a ratio of 1:1.

Face Cards
The jack, queen, and king of any suit of cards.

Fifth Street
In seven-card stud, the third round of betting is called fifth street because players have five cards. In hold'em , fifth street is the fifth card on board and the final round of betting.

Flop
In a game of hold'em, the three cards dealt face-up in the centre of the table.

Flush
In poker, a hand consisting of five cards of one suit.

Fold
In poker, when a player declines a bet and drops out of the hand.

Foul
In pai gow poker, a hand is fouled when the two-card low hand is set higher than the five-card high hand, or when the hands are set with the wrong number of cards. A fouled hand is a losing hand.

Four Of A Kind
Four cards of the same rank, also known as quads.

Fourth Street
In seven-card stud, the second round of betting is called fourth street because players have four cards. In hold'em, fourth street is the fourth card on board and the third round of betting.

Full House
In poker, a hand consisting of a three of a kind and a pair.

Hand
Refers to the cards that you hold, or to everything that happens in a card game between shuffles of the deck.

Hit
In blackjack, to take another card. The card received is also called a hit.

Hold'Em
A class of poker games.

Hole Card
In blackjack, the facedown card that the dealer gets. In stud and hold'em poker, the facedown cards dealt to each player.

House Edge
The percentage of each bet that you make that the house takes in. Winning bets are paid off at less than the true odds to generate income for the house.

Inside Bets
A roulette bet placed on any number, or small combination of numbers.

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.

Joker
The 53rd card in a deck, sometimes used as a wild card.

Keno Board
A large electronic board that displays the winning keno numbers.

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.

Marker
A check that can be written at the gaming tables by a player who has established credit with the casino.

Muck
The act of throwing your cards away because you cannot or did not win the pot. They are ineligable to win the pot if they are mucked.

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.

Odds
Ratio of probabilities.

Open
In poker, the player who bets first.

Outside Bets
Roulette bets located on the outside part of the layout. They involve betting 12 to 18 numbers at one time.

Pair
Any two cards that have the same rank.

Pass
To not bet, to fold.

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.

Pit Boss
The person who supervises all the games and casino personnel associated with a pit during a particular work shift. Pit bosses are in place to watch for cheating, settle disputes, and give comps to big bettors.

Pocket
Your first two down cards. Hold'em players tend to call them pocket cards,stud players tend to call them hole cards.

Pot
In a poker game, the amount of money that accumulates in the middle of the table as each player antes, bets, and raises. The pot goes to the winner of the hand.

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.

Push
A tie hand between a dealer and a player; no money changes hands. A push at blackjack occurs when both the player and the dealer have a unbusted hands with the same total points.

Quads
Four of a kind.

Qualifier
In poker, the minimum standard a hand must meet in order for it to be eligible for part of the pot.

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.

Rank
The worth of a set of cards.

Reel
A wheel inside a slot machine window on which the slot machine symbols are printed. The number of reels per slot machine may very but are usually three.

River
In poker, the final card dealt in a hand of stud or hold'em. In seven-card stud, staying in until the fifth and final round of betting is called going to the river.

Royal Flush
In poker, an ace-high straight flush; the best possible hand.

Session
A series of plays at any gambling game.

Set
In pai gow poker, players set their seven cards into two separate hands of two and five cards each.

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.

Soft Hand
In blackjack, any hand that contains an ace counted as eleven is called a soft hand.

Stand
In blackjack, to stand is to refrain from taking another card.

Straight
In poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks.

Straight Flush
In poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the same suit.

Surrender
In blackjack, to give up half your bet for the privilege of not playing out a hand. In roulette, you effectively lose only half on an even-money bet when the ball lands on 0.

Three of a Kind
Having three cards of the same value.

Two Pair
A hand consisting of two pairs of cards with the same value.