Online Casino Glossary

BLACKJACK GLOSSARY

Blackjack

A hand consisting of an Ace and a 10-value card (10, Jack, Queen or King) totally 21. The highest hand in Blackjack.

Broke or bust

Going over "21" with additional cards drawn to the original hand.

Hard total

A hand with no Aces or where the Ace is counted as "1". For example, a nine-eight combination counts as a hard-17.

Hit or draw

Adding a card to your hand in an effort to come closer to 21, without going over.

Insurance

When the dealer shows an Ace as the upcard, you can bet up to one-half the amount of your original wager that the dealer has a Blackjack. Insurance pays 2-1 if the dealer does, in fact, have blackjack. If he doesn't, the house collects the insurance bet.

Natural

A Blackjack dealt with the original two cards. An ace and a face card.

Push

Player and dealer tie. The money bet is retained by the player.

GENERAL GAMING TERMINOLOGY

ACH

Automated Clear House. An electronic clearing system in which payment orders are exchanged among financial institutions, primarily via magnetic media or telecommunication networks, and handled by a data processing center.

Average Payback / Payout

Also called Expected Return or Expected Value or EV. For a given hand, the average amount you win if you play that hand millions of times. For example, if a Royal Flash pays $1,000 and you draw one card to a Four Card Royal Flash, your average payback is about $25. Average Payback is important because for any hand that you can play more than one way, you should always pick the play with the highest Average Payback.

Bet

A transaction in which monies are put on an outcome of a game or event.

Cash In / Cash Out

To leave the game and convert one's chips to cash.

Chips

The currency used in casinos to avoid dealing with cash

Deposits

The amount purchased from the cashier by customers / players for their use in the casino.

Debit Card

A card enabling the holder to have his purchases directly charged to the funds on his account at a deposit-taking institution (may sometimes be combined with another function, e.g. that of a cash card or cheque guarantee card).

Electronic cash or e-cash:

A system used to transfer cash over the Internet to pay for goods and services.

Multi-Line:

This simply means a game with more than one play line.

Odds

Ratio of probabilities. The casino's view of the chance of a player winning. The figure or fraction by which the casino offers to multiply a bettor's stake, which the bettor is entitled to receive (plus his or her own stake) if they win.

Pay line:

The line going through slot machine reels on which the winning symbols are determined.

Payout table:

A posting somewhere on the front of a slot or video poker machine, that tells you what each winning combination will pay for the number of coins or credits played.

Progressive:

A game whose potential jackpot increases with each coin that is played. When the progressive jackpot finally hits, the amount resets to the starting number.

Reel:

A wheel inside a slot machine window on which the slot machine symbols are printed. The number of reels per slot machine vary.

Side bet:

A transaction in which monies are put on outcome other than the main event.

Wager:

Another term for bet.

Wild card:

A joker or other card that can be used as any other card to complete your hand.

Wire transfer:

One of the major methods of electronic funds transfer. A wire transfer’s information format is completely flexible, but this flexibility adds significantly to the bank’s labour costs and results in much higher fees.

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