Blackjack Dictionary
A: (abbrev). Ace.
AC: (abbrev). Atlantic City.
Ace side count: (n). A side count of only Aces that is kept in addition to the main count when counting cards.
Ace Neutral Count: (n). A counting system which does not assign a value to aces.
Ace rich: (adj.). When there are more Aces in the deck than a random probability would dictate.
Action: (n). 1. A bet 2. A large amount of betting.
Advantage: (n). A player’s theoretical expected rate of win or loss, usually given as a percentage of total money put into action.
Back Counting: (v). Counting cards while watching a table but not playing.
Balanced Count: (n). Any counting system which has an exact balance between plus cards and minus cards. A card counting system is balanced when the sum of the card point values for the whole deck is equal to 0.
Bankroll: (n). The amount of money a player has to play with. It can refer to a “total bankroll” which is used in the long-run or “session bankroll” which is the amount of money a player is prepared to bet in any individual session.
Bar: (v). To ban a player from playing in a casino.
Basic Strategy: (n). A playing system defining the optimum play for any given situation which is based on the total of the player’s hand and the dealer’s up card.
Beat the Dealer: (n). A book written by Ed Thorp that was the groundbreaking work in card counting.
Bet Spread: (phrase). A reference to the spread between the amount of a player’s minimum bet and maximum bet while counting cards. A 1-4 spread would mean the player’s maximum bet is four times the size of the player’s minimum bet.Sometimes the spead would be referred to as simply “4”.
Betting Efficiency: (n). A measure of how well the betting strategy can exploit the profit potential of a card counting system.
Big Player: (n). Someone who plays with a team of counters. A counter at a table keeps track of the count and secretly signals the big player when the count is high enough for the big player to enter the game and make a large bet or series of bets.
BJ: (abbrev). Blackjack.
BJFB: (abbrev). Blackjack For Blood – a book by Bryce Carlson.
Black Chip: (n). A $100 chip.
BP: (abbrev). Big Player.
BR: (abbrev). Bankroll.
BS: (abbrev). Basic Strategy.
Burn card: (n). A card taken off the deck at the beginning of a new deck or shoe that is placed with the cards in the discard pile or at the bottom of the deck.
Bust: (v). To go over 21 and lose the hand.
Cage: (n). In a casino, where the cashier is located.
Camouflage: (n). Something a player does to hide that he is counting cards.
Card Counter: (n). A blackjack player who makes money by analyzing the probabilities and betting accordingly.
Checks: (n). Chips.
Cold: (adj). When a run of cards has been bad or will be bad.
Color Up: (adj). To exchange many smaller denomination chips for a few large denomination chips. This is done as a player is preparing to leave and he may have too many chips to handle.
Comp: (n). Complimentary services and goods that are offered by the casino to encourage and reward play.
Counter: (n). A card counter.
Counting System: (n). A counting system which assigns values to the cards in order to calculate the probability of winning.
Cut Card: (n). A piece of plastic that is used to cut the decks after a shuffle and then is used by the dealer to mark the last hand to be dealt from the deck by placing it near the end of the deck in the shoe.
D’alembert: (n). A betting progression system where the bettor raises the bet one unit after each loss and lowers the bet one unit after each win. A series of numbers equidistant from one another is established, such as 1, 2, 3, 4. The player starts out by betting 1 unit. If he wins, he continues to bet one unit. If he loses, he cancels out the 1 and moves to the 2 and adds one unit to the last number, now having a series of 2, 3, 4, 5. At any point in the series where the player wins his bet, he reduces his bet by one unit. If he wins enough bets to return to a one unit bet, he starts over. If he loses during the series, he cancels out the last number he played and adds another number to the series. This system, like all progressions cannot win in any game with a negative expectation..
DA/DA2: (abbrev.). The ability to double down on any first two cards.
DAS: (abbrev). An abbreviation for a rule that allows the player to double after splits. See double after split.
DD: (abbrev.). Double down.
Dealing Seconds: (phrase.). A method of cheating whgere the dealer deals the second from the top if the first is beneficial to the player.
Deck Penetration: (n). How deeply into the pack or shoe a dealer goes before shuffling. Penetration is sometimes expressed as the number of decks dealt out of the total (eg 5½/6, which means 5½ decks out of six) or as percentage of cards dealt out (e.g. 60%, 75% etc).
Device: (n). A computer or any other calculator that can be used by players to help them win.
Discards: (n). The cards which have already been played since the last shuffle. They are placed by the dealer in a discard tray on the left side of the table from the player’s perspective.
Double Only Any Two Cards: (phrase). Casino rules that allow for doubling on any two playing cards.
