Gambling Wiki – Exploring the Most Popular Casino Terms & Phrases (A-Z)

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Author Katerina Gadzheva

Approved by Rumen Morfov

Updated:

18 December 2024

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Welcome to the gambling Wiki page the SilentBet team prepared. This casino glossary guide contains all the essential terms a novice player should know. Find the best articles about casino tips, strategies, and systems. Our online encyclopedia Wiki will meet the demands of both professional and recreational players.

Casino Terminology

Here is the ultimate Casino Wikipedia page, with all general gambling terms & phrases (A to Z) listed. Find out the meaning of bluffing, the Martingale system, and many more. All casino phrases are in alphabetical order!

A

• Active payline – Every slot has a fixed number of paylines, but sometimes players can adjust the paylines and decide on the number of active ones.
• Advantage player – A player who finds ways to get an edge over the house. For example, advantage players seek lucrative promotions or master a betting technique that helps them secure a better payout.
• All-in – When a player goes all-in, they decide to bet all of their remaining chips.
• American Roulette – A popular roulette variation. What is typical for American roulette is the presence of a double zero i.e. an additional pocket.
• Ante – A bet all players must place before the cards are dealt. This way, the casino makes sure the prize pot has the required minimum amount of money.

B

• Bankroll – Amount of money a player has in their accounts. Another definition of a bankroll is the amount of money you are comfortable to wager.
• Bad beat – A seemingly strong hand that ends up being a losing one.
• Bailout – Money one gives to a gambler to help them pay their debts before experiencing negative consequences.
• Barred – A barred player cannot access an online casino because they live in a restricted jurisdiction.
• BB – (jargon, poker) Bad beat/ Big blind.
• Beginner’s luck – The phenomenon of new players winning more often than seasoned players.
• Beef – A disagreement between a casino and a player over the outcome of a bet.
• Betting limits – Online casino players can set their betting limits and wager up to a certain amount per day/week/month.
• Bluffing – To make a risky bet, realizing you do not have the best hand.
• Bonus hunting – A term used for players who create accounts at different casinos to claim the welcome bonus and use low-risk strategies to fulfill the wagering requirements. Once they withdraw the winnings, they abandon their accounts and start looking for new casinos to sign up.
• Break the bank – An occasion when a player wins more than the house has.
• Bones – (slang) Dice
• Bug – The Joker card
• Bullet – (slang) An Ace
• Bust – To lose all your money.
• Bust out joint – A casino that cheats players.
• Buy-in – The amount required for a player to join a tournament.

C

• Card counting – A strategy players use to find out who would have an advantage on the next hand – a player or the dealer.
• Cascading reels – A slot feature where symbols that form a winning combination disappear from the grid, and new ones fill in the empty spaces.
• Cashback – A compensation players get for the losses they experienced over a certain period.
• Chasing – A type of behavior where a player keeps gambling in an attempt to make up for the previous losses.
• Chat room – A popular feature across online casinos that enables players to communicate with each other in real-time.
• Cold Streak – A period when a player rarely wins.
• Cold table – A table where players do not seem to win.
• Comp hustlers – Players who prefer low-risk table games or penny slots and expect the casino to give them some kind of incentives.
• Comps – Incentives casinos give to their loyal players.
• Crapshoot – A risky bet with a high probability of being a losing one.
• Croupier/Dealer – A person who is in charge of collecting and paying bets in online or land-based casinos.

D

• D’alembert system – The D’alembert system is one of the many mathematically-based betting systems that guarantee a win if you up your stake by one unit every time you place a new wager.
• Deck – A set of cards used to play card games at online and brick-and-mortar casinos.
• Deposit – To play real money casino games, you need to make a deposit and add funds to your casino account.
• Donkey – A player who is weak at applying strategies, esp. in poker.
• Dormant account – An online casino account that hasn’t been used over a certain period, usually 12 months. Some casinos have fees for dormant accounts.
• Double or nothing – A bet style where players double their bet after a losing hand/ spin.
• Down to the felt – To go broke.

