Slanguage for Pros
IT'S OFTEN SAID that people judge us by how we speak. Thus, unless you want other land-based or online casino players to call you a "pigeon," you'd be doing the gambler inside you an excellent service by learning to talk the talk, if you know what we mean?
Case in point: say you are at a craps table for the first time and somebody tells you to "throw the bones." OK, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the ‘bones' they're referring to are probably another name for those dice you're about to toss. But what if someone accuses you of "chasing?" Should you be upset? Should your wife be upset? Not at all. "Chasing" is merely the act of placing a wager with the intention of recuperating the loss you sustained from the previous bet.
Or suppose the dealer instructs you to reveal your "whole cards." "Whole cards?" How can someone reveal only part of a card? What the dealer is actually making reference to are your "hole cards." In Stud or Holdem poker, for instance, hole cards are the cards dealt facedown to each player. In Blackjack, the "hole card" is the one dealt to the dealer facedown.
Other jargon can leave you rather embarrassed and/or much poorer if you are not familiar with their intended connotations. A "dime bet" for example will cost you somewhat more than 10 cents; about $999.90 somewhat more. A "dime bet" is a $1,000 wager.
Or how about "cracking the nut?" Nope, that doesn't mean smacking the moron next to you. It means winning enough money on a gambling excursion whereby you recoup all of your expenses and even bank (earn, pocket, bag) a little profit.
Perhaps you're wondering what you call that method of shuffling cards whereby the deck is cut basically in half and by raising the card corners with your thumbs and releasing the cards from both halves, the cards interleave with one another. Well, that's known as "riffling" or "zipping."
And what if another player suggests you have a ‘soft hand?' What are you going to do, thank your moisturizer? A ‘soft hand' is a Blackjack expression meaning any hand containing an ace which is counted as 11, instead of one.
And oh, a ‘pigeon' refers to a naive, uneducated or unsophisticated player. But, of course, you knew that.
To view a comprehensive list of online casino gaming expressions and slang, visit the Casino Maze glossary .
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