DOA: (abbrev). Casino rules that allow for doubling on any two playing cards.
Double after Split : (). Casino rules that allow doubling down after the players has split any pair.
Double Deck: (). A form of 21 where two decks are shuffled together and dealt out of the hand. The forms of 21 are: single deck, double deck, and four, six, or eight deck shoe.
Double Down: (). To double the size of one’s initial bet before taking one more card. Once a player doubles down, the player may receive only one more card. Usually, but not always, a player may only double down after receiving the first two cards. He does this by placing an amount which may be less than, or equal to (but may not exceed) the original stake, behind his initial bet. In some casinos the player may double down after splitting and in some casinos the player may only double on 10 or 11.
Double Exposure: (n). A blackjack game in which both dealer cards are shown to the player (before) he plays his hand. Other house rules are usually changed, such as players losing pushes, and blackjacks are paid even money to restore the advantage the house loses by exposing the dealer’s hole card.
Downtown: (). The downtown area of Las Vegas – as opposed to the Strip.
Draw: (v). To obtain additional cards to the original two card hand.
Drop: (n). The total amount of money wagered in a casino.
DS: (abbrev). Double after split.
Early Surrender: (n). Player may give up or surrender after receiving first two cards but before dealer checks for an Ace in the hole. If surrendered, only 50% of bet is lost, instead of entire sum. Excellent method for controlling player losses and therefore not allowed in most casinos.
Edge: (n). A term used to describe the percentage of advantage either the casino or the player has on a certain game.
End Play: (n). A style of playing Blackjack in which the player takes advantage of his knowledge of the last un-played cards at the end of the deck. Happens when the player whose composition is favorable to the player.
ES: (abbrev). Early Surrender.
EV: (abbrev). Expected Value.
Even Money: (n). 1. A bet which returns the same amount in winnings as was wagered by the player if the bet is won.
Expectation: (n). A reference to what a player or the house can statistically expect to win or lose on a given bet or game – usually expressed in % terms.
Expected Value: (n). A reference similar to the term expectation.
Eye in the Sky: (n). A video camera, usually mounted in a bubble on the ceiling, used by surveillance personnel to observe dealers and customers to catch them if they are stealing or cheating.
Face Card: (n). The face cards are the Jacks, Queens, and Kings. They all have a value of 10.
False Shuffle: (n). The shuffling action by a cheating dealer which preserves the original order of the cards or some pre-arranged order of cards that the dealer has set up while shuffling for a certain purpose.
First Base: (n). This is the first player to receive cards when the dealer deals the cards. This is the player’s seat farthest to the right at a blackjack table, from the player’s viewpoint.
Flat Betting: (v). To wager the same amount of money on each bet made during a playing session or a portion of the playing session.
Fluctuations: (n). This word describes the ups and downs of your bankroll. Sometimes abbreviated as “flucs”.
Griffin: (n). Peter Griffin, blackjack author of Theory of Blackjack.
Griffin Book: (n). A series of books kept by Griffin which identifies card counters and suspected card counters. It may include profiles and photographs.
Griffin Investigations: (n). An investigator firm hired by many casinos to identify and track cheats. They also identify and track card counters.
H17: (n). An abbreviation used to signify that the rules of a particular blackjack game include requiring the dealer to hit a soft seventeen.
Hard Hand: (n). Hands without an ace, or with an ace valued at 1 are said to be hard in that they can only be given one value, as opposed to “soft” hands.
Hard Total: (n). The total of any hand not containing Aces or the total of a hand where the Ace is counted as 1. So a 10 and an 8 is a hard total of 18, or a hard 18. An Ace and a 7 is a hard total of 8..
Heads Up: (phrase). Playing one-on-one against the dealer. No other players at the table.
Heat: (n). The pressure a casino puts on a winning player, typically someone who is suspected of being a card counter.
Hi-Lo Count: (n). A balanced level one counting system which values the 2 through 6 cards as a plus one and the tens, face cards and aces as a minus one.
Hi-Opt I: (n). A balanced level one counting system included in Humble and Cooper’s book, The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book. It assigns the value of plus one to 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and 6’s and minus one to ten valued cards.
High Roller: (n). A person who makes large wagers in the casino.
Hit: (v). To take another card.
Hole Card: (n). Playing situation with a high count value, very favorable to player.
Hot Deck: (n). To take another card.
House Edge: (n). The term “house edge” refers to the percentage advantage of casino over the player.
Index Number: (n). A term often used by counters to identify the count for specific strategy deviations. For example, the proper index number for standing on a hard 16 versus a dealer’s 10 is 0, using the Hi-Lo count.
