Odds - Ratio of probabilities. The casino's view of the chance of a player winning. The figure or fraction by which the casino offers to multiply a bettor's stake, which the bettor is entitled to receive (plus his or her own stake) if they win.
On tilt - Going 'on tilt' is a bad reaction to an unlucky hand resulting in uncontrolled wild play.
Open - In poker, the player who bets first.
Outside Bets - Roulette bets located on the outside part of the layout. They involve betting 12 or 18 numbers with one chip.
Overlay - A good bet where the player has an edge over the casino.
Paint - A Jack, Queen or King. Picture card. Face card.
Palette - The tool (usually a long flat wooden baton) used in the Baccarat game to move cards on the table.
Pass - In card games, to not bet, to fold.
Pat - In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands. In blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points.
Payline - The line on a slot machine window on which the symbols from each reel must line up. Slot machines can have as many as 20 paylines, although most have only one.
Payoff - The return or payback the player receives for his or her wager.
Payoff Odds - The form of odds that are conventionally posted in the casinos. Payoff odds specify how much a winning wager will be paid for each wager or chip that was bet. The casinos post the 'payoff odds' in terms of the number of chips won relative to the number of chips bet.
Payoff Schedule - See 'Payout Table' below
Payout Percentage - Also referred to as the payback percentage, the percent of each dollar played in a video or slot machine that the machine is programmed to return to the player. Payback percentage is 100 percent minus the house edge.
Payout Table - A posting somewhere on the front of a slot or videopoker machine that tells you what each winning hand will pay for the number of coins or credits played.
Pigeon - An uneducated, naive, or unsophisticated gambler.
Pit - An area of a casino in which a group of table games are arranged, where the center area is restricted to dealers and other casino personnel.
Pit Boss - A supervisor who oversees a gaming area. Usually supervises more than one table at the same time.
Pit Manager - A pit manager is in charge of all the table games, enforcing casino policy. He deals with any problems that may arise during the shift where a crucial decision must be made that may lead to a customer being dissatisfied or angry. Also, he handles Comps and dodges undeserving customers who are trying to get free Room, Food, Beverage (free RFB).
Playing the Rush - A poker term referring to a player who has just enjoyed a short-run of good luck marked by winning a very large pot of money in one hand or winning several hands in close succession. If the player subsequently begins to play more loosely or more aggressively they are said to be 'playing the rush'.
Plug - A shuffling technique that is sometimes employed in card games like blackjack where the game is often dealt from a multi-deck shoe. When freshly shuffled cards are brought back into action a substantial portion of the cards are kept out of play by the insertion of a cut-card at the back of the deck or shoe. The placement of the cut card marks the place where play will be stopped and the cards are again shuffled. During the play, used cards are stacked in a discard tray. When the cut-card is reached, the game is stopped, and the remaining un-dealt cards are inserted somewhere into the middle of the cards that have already been stacked up in the discard tray. The cards so inserted are referred to as a 'plug'. Such action is called 'plugging' the deck.
Pocket Cards - In poker where some of the player's cards are dealt to them face down. These cards are called pocket cards.
Point (The Point) - The number that is established on the come-out roll. Only place numbers (4,5,6,8,9,10) can become the point. The shooter will attempt to repeat throwing the point before throwing a 7 in order to win that round of betting.
Poker - Basically a card game. But poker isn't just a card game - it is many card games. The majority of poker games do share some common features, especially betting in rounds and the ranking of hands. Poker is commonly played in cardrooms (often within casinos) and in private home games. The games played in cardrooms seem to divide into stud games, draw games, and flop games. In home games, however, anything goes, including games that seem to have no reason to be called poker. The varieties played in home games probably number in the hundreds. Some common cardroom games include Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, Razz, Lowball, and Pineapple.
Pot - In a poker game, the amount of money that accumulates in the middle of the table as each player antes, bets, and raises. The pot goes to the winner of the hand.
Press a Bet - Adding the winnings over the current bet, to 'let it ride'.
Pressing - A player is pressing the bet when they let winnings ride by wagering them along with the original bet.
Probability - A mathematical calculation that establishes the likelihood that an event will occur. Probabilities are expressed as numbers between 0 and 1. The probability of an impossible event is 0, while an event that is certain to occur has a probability of 1.
Progression Betting - A system of betting applied to many games where bet-size is systematically changed, up or down, across as series of rounds of play according to some predetermined formula.
Progressive - A slot machine whose potential jackpot increases with each coin that is played. When the progressive jackpot finally hits, the amount resets to the starting number.
