Babelmeister: Gambling Glossary

Glossary of gambling terms and acronyms

Here is our Glossary of online casino and poker terms, phrases, words, along with their definitions and sometimes their usage with pertinent links for your reading pleasure. Thanks to Pokeraddict for his contribution of poker lingo!

Gambling terms and acronyms can be intimidating to the newbie. Well guess what? We were all newbies at some point. So if don’t see a term you are seeking, please don’t be bashful and send me a message here (Casinomeister) and I will try to add it as time permits. Much appreciated!


Is there a gambling term or acronym that you think belongs in this glossary? Please let us know here.

Gambling phrases, words, slang, terms, acronyms, and other informative readings

Our Lingo: Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L |M | N | O | P | Q |R | S | T | U |V | W | X | Y | Z |


A
Accredited Casino – Casinomeister has an accreditation system that oversees the casinos that are allowed to advertise on this site. Firstly, there are Accredited Standards that casinos are to abide by. Once it is clear that the casino in question can follow these standards, the casino is placed under review for 60 days in the Baptism by Fire section. During this period, there will be a thread posted in our forum where members can give feedback to the casino on its operations. Once this 60 test period is up and there is no disqualifying issues, then the casino is good to go and is listed in the Accredited Casino Section. Casinos are listed there indefinitely – unless of course they screw up something fierce and find themselves ineligible to be on the site. Some of these casinos find themselves on the “Grey Zone“.

Advantage Player – is the practice of using legal ways to gain a mathematical advantage over the house. This is the opposite of a recreational player who plays for the challenge and excitement of possible big win. Advantage players have come under fire from casinos since the early days of online gambling. Labled “bonus abusers”, “bonus beaters”, etc., many have had winnings confiscated for “abusing” the hospitality and generosity of a casino. As long as an advantage player stays within the terms and conditions of their participation, there is nothing wrong with it.

Affiliate Darwinism. The more time an affiliate spends prattling away on message boards, the less time they spend focused on their websites. The less time they spend on their sites, the less successful they become. The less successful they become…well this leads to vitriolic abusive rants – until they are nothing but a ball of bitterness and despair. For further information, please refer to the 2010 Fourth Point of Contact award.

Aggressive
A style of player that bets and raises more then normal.
“Eww, you so aggressive; me no like.”

A-hole 
An asshole. Someone who is total jerk. See “douchebag” or “troll”

Ante 
It’a a small token of a donation thrown onto the table at the beginning of the game (poker) to ensure that you’re still alive.
“Please ante before I slap you upside the head!”

All-In
In a no limit game a player who pushes all his chips into a pot is said to be all-in.  It’s usually done when someone has nothing better to do but annoy the rest of the players, or is being called away form the game by his wife.
“I went all-in and got my ass whooped.”

Ass Clown
A person who is banned from a forum only to keep signing up under different user names – again and again – thinking they won’t get caught.


B
Bad Beat
This is when a hand that is a huge underdog to another wins, especially if it wins on the river.  For example if you have pocket aces and someone with pocket fives calls to river and catches a five this is a bad beat.  This could also be said of a hand that’s huge but loses to an even bigger hand.
“I went all-in…and it was a bad beat.”

Bad Beat Jackpot
Many online and brick and mortar poker rooms offer a bad beat jackpot.  In holdem either Aces over full house or four of a kind must lose for this jackpot depending on the house rules.  Jackpots range from a few hundred dollar to tens of thousands.  Usually both hole cards must be used in both the winning and losing hand.  In Omaha usually four jacks or better must lose.  Jackpots are usually split 50% to the person with the losing hand, the hand that beat it gets 25% and the rest of the table that was dealt a hand split the remaining 25%.

Baptism by Fire
When casinos wish to be listed in Casinomeister’s Accredited section, they are baptised by fire. This involves having a thread posted in our forum where members can give feedback and complain about what’s wrong with them. This lasts for 60 days. If all goes well, they become Accredited.

