Las Vegas Gambling Tips: Vegas Lingo and Definitions

 

Don’t come to Las Vegas uninformed! Las Vegas can be confusing. All those casino games, and the “insider language” used in this unique city. Below, we’ve compiled a basic list of some of the many gambling and betting terms you’ll hear during your visit. They are from the book Casino Gamble Talk by renown gaming writer Victor H. Royer. Enjoy the list here, but we strongly suggest checking out Casino Gamble Talk . It not only contains many, many more important “Vegas Lingo” type terms, but is a solid primer on all of the games, both new and old.

Newer table games like Let It Ride, Progressive Caribbean Stud, and Pai Gow Poker as well as the traditional games like craps, blackjack, live poker, and roulette.

Don’t play table games? Royer will teach you all the inside scoop on slots, progressives, video poker and even the fun and fancy new electronic games.

Click on the book cover and buy Casino Gamble Talk . This is an inexpensive, valuable must read before your trip!

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Casino Gamble Talk Excerpts
by Victor H. Royer

 

Action

• The amount of money you bet during any session at any game.
• The amount of money you spend, in total, over your entire stay and play period in the casino, including all the money you win and recirculate by continuing to play.
• The amount of money any casino game gets in any given shift, or a specified time period.
• Annually, the total amount of casino drop.

Aggregate

• The cumulative amount which can be won, or shared, amount winners of a gambling game or event. Not the same as “progressive.” Encountered mostly in Live Keno, where signs reading, i.e., “Maximum $100,000 aggregate” are common. What this means is that the payout on any one game will not exceed a $100,000 prize in the same game they will not receive $100,000 each, but must share the prize, which is further reduced by all the other prizes awarded to all the other players who won something during that game. This is not very common, however, so don’t be too concerned. Many casinos have very high aggregate limits, even over $1 million. Also knows as Maximum Aggregate.

All In

• In Poker, meaning you have no more money left for the next bed and are therefore wagering everything you have, even though this may be an amount lower than required minimum bet. The is allowed only in Live Poker games, often resulting in a side pot for other players still betting over and above your last bet.
• You are broke.
• You are tired after gambling a long time.

Bad Beat

• In Poker, to lose with a hand of Aces-full-or-better, meaning that you must have a hand which is at least a Full House with three Aces and two other cards forming a pair, and still lose. In many casinos, a Bad Beat Jackpot is offered. Can also mean any hand-or event-that is a statistical favorite to win, but loses, often to a long shot.

Bankroll

• The amount of money you bring with you to the casino for the purpose of gambling.
• The amount of money you allocate to any gambling session or game.

Basic Strategy

• The minimum knowledge of a game when applied by a player for the purpose of playing or betting well. Usually applies to the game of Blackjack, but can be learned for, and applied to, any casino game.

Bill

• A term used in casino jargon to describe a $100 U.S. currency note.

Bones

• Dice.

Bookmarker

• The person who sets the odds, or makes the odds, for sporting events and race events.

Boxcars

• In Craps, the combination of 6-6 on the two dice.

Boxman

• A casino employee who runs the Craps game. Usually seated in the middle of the Craps table, opposite the Stickman: generally dressed in a suit and not a casino uniform like the other employees running the Craps game. The boxman oversees the game and handles the money.

Burned Card

• Once card, or any number of cards, taken from the top of any deck of cards after a shuffle and cut, and then placed in the discard tray by the dealer before the new hand begins.

Buy-In

• The amount of money, as an original stake, used by a player for starting at any gambling game.
• To gains access to a seat at a gaming table, game, or gaming tournament.

Chasing Your Money

• When you’ve lost a lot, and are trying to get even, you are “chasing your money.”
• Also applies in cases where a moderate bettor has been losing consistently and is now betting relatively large amounts in trying to get larger winners to recoup the previous serious of losses; this is also “chasing your money.”

Color Me Up

• An expression spoken by players at table games indicating a request to the dealer that the player is leaving the gamed and wishes to have his gaming chips “colored”–changed–into higher denomination chips for ease of carrying. Can also be said as: Color me in.” Dealers will often call out: “Color up” to let the Pit Boss know that a player is leaving the game a winner and is changing the lower-denomination chips into higher-denomination chips.

Comp or Comps

• Short for “complimentary.” Means something offered free, usually given to high rollers or to players whose gaming action is quite large. Also offered to members of the Slot Club who accumulate enough points, and also offered to gamblers at table games whose action warrants it. May refer to free rooms, free food, free drinks, etc.

Concierge

• The hotel employee who knows everything and can get anything, especially for a preferred customer or high roller. Not the same as Host.

Counting Cards

• A procedure for applying mathematical skills for tracking the value of cards dealt, or yet to be dealt. This is not illegal, and is not cheating.

Eye-In-The-Sky

• The dark “bubble” type bulges, or two-way mirrors, in the ceiling over gaming tables and cash-handling areas. They hide surveillance cameras which are viewed constantly by security personnel in hidden rooms in order to watch for cheating, stealing, or other gaming-related disturbances over each and every game in the entire casino. Also known as Surveillance.

Fill

• For table games, replenishing the chips.
• For gaming machines, replenishing the hopper.

Floorperson

• A casino employee in charge of gaming machine fills and hand-pay jackpots.

Continued Next Page: Click To Read Vegas Lingo and Definitions Part 2

 

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This is only a small sample of the insider lingo and gambling information available in Casino Gamble Talk .

Even if you’ve visited before, you’ll find loads of helpful information. Planning for your first visit? A must read. Click on the book cover to buy today! Also check out Victor H. Royer’s other fine gambling books listed on the side of this page.

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