Blackjack: Terminology

A game as popular and as widely played as Blackjack has, of course, many buzzwords and acronyms and anyone who is serious about playing the game should become familiar with the terminology. The following is a list of commonly use terms and words:

Action: A general gambling term which refers to the total amount of money bet in a specific play or over a specific period of time. Ten bets of 20 dollars each is $200 of action.

Burn Card: The top card taken from the deck or the first card in the shoe, which the dealer slides across the table from his left to his right. The burn card is placed in the discard tray. The card may or may not be shown to the players and this could affect any players who are counting cards. A card is burned after each shuffle.

Basic Strategy: A player’s personal playing system that he believes provides him with the optimal chance of winning. It is probably based on looking at his own cards and the dealer’s exposed cards.

Cut Card: A solid colored card or a card-sized piece of plastic which is given to a player by the dealer for the purpose of cutting the deck or decks after a shuffle.

Hole Card: A face down card. This usually refers to the dealer's single face down card.

Shoe: The dealing device that can hold up to eight decks of cards and which is used by the dealer to slide the cards out one at a time.

Hard Hand: A hand containing an Ace in which the Ace is counted as a 1 and not as an 11, or a hand without an Ace. Example: If a hand consists of an Ace, 7, and a 9, the hand is a ‘hard 17’.

Soft Hand: A hand containing an Ace in which the Ace is counted as an 11 and not as a 1. Example: If the hand consists of an Ace and a 6, the hand is a ‘soft 17’.

Pat Hand: A hand which totals from 17 to 21.

Stand: To decline another card or any further cards.

Hit: To ask for another card.

Bust: When the hand's value exceeds 21. This is a losing hand.

Push: A tie between the player and the dealer.

Surrender: A casino rule which allows a player to discontinue play after receiving the first two cards have been dealt by losing half of the wager amount.

Pair: When a player's first two cards are numerically identical (i.e., two 8’s).

Anchor or 3rd Base: The last player to the dealer’s right at the Blackjack table.

1st Base: The first player to the dealer’s left at the start of each hand.

Counter: A player who counts cards.

Point Count: The net value of the card count at the end of a hand. (A card counting term.)

Running Count: The count from the beginning of the deck or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand. (A card counting term.)

True Count: The running count adjusted to account for the number of cards left in the deck or shoe to be played. (A card counting term.)

Rich Deck: A partial deck that contains a disproportionately high percentage of face cards and aces.

Bankroll: The available money a player brings to play with or plans to bet with.

Unit: The dollar amount of a basic bet; one chip.

Flat Bet: A bet which you consistently use and do not vary i.e., if you are flat betting five dollars, you are betting $5 on each and every hand without changing the betting amount from one hand to the next.

Black Chip: A $100 chip.

Green Chip: A $25 chip.

Red Chip: A $5 chip.

Foreign Chip: A chip that is issued by one casino and is honored by another as cash. A casino is not necessarily obliged to accept another casino’s chips although many do in Las Vegas.

Settlement: The resolving of the bet. Either the dealer takes your chips, pays you, or in the case of a push, no exchange of chips occurs.

Toke: To "toke" the dealer is to tip the dealer.

Marker: An IOU. A line of credit provided by the casino to a player when the player gives his marker.

Junket: Gamblers who travel to a casino together in an organized group. Junkets are often subsidized by a casino to make the place look busy and so attract more players.

Comp: Short for complimentary. Based on the amount of money played or spent at the table, the casino or hotel may give a player complimentary things like a room or meals, etc.

Shuffle Up: Prematurely shuffling the cards in order to hassle a player who is suspected of counting.

Pit: The inside area between a group of gaming tables. The tables are usually arranged in an elliptical layout, and the space inside the perimeter is the pit.

Pit Boss: A casino employee whose job is to supervise Blackjack players, dealers, and other floor personnel.

House: The Casino.

Cage: Short for cashier’s cage. This is where chips are redeemed for cash, checks cashed, credit arranged, etc.

House Percentage: The casino’s advantage in a particular gambling game.

Drop Percentage: That portion of the player’s money that the casino will win because of the house percentage. It is a measure of the amount of a player’s initial stake that he will eventually lose. On average this is around 20 percent.

Head-On: To play alone at a Blackjack table against the dealer.

High Roller: A big money bettor.

Grinder: A small money bettor.

Mechanic: Someone who is an expert with regard to manipulating the cards, usually for illicit purposes.

Shill: A house employee planted inside the casino who bets money and pretends to be a player to attract customers. Shills usually follow the same rules as the dealer which makes them somewhat easy to spot. They don't Double Down or Split.