Gambling Terms & Glossary Guide

Welcome to our Online Casino Glossary – your ultimate guide to navigating the thrilling world of online gaming! Whether you’re a seasoned player or stepping into the vibrant arena of online casinos for the first time, this glossary is designed to enhance your gaming experience.

Here, you’ll find clear, concise definitions of key terms and phrases, unraveling the complexities of casino jargon. From understanding different game types to grasping betting terminology, our glossary is your reliable companion, ensuring you play with confidence and knowledge. Let’s dive into the dynamic world of online casinos together, with every term you need right at your fingertips!

A

• Account: A personal profile created by a user on an online casino platform, allowing access to games, deposits, and withdrawals.
• Action: A general term referring to the amount of money wagered by a player in a specific period.
• Aggregate Limit: The total payout liability during a game for the casino.
• AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission): A regulatory body that oversees online gambling in the Alderney jurisdiction.
• All-in: Betting all the chips one has during a game, especially in poker.
• Ante: An initial bet required before a game starts, commonly seen in poker.
• Arbitrage: A betting strategy involving placing bets on all possible outcomes of an event with different bookmakers to guarantee a profit regardless of the outcome.
• Autoplay: A feature in online slots allowing the player to automatically play a set number of spins without manual intervention.

B

• Banker: Another term for the dealer or the house in card games.
• Bankroll: The total amount of money a player has set aside for gambling activities.
• Bet: The act of wagering money on an outcome in a casino game.
• Betting Limits: The minimum or maximum amount of money that can be wagered on a single bet.
• Bonus: Incentives offered by casinos to players, like free spins or additional funds.
• Bonus Code: A specific code used by players to claim a bonus offer.
• Bust: Going over the limit in a game, like exceeding 21 in blackjack, resulting in an immediate loss.

C

• Cashback: A bonus that returns a portion of a player’s losses over a certain period.
• Casino Advantage: See “House Edge”.
• Comps: Complimentary rewards given to players, such as free drinks, meals, or hotel stays, based on their betting activity.
• Croupier: A term mainly used in European casinos for the dealer who runs roulette and baccarat games.

D

• Dealer: The casino employee responsible for dealing cards and managing a casino game.
• Deposit: The act of transferring money into a casino account.
• Dime Bet: Slang for a $1,000 bet.
• Double Down: In blackjack, to double the initial bet in exchange for committing to stand after receiving one more card.

E

• eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance): An international agency that ensures fair and responsible online gaming.
• Edge: The advantage that one player has over another, often referred to in the context of the house or a skilled player.
• Encryption: Technology used to protect information on the internet, including online casino transactions.

F

• Face Cards: Jack, Queen, and King in a deck of cards.
• Free Spins: Spins that are free of charge, often offered as a bonus on slot games.
• Fruit Machine: A traditional name for a slot machine, originated from the symbols of fruits used in early slot games.

G

• Gamble Feature: A feature in some slot games that gives players the chance to gamble their winnings on a secondary game, usually a ‘double or nothing’ bet.
• Gaming License: An authorization granted by a regulatory body that allows an entity to operate a gambling establishment or offer gambling services.
• Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR): The difference between the amount of bets placed by players and the amount paid out to them as winnings.

H

• High Roller: A player who consistently wagers large amounts of money.
• Hit: In blackjack, to take another card from the dealer.
• House: Another term for the casino.
• House Edge: The statistical advantage that the casino has over players.

I

• IGaming: A term encompassing all forms of online gambling, including casino games, poker, sports betting, and bingo.
• Instant Play: Casino games that can be played directly in a web browser without the need for downloading software.

J

• Jackpot: The top prize in a game, often associated with slot machines.
• Juice: Slang for the commission taken by the house, also known as “vigorish” or “vig”.

K

• Keno: A lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos.
• KYC (Know Your Customer): Procedures implemented by gaming operators to verify the identity of their customers, crucial for ensuring safe and responsible gambling.

L

• La Partage: A rule in roulette offering players half their even-money bets back if the ball lands on zero.
• Live Dealer Games: Casino games that are streamed in real-time, where players interact with a human dealer through a digital platform.
• Lobby: The main page or area in an online casino where players can choose which games they want to play.
• Low Roller: A player who makes small bets.

M

• Martingale System: A betting strategy in which a player doubles their bet after every loss, with the idea of recouping all losses with a single win.
• Match Bonus: A type of casino bonus where the casino matches the player’s deposit by a certain percentage.
• Max Bet: The maximum amount of money that a player can bet on a single round in a game.
• Multi-Player Games: Online casino games that allow multiple players to play at the same time and interact with each other.

N

• Net Winnings: The total amount of money a player wins after subtracting their original bet.
• No Deposit Bonus: A bonus offered by casinos that do not require the player to make a deposit to claim it.
• Non-Sticky Bonus: A type of casino bonus that allows players to withdraw their winnings without meeting the wagering requirements of the bonus amount.

O

• Odds: The likelihood of a particular outcome occurring in a gambling game.
• Online Slots: Virtual versions of traditional slot machines played over the internet.
• Overlay: A term used when the odds of a particular wager are in favor of the players rather than the house.

P

• Payout Percentage: The percentage of total money bet by players that a casino game returns to players as winnings over time.
• Paytable: A chart in slot games showing the payouts for various winning combinations.
• Progressive Jackpot: A jackpot that increases each time the game is played but the jackpot is not won.
• Provably Fair: A technology used in online gambling that enables players to verify each game result’s fairness.

Q

• Qualifier: In poker, the minimum hand required to win a round.
• Quads: Slang in poker for having four of a kind.

R

• Random Number Generator (RNG): A computer program used in online gaming to generate random results for online casino games.
• Rake: The commission taken by the house in a poker game.
• Reels: The vertical sections of a slot machine that spin when the game is played.
• RTP (Return to Player): A percentage that indicates the average amount of money a slot machine or casino game pays back to players over time.

S

• Scatter Symbol: In slot games, a symbol can trigger free spins or bonus rounds, usually not needing to be on a payline to win.
• Sticky Bonus: A type of casino bonus that cannot be cashed out; it ‘sticks’ to the player’s account until it’s lost.
• Surrender: An option in some casino games where a player can forfeit half their bet to end the game early.

T

• Table Games: Casino games played on a table, such as blackjack, roulette, craps, and baccarat.
• Tilt: In gambling, when a player loses control of their strategy and starts making irrational decisions.
• Turn: In poker, the fourth community card is dealt after the flop.

U

• Underlay: A bet that has a lower probability of winning than what the odds suggest, resulting in a bad value for the player.

V

• Variance: The measure of how often and how much a game deviates from its expected return or how much a player’s bankroll fluctuates.
• VIP: A high-value player who receives special treatment and bonuses from the casino.
• Volatility: Used to describe the risk level of a slot game; high volatility means less frequent but larger wins, and low volatility means more frequent but smaller wins.

W

• Wager: Another term for a bet.
• Wagering Requirement: The number of times a player must play through a bonus amount before they can withdraw any winnings gained from it.
• Welcome Bonus: A bonus offered by online casinos to new players when they sign up and make their first deposit.

X

• X of a Kind: In slot games, several identical symbols appear in a row on a payline.

Z

• Zero: In roulette, the number