Learn 336+ Gambling Terms: The Complete Casino Glossary

If you feel uncomfortable around specific gambling terms, maybe it’s time to finally learn the lingo and enhance your play with our comprehensive glossary.

It’s true. Gambling can sometimes seem intimidating, especially if you’re surrounded by unfamiliar casino terms and phrases. 

There are a lot of keywords you’ll hear on the floor of any land-based casino. It could even be hard to keep up if you’re in the middle of a game. 

The same goes for online gaming. That is why knowing the basics of gambling terminology can give you an enormous advantage in your future betting endeavors.

With our glossary of the most popular casino and betting terms, you will master the gambling terminology in the blink of an eye.  

This gambling 101 glossary contains the following:

• Basic gambling and casino terms
• Online Casino and Bonus terms and lingo
• Slots Terms
• Craps Lingo
• Blackjack Glossary
• Roulette Terminology
• Poker Terms
• Fancy bingo, keno, and lottery terminology
• Sports betting jargon and vocabulary
• Responsible gambling glossary

Without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Basic Gambling Terms and Lingo

Let’s start with some basics first and give you a better idea of what gambling terms you will come across the most:

• Advantage Player: A player who looks for ways to legally gain some advantage over the house like counting cards in blackjack, using dice control in craps, or getting maximum value from bonuses.
• All in: Betting all of one's money or the remaining chips on a game of poker or any other table game.
• Balance: One of the most common gambling terms for money, it represents the total amount of chips or casino credit available for play.
• Bankroll: An amount of money you set aside for gambling.
• Beginner’s Luck: A sudden winning streak in any casino game or an uninterrupted sequence of success happening to a player who is new to gambling.
• Bet: A single wager made during a game of skill or luck like slots, blackjack, or poker.
• Bet Max: The maximum wager you can make in a casino game.
• Burn a Card: Activity performed by casinos to avoid card marking. A burn card is dealt from the top of a deck, and the players usually discard it, hence the term “burned”. Burn cards are rarely shown to players. 
• Buy in: The minimum amount of money a player requires to enter a poker game or a freeroll tournament.
• Card Shark: A term for a savvy cardsmen derived from card sharp. Either an expert card player who makes a living by playing or a con cheating at card games.
• Card Sharp: A person who uses skills or deception to win at poker and other card games.
• Casino Etiquette: Do’s and Don’ts at any land-based casino, such as acceptable behavior at the tables, hand signals, tipping the dealer, dressing for the occasion, use of cell phones, handling cards, etc.
• Cash out: An option at a casino to settle your bet by accepting a payout less than the full potential win. It can also mean collecting money from the cashier.
• Chips: Equivalent to real money at land-based casinos in the form of tokens or plastic coins. You can purchase them at the cashier for betting on table games in various denominations. Online casinos may refer to chips within loyalty programs. 
• Color up: A poker term used to exchange smaller chip denominations for larger ones. Action that helps players get rid of large chip stacks with low value.
• Croupier: A term coming from French and marking a person who operates the roulette wheel or collects and pays bets. Another popular synonym or variation is “dealer.”
• Double or Nothing: A betting option in many casino games to either win two times as much money or lose all of it. 
• Gambler's Fallacy: The irrational belief when playing casino games that the probability of a random past event will influence the future outcome.
• Face Cards: Any card with a member of the royal court such as jack, queen, or king.
• Fish: A term used to denote a player who has a tendency of losing often.
• Fruit Machine: A classic slot machine in online and land-based casinos usually featuring fruit symbols, three reels and basic, old-school game play.
• Grinder: A person who plays a lot of poker and consistently wins or someone who spends long hours at the poker table hoping to make a living.
• High Roller: A player who consistently gambles large amounts of money on slots, poker, blackjack and other games of luck or skill.
• Hot Streak: It can refer to consecutive winning hands when playing poker and blackjack or a series of wins on slots or any other game at the casino. 
• House Edge: The mathematical advantage a certain casino game has over the player over a longer period of time.
• Lady Luck: Chance personified as a deity or controlling power of outcome in any casino game.
• Lock: A guaranteed or easy win for the person who made the wager.
• Marker: Zero interest loan and short-term line of credit offered to customers for gambling by casino patrons.
• Martingale: A system of betting in which the player doubles his losing bets until he wins to eventually get his lost money back and start betting with the initial amount again.
• Odds: Probability of an outcome or winning a hand in any casino game usually represented in percentages.
• Odds on: A chance in betting on sports or casino games that is very likely to happen or succeed.
• Overlay: Overestimated odds in sports betting or odds that benefit the player more than they benefit the house. It could also mean a gap between the guaranteed prize pool and actual rewards generated by entrants in a poker tournament. 
• Pit Boss: A person who manages the floormen in a casino and a supervisor of table games dealers.
• Rack: A tray used by players or casino staff to hold and carry slot machine coins or table game chips.
• Random Number Generator (RNG): A software used for producing unpredictable and random game outcomes when betting on slots, poker, blackjack, roulette, or any other form of gambling.
• Shill: A person recruited by the casino pretending to be a regular whose job is to decoy other customers into playing and make a profit for the establishment.
• Table Games: Games of skill and chance played against the house or other players and operated by one or more live dealers (croupiers).
• Tilt: Loss of control over the game (state of emotional confusion or frustration) where players can no longer make rational decisions often leads to adopting suboptimal strategies and losing money.
• Vigorish: A fee, also known as vig, charged by the casino for accepting a gambler's wager. It can also refer to the interest owed to a loan shark for credit.
• Whale: A gambler who consistently wagers huge sums of money at the casino. Other names for this player are also high roller and cheetah.