Big Blind
This player posts the full amount of the flop bet amount.  In a $2/$4 game the big blind is $2.  This player is last to act before the flop and has the option to raise even if there is no raise to him.

Blinds In holdem and omaha there are blinds.  The two players just left of the dealer button post a small blind, usually half the amount of the first bet, and the big blind post the entire.  In a $2/$4 game small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2.  In odd increment limit games the small blind is usually $1 less then half the bet.  In $5/$10 the small would be $2 and the big $5.

B&M Casino
Brick and Mortar casino. This is an actual casino you can physically walk in and lose your money for real.

Bonus abusers
Term often used to describe the situation where a player is better at math than the casino manager.

Button
The round white object passed around a poker table to represent who the dealer is.  This player has the best betting position and acts last after the flop.  The blinds are posted to this player’s left.

Buy-In
The amount of money required to enter a tournament or game.


C

C-word
A word that is forbidden to be spoken (or written) in our forum since it may offend even those who are not so easily offended. It pertains to the female genitalia and rhymes with punt. “He called her the C-word and got his sorry ass banned from the forum.”

CAP
CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com: A website dedicated to the marketing of affiliate programs, and providing information on SEO and other marketing techniques for affiliates and webmasters. It had an operational meltdown in November 2008, but since then has recovered.

Cashout Time:
This is the time it takes to process your winnings to the casino’s payment processor (often a third party). This can take from hours, to days, to weeks, depending on the casino.

Commo
Army lingo for communication.
“Playtech contacted me concerning the loss of commo from XXL Club Casino”.


D
Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a commonly played hand.  For example some people will flop a hand like A6 but this hand is dominated by AK since it would take a 6 in the window without a king for A6 to win.

Douchebag
An advanced state of being an a-hole. Douchebags are usually male, and like to pick fights on the Internet. Sometimes shortened to “douche”.
“He’s such a douche – he tried to scam the casino like a Douchebag.”

Dweeb
A moron who doesn’t have clue how stupid he (or she) is. Mostly reserved for spammers or anyone who disagrees with me.


E
Even-Money Bet
A bet that pays off exactly the amount wagered. For instance “Double or nothing” is an even-money bet .

Expectation/Expected Value
(1) A term referring to the amount of you expect to gain on average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put $10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning $50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 = $20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a positive expectation of $5.
(2) The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period. Perhaps in 100 hours play, you have won $527. Then your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won’t make that exact amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it is one measure of your anticipated earnings.


F
Family Pot
A pot in which the entire table is in.

FOBT
“Fixed Odds Betting Terminal” – this is a terminal found in UK betting shops that allow punters to waste their money on roulette, bingo, simulated horseracing and greyhound racing, and a number of slot machine games. According to the UK Gambling Commission, there were over 33,000 FOBTs in use in 2012.

Flop
In holdem and omaha these are the first three community cards in the middle.

Flush
A final five card hand that is all the same suit.  Only a full house, four of a kind or a straight flush beat this hand.

Flushing
It’s what happens after drinking a lot of beer. It’s also something a casino can do to send your payment to its processor immediately. This is usually done upon request. AKA manual flush.

Free Card
Any time you get to see the turn or river without a bet.  Sometimes your betting can allow this.  For example if you are on a straight for flush draw and raise the flop in late position sometimes your opponents will check to you and you also check if the turn missed you.

Freeroll (1) A tournament with no cash buyin.  Sometimes these are point type buyins and sometimes anyone may enter.  These tournaments give out cash, restricted cash, or bonus money. (2) A hand in which you share the same hand as your opponent such as the window is Ah 4c 2c 7hyou have Ac Qc and your opponent has another AQ, you are freerolling them because you can win the entire pot if your flush comes, if you do not flush you split but there is no way for your opponent to win the whole pot.

