Learn Casino Lingo
Casino lingo refers to the specialized vocabulary and terms used in the gambling and casino industry. Sometimes a trip to the casino can help you forget all your worries and woes. You can sit back, enjoy the familiar feeling of the slot machine lever, or take your chances with the dealer. While you may consider yourself quite the gambler, how well do you really know the casino and all the lingo and terms it holds? It can be easy to get by with just knowing a few of the common terms and phrases used by those in the know, but why not try to impress them and up your game by learning a few phrases of your own?
Table of Contents
Introduction
There is a whole bag of casino lingo (terminology) associated with casinos and gambling, and many countries have their own terms and phrases. You might hear some oddball expressions when visiting a casino in another country and be sent for a bit of a mind-spin, but there are some terms that are universal and used by most if not every casino.
Learn casino lingo terms will help you understand the game better, and keep up with the dealer and fellow players. Get really into the game and spit out your newly-learnt words – they might consider you a professional!
All the casino lingo!
Action – The total bet on a wager on the table at the time.
Active Player – A player still playing in the game.
Adding on – Buying more chips.
Aggregate limit – The payout liability of the casino during a game.
All or nothing – A player will either win if he has all the cards, or lose and walk away empty-handed.
Ante – The minimum amount required to bet or wager by each player to begin a game. This is found often in poker.
Arm – A special technique used in craps to get a favoured number thrown towards the end wall using a dice.
Automatic club – No dealers are found, fully automatic casino.
Banker – Another name for a dealer in a casino.
Barred – Entry is prohibited to some players or gamblers.
Beef – There is a dispute between the dealer and the player.
Beginners luck – A gambler who is lucky and wins frequently on their first gambling experience.
Betting limits – The minimum and maximum wager required by the table per game.
Beard – A player betting for another to hide identity.
Blind Bet – Betting without looking at your cards. Commonly found in poker.
Blinds – This is in Texas Hold ‘Em – a forced bet for every player.
Keep going – some more interesting (words) to learn casino lingo…
Bookie – The person permitting bets.
Bookmarker – The person accepting betting.
Buck – A bet of a hundred dollars/rands
Bug – A joker card
Buy In – Converting chips to cash or game chips into casino chops. The chips hold no actual value so they need to be bought or exchanged for money.
Capping – This is a term for cheating in roulette. It is deceitfully adding more chips to the bet after you have won.
Card Counting – Done in Blackjack. Players count the cards in the deck as they are played and estimate the outcome. This helps them better their chances of winning.
Carousel – A place near the slot machines to exchange cash and chips.
Case Money – Urgent money.
Chase – A bet to offset the loss of the previous bet.
Chip Tray – The tray holding the chips in front of the dealer.
Croupier – A European term for the dealer. Also used in Baccarat.
D’Alembert Rule – Reducing the bet by one if they win and increasing by one if they win.
Deal – The cards drawn and given to players during a game.
Deuce – Two in Dice.
Dime Bet – A bet of one thousand dollars/rands.
Discard Tray – The tray that holds discarded or used cards.
Double or nothing – A bet paying the same amount as the wager or nothing at all if lost.
Dog – A player who is expected to lose.
Drop – A lost bet in a game.
Edge – Having the upper hand on other players.
En Prison – In roulette the bet is worsened if the player loses, or increased if the player wins.
Eyes in the sky – referring to the camera and security watching through cameras in the casino.
Keep going about casino lingo
Face cards – These are the cards in the deck with pictures printed – King, Queen, Jack and Aces.
Ficheur – The dealer hands each player a different coloured chip.
Fish – The player who loses the most money.
Flat Betting – Betting the same amount on each hand without increasing or reducing the bet.
Flat Top – A fixed jackpot. It isn’t progressive and will not fluctuate.
Grease – An illegal bribe offered to the dealer.
GOY – Game of the Year
Gross Winning – A player’s total winnings.
Half Dollar Bet – A bet of fifty dollars/rands.
Hand – The set of cards that a player has in a game. Usually found in table games.
Hit – In Blackjack, this means receiving another card.
Hot – A gambler wins often.
Jackpot – The amount of money won by a player in a game.
Juice – Commission is taken by the casino.
Kicker – A high-ranking card not supporting flush or straight.
Lay the odds – Betting on your number in roulette.
Middle – Betting on both sides of the game to ensure a win.
Martingale – Doubling the bet after every loss to offset the loss when winning.
Multi-Player Casino – Online casino games that allow players to play against each other.
MVG – A Casino’s Most Valued Guest.
Net Winnings – A player’s net winnings.
Almost there – Casino Lingo
Number Pool – Range of numbers to learn casino lingo while you play in a game.
Odds – Chances of winning.
Pallete – A wooden board used to keep track of the score in Baccarat.
Pass – Folding and not betting on a round.
Payline – Reels lining up in the slots machine to win.
Pigeon – A new/ignorant player.
Plug – A shuffling technique used for cards.
Pot – This is in the middle of the table in which all the bets and wagers are kept.
Progressive – The amount of the jackpot increases with each play.
Push – This is a tie.
Quads – Four of a type in poker.
River – The last card dealt in poker.
Royal Flush – A full five cards of the same suit that are a ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace.
Snake eyes – Playing a two in craps.
Tap out – Quitting or leaving after losing too much in the casino is one of the casino lingo.
Whale – Big money betters.
Now that you have some new words to use as casino lingo, why not go test them out at the casino tonight ?