Online Casino and Bonus Terms 

Understanding casino bonus terms and related gambling words will help you improve your game and use their meaning to your advantage. Of course, you can always check the Online Gambling Academy to learn more about these concepts.

Here are some of the most popular and catchy phrases related to bonuses:

• Belize Gaming Control Board: A government agency that regulates online casinos and makes sure that licensed operators regulated by the board run a safe and trustworthy betting site in a defined geographical area.
• Bonus Abuse: A practice in which players sign-up with a casino multiple times to get the welcome bonus or exploit other free offers and earn real money without depositing.
• Cashback Bonus: A percentage of net losses refunded by the casino back to its players, usually from 5% – 20% or more. 
• Certification: A warranty issued by a gambling commission, testing agency or government that the casino has fulfilled and complied with a series of rules, regulations, and practices for fair play. 
• Comp Points: Also known as complementary points, these perks are rewarded for loyalty and activity at the casino. Comp points can be exchanged for real cash or other valuable prizes. 
• Crypto Gambling: Online casinos that accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Litecoin, and so on.
• Curaçao: A term referring to the Curaçao Gaming Control Board which regulates, certifies, and supervises all online and land-based gambling activities of its licensees.
• Deposit / Withdrawal: Depositing means placing money in your casino account via payment methods like credit cards, wire transfers, e-wallets, or crypto. Withdrawal is the process of transferring winnings or your remaining balance to a bank account.
• eCOGRA: An independent, international testing agency specializing in online gambling software inspection and certification.
• E-wallet: Electronic wallet (E-wallet) is a payment method that allows you to store money online and make deposits or withdrawals at the casino.
• Free Chip: A complimentary bonus from the casino that will enable you to play for real money and win cash without any prior depositing or risk of losing.
• Free Play Bonus: A bonus awarded in specific amounts that can be played on games determined by the casino with no deposit required.
• Free-to-Play: A term telling you that playing a certain game, tournament or bonus doesn’t involve any real money risk.
• George: A term used by the dealer that describes a player who gives high tips.
• Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner: GGC is the official authority in Gibraltar that regulates gambling operations of its licensees and ensures they are conducted in accordance with the law.
• Hybrid Bonus: A combination of a deposit match bonus and free spins or similar. 
• KYC: Know Your Customer (KYC) is a process of verifying player identity and financial information required by the law. It is usually performed after registering with the casino or prior to making a withdrawal.
• License: A certified permit issued to casino operators by a gambling control board to confirm the legality of an online gaming site or venue.
• MGA: Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is the gaming control board and regulatory body of Malta that regulates and oversees all gambling activities of its licensees in the country, some EU and international markets.
• Min / Max Bet: The lowest and highest bet limit a player can make at table games or any other casino game.
• No Deposit Bonus: Amount of cash credited to the user’s account upon registering with the casino that allows him to play certain games for free and win real money.
• Non-sticky Bonus: A type of bonus where the player can withdraw his initial deposit as well as any winnings made from it without fulfilling the wagering requirements.
• Nudge: A mechanic that makes one of the symbols shift a reel down or up to change the outcome of a spin.
• Pachinko: A low-stake combination of slot machine and pinball also called pachislo or pachislot that originated in Japan and in which the player controls the speed of balls thrown into the game.
• Panama Gaming Control Board: A government-controlled agency formed in 1947 that is responsible for issuing betting permissions and monitoring all activities of its licensed gambling sites.
• Provably Fair: A mechanism or a tool built into the game that enables players from anywhere in the world to verify the fairness of the results.
• Reels: Mechanical or virtual wheels in slots with different symbols which must form a combo after spinning in a certain payway to trigger a prize or feature.
• Software Provider: A company that specializes in developing modern casino games like slots, poker or blackjack by using advanced programming techniques.
• Spelinspektionen: The Swedish Gambling Authority is the country’s regulatory agency which ensures legality, safety, and reliability of the Swedish gaming and gambling market.
• Sticky Bonus: A bonus that a player can bet but not withdraw from an online casino.
• Tournament: A type of competition at online casinos where players compete against each other to win large cash prizes by accumulating the most points. There are freeroll tournaments without entry fees and buy-in tournaments where players must pay to participate.
• UKGC: The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) is an independent regulatory body that issues licenses to casinos and provides guidance to operators that offer gambling in Great Britain.
• VIP Program: A loyalty plan or scheme at online casinos that rewards valuable customers for regular activity with specific bonuses, free spins, gifts, personal managers, etc.
• Wagering: The number of times one has to play through a deposit and/or bonus before they are eligible to withdraw any winnings or the remaining balance.

