Glossary A to C

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Action - the the amount of cash someone bets in total during a gambling session
Active Player - related to poker, refers to somebody who is still playing the game
Add-on - again relates to poker; the option to buy more chips while the game is in play
Aggregate Limit - the maximum amount of payout a casino will make during a game of any kind
Aggregate Winnings - the amount someone wins in total, or stacked up to a significant point
All or Nothing - relates to Keno, a card which has numbers only resulting in a payout if all the chosen numbers are drawn or if none of the picked numbers come up
Ante - used in card games, means the minimum bet needed to take part in a hand. When used in stud poker, means the bet a player has to put down before they get their cards
Arm - often used in craps, refers to somebody who is apparently so good at throwing the dice that they can alter the normal odds of the game
Baccarat - a table card game which involves six or eight decks. Can also be referred to as Punto Banco
Banker - in card games, the dealer
Bankroll - word used to describe the total amount of cash that the player or casino has to back up bets. May also be referred to as the 'Wad' or 'Roll'. In terms of players, may be used to describe the total amount of cash taken on a gambling trip, divided up into daily bankrolls
Barred or Banned - somebody who is permanently prohibited from entering a casino
Bet - a wager
Betting Limit - in table games the smallest and largest amount of money that someone is allowed to place in one wager. Betting less than the minimum or more than the maximum is not allowed for that game
Bingo - a prize game involving cards given to players with numbers in grids. Depending on the variation, this may correspond to the five letters of the word bingo. The numbers are then drawn at random until a player completes a line of five numbers in a diagonal, horizontal, although tickle sequence to scoop the prize, then shouting 'Bingo!' or 'House!'
Black Book - a list of people who are prohibited from entering a casino
Blind Bet - used in poker, refers to a wager someone places before they see any of their cards
Blinds - a bet someone must place down while playing Hold-Em poker
Boxing - sometimes used in horse racing a refers to want ticket involving more than one parlay, which is a wager plus its winnings then bet again
Break-Even Point - the the amount at which if you played forever, the wages you have made would be roughly equal to the winnings you would collect
Buck - a wager of $100
Bug - refers to a joker in a pack of cards
Bump - to raise a bet, i.e. to 'bump' someone's wager in poker, staking a bet of a higher value
Burn Cards - to remove cards from the top of a deck and discard them after they have been shuffled, often used in table card games
Buy-in - the amount of cash someone has to put down to buy chips before being granted entry to a table game, such as poker, roulette, blackjack
Call - used in poker, to match or 'call' a bet made by someone else
Camouflage - techniques seasoned gamblers use to hide their the behaviour from the casino and so avoid detection. May include using disguises, changing betting habits and other ploys to avoid being spotted
Capping - the placing of chips on top of an existing bet after a deal has started - essentially increasing what someone has wagered after the game has begun. A form of cheating
Card Counting - technique used by seasoned blackjack players to memorise which cards have already been played and so predict their chances with later hands
Card Sharp - a particularly skilled card player
Carousel - used to describe slot machines aligned in a circle so that a money changer can stand in the middle
Carpet Joint - slang term used to describe a high-end casino
Case money - gambling cash set aside, in a case, as emergency money
Cashier's cage - secured cash desk where a player's chips are exchanged for cash when they have finished playing
Casino Advantage - the house edge or margin of profit that the casino has on a game over the players
Casino rate - a discounted hotel room rate that a casino might offer to a good customer
Catch - used in Keno to refer to 'catching' a number, meaning one you have chosen has been drawn
Chase - To 'chase' in gambling is to try to chase down a loss you have made by betting again
Check - in casino-speak this can refer to gambling chips, and in poker it is used by a player to declare they wish to stay in the game without betting more
Chemin De Fer - This refers to a table game involving six or eight card decks, related to baccarat, with an element of skill
Chip, Chips - circular disks used by players to bet in casinos - they can be bought and exchanged back into cash at a cashier booth
Chip Tray - a tray full of gambling chips which sits in front of a dealer, who uses them to top up the table's chips
Coat-tail - To 'coat-tail' is to mimic the bets of another player who is on a winning streak
Cold - a player who is on a losing streak may be referred to as 'cold'
Colouring Up - phrase used described how a player can exchange small value chips for larger ones
Combination Way Ticket - a ticket found in Keno which involves betting groups of numbers in a number of permutations, allowing someone to have wagers on a bigger spread of numbers
Comps - free gifts and perks offered to players by casinos in an effort to encourage them to gamble
Copy - used in Pai gow poker, refers to when both the banker and the player have the same two-card hand or five-card hand, in which case the banker wins
Cracking the Nut - when a player wins enough cash while gambling to cover what they have spent on the trip and also provide a respectable profit
Craps - casino table game involving dice
Credit Button - a button on slot and video machines which allows players to turn winnings into credits which can be used to top play with
Crossroader - used to describe a gambling cheat. Originates from the times when people cheated at games played in saloons located at crossroads
Croupier - French term meaning dealer. They are typically found in baccarat and blackjack only
Cut - After cards have been shuffled for a game ahead of being dealt, a player or the dealer asks someone to split or 'cut' the deck into two sections and inverts them
Cut Card - a piece of card, often red, black or yellow and used to cut cards

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Glossary A to C