Pull Tab, Pulltab - A game similar to the lottery game. Tickets sell for 25 cents or 50 cents or even more and typically offer prizes ranging from free tickets to $500. Each ticket has perforated windows which open revealing symbols similar to those found on slot machines or some lottery games.
Punch Board - Another lottery-type game. The player punches out a slot on a board for a chance to win a merchandise prize. Punch boards offering cash prizes are also common.
Punto Banco - European name for Baccarat; Punto is for Player and Banco is for Bank
Push - A tie hand between a dealer and a player. A round of play where neither the player nor the casino wins.
Quads - In poker, four of a kind.
Qualifier - In poker, the minimum ranking a hand must have in order for it to be eligible to take part of the pot.
Quartet - Quartet Pool are conducted by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. The investor is required to select the first four place-getters in a selected event in the correct order. Generally fields are confined to 14 starters.
Rack - A plastic container in which you can transport and count large-denominational coins, slot machine tokens, and casino plastic chips.
Rake - The money that the casino charges for each hand of poker. It is usually a percentage (5-10%) or flat fee that is taken from the pot after each round of betting.
Rank - In poker, the worth of a set of cards.
Rated - Determination by the casino that a player's skill level is above average or on a professional level. A player's rating may be stored on computer and referred to the pit.
RFB - Comped with free Room, Food, and Beverages.
Riffling (Card Riffling) - A commonly used shuffling process. To accomplish a riffle, the deck is divided roughly in half and the two halves are interleaved by pulling the card corners up with the thumbs and letting the two halves 'riffle' together. Riffling is also sometimes called 'zipping' the cards. Like card Stripping (see below), the riffling process can span a range from a fine riffle to a coarse riffle.
River - In poker, the final card dealt in a hand of stud or hold?em. In seven-card stud, staying in until the fifth and final round of betting is called going to the river.
Round of Play - A round or hand of play can consist of a single wager or several wagers made during the time of a short wagering event. For example, in poker the round of play (wagering event) begins with the dealing of the cards and ends when the winning player takes the pot. In casino craps a round of play begins with the 'come out' roll and ends when the passline wagers are decided. This may take one or several rolls of the dice. In between, the player might have multiple wagers riding on several different numbers and other betting options. All wagers made between the time of the come out roll and the decision roll are considered to be part of that round of play. In roulette each spin is counted as a round of play, no matter how many bets you place.
Sawdust Joint (US) - A term for a non-luxury gambling club.
Sawbuck - Ten dollars.
Scared Money - Money that you cannot afford to lose.
Session - A period of play or a table sitting at any gambling game.
Set - In Pai-Gow poker, players set their seven cards into two separate hands of two and five cards each.
Seventh Street - In seven-card stud, the fifth and final round of betting is called seventh street because players have seven cards.
Shark - A good/crafty player often posing as a fish early in the game. See also "Fish".
Sharker, Sharper, or Cardsharp - A cheater.
Sharp - Astute bettor.
Shill - A person who actively plays in the game for the house, club, or casino. Usually seen at a Baccarat table to fill empty seats, until more real players join in.
Shiner - A tiny mirror or any reflecting device used by a cheater to see unexposed cards. A reflecting device used to try and glimpse the dealer's hole card.
Shoe - Device, usually a wooden box, used for holding and dispensing playing cards to be dealt. Shoe games are typically composed of six or eight decks of cards.
Short Run - A short series of wagers or game events.
Showdown - In poker, after the last betting round, the players who remain in the pot must show their hands in the showdown to determine the winner.
Shuffle Tracking - A high level blackjack playing strategy used by card counters.
Shuffle Up - Premature shuffling of playing cards by the dealer.
Shuffling (Card Shuffling) - Is a generic term which encompasses all card mixing techniques used to prepare a deck or a shoe for continued play. All casino shuffling processes employ a combination of mixing techniques. These may include 'Stripping' or 'washing' the cards as well as 'riffling', 'boxing', 'plugging', 'cutting' and other off-spring techniques. All shuffling processes employ multiple riffles of 'clumps', 'picks', or 'grabs' to achieve some level of randomization. The shoe games, which use multiple decks of cards (4, 6, or 8 decks), will often employ the most intricate riffling patterns of all. In these, the picks are riffled together and then re-picked and re-riffled in complex symmetric patterns.
Shutter - A window covering a number on a reusable bingo card. The shutter can be pulled down to mark each number as it is called.
Silver Mining - Also called Slot Walking. The practice of looking for coins left in unattended slot machines. |
