HA 477 Gambling and Casino Management

Seven-Out

'Seven out' is a craps term which means rolling a seven after the point has been made. 'Seven-outs' occur in the second phase of a shooter's turn, where the point is missed. A seven made any way by the dice is an instant end to the round for the player and all bettors, with pass bets lost and a payout for the don't pass line.

Snake Eyes

-2 ones on the dice In dice games, 'snake eyes' refers to a roll of double ones - that is, both dice rolled read one, for a total of two. Snake eyes is the lowest scoring dice roll and therefore snake eyes is often a losing roll. The phrase has come to be associated with general bad luck, for this reason. Gamblers may say that a bad run has 'come up snake eyes', and the term has passed into wider language where it means 'the worst possible outcome' as opposed to 'the lowest possible score'.

Split Pot

-any poker and texas hold em -regarding a straight A 'split pot' in poker is a prize divided between two or more players, usually in the event of a tied hand where there is no tiebreak rule in place. Split pots also apply when the game is being played to 'hi/lo' rules, with two players splitting the pot based on the highest and lowest hands at the table. In poker, a 'split pot' is a pot which is shared between two (and occasionally more) of the players in a game. Not all games allow split pots, and it will be made clear at the start of the game if splits are allowed. The split pot is usually brought into action when two hands tie, which is unusual but can happen during a game.

Surrender

-blackjack which allows to keep half your money To 'surrender' means to concede defeat and the term appears in some casino games to mean a player resigning from the round. When a player chooses to 'surrender', they usually lose half of their bet. The option of surrender is available in two well-known casino games - blackjack and casino war. In both, players can choose to give up at a certain point in the game, receive half their stake back and forfeit the chance to play on. In blackjack, players enter the round when they make a bet and are handed their first two cards. However, some casinos will permit a player to take the 'surrender' option. This might happen before the dealer checks their cards (an 'easy surrender') or following the check (a 'hard surrender'). If the player is not confident about their cards, they can choose to fold before the game begins. They will only receive half of their stake back if they choose this option. Not every establishment will allow 'surrender' plays and players should always check before starting play.

Vigorish

-commission to be able to play -game in craps when you play a buy bet you have to pay a 5% commission

Marker

-documents -solely used by high rollers and have credit A casino 'marker' is a line of credit for a regular player, provided to make gambling easier and to facilitate high-value play without the need for cash. Markers are given to players depending on their status and are at the discretion of the casino, based on the player's financial worth and their ability to pay their bill. 'Marker' also refers to the 'button' in a casino poker game, which designates which player is the 'dealer' in a game operated by the house. In the casino, the players who play high stakes games will not want to carry that much cash with them. To avoid banking fees and to allow play to start as soon as possible, they can request a 'marker' - a credit line from the casino. Only players who are trusted, regular visitors or those who can prove they are good for the money will be allowed credit.

Muck Racker

-game of roulette grab all the chips that loose which is where the roulette chips go to The term 'muck' has a few different meanings in gambling; in the game of poker, it may refer to a stack of discarded playing cards where players leave their folded hands and where the dealer can bin burned cards. Muck can also be used as a verb to describe the act of discarding a hand of cards. When a player folds, they place their hand of cards face down, usually without speaking. In actual fact, a hand is not folded until it lands on the muck. Until this happens and the dealer has taken the hand, it can be still taken back and used.

Turkey

-guy who doesn't tip

Nut (Overhead)

-how much money it takes to win -whats your break even Also referred to as 'the nut', 'nuts' or 'the nuts', this term can refer to one of two things. The first is the overhead costs of running the house - this applies to both online and physical casinos. The second thing it may apply to is the minimum amount a player desires or needs to earn. The line between desire and need is based on whether the player is an amateur or a professional gambler. As far as house overheads and desired/required winnings are concerned, the nut is a combination of a break-even point (the financial term that means any money spent is recouped) and the minimal amount of winnings. When applied to the house, it's purely a break-even point. If a casino manager were to look at the figures for the day and say 'we made the nut', it would mean that the house didn't make any money, but it also didn't lose any money. In the world of an average gambler or casual player, the nut would refer to the minimum amount they expected to win.