E

• E-cogra – Abbreviation for “E-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance”. e-COGRA is an inspection body for online casinos.
• Edge sorting – A technique used for determining whether a face down card would be low or high.
• End-of-the-day betting effect – A tendency for players to make risky bets at the end of their betting session in an attempt to recover from the losses.
• Even money – A wager where the payout is the same as the original bet amount.
• Expanding wilds – When an expanding wild lands, it covers an entire reel, thus ensuring a better payout.

F

• Face card – A king, queen, or jack.
• Flat betting – When you bet the same amount no matter if you have a winning or a losing hand/spin.
• Flat top – A slot machine with a fixed jackpot.
• Flea – a player who makes small, low-risk bets for long periods and expects incentives loyal customers get.
• Fold – (poker) To surrender your cards and lose your chances of winning the pot.
• Fruit machine – Slot machine.
• Free spins – A bonus or a slot feature where players can enjoy a few rounds of a game and win real money without risking their bankroll. Read our detailed guide on the different types of FS promotions and find a list of casinos with free spins bonuses.
• FTD – Аbbreviation for first-time depositor.

G

• Gaffed wheel – A rigged roulette wheel.
• Gambler’s fallacy – A wrong belief that past events are connected with future ones. An example of a gambler’s fallacy is the belief that if a coin landed on tails three times in a row, the fourth time would land on heads.
• Getting down – The action of placing a wager.
• Golden arm – (craps) A term for a player who had been on a winning streak for more than an hour.
• Grey market – A country where gambling is neither regulated nor prohibited is a jurisdiction with an unregulated (grey) market.
• Grinding – Placing small bets for a long period with the hope of turning small, but steady profits.

H

• Handle and Hold – Handle is the total amount of money wagered. Hold is how much money the casino keeps.
• Half a dollar – A $50 bet.
• High roller – A player who deposits huge amounts of money regularly. High rollers are usually VIP players who often get different perks such as personal VIP manager, fast withdrawals, personalized bonuses, etc. If you are looking for a high roller casino, you will find this read useful.
• Hot streak – Winning spins/hands over a long period.
• House edge – The advantage the casino has over players. Read more about it here.

I

• iGaming – Short for “interactive gaming.” iGaming is a term that involves all forms of gambling online.
• Inside bets – (roulette) Inside bets require you to bet on a single number or a small selection. They are known for the high payouts they have, but they are more challenging to win compared to outside bets.

J

• Jacks or better – A video poker variation where the lowest winning hand is a pair of Jacks.
• Juice – Fee

K

• King – One of the four face cards in a deck.
• KYC – Abbreviation for Know Your Customer – A common procedure across online casinos that requires players to send verification documents before a withdrawal is processed.

L

• Lady Luck – In gambling, Lady Luck is a personification of good fortune.
• Lay down – To fold.
• Lock – A bet with a high probability of being a winning one.
• Local Jackpot – If a certain game has a local jackpot, it grows every time a player places a bet at that certain casino.
• Longshot – A risky bet with a great winning potential.
• Low roller – Opposite to high roller; a player who prefers to wager small amounts of money.

M

• Manque – (roulette) Low bet.
• Martingale – A gambling strategy where a player increases the bet size after a loss in an attempt to recover from the losses and even turn a profit.
• Mechanic – a cheater in poker.
• Mixed Wager – To make a mixed wager, a player needs to use both deposit and bonus funds.
• Multiplier – A common game feature that boosts your winnings as many times as the multiplier number shown.

N

• No deposit bonus – No deposit bonuses allow players to enjoy real money games without making a deposit.
• Net winnings – pure profit = your payout minus your initial stake.
• Network Jackpots – Network jackpots are available in certain participating casinos. Every time a player in a participating casino places a bet on a progressive jackpot game, the prize pool increases.