Slots Terms

This part of our glossary contains the most popular words you will find around slot machines. Whether you’re learning how to play slots or want to stay up-to-date with modern trends and technology, it’s always a good idea to refresh your memory with some basics:

• Active Payline: A pay line that is in play or on which the matched symbols have created a combo. Slots with these paylines allow players to choose on how many they want to bet on before spinning.
• Autoplay: An option used to automatically spin the slot reels for a set amount of time or number of spins.
• Bonus Round: A section of the game in a slot triggered by the player after landing one or more special symbols on the same spin, like scatters, wilds, etc. This stage of the game usually doesn’t cost anything and provides extra chances to win more money or prizes.
• Branded Slot: A slot whose theme is inspired by famous actors, musicians, movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture media.
• Cluster Pays: A type of mechanic in slot machines first presented by NetEnt where winning combinations are activated in clusters.
• Coin Size: An option in slots where players get to choose the number of coins before determining the amount of bet on each payline. The minimum value usually starts at 0.01 USD.
• Drops & Wins: An ongoing promotion from Pragmatic Play in which the players can claim daily prizes by playing slots and participate in weekly tournaments for a chance to win a huge prize pool.
• Expanding Wilds: A feature in which the wild symbol expands across the length of an entire reel from top to bottom, making every symbol on the reel wild and increasing the chances of a combo.
• Fixed Jackpot: A fixed sum of money or amount of coins in a slot which is paid to the player if triggered.
• Free Games: A slot feature triggered by wilds, scatters or other special symbols that plays out 10 or more spins without any cost. At the end of the round, players get to keep their winnings if any.
• Hit Frequency: A percentage that indicates how often a slot machine will stop on a winning combination.
• Megaways: Random reel modifier mechanic developed by Big Time Gaming that changes how many symbols appear on the reels on any given spin, offering players far more ways to win than classic slots.
• Multiplier: A special symbol or feature that can multiply bets, line wins, and total wins up to a certain amount and significantly increase all winnings in a single spin or during a bonus.
• Multiways: A mechanic in slots where players can make larger payouts in far more ways than just one, ranging usually from 243 to 117,649 or more.
• One-Armed-Bandit: A slang term used by players to refer to slot machines.
• Paylines: A horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or zigzag line on which a payout will be awarded if the slot’s symbols form a combo per the game’s paytable.
• Paytable: List of payouts in a slot machine that shows how many coins or credits a player will win for each combination of symbols.
• Pokie: A term for slot machines used in Australia.
• Progressive Jackpot: A massive cash prize in a slot whose pot gets bigger as players contribute to the final amount with every real money wager. Progressive jackpot is triggered randomly and it usually comes with minimum bet requirements.
• Reel: In most cases, a column where paying symbols form winning and non-winning combinations after placing a bet and pressing PLAY.
• RTP: Return to Player (RTP) is the amount of money paid back to the player over a large number of hands or spins. It is expressed as a percentage (the average for slots is 95%) and it is used in both online and offline casino games.
• Scatter: A special symbol that has specific functions and unlocks a bonus, features, or minigames.
• Stacked Wilds: Several wild symbols positioned on top of each other on a single reel to create multiple chances of hitting a combo.
• Signature Slots: Proprietary slots usually created by the casino or a software provider featuring the brand’s logo, corporate colors, mascot, etc.
• Variance: a measure of how the payouts are distributed over time. It helps players understand the potential risks and rewards associated with a particular slot, enabling them to choose games that match their playing style and risk tolerance.
• Volatility: Ranging from low and medium to high, it represents a measure between how often a slot is likely to hit a winning combination and what the typical size of wins will be. Although it is similar to variance, volatility refers to the short-term payouts.
• Wild: Like joker in card games, the wild symbol can substitute for all other symbols on the reels and complete winning paylines.
• Win Both Ways: A type of slot mechanics that allows players to make wins by matching symbols from left-to-right and from right-to-left.

Craps Terms

The following list of card gambling terms is commonly used in craps, a dice game where players bet on the outcomes of the roll. Before getting familiar with some definitions, make sure to learn more about the craps table layout and gain a better understanding of the game as a whole:

