Craps Terms Explained: Essential Vocabulary for New Players

This is a glossary of terms used on a craps game. They are all part of the casino craps universe.

Some of the terms are slang, some are casino jargon used by casino employees, some are casino jargon used by the players, and some are quite technical in their scope.

They are all part of the rich tapestry of casino expressions used by casino aficionados worldwide.

Craps looks like a complicated game, but in fact, it's several very simple games all going on at the same time.

By-Letter Section Shortcuts
A	B	C	D
E	F	G	H
I	J	L	M
N	O	P	Q
R	S	T	V
W		Y

Enjoy!

• 2 or 12: A one-roll bet on 2, or on 12, that one of these numbers will be rolled on the next roll. It pays 30 to 1.
• 3 or 11: A one-roll bet on 3, or on 11, that one of these numbers will be rolled on the next roll. It pays 15 to 1.
• 3, 4, 5 times odds: A method of determining how much a player may bet as odds on a Pass Line or Come Bet, or as the Lay Bet behind a Don't Pass or Don't Come Bet.
• 86'd: Being told to leave the casino and that you will be arrested for trespassing if you return.

A

• Ace: The 1 spot on a regular 6-sided die
• Action: Being 'in action' is having money in the game, or money and/or cheques in play.
• Agent: An outside associate brought in to assist a dealer cheat on a game. Dealers doing this cheat the casino, never the players.
• Any: Short for 'Any Craps', a one-roll bet that the next roll will be 2, 3 or 12. It pays 7 to 1.
• Apron: 1. The non-printed area on the outside of the layout. 2. A garment worn by the dealer to prevent them from stealing cheques or cash from the casino. 3. Part of the dealer's uniform to prevent wear and tear on their uniform.

B

• Back It Up: To take the odds on a Pass Line or Come Bet, or to lay the odds on a Don't Pass or Don't Come Bet.
• Back Them Up: To move the dice back to a shooter who has inadvertently missed their turn to shoot.
• Bankroll: The amount of money a player brings to the casino to play.
• Bar: The Don't Pass and/or the Don't Come bet may include the phrase 'Don't Pass Bar 12", which means the 12 is barred, and not an automatic winner when rolled on a Come Out roll.
• Barber Pole: A stack of cheques in which the denominations are randomly mixed together.
• Betting with both hands: Making large and frequent wagers.
• Big Red: Seven. Craps players are very superstitious, and the use of the word 'Seven' is a no-no. Consequently the dealers and knowledgeable players refer to the Seven as 'Big Red'. A one-roll bet on the 7 pays 4 to 1.
• Big Six or Big Eight: A bet for inexperienced players that pays even money, vs the 7 to 6 they would get on the regular place bet on those numbers.
• Bird cage: Clear container used to transport cheques to and from the Cage to tables in the pit.
• Black action or black play: Casino jargon for players betting $100 cheques or higher. $100 cheques are generally black in color.
• Black chip: A $100 chip.
• Blue Chip: $5,000 cheque, which is 43mm across vs. the usual size of 39mm across. Some have an RFID chip and a serial number.
• Book the action: To accept a bet for play.
• Bones: Slang term for the dice
• Boys: Refers to the dealers, even if some of the crew are women.
• Boxman: The immediate supervisor of a crap game.
• Boxcars: A throw of two sixes
• Box numbers: The numbers where the Come Bets and Place Bets are situated.
• Break it down: Separate cheques into smaller defined stacks so that the supervisor can read how much it is.
• Break: 20 minutes off of the table for one of the dealers.
• Break-in Dealer: A new, "rookie" dealer in his first weeks or months on the job. Sometimes called a 'lumpy'.
• Buffalo Bet: A 5-piece bet on all the Hardways and Any Seven.
• Bust-out joint: An illegal casino run by a criminal enterprise, where players are often cheated by the employees. In a legitimate casino, dishonest employees will usually cheat the casino, never the patrons.
• Buy Bet: The players may elect to buy the true odds of a number, instead of taking the reduced odds paid for a place bet. This is usually only done on the 4 and 10 because the house edge on a place bet on the 5, 6, 8, and 9 is still lower than the house edge on the Buy bet. The cost of the buy is 5% of the amount of the bet, and is referred to as the vigorish, vig, or juice.
• Button: One of several 1.25" circular discs used to designate a specific type of bet, including Buy, Lay, Off, and On.
• Buy-in: Amount of paper money, cheques or credit exchanged by a player for their current playing session.

