Gambling Terms: Casino Terminology Explained

Gambling is one of the activities as old as human knowledge of fortune, gain and betting, it can be said to be as old as man himself. As it is known, it is a game of chance, of luck and sometimes, although not all times cheating, that is if you know just how to do it right and get it right.

The history of gambling has been traced back to Ancient China, around 2300 B.C where evidences of tiles which were used as the instruments of gambling were excavated and linked to gambling. Further tracings of gabling could be found in Ancient Egypt where the first dice was found around 3000 B.C, and also in Greece around 500 B.C, gambling was an illegal act which if caught doing, one was penalized for, but despite that it was an ongoing practice. Modern day gambling has had a long trajectory from the Asian region, to Europe (Italy, France and so on) and to the United States where it gained much more prominence over time with the establishment of casinos and online gambling.

Many know gambling as a past time, a means of having fun, while many others know it as a real business, look at Las Vegas for instance, once you think of casinos and gambling anywhere in the world, you think of Las Vegas. For such a booming enterprise, there are definitely rules, terminologies and also instruction manuals for new players to get acquainted with the game and its forms. This article therefore, serves as a mini guide to the ultimate gambling glossary just to provide an insight into the world of gambling.   

Accumulator

The term accumulator refers to a type of bet, accumulator bet, another name for this bet is the parley bet hence, why you might be referred to checking out a parley bet when searching up an accumulator bet. Also, accumulator bets are best known with sports.

An accumulator is that type of bet that actually combines four (4) or more selections into a single wager instead of multiple individual wagers which gains a return only and only when all parts win.  The advantage of an accumulator bet is that if done correctly, the winnings are higher and if done without experience, the loss of a single selection in the full bet pack will lead to the entre bet being lost. 

The difference between an accumulator bet and other types of bet is that each selection in an accumulator bet must be accurate for the bet to win. Accumulator bets in the UK are popularly known as ‘acca’. A selection in the in the accumulator bet is known as a fold, so four selections would be a four-fold accumulator.

Types of Accumulators

  • The Four-Fold Accumulator
  • The Five-Fold Accumulator
  • The Six-Fold Accumulator
  • The Seven-Fold Accumulator
  • The Eight-Fold Accumulator

How to create a winning Accumulator

  • Identify for the values
  • Pay close attention to the home wins visible
  • Make use of form tables and stats to guide your choices and decisions
  • Do not back draws in the big multiples to avoid big losses
  • Don’t be tempted by big odds games to be on a safer side

All or Nothing

As the name implies, it is a format of lottery game in which the player chooses all of the numbers in a selection or play and the awarded based on how many of the numbers chosen match that of the lottery draw. That is you either win it all by getting all the numbers right in the draw or you lose it all when the numbers do not match those in the draw. There are in some cases smaller prizes given for matching all but one number in the lottery draw. This term or concept originated in 2012 with the Texas Lottery.

American Roulette

The Roulette is a wheel that has 37 separately numbered slots which alternate in colour between red and black while the number 0 is colored green. The objective of the Roulette is to predict the number on which the ball which is released into the spinning wheel will stop on.

The American Roulette is the most widely and popularly used and differs just with a slight difference from its European counterpart. The difference between the American and the European Roulette is that the American Roulette comprises of double zeros 00 leading to it having 38 slots, while the European comprises of a single zero 0 leading to 37 slots. The double zeros have the effect of increasing the edge of the house on the players.

Anchor

Also known as Third Base, it is the last player sitted or the last sit to the right of the dealer at the Blackjack table. In the Blackjack game, it is usually the last seat to be taken because cards in the Blackjack game are usually dealt from the left to the right.

Ante Post

A type of bet placed at least a day before the event takes place. It has its origins in the horse race betting whose meaning actually means ‘betting before the horse goes to post’.

Baccarat

It is a game presumed to have come from Italy, while others presume France for the word Baccarat itself is French, meaning Zero. It is also called Punto Banco and Chemin De Fer. It is a table game that uses 6 or 8 decks of cards with multiple players.

Bankroll

Also known as roll or wad, it is the total amount of money that the player has to back his wagering or that the casino has. It is also used to refer to all the money set aside by a player to support his gambling activity or activities.

Back Line

Back line also means don’t pass the line.

Banco

The total sum offered by the banker in a gambling game. A term used in Baccarat or Chemin de fer; it is the bettor signifying that he accepts the sum offered by the banker to meet his bets.

Beginners’ Luck

The occurrence of a situation in which a novice or novices to experience a frequency of success despite their inexperience and lack of proper training in a game against an expert; Refers to luck in the first attempt of a gambling or sports activity.

Bet

A gamble or a wager.

Betting Limit

The limit or limits placed on the amount that a player may bet on by the casino. There are often minimum and maximum bets for each game.  Wagers or bets cannot be below the minimum betting limit and neither can they be above the maximum betting limit.

Bingo

A popular game of chance and probability, also known as Lotto; it is a game that uses cards on which there are grids and numbers where the players mark off the numbers called at randomly by a caller; and the winner emerges if he’s able to mark off all the numbers on his card first.

It is a prized game and the rules, play variations and modes of prizing vary from place to place.

Bonus Hunting/Bonus Whoring

It means taking advantage of the incentives offered or provided by casinos or gambling houses which often involve some amount of cash. Also known as bonus bagging or bonus whoring and it’s a simple method to make money from the bonuses offered by the casino.

Its popularity rose with the rise of online casinos and it’s been used by various online sites to attract new customers.

