Gamblers' Dictionary
Bankroll - your total gambling budget; the casino has a bankroll too, but in mathematical terms, it's considered unlimited.
Black Book - a list, kept by the State Gaming Control Board, of people legally excluded from any Nevada casino due to a history of cheating or connection to organized crime.
Boxman - casino executive who acts as the umpire in a game of craps.
Buy in - exchange cash for casino chips.
Cage - the main casino cashier, where chips and tokens are converted into cash, credit is established and, usually, foreign currency can be exchanged.
Carousel - a group of slot machines that are often connected to a joint 'progressive jackpot'.
Change color - swap chips for ones of a higher or lower denomination.
Check - another word for chip.
Chip - token issued by casinos and used, instead of cash, for table games.
Color up - exchange small denomination chips for larger denomination chips before leaving a table game.
Comps - short for 'complimentaries', comps range from free cocktails to 'RFB' - room, food and beverage. Their value is calculated by the gambler's average bet multiplied by the time spent playing multiplied by the house edge. To qualify for comps, you must be a rated player or belong to a slot club.
Credit line - amount of credit a gambler is allowed.
Drop - total amount of money, including chips, cash and markers, brought to the gaming table.
European wheel - a roulette wheel with a single '0' position (which gives players better odds). Most wheels in Vegas have '0' and '00'.
Eye in the sky - casino's in-house surveillance system.
Funbook - a magazine of vouchers (meal deals and the like) or match-play coupons (only valid in conjunction with hard cash).
George - dealer-speak for a good tipper. Grind joint - a casino with low table minimums and low-denomination slot machines.
High-roller - big-money gambler who bets a minimum of $100 per hand on a table game, and plays $5 slot machines or $1 multi-play machines.
House advantage - the percentage difference (retained by the casino) between the true odds and the actual payout.
Juice - the ultimate Las Vegas power and influence, who you know.
Layout - diagram on the playing table that marks the area of the game.
Loose - used to describe a slot machine that pays out frequently, casinos compete in claiming that their slots are the loosest in town.
Low-roller - a gambler who bets almost exclusively at low-minimum slot machines, usually in grind joints.
Marker - IOU signed by a rated player to obtain chips and paid off with chips or cash.
Pit - area between the gaming tables reserved for casino employees.
Pit boss - casino executive who oversees the gambling action from inside the pit.
Progressive jackpot - payout on a slot or video poker machine (or group of machines) that increases as each coin is played.
Rated player - player whose gambling has been assessed by the casino and is thus eligible for comps.
Shill - casino employee who plays at empty tables (with house money) to encourage visitors to get down to business.
Shoe - container for decks of cards from which card games are often dealt.
Shooter - the player who throws the dice in a game of craps.
Slot clubs - clubs for slots and video poker players where members accrue points as they play, these can be redeemed against meals, gifts, cash and other perks.
Stiff - someone who doesn't tip, one of the worst names to be called by dealers, waitresses, bellmen, cab drivers, and others in Las Vegas.
Toke - a tip for a casino employee, often given in the form of a bet on their behalf.
True odds - real chances of winning on any game as opposed to the money actually paid out by the casino.
Underlay - a bet that's higher than strict probability suggests is wise.
Upcard - the blackjack dealer's face-up card.
Vigorish - see house advantage.
Whale - big-money gambler prepared to wager huge amounts (at least $5,000 per hand) at high stakes games.