GAMBLING GLOSSARY

Here are some useful terms and explaining exactly what they mean....

Ante
A small potion of the minimum bet players are required to put in the pot before the game starts.

Bankroll
The total money available for gambling by the player.

Break-even point
If you played forever the amount of money you would win would equal the money you spent.

Bump
Raising the bet.

Card counting
After the deck is shuffled, keeping track of all the cards dealt.

Card sharp
An expert at card games.

Casino advantage
The size of the edge the casino has over the players.

Chips
These are round disks that used instead of cash in casinos.

Cold
A non-paying slot machine or a person who is constantly losing.

Croupier
The French word for the dealer.

Cut
When the dealer splits the deck in two and swaps them around after shuffling them well.

Deal
The giving of cards to players

Deuce
A card with a two on it

Dice
A pair of die with the same numbers.

Die
A cube with six sides and the numbers one to six on each side.

Draw button
In a virtual poker game this button draws five more cards for the player to use.

Edge
When a player has an advantage over another.

Even money
A bet that will pay you back double your original bet.

Expected win rate
If playing a game forever this is the % rate that you would expect to win at the game.

Face cards
The royal cards in a deck of cards.

Flat top
When a jackpot is always fixed at a certain value on a slot machine instead of going up over time.

Four of a kind
Four cards of the same number.

Hand
This refers to the cards you are holding.

High roller
A person who spends a lot of money betting.

Hit
To take another card in a card game.

Holding your own
Not winning/losing any money, staying even.

HiLo
Also known as High-lo, Hi lo, high and low. A game in which you guess whether the next card will be higher or lower than the last.

Hot
A player who is continuously winning.

House Edge
The % of each bet that the casino takes in.

Jackpot
A big win on a slot machine or lotto game.

Load up
Playing the maximum amount of money in a gambling machine or slot machine possible.

Loose
When a slot machine is paying out a lot and gives the casino a small profit.

Number pool
The size of the numbers that you can select from in a game, e.g. 1-49.

Odds
The ratio of probabilities between winning and losing.

Outside bets
Betting 12 to 18 numbers at roulette at one time.

Overlay
When the player has an edge over the casino.

Pair
Two cards which have the same number.

Pass
To fold or not bid that round.

Payoff
The money you will win on a bet.

Payout Percentage
The % that a machine is programmed to pay back to the player when they are using it.

Probability
The likelihood that an event will occur; can be between 0 and 1.

Progressive
When the jackpot on a slot machine increases with each coin put in.

Rank
The number on a card.

Red-black bet
A bet on whether the next number/card will be red or black.

Reel
The spinning wheel inside a slot machine.

Shuffle
When the dealer mixes the cards in a deck.

Three of a kind
The cards with the same number.

True odds
The ratio of winning against losing.