Action
This is the amount of money wagered (in other words, put into action) by a player.

Arm
A piece of casino folklore. This term is used while playing craps and it's used to describe a player who is so skilled at throwing the dice they are, supposedly able to alter the conventional odds of the game. Such a player is called "an arm". But obviously it's nonsense.

Bankroll
This is the amount of cash a player has on hand to gamble. You may hear players looking for serious action referring to getting their "bankroll" before they can get into a game. Serious gamblers will have money set aside to bankroll their gambling activity.

Betting Limits
Betting limits refer to table games, and they denote the minimum and maximum amounts of money that a player can wager on one bet.

Betting Right/Wrong
In craps, betting right is a gamble that the dice will win on Pass Line or Come bets. Betting wrong, on the other hand, gambling that the dice will not win or pass. Players betting wrong gamble on the Don't Pass and Don't Come areas.

Black Book
Getting in the Black Book is not a good thing. This is a list of people barred from entering casinos for one reason or another.

Bonus Multiplier Slots
These offer larger top jackpots as an incentive to play with the maximum number of coins. The top jackpot symbol, say lemons, will only pay out while the player is gambling the maximum number of coins.

Boxman
The casino employee in charge of the craps table. The boxman sits between the two croupiers.

Burn Card
This is a single card taken from the top of the deck, or the first card in a shoe, which the dealer slides from left to right and discards. A card is burned after each shuffle.

Bust
A blackjack term, used when a hand's value exceeds 21 and automatically loses.

Buy in
Really simple. This is just a phrase used when you exchange cash for chips.

Capping
A real no-no. This means placing extra chips on top of the initial bet after the deal has begun. Basically, it's cheating.

Card Counting
Pretty much exclusive to blackjack. Card counters play easy through a game, but watch every card dealt. At the most basic level they assign a certain value (for instance, +1) to high cards and the opposite value to low cards. When this information indicates a high plus or really low minus they bet heavy, knowing the odds lie in their favour. It's a difficult skill to master and casinos now use more decks in shoe to counter act it.

Card Sharp
Used to describe an expert at cards. It can also be used to describe someone who uses tricks or sleight of hand to cheat.

Carpet Joint
Old US slang for a luxury casino.

Cashier's Cage
This is the casino cash desk. The cage is where you exchange cash for chips and vice versa.

Coattail
Being on someone's "coattail" means betting the same as someone who's on a winning streak.

Cold
If a player is cold, they're on a losing streak. If a slot machine is cold, it means players don't think it's going to pay out at that moment.

Color Up
Another US term used for when a player exchanges smaller denomination chips for larger denomination chips.

Comps
Every gamblers dream! These are complimentary gifts given by casinos to gamblers, like free rooms, meals and drinks. Famously they used to be given to high rollers to keep them coming back to a particular casino. These days many large casinos, particularly in the US, use loyalty programmes for regular customers, in a similar way that supermarkets and credit cards give reward points.

Coup
Typically used in baccarat, it's French for a round of play.

Cracking The Nut
This is when you make enough money gambling to coveryou're your expenses and make a reasonable profit.

Craps
Rolling 2, 3 or 12 in the game of craps. "Crapping out" is rolling any of these numbers on the come-out roll.

Crossroader
An old term used to denote a cheat originated in the Old West practice of cheating at saloons located at crossroads. The term is still used today for casino cheats.

Croupier
The French word for "dealer".

Cut
Used in card games. The cut comes after the shuffle and before the start of a new round of play, when the dealer or a player divides a deck into two.

Cut Card
A faceless card of different colour, usually red or black, that is used to cut a deck of cards.

Down to the Felt
A US slang term used when a player is totally out of money.

Drop Percentage
The portion of the player's money the casino will win because of the house percentage. On average this is around 20%, so out of every $100 gambled the player would be expected to lose $20.

Face Cards
The Jack, Queen, and King of any suit of cards.

Firing
A player who is "firing" is gambling large amounts of cash.

