Core Topics
Casino Glossary
The vocabulary used on the gaming floor, at online tables, and throughout the guides on this site.
The list on this page covers the terms used on the gaming floor, at online tables, and throughout the game guides on this site. General terms are listed first, then merged with the vocabulary specific to each game so that everything appears in a single alphabetical sequence.
Some of these words carry a different meaning outside a gaming room. The sense given here is the one used at the table and in operators' rule documents.
Five Terms That Are Most Often Misread
The five terms below are frequently used loosely, and the confusion affects how people play.
- House edge
- Not a fee deducted each round, but a long-run average across all bets. A single session can land far from it. The full explanation is on the house edge and odds page.
- Return to player
- Not a promise that 96% of a player's money comes back in one session, but an average across millions of spins by all players.
- Volatility
- Not a measure of how much can be won, but of how widely results are spread. High volatility means deep swings, not better odds.
- True odds
- A payout exactly equal to the real probability of a result. Only the odds bet in craps meets that standard.
- Near miss
- A display showing symbols or numbers close to a winning combination. It says nothing about the next round.
How to Use This Glossary
The alphabetical list below contains general terms together with the vocabulary drawn from all ten game guides. Terms used in only one game also appear in the terminology section of that game's guide.
Use the letter bar to jump to a group, or the search box at the top of the page to find a single term.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does house edge mean in plain terms?
It is the cost of playing. A figure of 2.70% means that of every 100 units staked, about 2.70 units do not come back to the player as a long-run average.
What is the difference between a dealer, a pit boss and the cage?
A dealer runs one table and deals the cards or spins the wheel. A pit boss oversees a group of tables and settles disputes. The cage is the cashier where chips are exchanged for cash.
Can chips be used at another table?
Value chips are generally accepted at every table in a casino. The exception is roulette chips, which carry a colour unique to one player and are valid only at the table where they were bought.
What is a side bet?
An extra wager alongside the main bet, such as Player Pair in baccarat or insurance in blackjack. The payouts are large, but the house edge is almost always several times that of the main bet.
Why is so much casino vocabulary French and English?
Modern table games developed in France and England before spreading to America and Asia, and the vocabulary travelled with them. Roulette keeps French terms such as la partage, while card games keep English ones such as push and surrender.
A
- Ante
- A compulsory bet made before the cards are dealt in some card games, including Ultimate Texas Hold'em.
B
- Bankroll
- Money set aside specifically for play, kept separate from everyday finances.
- Basic strategy
- The list of decisions with the highest expected value for every combination of player hand and dealer upcard.
- Bet
- A wager, or the act of opening the betting in a round of poker.
- Betting limits
- The minimum and maximum stake accepted at a table, printed on a sign at its side.
- Big
- A bet on a total of 11 to 17, which loses when all three dice match.
- Big road
- The results board format recording Player and Banker wins in descending columns.
- Blind
- A forced bet posted by the two players to the left of the dealer button before the cards are dealt.
- Bust
- A hand worth more than 21. It loses immediately, even if the dealer later busts as well.
- Buy-in
- The amount of cash exchanged for chips when joining a table.
C
- Cage
- The casino cashier, where chips are exchanged for cash.
- Catch
- A number on the ticket that appears in the draw.
- Chip
- The substitute for cash at the table. Roulette chips carry a distinct colour per player and are valid only at that table.
- Combination
- A bet on two different dice faces, both of which must appear.
- Come out roll
- The first roll of a craps round.
- Commission
- The five percent deduction from winning Banker bets, charged to offset that hand's advantage.
- Comp
- A benefit granted by a casino on the basis of recorded play, such as food or a room.
- Continuous shuffler
- A machine that returns and reshuffles cards constantly so that the composition of the shoe cannot be tracked.
D
- Dealer
- The member of staff who runs a table. A dealer makes no decisions beyond the rules of the game.
- Denomination
- The value of a single chip or machine credit.
- Dolly
- The marker placed by the dealer on the winning number. Chips must not be touched while it stands.
- Double down
- Doubling a blackjack stake on condition that exactly one further card is taken.
- Dragon
- The left-hand side of the table, which receives the first card of each round.
- Draw
- The selection of twenty numbers from the pool of eighty.
- Drop box
- The sealed box at the table into which player cash is deposited after chips are issued.
E
- En prison
- The rule holding an even-money bet for the next spin after the ball lands in zero.
- Even-money bet
- A bet paying 1:1, namely red or black, odd or even, and the two halves of the numbers.