• 3 Point Molly: A betting system in craps where players keep making pass and come bets until they have bets on at least three numbers, backing them up with full odds.
• Aces: Also called Snake Eyes, this term in craps is used for a bet where the roll will be the total sum of 2.
• Any Craps: A bet in craps that the next roll will be 2, 3, or 12.
• Big 6, Big 8: Different bets you can place at any point during a game, where the wager pays out if a 6 or 8 is rolled before a 7.
• Big 7: Another term for 7 as players usually do not use this number at the table.
• Bones: Another slang term for dice used often by players when playing craps.
• Buy Bet: A type of bet where players make a notation to the dealer to buy a specific number from 4 to 10 except 7. A 5% commission or vig is paid to the casino for getting true odds before or after placing the bet. If they win, players are paid true odds minus the commission.
• Come Bet: Betting that the same number will be rolled again after throwing 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 on the first roll. Players lose if a 2, 3 or 12 is rolled next and win if hitting a 7 or 11. A Come Bet is made by placing a wager in the area marked COME.
• Come out Roll: The initial bet that decides in which direction the game will follow or an even money bet, made on the first roll of the dice.
• Craps Bets: Types of bets in craps include single roll, prop, or multi-roll. They either count for one or several rolls that carry higher risk or a more significant payout potential.
• Proposition Bets: Center bet or prop bet is a type of wager with extremely high house edge where you either hit on the next roll or lose. To make a proposition bet, players must call it out and place chips in the center section on the table.
• Don’t Pass: Inverted Pass bet that sees players win on a 2 or 3 roll, while a 7 or 11 lose. A throw of 12 means that the bet is a push, meaning other numbers must not reappear before a 7.
• Hard Way: A high-paying bet that wins if both dice show the same number and give either 4, 6, 8, or 10. To win a hard-way bet, the hard number must appear before rolling a 7. As for the ratio, hard four and hard ten pay 7:1 while hard six and hard eight pay 9:1.
• Hot Dice: A term also known as Hot Table, used when players are winning in craps or someone is rolling a lot of numbers.
• Inside Numbers: Betting on the inside numbers in craps means that the player is placing a wager on 5, 6, 8, and 9 in the same unit amount.
• Iron Cross: A betting system on two sets of numbers (the field bets on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 and place wagers or 5, 6, and 8) in which the player can cover every possible option on the table except 7. Landing on this number results in losing the entire wager.
• Lay Bet: A wager in craps where players bet that 7 will appear before one of the point numbers.
• Little Joe: A slang term often used by players for a pair of twos or Hard 4.
• Midnight: A popular slang term in craps for the 12. Some players also call it Box Cars.
• Natural: A term used when 7 or 11 is thrown on the come out roll for a winning bet.
• Nina from Pasadena: A bet in craps that the next roll will result in a combination of 9.
• Odds Bet: A complementary wager in craps made in addition to the pass line bet.
• Outside Numbers: A term used when the player is placing bets on outside points from 4-10 or 5-9.
• Pass: A bet placed just before the Come Out Roll where one can win on 7 and 11 but lose on 2, 3, or 12. The pass line bet pays if the point comes up again before a seven is hit. If 7 rolls before the  point, the player loses and the dice moves to the next shooter.
• Point: The number in craps established by the come out roll.
• Shooter: The official term for a player rolling the dice in craps.
• Soft Way: An easier way of betting on a specific number due to the larger number of possible combinations. For example, if players wanted to bet “easy way 6,” they would roll either a 1 and a 5 or a 2 and a 4.
• Yo: A term also known as Yo-leven which experienced players use for rolling an 11 so as to not confuse it with 7.

Blackjack Terms

If you need a helping hand with how to play blackjack or its unique terminology, take a look at our comprehensive list below:

• Ace Poor / Ace Rich: A term referring to card counting where either fewer or more aces have been dealt than is statistically expected.
• Anchorman: Also called the third base, it’s the last player to act before the dealer, seated furthest to the right of him.
• Basic Strategy: A collection of actions in blackjack that offers the best odds based on statistical probabilities.
• Bust: A term used to describe that either the player’s or dealer’s hand adds up to more than 21.
• Card Counting: A legal blackjack technique used to determine whether the player or the dealer has an advantage on the next hand by keeping a tally of cards in the deck. It is applicable only at the tables in land-based casinos.
• Color up: An action in which the player exchanges low denomination chips for the same value of higher value chips.
• Cut Card: A card inserted into the deck by the dealer after ‘cutting.’ Once he reaches the cut card while dealing, he knows it's time to reshuffle the deck.
• Double Down: You can double the bet on the original two cards before the dealer gives another card.
• Double Exposure: A version of blackjack in which both of the dealer’s cards are dealt face up. It usually does not allow any insurance bet or surrender.
• Five-card Charlie: A hand in blackjack or automatic win with five cards that add up to less than 21 without busting.
• Hard Hand: Either a hand in blackjack that doesn’t have an Ace or a hand where the Ace counts as 1. For example, if the player has a 10, a 3 and an ace, the hand is called hard to prevent you from going over 21.
• Hit: A gesture or vocal instruction given by players to the dealer to request an extra card. It can be indicated in verbal form or by tapping the table.
• Hole Card: A card dealt face-down, which only the croupier is at liberty to check without anyone else from the table catching a peek.
• Insurance: A side bet offered to the player as insurance whose odds payout at 2/1 if the dealer's up-card is an Ace. It protects you against the dealer getting a blackjack.
• NRSA: A specific rule in blackjack stating that splitting aces is not allowed, otherwise known as no resplitting aces.
• Pair: A hand with the first two cards of equal value, such as Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 or Jack, Queen and King.
• Pat: A hand with a total of between 17 to 21 that usually doesn’t require a hit.
• Soft Double: A term used when players are doubling a hand with an ace.
• Soft Hand: A hand in blackjack where you have an Ace that can be counted as either one or eleven.
• Split: A type of bet that allows you to split a pair apart and play each one like two separate hands. For example, if you hold two sixes or two eights and split them into two hands, you'll place your original bet with one hand and an equal bet on the second.
• Stand: To stand in blackjack means to end your turn. In land-based casinos, you usually do this by waving your hand horizontally.
• Stiff: A hard hand in blackjack in which the possibility to exceed 21 exists by drawing another card. It usually refers to 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16.
• Surrender: An option in which the player can fold a bad hand before drawing new cards.
• True Count: The count that reveals how many decks remain to be dealt from the shoe. If only one of six decks have been dealt, then we say it’s a high running count.
• Push: Making a tie with the dealer's hand or a situation where nobody wins is called Push. It’s basically any result in which a player neither loses nor wins.
• Shoe: A gaming device in casinos that holds multiple decks of playing cards.
• Upcard: A term used for a card that the dealer is showing to the players.

