Blackjack Dictionary

A

Action: When a player makes a bet.

B

Back Counting: Counting cards at a table while not actually playing at that table.

Bankroll: The amount of money that a player has to play with in that session.

Basic Strategy: The best mathematical strategy for winning at blackjack.

Burn card: A card that is discarded before a round of dealing.

Bust: To have your hand total over 21.

C

Card Counter: A player that uses a card counting technique to try and gain advantage over the casino.

Cut Card: The card (usually plastic) marking the end of the usable cards in the shoe of a multi-card deck.

D

Discards: Cards that have already been played in the game and are kept until the decks are shuffled again.

Double Down: To double your bet on your hand and receive only one extra card, usually only done when your starting hand totals 11.

E

Edge: The percentage advantage that the house or the player has.

Even Money: A bet that returns the same amount of money in winnings as the amount of original bet.

F

Face Card: Jack, Queen or King, all have a value of 10.

Flat Betting: Betting the same amount on every hand that is deal to you

H

Hard Hand: A hand that does not have any aces, therefore can only be worth a single amount.

Hit: To add another card to your hand from the deck.

I

Insurance: Insurance can be purchased in some games when the dealer shows an Ace in their hand. Insurance pays out at 2:1 meaning that if the dealer has blackjack, the player doesn't loose their bet overall, but if the dealer does not have blackjack, the player looses their insurance bet.

M

Multiple Deck: A show of cards made up of more then one single deck of cards.

N

Natural: This is another name for blackjack, being an Ace and a 10 only in the same hand.

P

Penetration: How far the cut card is placed into the deck to determine the amount of cards that are dealt from that shoe.

R

Resplit: To split a paired hand after splitting another paired hand.

Rider Bet: To place a bet on another players hand,

RNG: The acronym for "Random Number Generator".

S

Soft Hand: A hand that contains an Ace and can have more then one value with the Ace being worth either 1 or 11.

Split: To split a hand of the same value into two separate hands with a new card dealt to each hand.

Stand: When a player chooses to stay with the total of their hand and not accept any more cards.

Surrender: Some blackjack games allow the player to surrender their cards when the first two cards are dealt loosing only 1/2 of their wager.

T

Tie: When the dealer and the player both have hands of the same value.

U

Up Card: The dealers card that is face-up during the game play.