O

• One armed bandit – A slot machine with a large metal pole you need to pull to play.
• Oscar’s grind – A betting system that requires you to increase your bet by one unit after every win.

P

• Payline – A line of symbols on a slot machine.
• Perfect blackjack – The best possible hand in blackjack, usually consisting of an ace and a 10-value card.
• Pigeon – An ignorant player whose ego is bigger than his skills; a synonym for donkey.
• Ploppy – (slang) A blackjack player who does not know how to apply even a basic strategy.
• Pro gambler – A person who makes a living out of playing casino games / participating in tournaments.
• Progressive jackpot – A type of jackpot where a small percentage of every bet goes to the jackpot pool. When a random player wins the jackpot, the prize pool accumulates.
• Provider – a software company that develops the games available at online casinos.

Q

• Qualifying bet – When online casinos promote bonus code offers they usually set a qualifying bet that activates the reward.
• Queen – One of the four face cards.

R

• Raise – To increase the size of an existing bet.
• Random number generator – An algorithm that guarantees the outcome of the games is random, and the casino has no impact on it.
• Reality Check – A responsible gambling tool that enables you to keep track of the time you spend gambling. When you set a reality check, a notification pops up, and you need to decide whether to continue your gambling session or not.
• Return to player – The average amount of money a player takes back from a casino over a long period.
• Royal flush – The highest poker hand.

S

• Self-exclusion – A responsible gambling tool that enables players who cannot control their spending to take a break from gambling.
• Shoe – A device for dealing cards in table games such as blackjack and baccarat.
• Shark – A very skilled poker player who plays against less experienced players.
• Sharker – A player who tries to beat their opponents by using dishonest practices.
• Shy – a bet that has less than the minimum amount to play a hand.
• Sticky bonus – If a bonus is sticky, you need to fulfill the wagering requirements before you can request a withdrawal. If you do this before you beat the wagering, you lose your progress and all winnings associated with that bonus.
• Streamer – A person who broadcasts themselves playing casino games and uses their popularity to advertise companies and products during their streams.
• Stud poker – A poker variation in which the first card is dealt face down, and the next four are dealt face up.
• Symbols – a combination of letters, numbers, and special symbols that appear on a slot reels.
• System – A mathematically sound betting strategy advanced players try to master to secure better payouts.

T

• Tap out – To lose all your money and stop playing as a result.
• Testing agency – An independent body that ensures the games at a certain casino are fair and compliant with local regulations.
• Tilt – A poker term used to describe a state of mind that leads a player to the point where they make mistakes out of frustration.
• Turnover – An amount you need to bet a certain number of times to release your bonus funds.

U

• Up card – A face-up card.

V

• Volatility – A slots term used to describe the probability of losing your bet.
• VIP – A high-stakes player who gets different incentives from a casino, such as personalized bonuses, a dedicated manager, fast withdrawals, and even holidays to luxurious destinations.
• Video Poker – A game similar to slots but based on five-card draw poker. Some of the most popular video poker variations are Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Aces & Faces.

W

• Wagering requirement – a condition a player must fulfill in order to withdraw bonus funds.
• Wild – a special symbol in slot games. When a wild lands on the reels and is part of a winning combination, a player might get a boosted payout or trigger a bonus round.
• Withdrawal – the process of transferring your winnings from your casino balance to your bank / e-wallet account.
• Whale/cheetah – An affluent player who deposits, wins, and loses huge amounts of money at online and land-based casinos.
• White meat – pure profit = net winnings.

X

• X – X stands for a draw.

Y

• Yo Yo – (slang) A craps name for number 11.
• Yeast – To raise.

Z

• Zero wager – A promotion with no wagering requirements attached. You can withdraw your winnings immediately as long as the amount is higher than the minimum withdrawal requirement set by the casino.
• Zombie – A poker player whose facial expression shows no emotions that can eventually help other players guess what the cards in his hand are.

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