C

• Cage: The area of the casino where all the day-to-day financial transactions occur.
• Call bet: A bet made without money or cheques (usually to a well-known high-value player). Most casinos no longer allow these types of bets.
• Cap: The additional 20% of a place bet on the 6 or 8 that facilitates the paying of the 7 to 6 odds.
• Case bet: Bet made with a guest’s last remaining visible cheques.
• Casino host: A casino employee who takes care of high-value players assigned to them. Sometimes the host brings his own players to the casino, which is called 'having a book'. The host would make room reservations, show reservations, meet with the player for dinner and so on.
• Centerfield: The number 9 in the Field
• Check: A casino chip. Also commonly spelled as cheque.
• Cheques: What dice pit employees call chips.
• Cheques play (to the maximum): Called out by a dealer to inform his supervisor that there is a large amount of cheques in play on his table that may equal (or exceed) the maximum..
• Cheque Change: Exchanging a large denomination cheque for smaller denomination cheques, such as one black cheque ($100) for 20 red cheques ($5 each).
• Chip: A token similar to a coin, often made of clay, and used by the casino to represent money. The standard US color scheme is White $1, Red $5, Green $25, Black $100 and Purple $500.
• Clean Money: House cheques as taken from the table bankroll.
• C and E: A bet on Any Craps and 11. It's different to a Horn bet because the Any Craps pays 7 to 1, and does not differentiate between the 2, 3, or 12.
• C-Note: Slang term for a $100 bill.
• Cocked die: A die that has come to rest partially on an object which prevents it from lying flat on the playing surface.
• Cold: Losing (as in cold dice).
• Color up: When a player changes his cheques to a higher denomination, usually when he leaves the table.
• Color-for-color: Paying a bet with the same color cheques.
• Come Bet: Once the point is established, any bet placed in the Come is handled the same as a Pass Line Bet for the upcoming roll.
• Come Out Roll: The start of a new hand. The puck will be 'Off' side up in the Don't Come space on the layout. Once one of the box numbers is rolled (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10), the puck is placed 'On' side up on it, indicating that number is the point.
• Comp: A complimentary gift given by a casino to encourage and reward play. Comps can range from the most common, free drinks while playing, to the most unusual, such as free meals, rooms, trips to resort locations, tickets to the Super Bowl, African safaris etc.
• Cooler: Superstitious casino jargon for a dealer who is likely to call many losers when installed on the stick on a crap game. This is nonsense, and speaks to the old school belief that individual dealers can control what numbers are rolled and what happens on a dice table. They can't.
• Contract bet: A bet which cannot be removed or reduced until after a decision has been reached.
• Crap Out: A shooter who rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the Come Out roll loses their Pass Line bet and is said by some players to have crapped out. The shooter retains the dice.
• Credit line: Many high-end players have a pre-arranged credit agreement with the casino so that they don't have to bring large amounts of cash with them to the casino. They access the money by signing a marker at the table, and it is then charged to them through the casino's 'back-of-the-house' accounting system.
• Crossfiring: Dealers on a crap game talking to each other on a live game about non-game related subjects. Not allowed.
• Crossroader: Casino jargon for a cheat or scam artist.
• CTR: A "Currency Transaction Report', part of the Title 31 cash transaction reporting requirements. See also Fincen 105.
• Cut tokes: To divide gratuities between dealers.