Insurance: (n). If the dealer’s up card is an ace (or ten as up card), he or she will call for insurance. When you place an insurance wager, you are betting that the dealer has Blackjack. To make an insurance wager, pace an amount, up to one half your original bet on the insurance line when the dealer calls for insurance. If the dealer has Blackjack you win your insurance bet, but lose your original bet. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, you lose your insurance bet and the game continues. The insurance bet is highly advantageous to the house.
Junket: (n). An organized group of gamblers that travel to a casino together. Junkets are usually subsidized by a casino to attract players.
Kelly Betting: (n). Betting a proportion of your bankroll equal to advantage divided by the variance of the possible outcomes. This style of betting is intended to minimize the risk faced by a bettor and most betting schemes recommended by serious blackjack experts are a modification of this style of betting.
Ken Uston: (n). Author of The Big Player.
Knock-Out Count: (). An unbalanced level one counting system which counts the 2 through 7 cards as plus one and the tens, face cards and aces as minus one. It was developed by Olaf Vancurra and Ken Fuchs and is featured in their book, Knock-Out Blackjack.
Labouchere: (n). A betting progression, also known as the cancellation system. A bettor chooses a series of two or more numbers which add up to the profit he intends to make. He then bets the total of the two outside numbers in the series and cancels those numbers if he wins. He continues betting the two outside un-cancelled numbers until he has completed the series. If he loses a bet, he adds the amount of his loss to his series as a single number. He must therefore cancel out two numbers for each number added.
Las Vegas Strip Rules: (phrase). Rules referring to a game of Blackjack with a single deck, dealer standing on all 17’s, double allowed on the two first cards dealt and no doubling after splitting permitted.
Late Surrender: (n). A blackjack rule which allows the player to forfeit half of his bet after seeing the dealer’s up card, unless the dealer has a blackjack, in which case the player loses his entire bet.
Level: (n). 1. A reference to the number of values assigned to cards in a card counting system. A level one system, such as Hi-Lo, assigns one value, plus or minus one, to the cards. A level two system would assign two values, such as plus and minus one and two.
LV: (abbrev). Las Vegas.
Martingale: (n). 1. One of the oldest betting progressions in existence. It requires a player to double the size of his bet after a loss and to continue doubling his bets until a win is achieved, resulting in a profit equal to the size of the original bet. It is impossible to win in the long run using this system.
Mechanic: (n). A dealer who cheats.
Money Management: (phrase). How a player manages their bankroll. To non counting system player(i.e. stop-loss , risk of ruin, or standard deviation.)
Money Plays: (phrase). A rule that says a player can bet dollar bills instead of chips.
Multiple Deck: (n). A phrase used to describe games, usually blackjack, in which more than one deck of cards is used.
Natural: (n). When an Ace and a 10 value card are dealt as the first two cards totaling 21 in value. This hand typically pays 3:2 odds and can also be referred to as a Blackjack.
Nickel: (n). A $5 chip.
No Double after Split: (phrase). Casino rules that do not allow doubling when the player has split two cards.
Paint: (n). The face cards, i.e. Jack, Queen and King.
Past Post: (phrase). To cheat by placing or adding to a wager after the time that no new bets or bet changes are allowed due to there being information about the possible result, such as the player already having a card at blackjack.
Pat Hand: (n). Any hand in blackjack which is a hard 17 or greater and would not require a hit.
Penetration: (n). How deeply into the pack or shoe a dealer goes before shuffling – usually expressed as a %.
Pit: (n). The area in the casino surrounded by table games.
Pit Boss: (n). Casino staff member who checks and monitors all of the casino play within his/her designated pit area.
Playing Conditions: (n). The options that a casino has imposed on the game of blackjack at that casino e.g.. No double after split, double down on only 10, 11 etc. Table limits for betting, minimum bet and maximum bet.
Plus / Minus: (n). A commonly used term to describe the Hi-Lo counting system.
Point Count: (n). The net value of the card count at the end of a hand.
Rat Holing : (v). When the player secretly sneaks a portion of his chips into purse or pocket in order to hide from the pit crew how much he’s winning.
Rated: (adj). Determination by house that a player’s skill level is on the professional level. A player’s rating may be stored by computer and communicated to the pit.
RC: (abbrev). The acronym for Running Count.
Red Chip: (n). A $5 chip.
Resplit: (abbrev). Splitting pairs after splitting a pair for the first time if another like card is dealt.
Resplit Aces: (v). The unlimited ability to re-split aces. Many casinos set a limit to the number of times that aces can be split.
RFG: (abbrev). An abbreviation for complimentary Room, Food, and Beverage.
RGB: (abbrev). The acronym for Rec.Gambling.Blackjack, a usenet newsgroup.
