61 terms
Casino glossary
Every word a casino site uses, defined in one or two plain sentences. Use it to decode promotions, terms and conditions, and the unfamiliar vocabulary at live tables.
A
- Action
- The total amount of money you have wagered over a session.
- Andar Bahar
- Indian/Pakistani card game where you bet on which side a matching card appears.
- Ante
- A mandatory starting bet placed before cards are dealt (common in Teen Patti).
B
- Bankroll
- The total amount of money you have set aside specifically for gambling.
- Bet365 / Operator
- An ‘operator’ is the company running the casino or sportsbook.
- Blackjack
- A two-card hand totalling 21 (Ace + 10-value card). Usually pays 3:2.
- Blind (Teen Patti)
- Playing without looking at your cards. Stakes are lower than for ‘seen’ players.
- Bonus Abuse
- Exploiting promotional offers in ways the operator considers a violation of T&Cs.
- Boot
- The starting pot in Teen Patti, contributed by all players before the deal.
C
- Cashback
- A bonus that returns a percentage of your losses, usually weekly.
- Chasing Losses
- Increasing bets to recover previous losses — the single biggest path to ruin.
- Cold Streak
- A run of losing hands. Has no predictive value for the next hand.
- Comp
- Free items or perks given by a casino to loyal players.
- Croupier
- A dealer at a casino table (French term).
D
- Deposit Limit
- A self-imposed cap on how much you can deposit in a given period.
- Dragon Bonus
- A baccarat side bet — high payout, very high house edge.
E
- Even-Money Bet
- A bet that pays 1:1 — for example red/black in roulette.
- Expected Value (EV)
- Average outcome of a bet if you placed it infinite times.
F
- Fold
- To give up your hand and forfeit the bets you’ve made so far.
- Free Spins
- Slot spins given without cost, usually tied to wagering requirements.
G
- Gambler’s Fallacy
- Believing past results affect future outcomes in independent events. They don’t.
H
- Hand
- The set of cards a player holds in a single round.
- High Roller
- A player who consistently wagers very large amounts.
- Hit
- In blackjack, requesting another card.
- Hole Card
- A face-down card in games like blackjack.
- House Edge
- The mathematical percentage the casino is expected to keep from each bet over time.
J
- Joker
- A wild card that can substitute for any other card (used in some Teen Patti variants).
K
- KYC
- ‘Know Your Customer’ — identity verification required by regulated operators before withdrawal.
L
- Live Dealer
- Casino games streamed in real time with a human dealer.
- Loss Limit
- Self-imposed maximum loss for a session, day, or month.
M
- Martingale
- A doubling-after-loss system. Does not beat the house and risks catastrophic losses.
- Max Bet
- The highest stake allowed on a single round.
N
- Natural
- An automatic-winning hand in baccarat (8 or 9) or blackjack (21 on two cards).
O
- Operator
- The company that owns and runs the casino platform.
P
- Pair Plus
- A Teen Patti side bet that pays if your hand contains at least a pair.
- Payout
- The amount you receive when a bet wins.
- Push
- A tie between you and the dealer — your stake is returned.
R
- Rake
- The fee a card room takes from each pot (in poker / Teen Patti tables).
- Reels
- The spinning columns of symbols in a slot game.
- RNG
- Random Number Generator — the algorithm that decides every outcome in online games.
- Rollover
- How many times you must wager bonus funds before they can be withdrawn.
- RTP
- Return to Player — the long-term percentage of stakes a game pays back, on average.
S
- Seen (Teen Patti)
- Playing after looking at your cards. Stakes are higher than ‘blind’.
- Self-Exclusion
- A formal request to be locked out of a casino for a set period.
- Side Bet
- Optional secondary bet. Usually has a much higher house edge than the main bet.
- Slot Volatility
- How often (and how big) a slot pays. High volatility = rare but larger wins.
- Soft Hand
- A blackjack hand with an Ace counted as 11 — cannot bust on next card.
- Split
- In blackjack, splitting a pair into two separate hands.
- Stake
- The amount of money you place on a single bet.
- Stand
- In blackjack, refusing additional cards.
- Stop Loss
- A pre-decided point at which you stop playing for the session.
- Surrender
- Forfeiting half your bet to exit a hand early (some blackjack variants).
T
- Tie Bet
- A bet in baccarat that the hand will tie — high payout, very poor odds.
- Time Limit
- Self-imposed maximum playing duration per session.
- Trail / Trio
- Three cards of the same rank — the highest hand in Teen Patti.
- Turnover
- The total stakes wagered over a period (often used for bonus terms).
V
- Variance
- Short-term swings around expected value. High variance = big ups and downs.
- VIP Programme
- A loyalty tier system rewarding (and encouraging) high turnover.
W
- Wagering Requirement
- Same as rollover — how much you must bet before bonus money becomes withdrawable.
- Welcome Bonus
- An incentive offered to new players on signup or first deposit.
- Withdrawal Limit
- Maximum amount you can cash out in a single transaction or period.