Gambling slang is really interesting. People always come up with their own terms when it comes to gambling. Today this is even truer since you can play casino games at both online and land-based casinos.
Read on to check out some of the most common gambling slang terms you are most likely to hear at Australian casinos. Hopefully, this will help you in understanding the meaning of the words and what to do when they come up.
Pokie Gambling Slang
- Hot Pokie — Hot pokie or a hot machine is a term which is used for a game, which is supposedly paying out good. Players are always on the lookout for hot pokies, hoping that they will pay big.
- Credits — Credits is the amount of money you deposit in the pokie. At online casinos, they are referred to as coins, but many lands based pokies work on credits. So if you deposit $100 in the pokie you essentially have 100 credits to play with.
- Cumulative Jackpot — This is another name for a pooled jackpot. Pooled jackpots are pooled over a number of pokies or over an entire network of casinos. This is why they can reach very high numbers and can change the life of one lucky player.
- Fixed Jackpot —This is the opposite of a pooled jackpot. Fixed jackpot pokies will pay out a fixed amount if the top jackpot prize is won.
- Fruit Machine —This is another term for a pokie or a slot machine. The name comes from early classic pokies, as most of the game symbols were, in fact, fruit symbols.
- Hit Rate —This is the rate in which the pokie produces payouts on the reels. Since the payouts in pokies are random even high variance games can pay frequently for a period of time. If the hit rate is high the player is likely to come out with a profit at the end of the play session.
- Max Coins —This is a term used for placing the maximum allowed bet per spin on the pokie. At online casinos, you can usually find a Max Bet button which sets your bet size to the allowed maximum.
- Multipliers —As you can already guess from the name this term is used for symbols in a pokie which will multiply the winnings.
- Pay Schedule — This is a term used for the Pay Table and the payouts of each symbol. Players usually refer to the Pay Schedule in order to see which payouts they can expect to land while playing the pokie.
- Wager—Usually, the term Wager is used for the amount you bet, but it can also refer to the wagering requirement which comes with bonus promotions. You need to clear the wager in order to be able to make a withdrawal at the casino.
Horse Racing Slang
- Dividend –This term is used for the expected return from your bet. So if you bet $100 on a race with 5.00 odds the dividend will be $500.
- Dead-heat – In horse racing across Australia, this term is used when two horses finish the race in the exact same position. Usually, the pot is divided among all winning bets.
- Furlong –A furlong is a measurement for distance. It covers 200 meters or 1/8 of a mile.
- In the money – This is a term which is used when a horse you bet on finishes on any of the first 3 positions in the race.
- Scratch – A Scratch is a horse which was registered for the race, but was eventually withdrawn. If any bets were placed on this horse they will be refunded to the players.
- Purebred –A purebred is a horse which has been bred by the selection, usually among racing champions.
- Bookie – A bookie is a person or a betting agency/site which accepts bets on sports events and horse races.
Poker Slang
- Finishing in the Money — This is a term you can come across at poker tournaments. This means that the player has ranked high enough in order to get a prize paid out for playing in the tournament.
- Freeroll — Freeroll is a term for players who have gained free access in some tournament. Usually awarded to high roller or loyal players at the casino.
- Hole Card —A hole card is another term for a face-down card.
- Reading —Reading a poker term describing the act of reading the players face in order to see their cards.
General Casino Slang in Australia
- Black Action — Use this word during roulette and card games like poker or blackjack. It generally means that the player has wagered a total of $100 in gambling chips.
- Comp —When you hear the word Comp at the casino it usually means Comp points or that a room or meal comes free by the casino. In Australia, they also say Comp to refer to promotional offers by the casino.
- Double — You will usually hear this when playing blackjack. This means that you want to double your initial stake, naturally if the cards you received give you the upper edge.
- Edge —An edge is simply the advantage the casino game has over the player. Usually, players tend to go for games which have the lowest house edge, in order to increase their chances in winning.
- One-Armed Bandits —This is simply another word for pokies or slots. The one-armed bandit name comes from the lever-action pokies, which combined with the losses turned them into bandits.
- Whale —Whales are usually high roller players, which you can find sitting at the tables playing on very high stakes. Usually to be a whale you need to bet upwards of $100k in a single hand at the tables.
- Wild— You will find this symbol on most games. The Wild symbol usually substitutes for all other symbols but can come with other extra functions as well.