Roulette Terms

Want to know what the croupier says in roulette? Here are some basic definitions and gambling terms you’ll hear at the table before actually thinking about using roulette strategies or systems for winning:

1. American Wheel: The American version of roulette with a wheel that has 0 and 00 pockets.
2. Cold Table: A popular gambling term for any table where players have been losing continuously.
3. D'Alembert: A popular and classic betting system when making even money bets like Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1-18 or 19-36 where the player adds one unit to the stake instead of doubling it.
4. En Prison: A rule that allows the player to recover his stakes after a spin of zero, provided the bet was even-odds.
5. European Wheel: A version of roulette wheel that has only a single zero (0).
6. Inside Bets: A bet with lower odds but higher payouts in which the player places chips on the numbers in the central part of the table layout.

There are 6 options available:

1. Corner Bet: Wagering on four numbers at the same time forming a square, for example 17, 18, 20, and 21
2. Five Bet: A combination of five numbers you hope to hit such as the zero, double zero, and the top line of numbers or 1, 2, and 3; in European roulette it’s four numbers
3. Line Bet: Placing chips on six numbers at the intersection between the two lines along the side of the board
4. Split Bet: A single wager on two neighboring numbers made by placing a chip on the line dividing them
5. Straight up: A single bet on one number that pays out 35/1 if it hits
6. Street Bet: Wagering on the outer grid line by forming one of the three consecutive numbers in a row

• La Partage: A feature where half of the stake is returned to the player, provided he has placed an even bet (Red/Black, 1-18, 19-36 or Even/Odd) and lost because the ball landed on zero.
• Orphelins: A combination of straight up and split bets where five chips are placed on the grid so that eight numbers are bet on paying out 35 to 1 and 17 to 1.
• Outside Bets: Bets placed on several numbers simultaneously on the outside of the layout or closest to the players. They are otherwise known as:

1. Column Bet: Wagering on the ball landing on one of the three columns of 12 numbers
2. Dozens Bet: Betting on a dozen numbers at once, such as 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36
3. High or Low: Making a bet on high means that you’re wagering on numbers from 19-36 while betting on low refers to numbers 1-18
4. Odd or Even: A bet where players place chips on odd or even; if the zero comes up, all bets on both odd and even lose
5. Red or Black: Betting on the color since half of the numbers in roulette are red and the other half are black; if the ball lands on zero, players lose
6. Snake Bet: A bet where you connect the numbers on the table to form an "S" shape resembling a snake

• Tiers: A type of bet where one chip is placed on each of the following splits: 5–8, 10–11, 13–16, 23–24, 27–30, and 33–36.
• Voisins: A special bet with 9 chips covering an area of 17 numbers on the roulette wheel close to zero but between 22 and 25 (for example 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, and 3).

Poker Terms

Craving to be a poker enthusiast, but you’re not even sure what fold means? 

Check out the following list of popular poker terms with short in-depth explanations, and you’ll master the terminology of this game of skill before saying royal flush:

• All-in: An action in which the player wagers all his remaining chips in the pot. It happens if he doesn't have any chips left, has a strong winning hand, or wants to win the main pot by bluffing.
• Ante: A mandatory bet requiring all players at the table to put $1 or more in the pot before the start of each hand.
• Bad Beat: A situation in which the player has one of the statistically strongest poker hands possible but loses to a higher-ranking hand.
• Blind: A mandatory bet that drives the action forward and prevents players from folding until they are dealt premium cards.
• Bluff: A bet or raise made with cards that are not the best hand to make your opponent fold.
• Call: Matching another player's bet by putting the same amount of chips or more into the pot.
• Check: An act in which you keep the cards and pass the action to the next player on the left provided no-one has made a bet in the current round. You don't have to put anything into the pot when checking, unless you’re playing a game with a big or a small blind.
• Community Cards: The cards that are dealt face up in the center, shared by all the players at the table.
• Draw: An action in which the player draws if he has a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to stay in the game.
• Flop: The second betting round in Hold'em and Omaha poker where three community cards are revealed on the poker table.
• Fold: Letting go of cards or giving up on the hand when facing a bet or is your turn to act. The action applies to all forms of poker.
• Four of a Kind: A hand in poker where all four cards are of the same rank, plus any other card.
• Full House: A hand in poker consisting of a three of a kind and a pair.
• Muck: Placing cards on the discard pile or sliding cards toward the dealer when you realize that you cannot win.
• Nut: The strongest possible hand for any arrangement of cards that is considered unbeatable at any point in the game.
• Pair: Any two cards of the same rank.
• Pot: The sum of money that players wager during a single hand or game of poker.
• Raise: A betting action in which the player increases the opening bet. It also means to place an amount of chips in the pot greater than the amount needed to match the previous bettor.
• River: The final betting round in poker and most of its variants.
• Rake: A scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom or host operating the game. It is usually in the range of 2.5% to 10% of the pot for each poker hand.
• Royal Flush: A poker hand containing a straight from ten to ace and all five cards are of the same suit.
• Satellite: A lower buy-in qualifying event for poker tournaments that allows players to win an entry into a higher buy-in and more prestigious tournament like WSOP.
• Sit out: A term used when the player chooses to leave a table for a few hands but not longer than fifteen minutes. In that case, he has probably missed two rounds of blinds, and is removed from the table.
• Showdown: A situation in poker where the remaining players after the last betting round expose and compare their cards to determine the winner. It can only happen if more than one player remains.
• Straight Flush: If you have any straight with all five cards of the same suit, it's called Straight Flush.

