• Posted byby Caesar

Walk into any pit or log into a live-dealer lobby and jargon starts flying faster than cards from an automatic shuffler. If phrases like “cold deck” or “fold equity” leave you blinking, no sweat—I’ve stitched together a plain-language glossary so you can sound fluent, avoid rookie mistakes, and maybe even shave a point off the house edge.

Bookmark it, share it, tattoo it (kidding), just don’t go another session guessing. Courtesy of your pals at NowG, here are one hundred core gambling terms, in alphabetical order because chaos is overrated.

100 Basic Gambling Terms and Phrases for Players

  1. Action – Total money bet in a session or on a single hand/spin.
  2. Add-On – Extra chips you can buy during a poker rebuy tournament.
  3. Aggregate Limit – Table’s overall max payout on specialty games.
  4. All-In – Betting your entire remaining stack. High drama ensues.
  5. Ante – Forced bet all players post before cards are dealt.
  6. Arm – Slang for slot handle; “one-armed bandit” lineage.
  7. Bankroll – The money you’ve earmarked—ideally not rent—for gambling.
  8. Bankroll Management – Strategy for sizing bets to avoid busting early.
  9. Barrel – Consecutive street bet in poker (second barrel, third barrel, etc.).
  10. Black Book – Casino blacklist of banned players. Not a bucket-list goal.
  11. Blank – Card or reel symbol that doesn’t help your hand/combo.
  12. Breakage – Unclaimed ticket or chip balances the house pockets.
  13. Busted – Out of chips; also a busted hand (fails to qualify).
  14. Buy-In – Cost to enter a poker tourney or minimum chip purchase at a table.
  15. Cage – Casino cashier where chips turn back into cash—hallelujah.
  16. Cold Deck – A terrible run of cards; opposite of heater.
  17. Comps – Freebies like rooms or meals earned through play volume.
  18. Corner Bet – Roulette wager covering four numbers that meet at one corner.
  19. Count – Edge obtained in blackjack by tracking high vs low cards.
  20. Crap Out – Roll a 7 on craps point before hitting the point itself.
  21. Croupier – Fancy term for roulette dealer; originates from French.
  22. Cut Card – Plastic divider marking shuffle point in shoe games.
  23. DAO – Decentralized Autonomous Organization; yes, some run casino dApps.
  24. Deuce – Two-value card in poker or blackjack.
  25. Don’t Pass – Craps bet that the shooter will seven-out.
  26. Double Down – Blackjack move: double bet, take one card, hope.
  27. Draw – In poker, a hand needing one card to complete.
  28. Edge Sorting – Identifying card patterns to gain edge—ask Phil Ivey.
  29. Even Money – Payout equal to wager; 1:1 return.
  30. Expected Value (EV) – Long-run average profit or loss of a bet.
  31. Fade – Taking the opposite side of someone else’s wager.
  32. Fish – Inexperienced player ripe for the filleting.
  33. Fold Equity – Likelihood your bet makes opponents fold.
  34. Free Play – Slot credits you can’t cash out directly; wagering required.
  35. Freeroll – Tourney with no entry fee or situation with upside/no downside.
  36. Full Ring – Poker table with nine or ten seats.
  37. Gambler’s Fallacy – Belief past outcomes affect future independent events.
  38. Gnome – Player who hits and runs after small win—etiquette faux pas.
  39. Grinding – Low-stakes, high-volume play for steady profit.
  40. Handicap – Adjust point spread to level playing field in sports betting.
  41. Hard Total – Blackjack hand without an Ace counting as 11.
  42. Heater – Extended winning streak; savor it, it ends.
  43. High Roller – Player wagering significantly above table norm.
  44. Hit Frequency – How often a slot pays any win, not size.
  45. House Edge – Built-in casino advantage; your long-term tax for excitement.
  46. Inside Bet – Roulette numbers bet in layout’s center, higher payout.
  47. Insurance – Side bet in blackjack vs dealer Ace; bad long-term EV.