D

• Day shift: It's the shift which traditionally starts at 10am. The casino staff often have start times an hour or two before or after 10am.
• Dead game (table): Game with no players.
• Dealer: The casino employee who facilitates the games in a casino and who controls the dice, the bets and the payouts on a crap game.
• Deuce: The number “2” in a crap game. Also a famous former player for the New Orleans Saints.
• Dice bowl: A small, translucent semi-circular bowl used to hold the dice when they are not in use.
• Dice Control: A technique for throwing the dice that allegedly has some influence on the outcome of the roll. This may work for a very short distance in a controlled environment such as at home, but no professional craps crew is going to allow it to happen on a casino craps game.
• Dice Influencer: A person who claims to be able to influence the outcome of a dice roll by setting the dice and then making the throw with a practised spin and loft. A professional casino craps crew will not allow this player to try to influence the outcome of the roll in this way.
• Dirty Money: Losing money not yet returned to the table's bankroll.
• Don't Come Bet: Once the shooter has a point, the Don't Come loses if the next roll is a 7 or 11, wins on a 2 or 3, and is a push if the roll is a 12. If the shooter rolls any other number, the player is betting that the shooter will roll a 7 before repeating the point just established for his Don't Come bet.
• Don't Pass Line: The opposite of the Pass Line, where the player is betting that the shooter will not make the point. On the Come Out roll, it wins on a 2 or 3, and loses on a 7 or an 11. If the roll is 12, it's a push (hence the Don't Pass 'Bar 12'). Any other number becomes the point, and the shooter must roll a 7 before the point for this bet to win.
• Double Odds: An odds bet on the Pass Line or Come Bet that is double the amount of the initial bet. Conversely, the player betting the Don't Pass or Don't Come may bet enough to win double the amount of the flat bet. This is called 'Laying the Odds' because the player is betting more to win less.
• Downtown: The original area in Las Vegas where the first casinos were situated. It grew up around the downtown railway station, now the Union Plaza Hotel and Casino, some 30 years before Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo on what would become the Las Vegas Strip.
• Drop box: A box affixed to a crap table in front of the Boxman to store the money and markers exchanged at the table for cheques.
• Drop: The total amount of money and credit play used to purchase cheques at a crap table by the players during a defined period of time.
• Drop cut: The technique of holding a stack of cheques in one hand, selecting how many cheques are required to be put down (1 through 5) while the hand is in the air, touching them to the table and removing the hand, leaving a small stack of the precise number of cheques wanted.
• Dual-rate: A casino employee who functions in two separate capacities. A dual-rate dealer/floorman, or a dual-rate pit manager/assistant shift manager, for example. They get paid a different rate depending on what their job function is on that particular day.
• Dumping: Casino jargon for a dealer losing large amounts of money, often refers to a dealer who is 'dumping the rack'.

E

• E.O. (Early Out): Refers to a casino employee being released before the end of their shift, often if the business is slow.
• Easy Way: When you roll a 4, 6, 8, or 10 without rolling a pair. So an Easy 4 is 3/1, and an Easy 6 is 5/1 or 4/2 etc.
• Even money: Bets on the Pass Line, the Don't Pass, Come Bets and Don't Come bets all pay even money. If you bet $10 and win, you get paid $10 and keep your initial bet for $20 total.
• Eye: Casino jargon for 'the eye in the sky'.  It's the Surveillance department and the cameras that are deployed around the craps pit and the rest of the casino to monitor the play, the players and the employees.

F

• Fade: As in 'fade the action' - to accept as a bet part or all of the player’s bet.
• Field: The Field is a one-roll bet that wins if the number rolled is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. It usually pays double (or in some casinos triple) on the 12, and double on the 2, with the other winning numbers all paying even money.
• Fill: To bring more cheques from the Cage to the table.
• FinCen 105: A report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Treasury Department. It replaced the CTR and requires a casino to report cash transactions in excess of $10,000 within a gaming day.
• First base: The dealing spot to the Boxman's right on a crap table.
• Flat betting: To bet the same amount of money over and over on a game.
• Flats: Dice which are not perfect cubes, used for cheating. Imagine a dice shaped like a housebrick. How would it land?
• Flea: A small-time player who rides the coat tails of serious gamblers, often asking them for money after they win a hand, because 'I brought you good luck on that hand'.
• Float: The casino bankroll on a table game.
• Floorperson: A casino employee who usually supervises 2 tables in a craps pit. Often misnamed by the players as a 'pit boss', the floorperson actually reports to the Pit Boss.
• Foreign cheques: Gaming chips from other casinos. Usually neighboring casinos will accept these chips and exchange them for their own chips at the Cage. Typically the Security department will do a monthly 'chip run' to exchange the chips with their neighboring casinos.
• Front money: Money placed on deposit at the Cage which can be accessed in cheques at the table. The relevant paperwork is dropped in the drop box and dealt with by accounting behind the scenes.
• Front side: Slang term for the Pass Line.
• Full spread: All the gaming tables open.