Fish
A player who loses money.

Flat Bet
This describes a betting activity where the player is wagering the same stake each hand. So if you're flat betting $10, you're wagering $10 on each and every hand.

Hard Hand
In blackjack, this is any hard where the Ace is counted as a 1 and not an 11.

Head-On
If you're playing blackjack alone with the dealer you're going "head-on". Heat
This is the pressure a casino puts on a winning player, usually someone they suspect of being a card counter.

High Roller
A player that wagers big bets, usually a very rich person. In Las Vegas these characters were, and still are in some cases, also referred to as "whales", but whales bet in the tens or hundreds of thousands, rather than a high-roller who bets in the thousands.

Hit
In blackjack, this is a request for another card to be dealt.

Hole Card
In blackjack, this is the facedown card the dealer gets.

House Percentage
This is the casino's advantage in any particular game.

Le Grande
In baccarat, this is the French term for a natural 9.

Loose/Tight Slots
Loose slots have better payouts, up to a possible 100% over a period of time. A machine will have a symbol ? 2-3 cherries, for instance ? which pays out a couple of coins. These cherries replace a symbol that doesn't pay and that's it... you have a loose machine. A tight slot is the exact opposite.

Marker
A cheque written at a gaming table by a player who has established credit with the casino. In other words, it's an IOU.

Mechanic
This is a man or woman who manipulates the cards, usually to help them cheat.

Multiplier Slots
These pay out on certain symbols on a graduating scale. On a three reel, for instance, you might get 5 coins for a cherry while gambling 1 coin, 10 coins pay out for gambling 2 and so on.

Natural
In blackjack, a natural is a two-card hand that scores 21. In baccarat a natural is a two-card total of 8 or 9.

Nut
Usually a US term this describes a fixed amount that a gambler has set to win in a day.

Off
In craps, this term means certain bets are not at risk on the next roll of the dice.

Onesies
Slot players who only play one coin per spin.

Pigeon
Another US term that dates back for decades. It describes an uneducated or naive gambler.

Pit
This is an area in a casino where a group of table games are arranged, the centre of which is restricted to dealers and other casino personnel. The person in charge of this area is the "Pit Boss".

Point Count
A term used in blackjack, particularly by card counters. The point count is the net value of the card count at the end of the hand. See also Running Count and True Count.

Progressive Slots
These machine offer growing jackpots depending on the amount of money played through the linked bank or carousel slots. All progressives are at least 3 coin maximum slots with two jackpot levels.

Push
Blackjack again. This term is used when the dealer and the player tie.

Rails
On a craps table, the rails are the grooved areas where players keep their chips that are not in play.

Running Count
In blackjack, this is the count from the beginning of the deck or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand.

Sawdust Joint
Another old US term to describe a low-end gambling club.

Shill
An employee of the casino who pretends to be a player to attract customers.

Shoe
The box that holds the cards to be dealt. Shoes typically hold between six and eight decks of cards.

Shooter
The person rolling the dice in a craps game.

Snake Eyes
This is when you roll a two in craps. The "eyes" comes from the way the two ones look on the dice the "snake" comes from the fact that this is bad news for the person rolling the dice.

Soft Hand
Another blackjack term, the opposite of a hard hand. This is where the Ace counts as an 11, not a 1.

Stand
A player "stands" when he refuses another card in blackjack.

SWAG Player
Scientific Wild Assed Guessing player, not to be confused with a WAG Player, who isn't that scientific.

Toke
This is another word used to tip (or toke) the dealer.

True Count
Back to those card counters. This is when the running count is adjusted to account for the number of cards left to be played in the deck or shoe.

Up/Down Slot Cycles
A slot's average payout percentage applies over a long period of time, in some cases as long as a year. Therefore a slot with a 98% payout percentage will sometimes pay out at 130% and sometimes at 50%. The lower percentage is the down cycle and the higher one is the up cycle.

Wager
A bet.

Wild Card
A joker or other card that can be used as any other card to complete a hand in card games.