  48. Jackpot – Top prize on slots or progressives; life-changing buzzword.
  49. Juice – Bookmaker’s commission (aka vig).
  50. Kicker – Side card that breaks ties in poker.
  51. Ladder Bet – Progressive stake increase after wins.
  52. Laydown – Folding a strong hand; tough but sometimes correct.
  53. Limit – Fixed betting structure in poker; opposite of no-limit.
  54. Loose – Describes a player who enters many pots/hands.
  55. Martingale – Doubling strategy after loss; bankroll killer if unchecked.
  56. Max Bet – Highest wager allowed per spin or hand.
  57. Middle – Arbing both sides of line movement for risk-free profit.
  58. Muck – Discard pile in poker; also verb meaning discard unseen.
  59. Multi-Hand – Playing more than one blackjack hand simultaneously.
  60. Nit – Ultra-tight poker player; folds more than laundromats.
  61. Nuts – Best possible hand given board cards in poker.
  62. Overlay – Prize pool exceeds total buy-ins; +EV tournament.
  63. Parlay – Bet where winnings roll into next leg for compounding payoff.
  64. Pass Line – Fundamental craps bet riding with shooter.
  65. Payline – Slot pattern that awards wins when symbols align.
  66. Payout Percentage – Same as RTP; fraction returned to players over time.
  67. Pit Boss – Floor manager overseeing table games.
  68. Progressive – Jackpot growing with each wager until hit.
  69. Push – Tie; wager returned, no win, no loss.
  70. Quads – Four of a kind in poker; also called “quadruplets.”
  71. Rake – Fee house takes from poker pots or tourney entries.
  72. Re-Buy – Purchase more chips mid-tourney; extends life, inflates pool.
  73. Red Chip – Five-dollar casino chip.
  74. Reel – Vertical column of slot symbols; digital or mechanical.
  75. Return to Player (RTP) – Long-term percentage of stakes paid back.
  76. River – Final community card in Hold’em/Omaha.
  77. Roulette Wheel Numbering – 0-36 (plus 00 in American); alternating colors.
  78. Scared Money – Funds a player can’t afford to lose—performance killer.
  79. Session – Continuous stretch of play with no bankroll reset.
  80. Shark – Skilled player preying on weaker opponents.
  81. Shooter – Person rolling the dice in craps.
  82. Shove – Going all-in, especially in late-stage tourneys.
  83. Side Pot – Additional pot for players still with chips after all-in.
  84. Soft Hand – Blackjack hand where Ace can count as 11 without busting.
  85. Spinner – Slot player; also wild symbol expanding across reels.
  86. Spread Limit – Poker betting range (e.g., $2–$10) per street.
  87. Stake – The amount you bet; also your gambling bankroll.
  88. Sticky Bonus – Promo money you can wager but not withdraw.
  89. Surrender – Blackjack option to forfeit half bet before action.
  90. Tell – Unintentional signal revealing hand strength.
  91. Tilt – Emotional state leading to poor decisions; beware bankroll doom.
  92. Time Bank – Extra seconds to act in online poker.
  93. Toke – Tip to dealer; etiquette says toss chips after a win.
  94. Tough Beat – Losing despite statistical domination; cue vent thread.
  95. Turf Club – Horse racing betting facility inside casino.
  96. Underlay – Wager offering worse payout odds than true probability.
  97. Up-Card – Dealer’s visible card in blackjack or stud poker.
  98. Vigorish (Vig) – Another term for juice; house commission on sports bets.
  99. Volatility – Measure of payout fluctuations; high volatility = feast/famine.
  100. Whale – Ultra-high roller dropping six figures per session, often comp-pampered.

Stash these one hundred in your mental deck before your next trip or login. You’ll decode table banter, avoid rookie traps, and maybe even flex a little vocabulary swagger. Nothing is more satisfying than riding a heater, especially when you sound like you belong there. Good luck, and may the odds fall friendly.