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.