G

• Gaffed dice: Dice that have been altered in some way for cheating purposes.
• George: Casino slang for a good tipper.
• Get out: To be losing and to get even.
• Girls: The dealers.
• Go south with it: To put gaming cheques in a pocket or purse to remove them from the floorperson's view.
• Go-round: Casino jargon for time spent working between breaks, for example, 'let's get a bite to eat after the next go-round'.
• Graveyard shift: Usually starts at 2 AM, but may start a couple of hours earlier or later than that. Sometimes called the Sunrise Shift in a more politically correct casino environment. Some dealers will be trained on this shift by the experienced supervisors before moving to a busier shift once they have some experience.
• Gray chip: $5,000 cheque, which is 43mm across vs. the usual size of 39mm across. Some have an RFID chip and a serial number.
• Green cheques: $25 cheques.
• Grind: To make money in small increments while gambling or to eke out a profit over the long run.

H

• Hand: The time one shooter holds the dice from the first Come Out roll, to the 7 out.
• Handle: A casino expression meaning how much money was put into action on a specific table or casino area during a defined period of time, such as 'on dayshift'.
• Hard Way: One of four possible rolls on a crap game, where the shooter rolls a matched pair of 2s, (hard four), 3s (hard six), 4s (hard eight), and 5s (hard ten). The hard 4 and 10 pay 7 to 1; the hard 6 and 8 pay 9 to 1. The reason for the difference is because there are more ways to lose on the 6 and 8 than on the 4 and 10.
• Hawking the dice: The base dealer on one end of the table looking at the dice at the other end. This is not permitted.
• Heat: Old school casino management harassing a dealer who is losing, trying to intimidate him into winning. It's an absurd notion that the dealer has some control over whether they're winning or losing. It is typically done by a superstitious Pit Manager insisting that the stickman sends the dice out to the shooter with a certain combination showing, for example, a hard eight. (Hello, Gordie!), pulling down one sock, throwing salt under the table, etc.
• Heeling the cheques: A way of stacking cheques, leaving most of the bottom one almost completely exposed. This is one way of letting the Boxman know if the cheques are incoming or outgoing.
• High, Low: A one-roll bet on the 2 and 12.
• High, Low, Yo: A one-roll bet on 2, 11, and 12.
• High roller: A person who bets big in a casino. Someone betting $100 a hand at The Gold Strike, a small downtown Las Vegas casino, might be considered a high roller there, but wouldn't even merit a second glance at Bellagio or the Venetian etc. - because many players at Bellagio and The Venetian are betting more than $100 a hand.
• Hold percentage: A measure of how much the casino has won expressed as a percentage of the amount of money and/or credit in the drop box. For example, if there is $1,000 in the drop box and the table has won $150, the hold percentage is 15%.
• Hook: The outside corner of a crap table.
• Hop, or Hopping bet: A one-roll bet on a specific combination of the two dice. For example, a Hard Ten hopping is a bet that the next roll will be two fives. It pays 30 to 1 because there is only one way to make a Hard 10. A bet on the Easy 10 pays 15 to 1, because there are two ways to make it, a 6/4 and a 4/6.
• Horn Bet: A 4-piece bet on 2, 3, 11, and 12.
• Horn High Bet: A 5-piece bet on the Horn numbers, with one of the numbers having double the amount of the other three numbers. For example, a $25 Horn High 12 has $5 each on 2, 3 and 11, and $10 on the 12.
• Hot: A table where the players are winning, or a shooter who keeps making winners.
• House advantage: Also called the house edge and sometimes the theoretical win percentage, from the casino's point of view.  It expresses how much the casino should win based on the way the rules of the game supply the casino with a built-in advantage over the players. For example, the HA on a Pass Line or Come Bet is 1.41%.
• Hustling tokes: Asking players for tips. This is not permitted in any casino, and may get the dealer fired.

