Casino Terms
Casinos can be intimidating to new visitors, but navigating around the casino and learning where everything is found helps, especially if you know in advance what some of those strange casino terms mean. In addition to the property itself, each game has certain words that may be confusing. Before you play a game like craps, it helps to learn some craps terms. For other games you can start right here!
The casino property itself has several places you'll want to visit first, such as the player's club. No, that's not a place to sit and have a drink, it's a booth or counter where you can join the casino's player-tracking system. Really, it's a good thing to earn comps.
Because casinos are fighting for your business, they offer casino freebies such as cash-back and free meals. These are all earned based on how long you play and what your average wager is. Which game you play does not matter, but playing poker will earn you the least and slot play is likely to earn you the most (because you play so many spins per hour).
If you have any questions when you arrive, you can go to the concierge desk, they are specially trained to know everything about the property. Before you get there, the following terms may help ease your worries about playing at a casino. Clicking on individual games like craps will take you to terms for those games.
Casino Terms A to H
Action: Total amount bet; a player who bets a lot is said to give a lot of action
Aggregate Winnings: Cumulative or total winnings on a game; may reduce a players total payoff
Baccarat: Table game played with 6 or 8 decks; bets include player, banker and tie
Banker: The dealer; games like Pai Gow offer a chance for players to risk more and be the banker
Bankroll: Any money used for gambling; each casino table starts with a known bankroll
Barred: Casino guests may be removed from the premises and barred from returning
Beginners Luck: New players are sometimes lucky when learning a game
Bet: A wager on an unknown outcome; the wager is at risk of being lost
Bingo: Game played with 80 numbered balls and players have cards to match numbers
Black Action: When a player is betting $100 chips; sometimes just "action" or "color"
Blackjack: Table game of 21 played against the dealer; closes to 21 without going over wins
Bonus: Usually a separate bet to win on an outcome other than the tables standard wager
Break Even Point: When a players total wagers return to their starting dollar amount
Burn Cards: Cards removed from the deck and not used during the current shuffle
Buy-in: Amount of cash used to play a game
Carousel: Group of slot machines placed together
Case Bet: Last wager made, usually due to lack of funds
Casino Advantage: The house-edge; games offered are in the casinos favor
Casino Rate: Discounted rate offered to good casino guests
Check (Cheque): A casino chip or wagering device
Chuck-A-Luck: Old casino game played with three dice in a wire cage
Color Up: When a player cashes their chips at the table into larger denomination chips
Comp: Short for complimentary; a freebie offered by the casino for previous play
Copy: When the player and banker have the same two or five-card hand - the banker wins
Craps: Table game played with a pair of dice; 7 and 11 wins on the comeout roll for passline wagers
Credit: Money offered for wagering by a casino's credit department in the form of a "marker"
Cut and Cut Card: A card-size, non-playing marker used to separate the deck after a shuffle
Cut off spot: hand next to the button; pre-flop spot before the button (dealer)
Deal: The act of delivering the cards during a round of play
Down Card: A card delivered by the dealer that is not viewable to other players
Draw: To take additional cards
Drop: Money used to buy chips at the gaming tables and dropped into the Drop box
Edge: The casino advantage over any the player on any wager
Even Money: A bet that pays 1 to 1
Eye In The Sky: Surveillance; cameras used to watch over the casino
Face Cards: Playing cards that have a face: Jacks, Queens and Kings
First Base: The first spot where the playing begins on a table
Flat Bet: Minimum bet or a bet that is always the same
George: A generous player who tips the dealers well
Gross Winnings: Total return on wagers including the original bet
Hard Count: Place where coins are counted by casino employees
High Roller: Player who makes large wagers
Holding My Own: Staying close to even after many wagers; still holding your own bankroll
Hole Card: In blackjack, the card that is face-down and unseen by the players
You may find other words that are confusing, but this should give you a head-start.