Blackjack Glossary

 

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Blackjack

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 spread 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 where 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.
Insurance: Side bet up to half the initial bet against the dealer having a natural 21. Insurance is offered only when the dealers up card is an Ace. The insurance bet wins double if the dealer has a natural, but loses if the dealer does not.
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.
Late Surrender: Surrender allowed only if the dealer does not have blackjack.
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.
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.
Pat: In blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points. In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands.
Plug: A shuffling technique that is sometimes employed in card games like blackjack where the game is often dealt from a multi-deck shoe. When freshly shuffled cards are brought back into action a substantial portion of the cards are kept out of play by the insertion of a cut-card at the back of the deck or shoe. The placement of the cut card marks the place where play will be stopped and the cards are again shuffled. During the play, used cards are stacked in a discard tray. When the cut-card is reached, the game is stopped, and the remaining un-dealt cards are inserted somewhere into the middle of the cards that have already been stacked up in the discard tray. The cards so inserted are referred to as a ‘plug’. Such action is called ‘plugging’ the deck.
Point Count: (In card counting systems) The net value of the card count at the end of a hand.
Preferential Shuffling: Shuffling when the remaining cards are deemed favorable to the players.
Push: (Also Tie or Stand-off.) Both player and dealer have the same hand total – player keeps bet.
Running Count: (In card counting systems) 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
Shiner: A reflecting device used to try and glimpse the dealer’s hole card.
Shoe: Device, usually a wooden box, used for holding and dispensing the cards to be dealt.
Shuffle: At the start of each game when the dealer mixes up the order of the cards is said to shuffle the cards.
Shuffle Up: Premature shuffling by the dealer to discourage card counting.
Soft Hand: Hand containing an ace counted as 11.
Split Hand: Split the initial two-card hand into two and play them separately – allowed only when the two first cards are of equal value.
Spooking: The act of standing behind the dealer to peak at the hole card and then secretly convey the information to a partner player sitting at the table. An illegal form of cheating.
Standing Hand: In blackjack, meaning a hand which hard-totals to 17 or more, which is very likely to bust if one more card is called and therefore the player is expected to stand.
Stand-off: (Also Tie or Push.) Both player and dealer have the same hand total – player keeps bet.
Stand or Stay : Not requiring any more cards, to refrain from taking another card.
Steaming: A blackjack term where a player has become frustrated with how badly the events of a session of play have turned out. ‘Steaming’ in blackjack has practically the same meaning as ‘going on tilt’ in poker. In either case the player has lost emotional control and is betting more aggressively and often recklessly in an attempt to turn things around.
Stiff Hand: Hand with little chance of winning. A hand that is not pat and that may bust if hit once. Stiffs include hard twelve through sixteen.
Surrender: Giving up your hand and lose only half the bet.
Tell Play: Observing the dealer’s body language and expressions to determine his hand of cards.
Third Base: Last taken seat to the dealer’s right. .
True Count: (In card counting systems) The running count adjusted to account for the number of cards left in the deck or shoe to be played.
Upcard: The dealer’s first dealt card, placed face up for all the players to see before they play their hands

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