I

• In and Out: When the player has a winning Come bet on the number, and a different amount bet in the Come. The dealer will tell the player and the Boxman that it's 'In and Out', which means the winning bet on the number is coming out of the number box, and the new Come bet is going into the number box.
• Inside bets: The Inside numbers are the 5, 6, 8, and 9. If the player requests a $5 bet on each number, the dealer will place these numbers for $5 each on the 5 and 9, and $6 each on the 6 and 8 to allow for the 7 to 6 payment on the 6 and 8.. This is the usual protocol as the player expects the dealer to 'make the bet right'. If one of these inside numbers is already the point, the players usually do not include that number in their bet So it would be a $22 bet if there is no point, and a $16 or $17 bet, depending on the point.

J

• Jam up: A really good dealer.
• Joint: A slang term for a casino.
• Juice: (1) Casino jargon for the vigorish, usually 5%, that is used to buy the true odds on the 4 and 10. (2) Having the influence of a friend in high places.
• Junket: A group of guests brought in on a short trip, often with various incentives to play more.

L

• Lammer: A small plastic chip usually recording that a player has an amount outstanding or has taken a marker that needs to be paid off or accounted for by the appropriate paperwork.
• Las Vegas Strip: The area of Las Vegas Boulevard which extends roughly from Mandalay Bay to the Sahara Hotel. It includes many of the best-known casinos in Las Vegas, including Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand, Bellagio, and the Venetian. It was initially started by Bugsy Siegel immediately after WWII when he opened the first 'Strip' casino, the Flamingo, in 1947.
• Layout: The felt covering on a gaming table.
• Lay Bet: A bet that 7 will roll before the number being layed. The player pays a commission (called the vigorish) up front of 5% of the amount the bet wins if the 7 is rolled before the number.
• Let It Ride: Leave the initial bet and it's winnings to be bet again. See also 'parlay'.
• Light: An insufficient amount being bet, for example, 'you're $20 light on your odds there, Mr. G'.
• Little Joe (from Kokomo): Slang expression for a Hard Four.
• Locked in: When an employee is stuck on a game when they are due a break because their breaker isn't available.
• Lock it up: Place cheques in the casino's bankroll.
• Loads: Dice where one or more of the spots have been weighted for cheating purposes.
• Lump or lumpy: Slang term to denote a weak or break-in dealer.

M

• Marker down: A marker or call bet which has been paid, said to the player to confirm that their marker is paid as the lammer is removed from the table.
• Marker: A check signed by the player for an advance of casino cheques at the table. The player would have pre-established a credit line with the casino.
• Midnight: The roll of two sixes.
• Money management: A means by which gamblers administer their gambling bankroll. The simple version is 'how much am I willing to lose', or 'how much am I willing to win' before I stop playing.
• Money plays: Unusual to see these days as most casinos don’t allow it due to the cash reporting requirements of Title 31, but used to be quite common. The player wants to play the cash, and doesn't want to exchange his cash for cheques.

N

• Natural: A winning roll of 7 or 11 on the Come Out roll.
• Nickel: A $5 chip.

O

• Odds: Take and Lay Bets on the Pass Line and Come may take odds once their point is established. The odds bets pay the correct odds of the point number coming up before a 7. The 4 and 10 pay 2 to 1. The 5 and 9 pay 3 to 2. The 6 and 8 pay 6 to 5. Conversely, bets on the Don't Pass and the Don't Come may lay the odds once their point is established. This means the bettor on the 'Don't Side' must bet more to win less, as they are betting on the 7 to appear before the point. A lay bet against a point of 4 or 10 must bet 2 to win 1. Against the 5 and 9 must bet 3 to win 2, and against the 6 and the 8 must bet 6 to win 5.
• Off and On: When the player has a winning Come bet on the number, and the same amount bet in the Come. Rather than switch the two bets, the dealer will simply inform the player and the Boxman that he is paying the bet 'off and on'.
• Orange Chip: $1,000 chip. These are usually 43mm across, whereas the lesser casino cheque denominations are only 39mm across.
• Outside bets: The outside bets are the 4, 5, 9 and 10. With a $5 bet on each number, it's a $20 bet if none of these four numbers is the point, and a $15 bet if one of them is the point. Once the bet on the 4 or 10 reaches $20, the dealer will automatically buy the bet for the player and charge the additional 5% vigorish (commission), which is $1 per $20 bet.

