Free Casino Games / Casino terms and lingo
Casino terms and lingo
Casino terms are the words dealers, pit bosses and players use on the floor, from action and color up to toke and vig. This glossary covers the common ones, A to Z, with what each one means at a real table.
A to C
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Action | The total amount you bet. A casino rates you on your action, not on what you win or lose. |
| Ante | A bet you make before cards are dealt, used in Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'em and other poker table games. |
| Bankroll | The money you set aside to gamble with. |
| Boxman | The craps supervisor who sits between the two base dealers and watches the chips. |
| Burn card | A card the dealer discards face down before dealing. |
| Bust | In blackjack, going over 21. |
| Buy-in | Changing cash for chips at a table. |
| Cage | The cashier, where chips are turned into cash. |
| Checks | What dealers call chips. |
| Color up | Swapping small chips for fewer large ones when you leave a table. |
| Come-out roll | The first roll of a round in craps. |
| Comp | Something free the casino gives you based on your play: a meal, a room, a show. |
| Croupier | A dealer, especially at roulette or baccarat. |
| Cut card | A plastic card placed in the deck or shoe to mark when to reshuffle. |
D to H
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dolly | The marker a roulette dealer sets on the winning number. |
| Double down | In blackjack, doubling your bet in exchange for exactly one more card. |
| Drop | The cash dropped into the box at a table, a measure of how much was bought in. |
| Even money | A payout of 1 to 1. In blackjack, also the offer to take 1 to 1 on a blackjack when the dealer shows an ace. |
| Eye in the sky | The ceiling cameras that watch every table. |
| Felt | The cloth top of a table, also called the layout. |
| Grind | A player who bets small for a long time. |
| Hand pay | A jackpot paid in person by an attendant instead of by the machine. |
| High roller | A player who bets large amounts. The biggest are called whales. |
| Hit | Take another card. |
| Hold | The share of the money bought in that the casino keeps. In video poker, the cards you keep. |
| Hole card | The dealer's face-down card. |
| House edge | The share of each bet the casino keeps over time. Games ranked. |
I to P
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Insurance | A blackjack side bet, offered when the dealer shows an ace, that the dealer has blackjack. It pays 2 to 1. |
| Layout | The printed felt that shows where each bet goes. |
| Marker | A line of credit from the casino, signed at the table. |
| Natural | A winning two-card hand: 21 in blackjack, 8 or 9 in baccarat. |
| Nickels | $5 chips. |
| Odds bet | In craps, a bet behind the Pass or Come bet that pays true odds. It has no house edge. |
| Paint | A face card: jack, queen or king. |
| Pit | The area inside a ring of tables where the floor staff work. |
| Pit boss | The supervisor in charge of a pit. |
| Players club | The casino's rewards card. You earn comps by having it rated. |
| Point | In craps, the number set on the come-out roll that the shooter needs to roll again before a 7. |
| Push | A tie. Your bet comes back with no win or loss. |
Q to Z
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Quarters | $25 chips. |
| Rack | The tray that holds a dealer's chips, or the tray players use to carry chips. |
| Rated play | Play the casino tracks for comps, by your average bet and time at the table. |
| Seven out | In craps, rolling a 7 after a point is set. The round ends and the dice pass on. |
| Shoe | The box that holds several decks for dealing. |
| Shooter | The player rolling the dice in craps. |
| Soft hand | In blackjack, a hand with an ace counted as 11, such as ace-6, a soft 17. |
| Split | In blackjack, turning a pair into two hands with a second bet. |
| Stand | Take no more cards. |
| Stickman | The craps dealer who moves the dice with a stick and calls the game. |
| Stiff | A blackjack hand of hard 12 to 16, which can bust with one card. |
| Surrender | In blackjack, giving up half your bet to end the hand. |
| Table minimum | The smallest bet allowed at a table, shown on its sign. |
| Toke | A tip for the dealer. |
| Upcard | The dealer's face-up card. |
| Vig | Short for vigorish: a commission the house takes, such as 5% on a winning Banker bet in baccarat. |
| Whale | A player who bets very large amounts. |
| Yo | In craps, the number 11, called that so it isn't misheard as 7. |
Craps has its own words
Craps dealers call numbers by nicknames so they carry across a loud table: snake eyes for 2, ace-deuce for 3, yo for 11 and boxcars for 12. Players avoid saying "seven" out loud at the table.
More terms for each game
Blackjack has a vocabulary of its own: hard and soft totals, the dealer's upcard, hit and stand signals. Blackjack terms. For poker hands, see poker hand rankings. For the games themselves, see casino card games and casino chip values.
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Questions
What is slang for gambling?
Common slang includes action, for the money you bet, and grind, for betting small for a long time. A big bettor is a high roller or a whale.
What are the gambling machines in casinos called?
Slot machines, or slots. Machines that deal poker hands are video poker machines.
What does color up mean in a casino?
Swapping your small chips for fewer large ones before you leave a table, so they are easier to carry and cash.
What is a toke?
A tip for the dealer. At the table, players often tip by placing a bet for the dealer.
What does the eye in the sky mean?
The ceiling cameras that watch every table and machine on the casino floor.
What is a marker at a casino?
A line of credit the casino gives you, signed at the table and repaid later.
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