Betting Words, Decoded
Gambling has a vocabulary all of its own, and a lot of it is designed to sound more exciting than it is. Here are the terms that come up most often in our stories, in alphabetical order.
- Accumulator (parlay)
- A single bet combining several selections; every one must win for the bet to pay.
- Auto cash-out
- A setting that settles a bet or crash-game round automatically at a chosen value.
- Bet builder
- An accumulator made from several outcomes within one match.
- Bonus round
- A special feature inside a slot, usually triggered by scatter symbols, with its own rules.
- Cash out
- An offer to settle a sports bet before the event finishes, priced with a margin for the bookmaker.
- Cluster pays
- A slot format where groups of touching symbols form wins instead of paylines.
- Cooling-off period
- A short, self-chosen break during which an account cannot be used to gamble.
- Crash game
- A fast format where a multiplier rises until a random stop; players must cash out before it.
- House edge
- The built-in advantage a casino game holds over players in the long run.
- Implied probability
- The chance of an outcome suggested by its odds, before removing the bookmaker's margin.
- Live dealer
- A table game streamed from a studio with a real person dealing or spinning.
- Near miss
- A losing result that looks close to a win, such as two jackpot symbols and one just off the line.
- Overround
- The amount by which a market's implied probabilities add up to more than 100 percent.
- Payline
- A path across slot reels along which matching symbols pay.
- Progressive jackpot
- A top prize that grows as a slice of each stake is added, until someone wins it.
- Return to player (RTP)
- The theoretical share of stakes a game pays back over a very large number of plays.
- Scatter
- A slot symbol that pays or triggers features wherever it lands.
- Self-exclusion
- A longer block on gambling accounts that a player chooses for their own protection.
- Sweepstakes casino
- A platform using virtual coins, some of which may be redeemable for prizes under promotional rules.
- Volatility
- How a game's wins are spread: small and frequent, or rare and larger.
- Wagering requirement (playthrough)
- How much must be bet before bonus funds can be withdrawn.
- Wild
- A slot symbol that substitutes for others to complete wins.
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What we write about most
Desk dictionary
Words that turn up in almost every story
Quick definitions here; the longer list has its own page.
- Margin
- The slice a bookmaker or casino builds into every price, whatever the result.
- Crash point
- The random moment a crash game stops climbing and unclaimed stakes are lost.
- Playthrough
- Another name for a wagering requirement on bonus funds.
- Cooling-off
- A short, self-chosen pause on an account, from a day to several weeks.
- Sweepstakes coins
- Promotional currency on social casinos that may be redeemable under the site rules.