Keno, Lottery, and Bingo Terms

Although this ultimate raffle-based trio relies on the same mechanism to draw up numbers and form a sequence, each of them uses different gambling terms for winning and playing, and keeping up with the game.

Keno Terms

Regardless of the variant, both keno online and live keno share most of the following terms. Along with our comprehensive keno guides, they may come in handy when playing and make the game much more exciting but also help you improve the overall keno experience.

• All or Nothing: A type of keno where players only have two ways to win – if all the keno numbers you picked are drawn or if none of them is present on the board.
• Blank: A keno ticket at a land-based casino that hasn’t been played yet.
• Call: Action performed by the keno dealer or RNG to announce the keno winning numbers.
• Catch Zero: A game of keno in which none of the numbers you selected must be drawn to win.
• Clear: An option in video keno that lets you reset the game and choose new numbers before drawing.
• Cold Numbers: The numbers drawn less frequently than the others over a longer period of sessions.
• Combination Bet: A combo ticket where you select groups of numbers and play them together on one ticket.
• Deuce: This refers to 2 keno numbers selected and positioned next to each other on a keno layout.
• Draw: The total amount of keno numbers drawn in a single round.
• Draw Sheet: A record of numbers drawn during previous sessions in online keno.
• Expected Value: Percentage rate of specific outcomes in a single keno round.
• Field: A board with 80 numbers on which the keno game is played.
• Free Spin: A bonus feature in keno that allows you to play the next round for free and win.
• Group: A selection of numbers that make up a circle on the keno board or ticket.
• High-Roller Keno: A type of keno game that offers higher minimum and maximum wagers.
• History: A list of all previous player picks, drawn balls, special balls, and hits in video keno. It exists for statistical purposes and it can be accessed at any point in the game.
• Hit: Winning keno numbers marked on the board after the draw. They are usually marked in a different color.
• Hot Numbers: The most frequently drawn numbers in the last 100 games of keno or more.
• House Edge: Advantage the casino has over the player in keno. The lower the house edge, the better your payout odds get.
• Jackpot: A lump sum paid to the player for landing a specific sequence of numbers.
• Keno Board: A display that shows the numbers drawn in every round of keno.
• King: Called also an ace or a one, it represents a single number circled with others on a king ticket. These tickets let you make group combinations with a single number.
• Live Keno: The land-based version of keno or online keno played via live stream.
• Mark: Numbers marked and intended to be wagered on in the next round.
• Odds: Chances a player has of winning a bet based on the numbers marked for the following round.
• Open: A short window when keno is ready to accept new bets.
• Pattern: A formation of selected numbers that creates a specific shape on the keno board.
• Paytable: An interactive display of keno payouts for matching a certain amount of winning numbers.
• Probability: Similar to odds, it shows one’s chances of making a winning sequence. It is usually displayed as a percentage.
• Split Bet: A wager that allows you to make multiple bets during the same round of keno and maximize your chances.
• Quick Pick: A feature available in online keno games that allows players to randomly pick their numbers instantly.
• Random Number Generator: A computer algorithm that generates a random sequence of numbers for each round.
• Spot: A keno number selected on the field online or marked with a pen on the ticket.
• Straight Bet: The simplest and most common type of bet in keno where you place a wager on up to 15 numbers per draw.
• Ticket: A piece of paper in land-based keno used for marking the winning numbers.
• Video Keno: A game of keno played on cabinets at land-based casinos resembling slot machines.
• Wager: Bet placed by the player after selecting the minimum or maximum numbers in keno.
• Way Bet: A type of bet where you select a group of numbers, and then break these into equal subgroups or ways.
• Winning Numbers: Randomly drawn numbers by the player from 1 to 80 that make a payout after the round.

Lottery Terms

The most popular game of chance in the world also uses a specific glossary of terms, so if you’re not familiar with some of them, the following list will give you a detailed understanding:

