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Blackjack Glossary

General Terms

  • Anchorman - a player sitting in the table's last seat; the one who acts last.
  • Barring Players - casinos forbidding players from playing blackjack games.
  • Dealer - a casino employee in charge of dealing cards.
  • Deck - a regular 52-card deck used for blackjack.
  • Favorable Deck - when the remaining deck cards are in favor of the player.
  • First Baseman - a player sitting in the table's first seat; the one who acts first.
  • Flat Bet - constantly betting the exact same amount, to no end.
  • Floorman - a casino supervisor in charge of watching over the dealers on the floor.
  • Hand - the first cards that every player gets dealt.
  • High Roller - someone who bets a high amount of money.
  • House - the casino.
  • Marker - IOUs that players with casino credit sign.
  • Mucker - a player who cheats by adding favorable cards onto games with multiple decks.
  • Multiple Deck - games that use more than a single deck in the shoe.
  • Nickels - casino chips worth $5.
  • Penetration - amount of cards that the dealer gives out prior to shuffling them.
  • Pit Boss - a casino supervisor for the whole blackjack pit.
  • Quarters - $25 chips.
  • Round - a whole game series where everybody has acted.
  • Shoe - the box with card decks.
  • Shuffle - mixing cards up before they get dealt.
  • Single Deck - games that use a single deck.
  • Third Baseman - a player sitting in the table's last seat; the one who acts last.
  • Unit - a regular bet size.

Game Terms

  • Blackjack - instant winning hand with a card worth 10 and an Ace.
  • Bust - getting a hand that exceeds 21 points; an instant loss.
  • Card Counters - skilled players who can keep track of dealt cards.
  • Card Counting - keeping complete track of card values that get dealt at the table.
  • Double Down - a player can double his wager with just one more card coming.
  • Draw - getting one more card apart from the first hand received.
  • Early Surrender - a player can surrender 50% of his bet as he checks for a blackjack.
  • Hard Total - hands without Aces or Aces that count as 1.
  • Hit - getting one more card apart from the first hand received.
  • Hole Card - a hidden card of the dealer.
  • Insurance - a bet that players can make if the dealer has an Ace showing.
  • Natural - a blackjack.
  • Paint - cards with painted pictures (Jacks to Kings).
  • Pat Hand - getting at least a hard 17 on the first two cards.
  • Snapper - blackjack.
  • Splitting Pairs - the option to divide cards of identical ranks as individual hands.
  • Stiff Card - cards that rank between 2 and 6, so the dealer has to hit.
  • Surrender - the player can forfeit 50% of his bet.
  • Twenty-One - blackjack.