FU term or clause
The Fuck You clause. Really anything in a casino’s terms and conditions that is a catch-all phrase that screws a player.
…All withdrawals are paid in installments of up to $/€3,000. This is determined according to player class.


G
Gnome
Someone who opens multiple accounts at a casino pretending to be others. This is done by manufacturing false ID documents or the person is in league with another, using his or her identity to play at a casino.
“iNetBet was besieged by gnomes – but these douchebags forgot one thing; they used the same ____ when signing up.”

GPWA
Gambling Portal Webmasters Association: a company that provides affiliates with marketing resources and support for their affiliate needs. Formed in 2001 by a small group of affiliates, it has grown to about 15,000 registered members.

Guts
A match the pot game where players decide who is in or out.  The losers will pay the winner the amount of the pot.

Gutshot
An inside straight draw.  For example the window is 29J and you have Q8, only a ten will make your straight.


H
Heads Up
A pot or game that involves only 2 players.

Hit
Meaning catching a good hand such as “the flop hit me”

House
The poker room managing and dealing the game.  The house makes its money off the rake.


I
Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn’t offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you’re sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.


K

Kicker
The highest unpaired card that will play into a 5 card hand of 4 of a kind, three of a kind, 2 pair, 1 pair and high card.  For example in holdem two players each have a pair of aces.  If neither player paired their other card this card could determine the winner.  AK would beat any other ace that did not two pair.  Sometimes no kickers play.  If a window was AT974 and a player had A6 and another A2 the players would split since both players would use kickers out of the window.

KYC
Know Your Customer – this is when the casino partakes in the intrusive process of requesting “KYC” or “Know Your Customer” documents, which will include a copy of a photo ID, bank statements, and utility bills. The casino doesn’t want to really “know” you – this is merely a euphemism for checking whether or not you’re a fraudster, underage, or if you are laundering money.
“I have my KYC docs ready to go in case Crapmeister Casino ever needs them.”


L
Limit
Either describes the dollar amount of the allowed bets such as $1/$2 or it describes a game with a fixed betting structure.


M
Maniac
A player who bets, raises, bluffs and is usually not a good player.  They are a tough player to play sometimes because you never know what they have.

Manual Flush
Please see “flushing.”

Muck The pile of cards at the center of the table of folded cards, burn cards, or discards at the center of the table.  Also another word for folding.


N
No-Limit
A version of poker where the player can bet any amount on the table in front of him.  Players cannot add to their stacks after a hand is dealt.

Nuts
The best possible hand given the community cards.  For example if the window has 3 hearts and no pair then the ace high flush would be the nuts.  If the board is paired then four of a kind is usually the nuts.


O
Offsuit
A holdem starting hand in which the two cards are of different suits.

Omaha
A game similar to holdem where a player MUST play and can only play 2 cards from his hand and MUST play and only play 3 from the window.  There is a flop, turn and river just as in holdem.

One-Gap
A holdem starting hand in which the two cards are two apart in rank such as KJ 24

Out
The number of cards in the deck that will make your hand or draw.  For example if you are four to a flush you have 9 outs, an open ended straight would have 8 outs and a gutshot 4 outs.

Overcard
In holdem it is when you have a card or cards that are above the window.  If you had AK and the flop was 258 you have 2 overcards.

Overpair
A pocket pair that is higher then any card in the window.  If you have QQ and the flop is 258 you have an overpair.


P
PAB
Pitch a Bitch: to submit a formal complaint at Casinomeister.
“The Rushmore group are delaying my payments – should I PAB?”

Pay Off
To call a bet where the bettor is representing a hand that you can’t beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway.

Pineapple
A game similar to holdem except you are dealt 3 cards.  After the betting on the flop you will discard one of your three cards.  This game is also played high/low.

Play the Board
When the window is the nuts.  For example the window makes AKQJT no flush thus anyone still in has the same hand as anyone else in regardless of your pocket cards.  This will create a split pot.  This will also happen if the window makes four of a kind with an ace or if there is a high full house such as QQQKK only a player with a king, queen or AA could win this hand outright.  If not it is a split.