• Advertised Jackpot: The minimum prize amount the lottery will pay to the winner.
• Annuity: Payments made by the lottery over an extended period of time, usually 25 to 30 years.
• Ball Draw Machine: A device that mechanically rotates a set of numbered balls and then randomly draws a specific sequence to determine the winning numbers.
• Bonus Number: An extra number drawn in some lotteries after the regular set of numbers has come out.
• Cash-for-Life: A lottery game that makes prize payments to the winner in installments for the duration of their life.
• Central Computer: The main lottery computer that handles all gaming and validation activities.
• Charitable Lottery: A fundraising lottery, bingo, or raffle where players donate money to a greater cause by playing for real money.
• Combination Bet: A wager in which the player selects a box bet and a straight bet for one set of numbers.
• Daily Game: A lottery game with a daily draw or multiple draws in a single day.
• Double: A three- or four-digit lottery game that features two numbers of the same digit.
• Fixed Payout: The amount of prize established for a specific lottery game, regardless of how many tickets are sold.
• iLottery: A general name for internet lottery games such as lotto, keno, bingo, and other instant raffles.
• Jackpot: The highest paying amount in the lottery calculated by the accumulation of unwon prizes over a period of time.
• Lottery Commission: A board of members who oversee the entire lottery organization.
• Mega Millions: A $2 multi-jurisdictional lotto game offered throughout the United States by every American lottery.
• Pool: The budget used for drawing the prizes in lottery based on the funds acquired from all sold tickets.
• Powerball: Another $2 multi-jurisdictional lotto game with the ability to generate huge jackpots.
• Retailer: A shop or entity authorized and licensed by the lottery to sell tickets.
• VLT: A free-standing electronic cabinet (also known as Video Lottery Terminal) connected to a central gaming system with access to various lottery and casino games.
• World Lottery Association: The international lottery association representing all the major lottery organizations in the world.

Bingo Terms

Before you join a bingo room online or step into a bingo hall, knowing the terminology is a MUST. Bingo events are full of specific words, gambling terms for losing, daubing, and English slang, so building a good vocabulary before learning how to play bingo should be extremely helpful. If you’re still unsure what a Dauber is, keep studying the following glossary:

• 1TG / 2 TG: One to go or two to go, meaning there is only one or two boxes left for a player to win.
• 30 Ball: Commonly called speed bingo, it represents a much smaller and quicker version of 75-ball bingo played with nine numbers from 1 to 30 spread across a 3x3 grid.
• 52 Ball: A mix of 75-Ball and 90-Ball Bingo that uses a deck of cards instead of tickets like in regular bingo.
• 75 Ball / 90 Ball: The most popular versions of bingo played both online and offline in the UK and North America, respectively. The main difference is in the number of possible patterns a player can make; in 90-ball bingo you play on a card with 27 squares across 3 horizontal and 9 vertical lines, while the 75-ball version has 24 numbers spread across 5 rows and 5 columns.
• 80 Ball: A version of bingo played on a 4x4 grid with a total of 16 numbers without any blank spaces.
• Any Way: A game of bingo where patterns can go in any direction.
• Bingo Hall: Usually a large room where licensed bingo events are conducted in a fair and legal way.
• Bingo Lingo: Specific words and terms used by experienced and novice bingo players.
• Bingo Lobby: A collection of rooms where players can see all the bingo games available.
• BOGOF: Buy one, get one free - a common promotion on bingo sites where the player buys one ticket and gets one free.
• Buy-in: The minimum number of cards needed to join a game or buying cards with funds online.
• Caller: The person who announces the numbers out loud during drawing.
• CH: An abbreviation for chat host.
• Chat Game: Fun games played in the chat room between online bingo games.
• Chat Lingo: Abbreviations and emojis used by roomies in a chat room when playing online.
• Chat Name: The player’s chat name shown to other roomies.
• Dabber: A marker used for dabbing numbers on a bingo ticket.
• Dauber: A term used for a pattern in 75-ball bingo where players must mark all numbers on the card to win.
• Early Bird Game: A term used by bingo clubs to describe the first game of the day.
• Eyes Down: An exclamation by the caller when the game is about to start, reminding everyone to look at their ticket.
• Flashboard: A visual representation of the bingo numbers being called when playing.
• Flimsies: Another name for bingo tickets.
• Free Bingo: Usually, a game of online bingo where players are not required to make a deposit before playing.
• Free Square: Also known as Free Space, it represents the center square on a card or ticket in 75-ball bingo. 
• Full House: A winning combination in which the players mark all the numbers on a ticket.
• Late Night Bingo: A game of bingo that starts late at night, usually around 10:00 PM. 
• Lights out: A term used for the last bingo game of the night.
• On: A term used when players are only one number away from winning.
• Pattern: A certain shape the player must form on a ticket to win a 75-Ball Bingo game.
• Progressive jackpot: The grand prize which grows as players buy more tickets for bingo.
• Room: The online equivalent to land-based bingo halls found on betting sites.
• Roomies: Other online bingo players in the chat room.

Baccarat Terms

Knowing the lingo bantered around the baccarat table should put you ahead of the competition in this lively Vegas game of chance, helping you play like a pro right until the end. 

Here are the most famous terms you’ll hear during a full baccarat session:

• Banker: A designation for one of the two hands dealt out in each coup or round of play. Unlike the player’s hand at 44.6%, the banker will win 45.8% of the time because he knows the value of the player's third card.
• Bead Plate: A tray that used to illustrate a history of winning bets throughout a baccarat game. It contained six rows in height and indefinite width.
• Big Eye Boy: A type of pattern spotting in baccarat used to observe the repeatability of results.
• Commission: The banker bet in baccarat comes with a 5% commission, and it is considered to be more beneficial to the player as it wins 45.86% of the time. There are also variants with no commission.
• La Grande: A term from French meaning the "The Big One” or the natural nine, known among the players as the best hand in baccarat.
• Natural: A two-card hand with a total score of 8 or 9 for either the player or the banker.
• Player: A hand on which you can bet in a coup where the house advantage stands at 1.24% while the payout is 1 to 1.
• Punto: Another name for the player borrowed from Punto Banco, a popular variant of the game where each move is forced by the cards the player is dealt.
• Third Card Rule: A rule in which the third card is drawn by the player or banker depending on the hand total. 
• Tie: A type of bet that allows the player to wager that the result of the next hand of baccarat will be a tie. If there is a tie, bets on the banker or player are returned.