P

• P.C.: Casino jargon for 'percentage'.
• Paddle: A plastic device used to push currency and pit documents into the drop box by the Boxman.
• Parlay: To increase a winning bet by the amount of the winnings and bet it all back. If a $10 bet wins $15, the player's parlayed bet would be $25. Often jokingly referred to as 'It's French for 'stack it up'.
• Pass Line: The most common betting location on the table. On a Come Out roll, if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, this bet wins. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, this bet loses. Any other number becomes 'the point', and the shooter must roll the point again before a 7 for the Pass Line bets to win. Once a point is established, only the point and 7 have an effect on a bet on the Pass Line. Winning Pass Line bets are always paid even money.
• Past post: To illegally place a bet after the winner has been determined.
• Pinch: To illegally take money from a contract bet after the point has been established.
• Pit boss, Pit supervisor or Pit manager: The person in charge of the pit and the employees working in that area. The floorperson is often misnamed 'pit boss' by the players.
• Pit: A table games area in the casino. The tables are grouped together, often with the same game, and the casino personnel work inside this area, with no access permitted to the casino patrons.
• Place Bet: A bet on one (or more) of the box numbers. The 4 and 10 pay 9 to 5. The 5 and 9 pay 7 to 5. The 6 and 8 pay 7 to 6.
• Point: One of 6 possible box numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10) rolled on the Come Out roll that must be rolled again before a 7 for the Pass Line bet to win. All other possible numbers rolled on the Come Out roll include an immediate win/lose decision.
• Pole: The stick on a crap game.
• Press: To increase one's bet after a win, usually by doubling it.
• Progression betting: A system of betting that tries to overcome the House Advantage on a table game in a casino. There are negative progressive systems that increase the amount bet if the current bet loses, and positive progressive systems that increase the amount bet if the current bet wins. No legal system has ever been devised that will overcome the House Advantage, no matter what their purveyors claim on the internet.
• Proposition bet: A bet on one of the numbers in the section in front of the Stickman.
• Puck: A flat circular disc, 3" (7.62 cms) across, with 'On' written on a white surface on one side, and 'Off' written on the black opposite side. Used by the base dealers to mark the point once it is established.
• Purple: $500 cheques. Usually the same size as the lower denomination cheques, i.e. 39mm across.
• Put bet: Once the point has been established, a Come bet going straight onto a number, instead of through the Come. As in 'put this on the 9'. It would usually always have the flat bet and the odds on it.

Q

• Quarters: $25 cheques.

R

• Rack: (1) The grooved top of the wall on a crap table where the players keep their cheques. (2) A small plastic tray that holds exactly 100 cheques to facilitate moving them around the casino easily.
• Rainbow bet: A large stack of cheques of randomly selected values which makes it difficult to determine how much the stack is worth.
• Railbird: Player who steals cheques from the rail on a crap table.
• Red chip: A $5 chip.
• Reds: Five dollar cheques.
• Regulation 6A: A now-redundant, very liberal cash-tracking regulation in place in Nevada casinos prior to the implementation of Title 31.
• RF&B: When issuing a comp, it's an abbreviation for room, food, and beverage.
• Right Bettor: A player betting that the shooter will make his point.
• Rim credit: Credit taken at the table in the pit by a well-known credit player. Tracked on a Rim Card, these markers will be formalized later into one totalled marker check.
• RNG: Random Number Generator. Only seen in an online crap game, never in a live game.
• Road map: Slang expression for the stiff sheet, a casino form for tracking the financial performance of the table games floor. Sometimes used to describe the short-term supervisor schedule for the craps pit.
• Rubber band: A system of assigning Boxmen or Floor Supervisors to specific games or gaming areas in the crap pit.

