Casino Terminology and Jargon: Key Terms You Need to Know
When you start playing casino games, you’ll notice there are many unique words and phrases that are used to refer to games, categories, features, and types of bets. Much of this casino jargon is self explanatory, but there are plenty of common casino terms that can be confusing or ambiguous the first time you see or hear them.
To help you, we’ve created our guide to understanding casino jargon. It features common words and phrases you’ll come across as you play, as well as tips for how to handle terms you don’t know, and how some of this lingo can affect your winnings.
Essential Casino Terms To Know
Below are some of the key casino terms you’ll want to add to your repertoire.
Bet
A bet is a prediction on the outcome of a game, usually done by staking an amount of money. With each bet you make, you are predicting that you will win, having your stake returned and winnings paid out.
Bankroll
Your bankroll is the ring-fenced pot of money that you use to play casino games with. You should manage this as you bet, ensuring it will last longer, rather than using it all on a single wager.
Chips
Chips are the coloured plastic discs used to place bets. Each casino has their own, usually with advanced security features like banknotes and coins. They come in multiple denominations, each one with its own assigned colour. Online casino games still use chips but they are represented by computer graphics.
Croupier / Dealer
The dealer is the casino employee who controls the game by announcing when bets can be placed, dealing cards, spinning wheels, and announcing winners. Croupiers are, essentially, the same, though they are usually dressed smarter.
Jackpot
Jackpots are prizes offered by some casino games, usually slots. They are bigger than standard wins and can be considered as a “grand prize” and may be won by unlocking certain symbols on a slot machine or by hitting randomly during any win. Some jackpots are fixed, while others get progressively bigger over time.
Shoe
The shoe is the box from which cards are dealt. They’re designed to securely hold the cards whilst also showing players the decks inside and making it easier for the dealer to take out the next one.
Advanced Casino Lingo Explained
As you begin to play more, you will start to see more advanced casino terms like these.
Expected Value
Expected value is the calculation of the average outcome a bet will yield in the long run. It is connected to the house edge and odds of the wager and is used by experienced bettors to make their wagering decisions.
Random Number Generator
Random number generators are used by online casinos to ensure games are fair, preventing patterns from emerging in results. They are the digital equivalent of rolling a dice or shuffling a deck of cards.
Whale
A casino whale is a player with a large bankroll who can afford to make many big bets.
Categories of Casino Games
Some of the most common casino jargon comes from the categories of games that you can come across. Here is a breakdown of all the major game types.
Slot Machines
Slot machines are some of the most popular casino games around, helped by the fact that there are thousands of different themes and genres, ensuring there is always something for everyone, no matter your taste.
Many modern slots come with a variety of bonus features and games, providing opportunities to increase your winnings and adding more jeopardy to each spin. Details of these features are available in the game’s description so you can decide if it’s the right one for you before you start playing.
If you prefer more traditional slot games, there are also many classic slots that use fewer reels and lean heavily on fruit symbols, just like the early mechanical games.
Table Games
Table games are casino games that are played on a table. The two most common ones are roulette and craps, though there are some other lesser-known titles you can occasionally find.
Roulette is a wheel-based game that challenges you to predict in which coloured pocket a ball will land in when the wheel is spun. You can make a range of different bets, including on individual numbers or varying-sized groups, each with their own corresponding odds and payout.
Craps, on the other hand, uses dice. This game requires you to predict which numbers the dice will land on with each roll, usually in relation to them being higher or lower than the first roll.
Card Games
Card games are a category of table game played using cards. The three most common options found in casinos are blackjack, baccarat, and poker.
Blackjack and baccarat challenge you to make a winning hand against the dealer by combining the values of your cards together. Poker is slightly different in that, in the casino versions, you are pitted against the dealer to create a higher-ranked sequence of cards.
Specialty Games
Speciality games is a broad term that refers to lesser-known, unusual, and innovative titles that don’t have the same recognition or popularity as slot, table, and card games but that are still epically entertaining.
This can include special versions of slots, such as Megaways games that offer hundreds of thousands of different ways to win with every spin or the progressive jackpot games that offer a range of different prize pots that could hit at any moment.
The Impact of Casino Jargon on Your Winnings
Casino jargon itself will not impact your winnings, but some factors and phenomena described by these words and phrases do.
In particular, the house edge can have an effect on your winnings in the long run. A lower edge will mean you have a better statistical chance of winning.
The underlying probability can also have a significant influence on your winnings as this will generally guide the size of a payout for each particular bet. For example, in American roulette, the house edge for the entire game is 5.26%. However, the top line bet has a different probability, changing its house edge to one that’s less favourable.
What Is the “House Edge” and Why Does It Matter?
The house edge is one of the most common casino terms that you’re likely to come across. It’s used in every table game to describe the small statistical advantage that the casino has over players.
House edge is measured in percentage terms, reflecting the statistically average cut the house takes on every bet you make. That doesn’t mean you’re getting taxed a percentage on each wager. Instead, the edge is the average amount it keeps when playing over millions of games.
For example, a 1% house edge means players can expect to keep, on average, £99 from every £100 they bet. However, natural variance in the short term means you’re unlikely to stay at the average as winning and losing streaks will affect this.
Every game has its own house edge and can range from as little as 0.1% to over 10%. Some players stick to the games with the lowest percentages, but your decision will need to factor in which games you like to play the most since that’s the entire purpose of play.
Slot games also have a house edge, but you are more likely to see the calculation expressed as the “return to player” (RTP) rate. This is an expression of how much is returned to the player, rather than how much the casino keeps, but that just means they’re two sides of the same coin.
For example, a 5% house edge would mean the game has a 95% RTP.
Avoiding Common Misunderstandings in Casino Jargon
The two biggest mistakes you can make with casino jargon are to assume you understand a phrase when you don’t or to pretend you understand something because of a fear of sounding inexperienced.
We all have to start somewhere, so every casino player on the planet has had a period of time where they haven’t understood the difference between house edge and RTP or why the dealer is talking about his shoe on the table.
Not understanding something is nothing to be embarrassed about. If you’re in a land-based casino, the dealer will always be happy to explain words, phrases, and game rules to you so that you can get the most out of your time at the table.
Similarly, if you’re playing online, you can keep this guide to common casino terms open so you always have it to refer back to.
Browse through our full list of online casino games to get started.