A-J Bonus

A now rare variation where a higher payout is made for the ace and jack of spades. It is where the name Blackjack derives from.

Ace adjustment
Varying your betting depending on how many aces are left in the deck.

Ace five count
A simple card counting strategy that only counts aces and fives.

Ace neutral count
A card counting technique that treats the aces as neutral and therefore not affecting the count.

Ace poor
The remainder of the shoe contains few aces

Ace rich
The remainder of the shoe contains many aces

Action
The amount of money that's been bet either as a total of the bets made over time or one particular bet.

Advantage
The theoretical edge one side has over the other based on statistical probability which is usually expressed as a percentage.

Advantage player
A gambler who uses a mathematical strategy to gain a probability advantage over the house.

Back counting
Usually employed as part of a team, counting the cards when you're not playing in the game and signalling when there is an advantage.

Balanced count
A card counting system that gives an equal number of cards positive and negative values so that the sum of all the cards in a new shoe would be zero.

Bankroll
The total amount of funds available for betting.

Bar
the act of banning a player from a casino or club.

Basic strategy
The optimum playing strategy for blackjack which minimizes the house edge.

Big player
The nickname given by card counting teams to the team member who makes the big bets when the count is favorable.

Black chip
Casino chip usually worth $100.

Blackjack
Refers to the game but also refers to the natural hand totalling 21 on the first two cards.

Burn card
The first card of a new shoe after the shuffle and cut is discarded and said to be burned.

Bust
Derived from the term "busto" from the Italian game 7 1/2. When a player gets a total greater than 21 it is an automatic loss.

Cage
The casino cashier is usually located inside a cage for security, hence the name.

Camouflage
covers all sorts of schemes designed to cover up card counting.

Card counting
Tracking the ratio of high cards to low cards that have already been played and thus how many high and low cards remain in the shoe. The size of bet can be increased when the shoe favours the player and decrease the size of bet when it favours the house.

Cold deck
When the fall of the cards has not been favourable for the player.

Color up
Either to cash out or to exchange chips for ones of different value.

Comp
abbreviation of complimentary used to describe promotions.

Cut card
the plastic separator used to cut the deck after shuffling and to signal when to reshuffle.

Dealing seconds
Where the dealer cheats for the house by dealing the 2nd card from the top if the top card would help the player.

Deck penetration
The ratio of cards played out of a deck or a shoe before reshuffling.

Discards
Cards that have been played and discarded.

Double deck
Blackjack played with two decks of 52 cards which are shuffled together.

Double down
To double the bet in exchange for one more card with no further cards allowed.

Double exposure
A variation on blackjack rules where both of the dealer's cards are played face up.

Draw
To take an additional card.  Also known as Hitting or To Hit.

Drop
The total amount of bets wagered in a casino over a given period of time.

Early surrender
In return for 50% of his bet returned, the player can give up his hand before the dealer checks the hole card for an ace.

Edge
Either House or Player advantage expressed as a percentage.

Even money
A bet that pays a sum equal to the bet if successful.

Eye in the sky
The video cameras used by casinos for surveillance.

Face cards
The jack, queen, and king each valued at 10.

False shuffle
where the dealer does not randomize the deck of cards during shuffling.

First base
the betting circle on the table which receives cards first which is always to the left of the dealer.

Flat betting
Betting the same amount on every hand.

Griffin Book
A register of suspected card counters and casino cheaters created by Griffin Investigations.

Griffin Investigations
A private investigator corporation which specializes in casino cheating and card counters.

Hard hand
Any hand without an ace or with aces that can only be counted as 1 to avoid being bust.

Hard total
The total of a hard hand.

Heads up
Playing one to one against the dealer.

Hi-lo count
A card counting technique where the cards 2,3,4,5 and 6 value +1 and face cards and aces count as -1.

Hi-opt I
A card counting technique first released in The World's Greatest Blackjack Book where 3,4,5 and 6 count as +1, and tens count as -1.

High roller
A gambler who plays for high stakes

Hit
To take another card.

Hole card
The dealer's face down card.

Hot deck
A shoe where the cards have been dealt in the players favour.

House edge
The percentage advantage the casino has over the player.

Insurance
A side bet of up to half your original bet that the dealer has a blackjack.

Las Vegas strip rules
The rules most commonly used on the Las Vegas strip, as opposed to Downtown Las Vegas. These rules are generally less favorable to the player and use more decks.

Late surrender
An optional rule where the player can surrender after seeing the dealer's hole card.

Money plays
A rare casino rule which allows players to wager actual cash instead of chips.

Multiple deck
Using more than one deck in a game of blackjack. As opposed to a single deck game.

Natural
A blackjack or hand totalling 21 on the first 2 cards.

Pat hand
A total of 17 or more. Don't hit pat hands.

Playing conditions
The rules of blackjack in effect at a casino or online site. Different rules include whether or not a player can double down after a split, how many decks are in use, etc.

Point count
The total value of the count, positive or negative, at any given time.

Push
When the player and the dealer have the same total and the player's bet is returned.

Rat holing
The practice of secreting chips in your pocket or purse so the casino doesn't see how much you're winning.

Rated
Refers the the practice of rating players by how much they have wagered and therefore how valuable they are to the casino. A players rating determines what comps will be offered in order to induce the player to play.

Red chip
$5 chip.

Re-split
When a split results in another pair and they are also split if allowed under the local rules.

Rider bet
Betting behind is a bet made on someone else's hand. This bet is placed behind the original bet.

Running count
Same as the point count.

Session
A period of time spent gambling.

Shill
A casino employee who pretends to be a player in order to avoid the impression of empty tables.

Shoe game
A blackjack game dealt from a shoe. Multiple deck games are almost always shoe games, while single deck games are often dealt by hand.

Shuffle Master
An automatic shuffling machine which constantly shuffles the cards in order to prevent card counting.

Shuffle tracking
A technique where the player keeps track of where the high cards are in the deck and cuts the deck so that the concentration of high cards is played by the dealer.

Soft hand
A hand in which an ace can be counted as either an 11 or a 1 without the hand being bust.

Soft double
To double down on a soft hand.

Stand
To decline additional cards and keep your existing total.

Stiff hand
Hard hands that total between 12 and 16. Stiff hand are likely to bust when drawn to.

Surrender
Deciding not to play the hand you've been dealt. You get to keep half your bet if you surrender. Not all casinos offer surrender as an option.

Team play
Advantage play or card counting when executed by multiple people who often share a single bankroll.

True count
The running count divided by the number of decks in the shoe.

Up card
The first card the dealer receives is dealt face up.

Vig
The house edge on a bet.

Wonging
To back count and only bet when you have the edge. Named for Stanford Wong.

Whale
See high roller.