Blackjack Jargon
Most casino games come complete with their own jargon or terminology and Blackjack is no exception, especially given the rich history of the game.
Here is a glossary of the main terms, so that you can act like a player at the tables.
Anchor - The seat to the dealer's right: the last one filled
Banker - The dealer or the players who run the money
Bankroll - The pot of money you have to play with.
Basic Strategy - play to the optimum, or basic strategy and you will reduce the house edge to a minimum
Blackjack - Total of 21 on your 1st two cards. Originally this was an ace of spades and jack of clubs, but the term has been widened in modern times.
Burn cards - Take cards from the top of the deck and put them in the waste tray after a shuffling and cutting.
Break - see bust
Bust - going over 21. You lose.
Card Counting - A system to remember played cards (normally high value) in order to increase your knowledge of the remaining cards. This is illegal in most casinos.
Cut - To split the cards before they are dealt.
Cut Card - Coloured plastic dummy card that used to cut the cards after shuffling.
Deal - To distribute the cards during a hand.
Discard Tray - on the dealer’s right a discard tray holds all the cards that have been played.
Draw - See hit.
Double Down - Double your first bet following the first 2 cards you receive. You can double your original bet in blackjack, but you will only receive one more card. Just turn over your first two cards and put an equal bet alongside your first bet.
Early Surrender - Surrender your cards before the dealer checks for blackjack.
Even Money - to cash in your bet immediately at a payout of 1:1- when you have a natural blackjack and the dealer's up card is an Ace.
Face Cards - Picture cards- Jacks, Queens and Kings.
Face Down Game - Your 1st card is dealt face up while the 2nd one is dealt face down.
Face Up Game - Both cards are dealt face up.
First Base - 1st seat to dealer's left - where the dealing begins.
Hard Hand - A hand with no Ace, or with an Ace valued at 1 is a Hard Hand (there is no choice in value) unlike a Soft hand.
Heads Up - a one on one game with the dealer.
Hit - Request a card. The card you get is called a hit.
Hole Card - In blackjack, this is the dealer´s face down card.
Insurance - A side bet in blackjack that is half the initial bet. You are betting that the dealer has a natural two card 21. You can only buy insurance when the dealer has an Ace as his up card. An insurance bet pays 1:1 if the dealer has a natural blackjack.
Late Surrender - Surrender your cards in the case where the dealer does not have blackjack.
Natural Blackjack- a hand that totals 21 from the 1st 2 cards.
Point Count - (used in Blackjack card counting) The total value of all the dealt cards at the end of a hand, using a system, often by assigning a positive, negative, or 0 value to each card. As each card is dealt, you adjust the the running count as you go.
Push - (Also Tie or Stand off.) The player and dealer have an equal total -you keep your bet for the next round
Running Count - The total count from the beginning of the deck of cards or shoe. The running counts runs across hands to give you an idea of the makeup of the rest of the cards in the shoe.
Shiner - A mirror that is used to try and get a look at the dealer's hole card.
Shoe - Dealing device.
Shuffle - the dealer mixes up or shuffles the cards at the start of each game.
Shuffle Up - an attempt to beat the card counters. Early shuffling.
Soft Hand - A hand that has an ace counted as 11. It is said to be soft, as it is flexible- you can switch to a value of 1 later in the game.
Split Hand - When you are dealt 2 cards of equal value at the beginning if the game, you have the option of splitting the cards into two and playing each as a separate hand.
Spook - Someone who sneaks behind the dealer to get a glimpse of his hole card and then relays the info on to his or her mate. Obviously illegal and can only really happen in "friendlies".
Standing Hand - a hand which totals 17 or more (with an ace counting as 1). This hand will more than likely bust with the addition of another hand- you´d normally stand at this point.
Stand-off - See Push.
Stand or Stay - to stop, not request any more hits or cards.
Stiff Hand - A hand with poor chance of winning. Examples of Stiff hands are hard twelve through to sixteen.
Surrender - surrender your hand and lose half your bet.
Third Base - See anchor
Tie - See Push
Up card - The dealer's 1st dealt card, put face up for all to see before the game.