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Casino Terms Guide

casino terms online usaSome casino terms can seem strange, especially if you’re new to the scene. It can be beneficial to know what specific terms mean because this will help you understand what’s going on. So, we’ve compiled a glossary of casino terms that you’ll come across while gambling online.

Once you have learned about the casino gambling terms, you will be ready to register a real money account at the recommended top USA online casinos listed below.

Best Casino Sites for US Players

We’ve rounded up some of our favorite casinos that cater to American players. Check them out below, practice your casino terms, and claim some great bonus deals.

BestUSACasinoSites First

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Casino Terms and Lingo Glossary

A to C Casino Terms

  • Active Payline: This is the specific payline that you are betting on. It only becomes active when you bet on it before you spin.
  • Ante: In a card game, it’s the bet you place before starting a hand or round.
  • Balance: The amount of money you have left after depositing and placing bets. In other words, the amount you have available in your casino account.
  • Banker: Another word for the dealer or house.
  • Bankroll: The total amount of money a player or casino has to gamble with.
  • Bet Max: The maximum amount you want to bet on a spin.
  • Bet Min: The minimum amount you want to spend on a spin.
  • Betting Limits: The most or least you can bet on a video slot game.
  • Bonus: Money given to a player by the casino site for meeting certain requirements.
  • Bonus Feature: A bonus aspect of a slot game triggered when the game’s symbols land in a certain position on a payline. These usually reward you with extras like free spins or multipliers.
  • Card Shark: A card game expert.
  • Cascading/Collapsing Reels: A slot feature where if symbols land on a winning payline, they’re immediately replaced by new ones. The replacement symbols can create new winning combos which are subsequently replaced by new ones. This cycle repeats itself until there aren’t any more winning combinations.
  • Cashback: A real money refund you’ll get after losing money while playing at the casino. It’s usually a percentage of your losses in the form of a bonus offer.
  • Cashier: At a casino site, it’s where you can deposit and withdraw money from your casino account.
  • Cash-Out: When you withdraw your money from the casino.
  • Casino Advantage: Another word for the house edge a casino site has over the player. Also known as the advantage or edge.
  • Casino Rewards: These are rewards given to players by the casino. Usually, they are based on how much they play at the site.
  • Chips: Tokens used to represent real money in a game.
  • Classic Slots: A retro style of online slots that generally have three reels. They’re also known as fruit machines or classic Vegas slots. These were the first types of games to be found at casinos.
  • Cold Streak: An extended period of losing.
  • Color Up: When you exchange smaller-denomination chips for larger denominations.
  • Comp Points: These could be compared to reward point. At casino sites, these can be exchanged for chips and levelling up on the casino’s loyalty tiers.
  • Croupier: A term for a casino dealer. It’s a French word generally used in European casino and games like craps, baccarat, and roulette.
top casino terms usa

D to J Casino Terms

  • Deal: The card given to a player during a game.
  • Dealer: The card given to a player during a game.
  • Deck: A set of 52 casino playing cards.
  • Deposit: When you add money to your casino account.
  • Deuce: Number two in dice.
  • Double or Nothing: A bet that pays the same amount wagered or nothing.
  • Download Casino: An online gambling site that requires you to download its software to access its games on your computer.
  • Draw: When a player takes another card. This term is used in card games like blackjack and baccarat.
  • Edge: The advantage or odds held in a casino game. Usually, it’s in favor of the casino. Also known as the advantage or house edge.
  • Exapnding Wilds: These are symbols that fall onto a reel and expand to fully cover it. This creates a number of winning combinations.
  • Face Cards: The Jack, King, and Queen cards of any suit.
  • Flash Casino: A casino site that’s enabled to be accessed directly from your internet browser by using Flash technology.
  • Fold: The act of abandoning a hand and losing a bet in a card game.
  • Free Spins: In a slot game, these are spins that cost you nothing. They are either awarded as part of a promotion by the casino or are triggered by the game.
  • Hand: A set of cards a player holds during a round.
  • High Roller: Used in blackjack, this is how a player asks for another card.
  • Hole Card: In blackjack, this is a face down card the dealer gets. In other table games it goes to the player.
  • Hot Streak: An extended period of winning.
  • House: Another term for the casino.
  • House Edge: The percentage odds the casino has of winning over players.
  • House Rules: The specific rules of a casino, especially when it comes to table games and slots, including buy-ins.
  • Inside Bets: This term applies to roulette. These are bets placed on the inside numbers.
  • Instant Casino: A casino that doesn’t need to be downloaded to be played. It’s similar to a Flash casino.
  • Insurance: This is a bet that’s offered in online blackjack to a player when their face up card is an Ace.
  • Insurance Bet: Two or more bets covering each other.
  • Jackpot: A prize whose value grows incrementally every time someone plays that particular slot game. It keeps on growing until someone wins that jackpot.
casino terms glossary usa

