Glossary - p-s

Casino Term	Casino Term Description
pair	Any two cards that have the same rank.

pass	To not bet, to fold.

pat	In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands. In blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points.

pay cycle	A theoretical expression that reflects the number of plays required for the machine to cycle through all possible winning and nonwinning combinations.

payline	The line on a slot machine window on which the symbols from each reel must line up. Slot machines can have as many as eight paylines, although most have only one.

payoff	Your payback; the return you see on a wager.

payout percentage	Also referred to as the payback percentage, the percent of each dollar played in a video or slot machine that the machine is programmed to return to the player. Payback percentage is 100 percent minus the house edge.

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

pit	An area of a casino in which a group of table games are arranged, where the centre area is restricted to dealers and other casino personnel.

pit boss	The person who supervises all the games and casino personnel associated with a pit during a particular work shift. Pit bosses are in place to watch for cheating, settle disputes, and give comps to big bettors.

pot	In a poker game, the amount of money that accumulates in the middle of the table as each player antes, bets, and raises. The pot goes to the winner of the hand.

pressing	A player is pressing the bet when they let winnings ride by wagering them along with the original bet.

probability	A branch of mathematics that measures the likelihood that an event will occur. Probabilities are expressed as numbers between 0 and 1. The probability of an impossible event is 0, while an event that is certain to occur has a probability of 1.

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

push	A tie hand between a dealer and a player; no money changes hands. A push at blackjack occurs when both the player and the dealer have a unbusted hands with the same total points.

quads	Four of a kind.

qualifier	In poker, the minimum standard a hand must meet in order for it to be eligible for part of the pot.

rack	A plastic container in which you can transport and count large-denominational coins, slot machine tokens, and casino plastic chips.

raise	In poker, a player raises by matching the previous bet and then betting more, to increase the stake for remaining players.

rake	The money that the casino charges for each hand of poker. It is usually a percentage (5-10%) or flat fee that is taken from the pot after each round of betting.

rank	The worth of a set of cards.

red	The most common colour used for $5 chips.

red-black bet	In roulette, an outside wager on whether the next spin will be a red or a black number. This bet is played off at even money.

reel	A wheel inside a slot machine window on which the slot machine symbols are printed. The number of reels per slot machine may very but are usually three.

river	In poker, the final card dealt in a hand of stud or hold'em. In seven-card stud, staying in until the fifth and final round of betting is called going to the river.

royal flush	In poker, an ace-high straight flush; the best possible hand.

session	A series of plays at any gambling game.

set	In pai gow poker, players set their seven cards into two separate hands of two and five cards each.

seventh street	In seven-card stud, the fifth and final round of betting is called seventh street because players have seven cards.

shoe	A plastic or wooden box that holds multiple decks of cards for dealing more than two decks of cards.

showdown	In poker, after the last betting round, the players who remain in the pot must show their hands in the showdown to determine the winner.

shuffle	Before each hand the dealer mixes up the order of the cards.

shutter	A window covering a number on a reusable bingo card. The shutter can be pulled down to mark each number as it is called.

singleton	In poker, a card that is the only one of its rank.

sixth street	In seven-card stud, the fourth round of betting is called sixth street because players have six cards.

soft hand	In blackjack, any hand that contains an ace counted as eleven is called a soft hand.

spot	Any number from 1 to 80 that a player selects on a keno ticket. It also refers to the number of numbers that are marked on a ticket.

stand	In blackjack, to stand is to refrain from taking another card.

stiff	In blackjack, a hand that is not pat and that may bust if hit once. Stiffs include hard twelve through sixteen.

steal	In poker, to win the pot by bluffing.

straight	In poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks.

straight flush	In poker, a hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the same suit.

straight keno	The basic keno game, played by marking individual numbers on a keno ticket.

surrender	In blackjack, to give up half your bet for the privilege of not playing out a hand. In roulette, you effectively lose only half on an even-money bet when the ball lands on 0.