Mega-Bucks

-if we have a progressive slot machine linked to every one of the other machines in the state

Palming

-improving your hand -palming your card -(cheating) Palming is the act of concealing a playing card in the palm of the hand, and is used in gambling by card cheats, or by those who perform card tricks. Expert "palmers" are able to conceal a card completely in their hand, making their hand appear empty. They are then able to hide the card somewhere where it can later be retrieved - such as a pocket or trouser leg - at a convenient time in the game, allowing them to have an advantage over other players.

Take-Off Man

-in a cheating scam he is the guy that comes in last and wins all the money -comes in after the dauber

Stickman (person)

-in craps the job is to mark the game and make the game fun Stickman refers to the casino member of staff who is found at the craps table. While at the craps table, a stickman's job is to call out the dice rolls so that everyone at the table is aware of the result of the previous roll. Knowing the result of the previous roll is essential for everyone at the table, so they can tell whether or not they have won a payout. The term stickman simply comes from the stick that the stickman uses to return the dice to the shooter.

Sucker bet

-insurance -the big wheel of fortune (terrible house advantage) -bet has high house advantage

Soft Count

-its the count of the bills -hard count is the coins A soft count is a method for casinos to count banknotes. It is called a soft count as only banknotes are counted, as opposed to a hard count, used for chips and coins. Performed in a soft counting room, usually a room with extremely tight security due to the large amounts of cash present, two or more employees of the casino will use a large count table and arrange notes so that they can be easily counted. The count itself is carried out with a combination of manual counting and by using banknote counting machines, which can count as many as 20 notes per second.

Parlay

-multi line sports bet A parlay bet is the American term for an accumulator bet. Instead of betting on one result, a player can place one stake on two or more results. If he gets one wrong, then the whole bet falls through. If he gets them all right, he wins at higher odds then if he had just placed single bets on the same results. For example, the odds for Manchester United and Manchester City winning on single bets are 1.2 and 1.57 respectively. If a player bets on them both winning on a parlay, the odds increase to 1.88.

TITO (ticket-in, ticket-out)

-no longer change from a person -the tickets going in and out of the slot machines

Table Hopping

-playing a hand on two different tables -not allowed

Telegraph

-playing in poker can see your tell

Martingale

-roulette on the quiz The Martingale betting system remains one of the most talked-about betting strategies of them all. Put simply, it's a bankroll management strategy that results in wagers placed incrementally higher after losses. The system was developed in France during the 18th century to be applied directly on games with a 50/50 format e.g. heads or tails, or betting on red or black in roulette. In essence, it is a very high-risk strategy that may increase a gambler's chances of winning in the short term but a gambler will lose significantly more when they encounter a string of losses. It is perhaps so well-known because of its simplicity and the fact that it does not require in-depth levels of mathematics or strategic understanding.

Value Players (card counters)

-somebodys who's careful about their money

Load (dice)

-sophisticated instruments -clear, name of property, and from Load up is a casino term that refers to the maximum amount of coins that be loaded up to a game of video poker or slots. The load up amount differs from game to game and can be as little as 20 coins or as many as 5000.

Toke

-the word for tips -give a toke to the dealer In blackjack, players enter the round when they make a bet and are handed their first two cards. However, some casinos will permit a player to take the 'surrender' option. This might happen before the dealer checks their cards (an 'easy surrender') or following the check (a 'hard surrender'). If the player is not confident about their cards, they can choose to fold before the game begins. They will only receive half of their stake back if they choose this option. Not every establishment will allow 'surrender' plays and players should always check before starting play. In most casino games there is a dealer who is working at a game table, providing services to keep the game going for all the players. As most dealers only earn minimum wage, receiving 'tokes' throughout the day can be extremely important to them. It's also great to say thank you to them for their services, as well as making sure you and your bets are well looked after at the gaming table.