S

• Scam: A cheating move or scheme to cheat.
• Score: A big win.
• Second base: The dealing position to the Boxman's left on a crap game.
• Sending it in: To make large or frequent wagers.
• Shill: A person that works for the casino that is paid to play at certain tables to start the game. Highly unusual to see these days.
• Shooter: The player who shoots the dice. They continue to roll the dice until they roll a 7 Out. In theory, it's also until they elect to give up the dice and allow the next shooter to take the dice, or until the dice crew remove the dice from the shooter for not following the rules - but I've only ever seen that twice in almost 40 years.
• Shot: Any cheating move by a player.
• Sleeper: An unclaimed bet and/or payoff.
• Snake Eyes: The throw of two Aces on a crap game.
• Snowballs: A mis-spotted die used for cheating purposes. The spots of 1, 2, and 3 are replaced by 6, 5, and 4 respectively, so that it is impossible to roll a 7. It is called a snowball because it looks like a snowball when rolling down the table.
• Stakes: Refers to how much the minimum and maximum bets are on a particular game.
• Steamer or Chaser: A losing guest making bigger and bigger bets to try to win back the money he has lost.
• Stickman: The dealer who controls the dice, using a hooked stick to push them to the shooter. He calls the number, retrieves the dice and brings them back to the center of the table after each roll. Also responsible for administering the proposition bets in the center of the table.
• Stiff: A player who doesn't tip.
• Stiff sheet: A casino form used to keep track of the financial status of the tables on the casino floor.
• Store: Slang term for a casino.
• Streak: If a player is seemingly winning or losing a lot. It is often attributed to being lucky or unlucky, but is in fact the usual pendulum of random events.
• Stuck: To lose, as in “I’m stuck about a grand.”
• Sub: A concealed pocket, usually in their apron, that an unscrupulous dealer may use for stealing cheques.
• Sweeten a bet: Increase a bet by adding cheques before the dice are out.
• Swinging: Stealing.
• Swing shift: It's the night shift, which is the busiest in a casino. It's usually 6pm to 2am, but the staff often have start times an hour or two before or after 6pm.
• System: A plan of playing or betting.

T

• T. T. O.: This Trip Only - it refers to a temporary increase in a guest's credit line.  It is usually 10% of his approved credit line. Casinos generally don't like to increase a player's credit line because it may put the player in an untenable financial position.
• T.I.S.: Table Inventory Slip, a form for recording cheques on a table game.
• Table card: Card kept by the Floor Supervisor to keep track of cheques on the game and/or the money in the drop box.
• Table hopping: Quickly moving from one table to another, sometimes only playing one hand.
• Take down: To remove a bet.
• Take the floor: When the four-man craps crew opens a table, one of the dealers goes on break. This is called 'taking the floor'.
• Tap in: A dealer going onto a game, as in “Go tap in on the stick on Table 3'.
• Tap out: A dealer leaving a game, as in 'go tap out Joe on first base on Table 3'
• Tapped out: To lose one's bankroll.
• Title 31: That part of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1985 which requires casinos, and other places of business, to report cash transactions in excess of $10,000 to the Treasury Department.
• Toke: A tip to the dealer or to any other casino staff member providing service to the player.
• Toke box: A box in which to place tokes.
• Trey: The 3-spot on a die or card.
• Two-way bet: Usually a bet made by the player for the player and the dealers, as in 'two-way hard six'. It can also mean a one-roll bet on a number which has two possible combinations, such as a two-way ten (6/4 and 5/5).

V

• Vigorish, Vig.: A 5% commission charged on buy bets and lay bets.

W

• W/L: An abbreviation for win/loss.
• Walk: A player leaving the table.
• Whale: A player who bets enormous amounts of money.
• Whirl Bet: More often called a World Bet, it's a 5-piece bet on the Horn and Any Seven.
• Win: The net amount a table has won within a defined period of time.
• Working bet: Some bets are automatically off on the Come Out roll. Some are always working. The player may choose to have his bets that are usually 'off' working on the Come Out roll.
• World Bet (Sometimes called a Whirl Bet): A 5-piece, one-roll bet on the Horn and Any Seven. So 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12.
• Wrong Bettor: Someone betting that the shooter will not make the point.

Y

• Yellow chip: A $1,000 cheque, usually 43mm across.
• Yo: Short for 'Eleven' on a crap game. It comes from the usual call of 'Yo-Eleven'. This is the way a roll of 11 is called to prevent it being misheard as Seven by the staff and players.