Pocket
Your starting two cards in holdem.

Post
What you do with your blinds on your turn.  “Sir, please post your blind”

Pot Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act.

Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least one out of twelve, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $12 to call the bet, then there must be about $48 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.

Price
The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call.

Prop
Also known as a proposition player.  This player gets paid a wage from the house to help start games and keep short handed games going.  This player plays with his own money and has no unfair advantage.

Protect
(1) To call a raise from a blind position so as to not lose the blind money.
(2) To put something on top of your cards in a live game to prevent a dealer error in mucking your cards.


Q
Quads
Any four of a kind.

Qualifier
In some games, especially high/low there is a qualifier.  In high/low games there is usually an 8 or better qualifier.  This means the worst possible low that can win in 8 high.  Also in home games like “Jacks or better trips to win” the qualifier would be a pair of jacks to bet first round, and 3 of a kind to win.


R
Rags
Cards below a ten value.  If the flop is 258 it is said rags flopped.

Rainbow
A flop that does not create a flush draw on the turn.  Example a diamond, heart and spade flop this is said to be a rainbow.  Also can be said if the turn is the fourth suit making a river flush impossible.

Rake
The money taken out of a pot that goes to the house.  On the internet this is usually in the 5% area $3 max, in brick and mortar rooms it is usually 10% $4 max.

Random Number Generator
see RNG

Rathole
To take money off the table and put it in your pocket or cash it in while you are still playing.  This is very poor etiquette.

Razz
A seven card stud game where the winner is the player with the lowest hand, unlike seven card stud high/low there is no qualifier and only one winner unless there is a tie for the same hand.

Rep
Representative – could be either a customer service “rep” or a casino “rep”. Whoever it is, he or she should be able to clarify or assist players or affiliates when need be.
“The rep told me I was a gnome. I’m not so I’m going to PAB.”

Reservation
This is a no-man’s land of sorts – online casino limbo. It’s a place where casinos are listed that don’t quite cut it to be an Accredited Casino, but they aren’t all that bad. I have reservations about them, and it’s listed here.

Return to Player
see RTP

Reverse Time
This is the period that your winnings are available to be played back to the casino. You can “reverse” your withdrawal during this time hoping to win more. Good luck with that.

Reverse Withdrawal
This is when a player has withdrawn his money from his casino account, and it’s in a pending state, and instead of excercising self-discipline – he reverses the withdrawl back into his account. It’s a sucker move – in most cases, he loses it back the casino.

Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament.  Also called a live game.

River
The last card shown in the 5 card holdem and omaha board.

RNG
Random Number Generator: when the “play” or “deal” button is pushed, a random number is generated via a pseudo random number generator (PRNG) – these numbers determine the outcome of the game. These numbers are being produced sometimes by the thousands every second and are the backbone of truly random games.

Rock
A player who plays very tight. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable, if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.

Royal Flush
The highest possible hand in a game without wild cards, this is a TJQKA straight flush.

RTP
Return to Player: this is the percentage that a player can expect to receive as a payout over a prolonged period of time (for instance 1,000,000 spins). It’s also known as “payout percentage”. It’s either theoretical (expected) or actual. RTPs for online casinos are on average between 89% – 95%. More information can be found here.
“The RTP at Yomamma’s Casino kicked my ass. I feel like such a douche.”

Runners
To catch the turn and river for a winning hand.


S
Scare Card
A card that makes you fear you are beaten.  For example if you have pocket kings and an ace flops this is a scare card because it makes it likely you are beaten.

Self Exclusion
Self Exclusion means to have excluded yourself from any gambling activity. In other words, to have quit gambling.
I thought I had SE’d from Bitstarz casino, but I kept opening up new accounts in order to keep playing.

Second Pair
To pair the second highest value card in a window with no other pair or hand.