Theo (theoretical)

-theoretical figuring out someones theoretical value to the casino

Stripping

-what you do with a card so its visible Card stripping is the practice of removing some cards from a standard 52-card deck, in order to make certain games easier or to raise the chance of certain cards being drawn. The simplest form of card stripping is removing the two jokers from a deck to leave the usual 52 cards. Other games use even fewer cards. A stripped deck may have just the numbered cards in it, or some of the lower ranked cards might be removed. Card stripping is more common in private games than in casinos, but there are some casino card games which use a stripped deck for play.

Take-a-Bath

-you've dumped your tray -the house lost a lot of money

Puck

...indicates the point number in craps

Pat Hand

A "pat hand" normally means that a player has deemed their hand to be complete (i.e. they don't want any more cards) as they've got a series of cards that makes up one of the winning combinations. This isn't always set in stone and depends on a player's judgement that they have got the best winning combination against other players' hands. Amongst more skilled players, a player may turn down more cards and pretend that they have a pat hand to scare their competition into playing their hands earlier than they might have liked.

Shill

A shill is someone who works alongside a confidence trickster during a scam in order to fool unsuspecting victims. People have a naturally inquisitive and suspicious nature, which can be a problem for con artists, whose sole aim is to trick people into giving away their money. This is where a shill comes in. Working in conjunction with the confidence trickster, a shill will do all they can to make people believe that the scam is not a scam. The most common scenario in which a shill will be used is during a rigged game.

Shoe

A shoe is a device used in casinos to deal cards at the gaming table. Each shoe holds more than one deck of cards, reducing the amount of time required for shuffling between games. Increasing the decks of cards also has the advantage of increasing the house advantage in games like blackjack. Prior to 1961 all casino card games were dealt by hand using a single deck of cards. This made some practices such as card counting, front loading and spooking in blackjack, easier for players to carry out. The solution was to deal cards from a covered shoe which can hold multiple decks of pre-shuffled cards. Depending on the game being played, a shoe can contain anything from two to eight decks.

Whale

A whale is a gambler who places large amounts of money on wagers and bets. Also known as a 'high roller', a whale will often be extremely wealthy and will be treated favorably by casinos. In order to attract the big whales and high rollers, casinos may offer them luxury complimentary or 'comp' services and VIP treatment. This can include anything from five-star hotel suites to private plane transfers, free meals and access to VIP-only rooms and games. Between different establishments, the amount of money required to consider a player a whale varies, but it is generally thought that anyone betting a minimum of $50,000 is a high roller. Gambling establishments have a two-way relationship with whales. On one hand, casinos want to attract the high rollers because they bring large amounts of revenue into their establishments and are often risk takers - placing high bets on wagers where the house has the advantage. On the other hand, casinos must be able to financially accommodate high-stake gambling from whales in the event that the high roller should win.

Yard (Hunski)

A yard refers to 100 of a financial denomination. In the United States of America and Canada it would be $100, in the United Kingdom it would be £100. A yard is a slang term usually utilised by experienced casino players who will either bet a yard or request said amount from the house. Part of the vast and seemingly endless list of slang terms used by gamblers, a yard is only ever used when referring to money or 'chips'. There is certainly a cool ring to using such a term, and in the case of commentary on the bigger casino games, it makes the language that bit more colourful. To simply state financial figures for hours on end could well cause even the most dedicated of viewers to zone out and lose interest.

Positive (Plus-Count) Deck

In casino card games and especially in blackjack, gamblers might use card counting to gain an advantage. Card counting is a method of tracking which cards in a deck have already been played, in order to work out which cards are likely to appear. Card counting is not illegal and is not technically cheating, but casinos do not approve of the method and will ask players to leave if they think card counting is being used. This is because card counting - if done correctly - can reduce or remove the house edge and can even hand the advantage over to the player.

