Glossary of Gambling Terms
Action - A bet or player's turn to go in a game of poker.
Action Player - A bettor who always makes large bets.
All-in (Poker) - Betting all a player's chips in poker.
American Roulette - A roulette variation with two zero slots instead of one (0 and 00). Also see European Roulette.
Ante (Poker) - A forced bet for all players before action starts.
Any craps (Craps) - A bet placed totaling 2, 3, or 12.
Any seven (Craps) - A bet placed on any 7.
Bad beat (Poker) - An unlucky loss against the odds.
Banker - A dealer or player who books action of other bettors in card games.
Bankroll - Funds available to gamble with.
Big Blind (Poker) - Large forced bet posted before action starts.
Blind (Poker) - A forced bet placed before cards are dealt.
Bluff (Poker) - A bet or raise without the best hand to force a fold.
Board (Poker) - Five shared community cards in Texas Hold'em, a popular poker game named after the famous USA state.
Bottom pair (Poker) - A pair including a hole card and lowest community card.
Bounty (Poker) - Cash awarded for knocking out another player in a tournament.
Bubble (Poker) - A player knocked out one place before the money prizes start.
Burn (Poker) - Discarded card before flop, turn and river are dealt.
Button (Poker) - Mark showing who is in Seat 1 and is last to act.
Buy-in - Money needed to enter a gambling tournament.
Call (Poker) - Match another player's bet.
Calling station (Poker) - Player who matches majority of bets.
Cap - Maximum bet allowed.
Card counting (Blackjack) - Tracking the percentage of high and low cards emerging from decks in order to make bigger winnings.
Cash Game - A poker game with fixed blinds and unlimited rebuys.
Casino - An online site offering a suite of table games and slots to United States players.
Chasing Losses - Increasing your bets as you lose in order to make bigger wins and cover your losses.
Checks - See Chips.
Chips - Counters used to track a player's stack.
Comp - Free cash or bonuses as reward for gambling.
Continuation bet (Poker) - Wager made after the flop by the initial raiser.
Copy (Pai-gow) - Same two or five-card hand.
Credit (Video Poker) - Money already won but not yet cashed out.
Croupier (Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette) – Another word for Dealer.
Cut - Splitting deck of cards after shuffling.
Dealer - Croupier in a casino or the poker player sitting in the first seat.
Deposit - Transfer of money to online gambling or poker account.
Deuce - The 2 card.
Double down (Blackjack) - Doubling an original bet in order to receive one extra card.
Double Zero - The 38th pocket on an American Roulette wheel (00).
Edge – A player's or casino's gambling advantage.
Encryption - Software used by online casino to protect financial transactions.
En Prison - An insurance bet found in French Roulette which lets you win half your stake back in the event of the single zero (0) coming up.
European Roulette - A popular form of roulette featuring just one green zero slot (0).
Even money bet - A bet paying odds of 1:1
E-wallet - Online bank account to manage transactions, especially for gambling sites.
First base (Blackjack) - First position dealt to far left of dealer.
Fish (Poker) - Bad player who bets on too many starting hands and calls bad bets.
Fifth street (Poker) - River card.
Flop (Poker) - The first three community cards dealt on the board.
Flush (Poker) - A poker hand consisting of cards all the same suit in poker.
Fold (Poker) - Throwing away a hand into the muck.
Foul (Pai-Gow) - A lost hand when a two-card hand is set higher than five-card hand.
Freeroll (Poker) - A poker tournament free to enter.
Freezeout (Poker) - A poker game without a rebuy option.
French Roulette - A variant of European Roulette featuring two insurance bets: La Partage and En Prison.
Full house (Poker) - A hand consisting of three of a kind plus a pair.
Handicap - An advantage or disadvantage given to a team by a sportsbetting site.
Heads-up - A poker game between two players only, or a tournament that has whittled down to two players.
High Roller - A player who bets large amounts consistently.
Hit (Blackjack) - A request for another card.
Hole card (Blackjack) - A dealer's face-down card.
Hole cards (Poker) - Card/cards dealt face down to player, which only they can see.
House - A casino or gaming establishment.
House Edge - The disparity between the actual odds and the casino's payout on an outcome.
Inside bet (Roulette) - A bet place on a number or small combination of numbers.
Insurance (Blackjack) - An extra bet protecting player against dealer hitting blackjack.
Jacks or Better (Video Poker) - Winning hands start with jacks or higher,
Live Dealer - An online game where players can bet against a human croupier standing at a real roulette wheel or dealing real blackjack cards.
La Partage - An insurance bet in French Roulette which allows players to win half their stake back if the single zero appears.
Lobby - Online casino or poker homepage with all games and payment tabs listed.
Martingale - A betting system where you double your bet after each losing spin or bet.
MTT (Poker) - Multi-Table Tournament; a tournament with two or more tables of players.
Muck (Poker) - Area on the table where discarded cards go.
Multilines (Sportsbetting) - Betting on more than one game or outcome at a time.
Natural (Blackjack, Baccarat) - A player dealt a winning hand.
Odds - Player's probability of winning or losing.
Outside bets (roulette) - Betting 12 or 18 numbers, Red/Black or Odd/Even.
Pass – A choice not to bet
Parlay (Sportsbetting) - An accumulating bet across multiple games.
Payline (Slots) - A line on which symbols must land for a win.
Picture cards - Jack, Queen, King and Ace.
Play the board (Poker) - Player uses five community cards to make a hand.
Pocket pair - A pair of matching hole cards in poker.
Position (Poker) - Betting order in poker(the term is the same at USA and global sites).
Point (Craps) - Number established on the come-out roll.
Post - To place a bet.
Premier Roulette Diamond Edition - An online version of roulette featuring four colors as opposed to just red and black. It's available at many United States casinos.
Progressive Jackpot - A slots jackpot pooled from wagers across all casinos. Players from the USA and around the world feed the same jackpot, which makes it grow bigger, faster.
Punto Banco - A form of Baccarat.
Push (Blackjack) - A tie hand between the croupier and the player.
Push (Poker) - To bet or raise all-in.
Random Number Generator (RNG) - Software used by online casinos and poker sites to ensure fair game.
River Card (Poker) - Fifth and final community card.
Satellite (Poker) - A tournament awarding entry into larger live or online tournament.
Set (Poker) - Three of a kind including two hole cards.
Set (Pai-Gow) - Separating hands into two-card and five-card hands.
Show (Blackjack) - Box that holds and dispenses cards.
Single Zero Roulette - See European Roulette.
Small Blind (Poker) - A small forced bet in poker before action starts.
Soft hand (Blackjack) – A hand containing an ace counted as one or 11.
Stack – A column of chips.
Stand (Blackjack) – Turning down more cards from the dealer.
Systems - Strategies used by gamblers to increase their chances of winning.
Tilt - Losing concentration due to bad luck and making poor decisions.
Top pair (Poker) - A pair consisting of a player's hole card and the highest community card.
Trey - A three.
Trips (Poker) - A three of a kind including only one hole card.
Turn (Poker) - The fourth community card.
Under the gun (Poker) - The first player to act after the big blind (Seat 4).
Up card (Blackjack) - A dealer's face-up card.
Value bet - A bet made to induce a call.
VIP - A big bettor or high roller. Also see Whale.
Wager - A bet.
Welcome Bonus - Promotion by online casino which matches first deposit.
Whale - A high roller.
Wheel - Used in roulette. Contains 37 or 38 slots.
Wild card - A joker or other card used as substitute to make winning hand.
Zero - The 37th slot on a European Roulette wheel.