Semi-Bluff
It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play.

Set
When you have trips that include your pocket pair and your third in the window.

Shill
Someone who feigns to be a satisfied customer, but is in league with the casino. Roguish casinos employ shills to post glowing comments about them, or they give their players $$ incentives to do so, or they take the easy route and just do it themselves.
“Staker Casino uses shills to post bullshit reviews in our forum for their casino – what dickweeds.”

Short Handed
A game where there are several empty seats.

Short Stack
In a tournament this describes the player with a low or the lowest chip count.

Showdown
After all bets have been called this is where the called hand shows their cards and any hands that can beat it are shown.

Side Pot
This is created when there are more then two players in a pot and one player runs out of chips and is all in.  This side pot will be played out among anyone else in hand with chips.  It is possible to have multiple side pots, especially late in a tournament.

Slowplay
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.


Sock Puppet
A term used for a person who signs up with two forum accounts, and starts talking to himself/herself.
“Ha ha. The manager from Playros.com signed up as a player and started praising his rogue casino. What a sockpuppet.


SOL
Acronym for “Shit Outta Luck” – meaning you’re screwed.
“Are you complaining about not getting paid by Rushmore Casino? Me thinks you’re SOL on that one, buddy.”

SOW
An acronym for “Statement of Wealth” which is an intrusive requirement of the Nanny State in which we live in – proving to the casino that you can afford to gamble. In other words, you need to show the casino support where your money is coming from in order to deposit funds.
“I can’t believe I have to send in a SOW to Casumo Casino. More nannyisms to protect me from myself.”

Split Pot
(1) A high low game where there is a high and low winner (if qualified)
(2) A pot where two players have the exact same hand.

Steam Bet
A bet made after a bad bet to release some anger.  Usually made by a tilted player.

Straddle

An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to pay two bets.  Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the flop, and may reraise just like the big blind could.  This is usually done by a very loose player.

Straight
A hand that is five cards in a row such as 23456 or TJQKA.  An ace may be high or low in a straight but straights cannot go “over the top”.

Straight Flush
Same as a straight but all the cards are the same suit.

String Bet
A raise in which a player doesn’t get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call. This prevents the unethical play of putting out enough chips to call, seeing what effect that had, and then possibly raising.

Suited
When your pocket cards in holdem are both the same suit.


T
Table Stakes
A rule that allows a player to go all-in when they run out of chips.  This also means one cannot pull cash out of their pocket during a hand or remove chips from the table.  Removing chips or “ratholing” is very poor etiquette.

Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand.  For example, a smile,  playing with a cigarette or lighter, scratching their head etc.

Tilt
After a few bad beats sometimes a player starts to play recklessly.  Raising and re-raising nothing.  These are sometimes called steam bets.

Time
(1) In a tournament if a player has a tough decision, especially when a player is all-in he may request time to think.
(2) Instead of rake some poker rooms charge by the hour also known as time.

Toke
Another word for a dealer tip.  It is considered proper to tip the dealer $1 on a win of a pot $20 or more although this depends on the limit.

Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop.

Troll
A-holes who like to pick fights on the Internet. They will usually post acerbic and/or off topic posts on message boards to derail and rile up their perceived enemies.


U
Under the Gun
The player to the left of the big blind preflop who must act first.  After the flop the first person in left of the button is said to be under the gun.

Underdog
The start hand that is unlikely to end up the winner.

Unusual betting patterns
Term often used when both the casino and the player think betting strategies influence luck.


V
Value Bet
A bet, which made in that position every time, will create positive expected value in the long term.

Variance
A measure of the swings in your bankroll.  Games that are short handed or have wild players in them will be higher variance then full games with rocks.


W
Wild Cards
Some home games and video poker have wild cards.  These cards, whether a joker, deuces, one eyed jacks etc. can be used to complete any hand.  In wild card games the highest possible hand is five of a kind.