Ultimate Gambling Terms & Glossary Guide
If you are new to the casino world, or are trying out a new game, it's easy to get a bit overwhelmed by the jargon and new casino terms.
Our Ultimate Gambling Glossary is designed to help. Here you can familiarize yourself with phrases, casino terms, gambling meanings, slang terms, definitions, and the online chat abbreviations of the gambling world.
We update our gambling terms and glossary guide regularly too, so you can always check back whenever you come across a new term you haven't encountered before.
If you spot something that we haven't included, please let us know!
Top 10 Gambling Terms and their origin
1 Casino
Meaning a club or public building where social activities, including gambling, took place. Originated in Italy in the 19th century.
2 Blackjack
Originated in France where it was known as 21 or Vingt-et-un but is a spin-off of the Spanish game of 31 (or Trente-et-un) played in the 1400s.
3 Texas Hold'em
Played in Texas throughout the 1900s, Texas Hold'em was introduced to Las Vegas casinos in 1967 and was originally just called Hold'em.
4 Croupier
Originally a croupier (dealer) was someone who stood behind a gambler feeding them cash. Now it’s the person in charge of the casino action.
5 Gamble
To risk something on a game of chance. This expression first cropped up in Middle English texts in 1726, originally meaning to 'play, jest or be merry'.
6 Slots
Also known as one-arm bandits. New Yorkers Sittman and Pitt built the first slot machine in 1891 using poker symbols to denote winning combinations.
7 Chips
Gold nuggets were common gambling currency in the 1900s but by the late 1800s casinos had created standardized chips to denote monetary values.
8 Ace
The highest or lowest ranking card in a deck. The word Ace originates from As in Latin, meaning a unit or unity. And by 1533 the use was extended to cards.
9 Shark
The poker sharks we know today were originally known as card sharps. A term that meant to prey upon others and derives from the German Schurke.
10 Poker
There's much debate around poker's past. Some believe it originated in Persia but others think it evolved from the game Poque played in 1900s France.