Sports Betting Terms

Perhaps the most difficult words to learn or master are in sports betting since the bookmakers have developed a whole system of specific and somewhat funny gambling terms. 

Since almost every sport comes with its own vocabulary, we will go through some of the terms that are widely and often used in sports betting:

• Beard: A guy who places wager for professional bettors to conceal their identity from bookmakers.
• Bookmaker: A land-based or online sportsbook that accepts bets on sporting events and pays out at previously agreed odds.
• Dime: A bet of $1,000.
• Fixed-Odds Betting: A form of betting where you can secure a given price at the time of placing a bet on horse racing for example. Although the price doesn’t have any fluctuations, there may be certain deductions in the event of scratching.
• Futures: A bet placed on an event, series, or awards that is going to be determined in the future.
• Live Betting (or In-Play Betting): A form of gambling on sports that occurs after a game has started and before it has ended.
• Lock: A big favorite in a sporting event.
• Long Shot: An underdog whose chances of winning are slim.
• Moneyline: A basic bet on sports that has potentially two or three outcomes depending on the sport. For example, a bet on a particular team to win a game or contest.
• Nickel: A $500 bet on a single event in sports betting.
• Off the Board: An event or competition that sportsbooks will not allow players to bet on.
• Over/Under: A wager on a specific statistic or game where the player can predict if the result will be higher or lower than the pre-agreed value.
• Parlay: Otherwise known as combo bet or accumulator, parlay is a type of bet where the player can link two or more individual wagers together into one.
• Point Spread Betting: Wagering on the margin of victory or the outcome of an event where the payout is based on the accuracy of the bet.
• Proposition Bet: A wager on performance of individual players or athletes in a contest or on games directly tied to the outcome of the whole competition.
• Scratching: A term from racetracks meaning that a certain horse is scratched from the race due to injuries, sickness or changes in track conditions.
• Spread: A feature bookmakers use to even the odds between two unevenly matched teams and get equal action on both sides.
• Teaser: A bet where the player is allowed to change the point spread for a game and win but to compensate, the sportsbook will lower the payout.
• Tout: A person that sells their picks or sports betting expertise to other bettors.

Responsible Gambling Terms 

One of the most important aspects and social initiatives in gambling is a responsible, safer play. Awareness of pathological problem gambling should be on everyone’s priority list. 

This part of the glossary is intended as a guide to help you learn the terms relating to awareness, treatment, and counseling.

• BeGambleAware: An organization that provides free confidential help and support to anyone experiencing gambling problems.
• Compulsive Gambling: A mental state or disorder in which a person is not able to resist the urge to gamble. 
• Gambling Addiction: Compulsive, uncontrollable urge to gamble despite its many negative consequences on your life.
• Gamblers Anonymous: A 12-step program designed to help people attempting to recover from pathological gambling.
• GamCare: An independent UK charity that raises awareness, offers aid, provides advice and support for people affected by problem gambling.
• GAMSTOP: A free service and independent self-exclusion scheme that lets players restrict their online gambling activities.
• Limit Setting: A responsible action that lets players set money or time limits before gambling.
• Loss Chasing: A tendency to keep gambling with larger bets in order to “get even” or make up for earlier losses.
• Problem Gambling: Any gambling behavior that is disruptive or damaging someone’s life, family, or daily habits. 
• Reality Check: A tool at online casinos that notifies players on screen how much time has elapsed since their gaming session began.
• Recreational Gambling: A type of social gambling for entertainment purposes with friends where players don’t risk more than they can afford, gamble for a limited amount of time, chase losses only briefly, and are not preoccupied with gambling. 
• Self-Assessment: A reliable and standardized measure based on research to help evaluate signs that could lead to risky behavior in problem gambling. 
• Self-Exclusion: An option at online and land-based casinos used by players who have recognized a harmful gambling pattern and want to exclude themselves from playing for a length of time.
• Take a Break: A responsibility tool at the casino that allows players to exclude themselves from betting for a set period, usually up to 5 years.
• Voluntary Exclusion: A commitment between the casino and the player who wants to voluntarily stop all gambling activities at the establishment for a chosen period.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it, the complete gambling terms and lingo!

We've taken a thrilling ride through the world of gambling terms, covering everything from basic casino lingo to the specialized vocabulary of various games like slots, table games, and even lottery or sports betting.

By now, you should feel more confident and at ease with the jargon of your favorite gambling activities.

Remember to always practice responsible gambling, and with your newfound knowledge, you're sure to have a more enjoyable and informed experience, whether you're spinning the reels, calling the shots, or placing your bets.

Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!