- Expected value
- The average result of a bet repeated a great many times, expressed as a share of the stake.
F
- Flat betting
- Playing at a fixed stake every round, without doubling or stepping up.
- Flop
- The first three community cards, exposed together.
- Full-pay table
- The highest payout schedule a variant has ever used, such as 9/6 in Jacks or Better.
H
- Half stake
- The rule that takes half of each Dragon and Tiger bet when the two cards are of equal rank.
- Hand signal
- The standard gesture used to convey a decision at the table so that it is captured on camera.
- Hard way
- A bet that an even total will be made from two dice of equal value.
- High roller
- A player staking very large amounts, usually hosted in a separate room.
- Hit frequency
- The share of rounds that produce a payout of any size.
- Hold
- The button that marks a card to be kept through the draw.
- House edge
- The share of each bet that does not come back to the player as a long-run average.
J
- Juice
- Another word for the commission or deduction charged by the operator.
K
- Kicker
- The side card that decides the winner when two players hold the same type of hand.
- King
- A number circled on its own that counts as part of every group on the ticket.
L
- La partage
- The French rule returning half of an even-money bet when the ball lands in zero.
- Laying odds
- The don't pass form of the odds bet: staking more to win less.
M
- Marker
- An object placed by the dealer, such as the one on the winning roulette number.
- Mini baccarat
- A small table with one dealer, lower limits and faster rounds.
N
- Natural
- A hand worth 8 or 9 on the first two cards. The round stops at once.
O
- Odds
- An additional bet placed after the point is set, paid at true odds with no house edge.
P
- Pay line
- A path across the reels that is checked for winning combinations.
- Penetration
- The share of a shoe dealt before a reshuffle.
- Pit
- A group of tables overseen by one floor supervisor.
- Pit boss
- The supervisor responsible for a group of tables.
- Point
- The number 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 established on the come out roll, which must be repeated.
- Pot
- The pool of all bets made during one hand.
- Progressive jackpot
- A prize accumulated from a share of every stake across a network of machines.
- Punto Banco
- The version of baccarat in which the drawing rules are fixed and carried out by the dealer. It is the version dealt in almost every casino.
- Push
- A tie that returns the stake to the player in full.
R
- Rake
- The deduction taken from the pot in player-versus-player games, principally poker.
- Random number generator
- The software that settles machine and online game results, tested by independent laboratories.
- Return to player
- The share of all money staked that comes back to players over the long run.
- Rien ne va plus
- The dealer's announcement that betting is closed.
- River
- The fifth and final community card.
- Royal flush
- Ten, jack, queen, king and ace of one suit; the highest payout in video poker.
S
- Scatter
- A symbol that pays or triggers a feature without needing to sit on a pay line.
- Session
- A single period of play bounded by limits of time or money set in advance.
- Seven out
- A seven appearing before the point is repeated, which ends the round.
- Shaker
- The closed container in which the three dice are tumbled before the result is shown.
- Shoe
- The box holding several shuffled decks from which cards are drawn one at a time.
- Shooter
- The player throwing the dice in that round.
- Showdown
- The reveal of cards after the final betting round.
- Side bet
- An optional wager alongside the main bet, almost always carrying a larger house edge.
- Single number
- A bet on one dice face, paid according to how many times it appears.
- Small
- A bet on a total of 4 to 10, which loses when all three dice match.
- Soft 17
- A total of 17 that counts an ace as eleven, such as ace and 6.
- Spot
- The quantity of numbers marked on a keno ticket.
- Straight up
- A bet on a single number, paying 35:1 on a European wheel.
- Suited Tie
- A side bet that wins when both cards match in rank and in suit.
- Surrender
- Giving up a hand after seeing the dealer upcard, at a cost of half the stake.
- Surveillance
- The camera system recording every table and machine, used to settle disputes.
T
- Table minimum
- The smallest stake a table accepts on one round.
- Ticket out
- The printed voucher issued when machine credit is cashed out, redeemable at the cage.
- Tiger
- The right-hand side of the table, which receives the second card of each round.
- Toke
- A gratuity given to table staff, usually in chips.
- Triple
- The result in which all three dice show the same number.
- Turn
- The fourth community card.
V
- Volatility
- The spread of results in a game: how far actual outcomes stray from the average.
W
- Way ticket
- A ticket with several groups of numbers played as several tickets at once.
- Whale
- A player staking exceptionally large amounts under individually negotiated terms.
- Wild
- A symbol that substitutes for others to complete a combination.
- Wild card
- A card that substitutes for any other, such as a two in Deuces Wild.