L to Z Casino Terms

  • Layout: The surface of a gaming table where you place your bets
  • Limits: The minimum and maximum amounts that can be placed on a single bet.
  • Line Bet: The amount a player pays for a bet on each active payline.
  • Live Dealer Games: A type of casino game that played against a real dealer via live video streaming.
  • Lobby: At a casino site, this is where all the casino’s games can be found.
  • Loyalty Scheme: A scheme offered by the casino to reward players for gambling with them. The more comp points you earn in the loyalty scheme, the more benefits and rewards you access.
  • Maximum Bet: The highest stake you can place on a casino game.
  • Minimum Bet: The lowest stake you can place on a game.
  • Mobile Slots/Games: These are games that can be played on your mobile device such as your smartphone or tablet. You can access them either through your device’s internet browser or a downloadable app.
  • Multi-hand Game: A casino game where players can play more than one hand at a time.
  • Multiplayer Games: Casino games in which you play other real players.
  • Multiplier: Symbols that multiply your winnings. They carry specific values with which they increase your winnings.
  • Non-Sticky Bonus: A bonus that can be withdrawn once you have met the requirements.
  • Payline: A series of positions that are read from left to right. These are found in slot games and you’re usually betting on a number of paylines in a game. Should the symbols form a winning combo, then you’ll get a payout.
  • Payout Percentage: An approximate percentage return paid out by the casino site over time. It looks at the overall bets placed and can be applied to either an individual game or the casino overall.
  • Payout Table: This shows you the payout for each bet on table games, or a winning combo on slots and video poker.
  • Penetration: The percentage of a deck that’s been dealt before the deck is shuffled.
  • Phantom Bonus: A bonus type. This one is removed from your casino account when you’re cashing out.
  • Progressive Jackpot: A jackpot that grows depending on the number of players playing the game.
  • Progressive Slot: This is a slot game that has a jackpot which increases depending on the number of players using it.
  • Push: When there’s a tie between the house and the player.
  • Random Number Generator (RNG): Software used by a casino site to generate numbers, combinations, and outcomes in casino games.
  • Reel: A column that’s spun next to other columns in an attempt to create winning combinations in a slot game.
  • Reload Bonus: A bonus that’s offered to existing casino players when they make a new deposit.
  • Scatters: These are symbols that triggers free spins when they land within a payline. They usually payout even if they don’t fall within a payline.
  • Shifting Wilds: This type of wild moves around the reels with each spin every time there’s a winning combination.
  • Sign-Up Bonus: Casino sites offer this bonus to new players once they’ve signed up and deposited an amount into their casino account. They’re also known as a welcome bonus.
  • Stacked Wilds: This symbol substitutes other symbols to make a winning line but they stay put – stick – for the next spins.
  • VIP: A player that places high wagers. This also known as a high roller.
  • Wager: A bet made at a casino.
  • Wagering Requirements: An amount of money that must be bet at a casino site in order to qualify for a bonus or release a bonus for withdrawal.
  • Welcome Bonus: A bonus given to new customers that have signed up and made their first deposit. Also known as a sign-up bonus.
  • Wild Symbols: These symbols substitute any other symbol and help create winning combinations.
  • Withdrawal: When you take out money from your casino account.
  • Whale: A high roller player playing for big stakes.

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