RNG Chip/Random # Generator

In computing, a random number generator (RNG) is a piece of software which can pull any number from a specified selection completely at random, with no input or interference from humans. RNGs are the power behind online gambling games, such as slots and roulette. Instead of a manual spin of a wheel or reels, or the roll of a dice or the turn of a card, the computer selects one of billions of combinations of numbers at random. This number is translated to a play on the screen in the game, and may or may not result in a win and a payout for the player.

Shooter

In craps, the shooter is the player with control of the dice. Players retain the dice until they lose, and then the shooter role passes left. All players have the option to shoot, but they can also pass and remain on the betting side of play. The shooter and the other players take bets on the outcome of the dice roll, and the shooter may make multiple rolls before their turn comes to an end. Players are essentially aiming to 'shoot' the dice to score certain numbers; a seven is the only number which ends a shooter's turn.

Pot

In poker, the pot means the chips that are in play during the game. It might be used to describe the amount of chips in the game, or to the place on the table where those chips should be placed. Players play into the pot in order to take part in the game. To take the pot is to win the game, and to pot means to share the cost of some casino service from the chips in play - usually a round of drinks or snacks for the players - done with the agreement of all at the table.

Payback Ratio

In simple terms the "payback" is what a player could expect to see back from their cash investment in placing bets. Usually averaged out over thousands of games, the expected payout is usually expressed as a percentage - known as the "return to player" (or "RTP") figure. All slot machines and fixed odds betting terminals in the UK, for example, must display this average clearly to players in order to comply with gambling regulations, as set by the UK Gambling Commission

RFB (comp)

RFB stands for Room, Food and Beverage and is a term used to describe the complimentary (comp) items provided for gamblers who play regularly at the casino. Many casinos, especially those with attached hotels, offer comp packages to gamblers in order to encourage them to play there. There is a whole range of comps casinos can offer, including free drinks, free food and complimentary bets, but RFB is one of the most sought after. Typically offered to high-rollers or players who have spent a lot on the gaming floor, RFB includes complimentary access to a room, usually a suite, free food in the hotel restaurant and complimentary beverages from the bar. These perks apply for the entirety of the person's stay.

Pit

The pit is the part of the casino that houses its most popular games - usually games of luck, rather than skill, such as roulette, blackjack and craps. The pit consists of rows of gaming tables and is operated by a hierarchy that starts with the pit manager and ends with the dealer. In between are the floormen and women who, increasingly through the use of a computer system, keep an eye on the tables and the players. Bigger venues tend to have a series of pits, each dedicated to one game.

Rake

The rake is the casino's stake of a poker pot, retained as compensation for hosting the game. The rake might be a one-off payment of a set percentage or a cash amount, based on the amounts wagered during play and settled at the end. It could also be a 'timed rake' - where a fee is removed from the pot at set intervals during play. Many tournaments and competitive poker matches use the timed rake, the size of which often increases over time.

Yo (E-Yo)

Yo, short for Yoleven (Yo-leven), is a term which arose across many casino games out of the realisation that eleven sounds inconveniently similar to seven, especially when both are uttered amongst the busy throng and noise of a casino floor, with the slots chiming and whirring to one side, and the occasional cry of a winner at the roulette table to contend with. Because of the noises, and to prevent any kind of ambiguity which would leave an unhappy customer when a casino floor manager ruled in the casinos favour on a decision following a misheard bet size or dice read, many dealers and casino staff will replace the word eleven with Yoleven - often over pronounced in a vaguely theatrical manner - or the shortened version, Yo.

Limit

table limit A 'limit' is a restriction on wagering or a cap on winning, table games such as roulette and craps often have a minimum and a maximum limit, and the values of these limits can vary dramatically between different tables. A 'limit' in poker is the amount by which wagers can be made or raised. In draw poker games, players might ask for the limit at the draw - meaning either one card or three, depending on whether a high or low winning hand is sought.