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.

Inside straight: In poker, four cards of a straight where the straight can only be completed one way.

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.

Keno lounge: The main area within a casino where keno is played.

Keno runner: A casino employee who shuttles your keno bet from wherever you are to the keno writer, and also delivers payment for winning tickets.

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.

Load up: To play the maximum number of coins per spin that a slot machine or video game will allow.

Loose: Slot machines are loose when they are paying off and giving the house only a small advantage over the player.

Low poker: Also called lowball, is poker in which the pot is awarded to the hand with the lowest poker value.

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

Mini-baccarat: The scaled-down version of baccarat, played with fewer players, dealers, and formality but following the same rules as baccarat.

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.

Number pool: The range of numbers from which you select the ones you want to play. A typical lottery pool ranges from 1 to 60, and the keno pool is 1 to 80.

Nut: Either the overhead costs of running a casino, or the fixed amount that a gambler decides to win in a day.

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.

Overlay: A good bet where you have an edge over the casino.

Pair: Any two cards that have the same rank.

Pass: To not bet, to fold.

Pat: In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands. In blackjack, an un-busted hand worth at least 17 points.

Pay cycle: A theoretical expression that reflects the number of plays required for the machine to cycle through all possible winning and non winning combinations.

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.

Payout table: A posting somewhere on the front of a slot or video poker machine, that tells you what each winning hand will pay for the number of coins or credits played.

Pit: An area of a casino in which a group of table games are arranged, where the centre area is restricted to dealers and other casino personnel.

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.

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.

Pressing: A player is pressing the bet when they let winnings ride by wagering them along with the original bet.

Probability: A branch of mathematics that measures the likelihood that an event will occur. Probabilities are expressed as numbers between 0 and 1. The probability of an impossible event is 0, while an event that is certain to occur has a probability of 1.

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 un busted 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.
Rack: A plastic container in which you can transport and count large-denominational coins, slot machine tokens, and casino plastic chips.

Raise: In poker, a player raises by matching the previous bet and then betting more, to increase the stake for remaining players.

<< Prev - Next >>