Bookmaker/Bookie

A bookmaker is the person or company that deals with taking of bets from players; the person or persons who accept the wager.

Caribbean Stud

A casino table game whose rules are derived from a five-card stud poker, it is played against the house other than against the layers which is unlike the standard and regular poker game. By getting the best possible card hand the player hopes to beat the dealer’s hand; which is the main purpose of the game. And it is played with one deck of cards.

Casino Advantage

The edge or advantage the casino house has over the players.

Chips

These are round plastic discs or tokens used to represent money and used for the purpose of betting. They come in different denominations and are purchased at the gaming table.

Comp Points

Commonly associated with online casinos, comp points refer to the points players can earn while playing the casino games which is a way of the casino finds in rewarding the most consistent player. The full word in itself is ‘complementary point’, that is a complement for being a consistent player. The real world casinos also make use of this method.

Dealer

A dealer is the employee of the casino who not only deals cards to the players but also controls the flow of the games being played.

Deposit Bonus

Also known as cash bonus, it refers to money freely offered to new players who are depositing at the online casino account for the first time. It is a form of giving incentives to the new comers to feel at ease, and the cash bonus offers are always subject to the Terms and Conditions of the casino.

Deposit 

A payment made to online casino account or accounts with the use of a credit card, web wallet, or any other sort of online payment system available in order to play or wager.

Double Down

A Blackjack term which means a bet of equal or double of the original; The opening two-card hand of the player is turned face up and the player’s original wager is doubled. If the player beats the dealer he wins twice the amount of the original wager and if he loses, he loses twice the amount of the original wager.

Double or Nothing

Double or nothing is a Blackjack term which refers to an even bet, for it pays double the amount that was wagered or nothing of it.

Double for Less

This is doubling down with a bet that is much less than twice of the original bet; A term pertaining and related to Blackjack.

Edge

Means the advantage over an opponent.

Encryption

This is a casino term that pertains to a software security measure that is taken by online casinos to ensure that all online transactions that take place on their sites and platforms are safe from hackers. It entails encoding and scrambling of data to ensure security and to ensure access only for those authorized for it.

European Roulette

The Roulette is a wheel that has 37 separately numbered slots which alternate in color between red and black while the number 0 is colored green. The objective of the Roulette is to predict the number on which the ball which is released into the spinning wheel will stop on.

The European Roulette was the original version of the Roulette and the common in Europe and Asia unlike the American version, it comprises of a single zero 0 slot colored green, leading to 37 slots. The single zero has the effect of lowering the house edge on its players.

Flash

As a casino term, it is an online software that does not require a download or the installation of a CD, a no-download software which allows you to play instantly; while as a gambling term, it simply means a change of the odds information.

Free Spin

A free spin is a termed used to relate to slot game and online slot games. It means that the additional spin occurs without a charge or when a player can spin for real money without having to wager any cash. A single free spin can be called a respin.

High Roller

This is the term that refers to a player who places extremely high bets; a player who wagers big bets.

Freeroll

According to poker, freeroll has two meaning; there is the free hand roll and the tournament roll

A free tournament roll is one with no entry fee and there are sponsored prizes while the free hand roll is one where amongst the last two contestants, one of them is guaranteed to split the prizes with his opponent to an extent irrespective of what the final cards are.

House Edge

As a casino term, house edge is the casino’s ‘in-built’ advantage; the chances of the casino winning over its players. It is usually a percentage of each bet placed by every player. 

Insurance

This is a type of bet offered by the dealer to the player when his face up card is an Ace.

Jackpot

A high or huge sum of money gained through playing a slot machine or lottery. The word is used on special prizes.

Joker

This is the 53rd or sometimes 54th card in a deck, sometimes used as a wild card.

Maximum Bet

This refers to the highest bet that can be placed, and no further higher bets can be made afterwards.

No deposit bonus

This is a casino term which refers to free money that does not require initial cash deposit from a player. This can be used without restrictions.

Odds

These are the ratios of probabilities, the view of the casino on the chance of a player winning; it is the possible outcome of a wager or a bet that is being placed.

Payout Percentage

Also known as the payback percentage, this is the percentage of each dollar played in a slot machine or game that the machine has been programmed to return to the player. This percentage is always lesser than a hundred percent.

Pokies

This is the slang or term used in Australia and New Zealand to refer to Video Poker machines, slot machines and fruit machine games.

Paytable

This is a chart that shows the list of payout structures for winning hand combinations.

Payline

It is the line on a slot machine window on which the symbols from each reel must line up; the line of symbols on a reel that pays when there is a hit of the winning combination of symbols.

Random Number Generator

These are special sets of instructions, the algorithms (in-built in the slot’s operating system) that ensure fair and unbiased outcomes and results in casino games.

Sticky Bonus

Is a special kind of bonus (cash bonus) which cannot be cashed out, it is used by online casinos to swell up the player’s bankrolls, to enable and encourage them to play more while staking higher and bigger bets.

Wager

Another word for a bet.

Wagering Requirement

Also known as playthrough requirement, it is a condition of online gambling which requires a player to bet certain amount of money before laying claim and collecting his bonus fund, that is, it is the condition that requires the player to place a specific or specified number of bets or to spend a specified amount of money before being able to cash out his winning that were generated by the bonus cash.

Wild Symbol

This refers to a symbol that can be changed or swapped for other symbols on the reel. It can be combined with other symbols around it to make a winning combination whenever it appears.

Video Poker

A Video Poker is a five-card draw poker which is in the style of a slot machine.

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