Rider Bet: (n). The bet made by a player (the “Rider”) behind another player’s bet.
Risk of Ruin: (n). Describes the likelihood of losing all of one’s bankroll.
RNG: (abbrev). The acronym for Random-Number Generator.
ROR: (abbrev). 1. The acronym for Risk Of Ruin. 2. The acronym for Rate Of Return.
RSA: (abbrev). An abbreviation for Resplit Aces.
Running Count: (n). The total number of points a card-counting system assigns to the cards seen from the beginning of the deck or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand.
S17: (abbrev). An abbreviation for the casino rule which requires the dealer to stand on all soft 17s.
SD: (abbrev). 1. The acronym for Single Deck. 2. The acronym for Standard Deviation.
Session: (n). The time you spent at a table.
Shill: (n). A casino employee, usually hired to be a “starter” in casino games. This employee may play at otherwise empty tables in order to attract players.
Shoe Game: (). An abbreviation for the casino rule which requires the dealer to stand on all soft 17s.
Shuffle Master: (n). A reference to blackjack games which use a shoe to hold the cards.
Shuffle Tracking: (v). A sophisticated technique that requires a player to count the cards, observe where groups of high or low cards are placed in the discard tray, follow them through the shuffle, and then cut the cards in such a way as to bring excess high cards into play.
Side Count: (n). An additional count to track certain cards. Common side counts include an ace side count.
Soft Hand: (n). A hand that contains an Ace which is counted as 11. E.g. Ace-9 is soft 20. If later valued at 1, it becomes a “hard” hand.
Splitting Pairs: (phrase). To double down on a hand with an ace as part of the original hand.
Soft Double: (n). To double down on a hand with an ace as part of the original hand.
Splitting Aces: (v). If you receive a pair of aces on your first two cards, you may choose to split the aces. When you split aces, you will receive only one card on each ace. However, if you receive a second ace after you split, you may choose to re-split the aces.
Stand : (v). The decision not to draw any further cards, or hits.
Standard Deviation: (n). A statistical measure of the ariability of results. It is determined by finding the square root of the variance of a game.
Stiff Hand: (n). Any hand that could bust if drawn to. The stiff hands are hard totals of 12 through 16.
Stop Loss: (n). An pre-set limit to the amount of money a player is willing to lose in any given session.
Strip Rules: (n). A set of rules, once prevalent in Las Vegas Strip casinos, where a Dealer stands on soft 17 (S17), Player is allowed to DOA ( double on anything), Player is not allowed to DAS ( no double down after split), Pair splitting is allowed up to 4 hands, No RSA ( no re-splitting of aces) allowed.
Surrender: (n). Surrender is the only option of not playing a hand after receiving your first two cards. When you exercise the option of surrender, the dealer will pick up your cards, and you will lose one half of your bet.
Team Play: (n). A term for a group of players who play using one bankroll, usually provided by the player’s themselves and other investors.
Third Baseman: (n). The seat at a blackjack table which is the farthest to the left. It is the last person to receive the cards during a round of play. Also Anchorman.
Thorp: (n). Authoer of Beat The Dealer – the first book to explain card counting.
Tie: (n). Both player and dealer have the same hand total. Player keeps bet. Also Push or Stand-Off.
Toke: (n). A player tip to the dealer or to any other casino person providing service to the player.
True Count: (n). The true count is derived from the running count divided by the number of decks left in the shoe.
Up Card: (n). The dealer’s first dealt card, placed face up.
Unit: (n). This generally means a card counter’s minimum bet. When a counter is spreading $25 to $200 and says he won 10 units, he means he won $250.
Unbalanced Count: (n). A count in which the number of plus and minus cards is not equal.
Var: (abbrev). An abbreviation for variance.
Variance: (n). A statistical measure of the variability of returns on a game.
Vig: (abbrev). The house advantage or fee on a game. It was used to describe the interest charged by loan sharks and is short for vigorish.
Wonging: (v). 1. To back count the cards dealt at a particular table and to then join play only when the count indicates the game has swung to the player’s advantage, and then to leave when the count indicates the game has turned unfavorable. Named after the poker author Wong.
Win Rate: (n). The speed at which one is expected to win, commonly expressed as a percentage or in dollars per hour or per a specified number of hands.
Whale: (n). This is casino-speak for a high-roller of the biggest sort.
X: (n). Sometimes used to denote card with a valued of 10.
Zen Count: (n). A level two counting system described by Arnold Snyder in his book, Blackbelt in Blackjack. It assigns a value of plus one to the 2s, 3s and 7s, plus two to the 4s, 5s and 6s, minus one to the Aces and minus two to the ten valued cards.