Gambling terminology

Vigorish, or simply “vig“, or “juice“, is the amount charged by a bookmaker for his services. The term is Yiddish slang originating from the Russian word for “winnings,” vyigrysh. The concept is also known as the overround. Bookmakers use this … Read More

Boxcars is the outcome of rolling the dice in a game of craps and getting a 6 on each die. The pair of 6 pips resembles a pair of box cars on a freight train. In modern parlance, it refers … Read More

Betting odds slang is a series of words used to describe particular common fractional odds. Evens – Levels, Scotch 2/1 – Bottle 3/1 – Carpet, Gimmel 4/1 – Rouf 5/1 – Hand 5/2 – Face 6/1 – X’s 7/1 – … Read More

When someone with limited experience achieves better than expected results it is referred to as beginner’s luck. The term is most often used in reference to a first attempt in sport or gambling. For example, if Mike beats veteran golf … Read More

Availability error, related to the gambler’s fallacy, is the distortion of one’s perceptions of reality due to the tendency to remember one alternative outcome of a situation much more easily than another. For example, if surrounded by slot machines people … Read More

A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage other potential … Read More

A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage other potential … Read More

A risk premium is the minimum difference between the expected value of an uncertain bet that a person is willing to take and the certain value that he is indifferent to. Example Suppose a game show participant may choose one … Read More

In gambling jargon, a holdout is any of numerous accessories used by cheats to help them “hold-out” a card (or cards) during a game. Some holdout devices are extremely simple and require moderate or advanced manipulative skill to be used … Read More

The basic meaning of gambler’s ruin is a gambler’s loss of the last of his bank of gambling money and consequent inability to continue gambling. “Gambler’s ruin” is also sometimes used to refer to a final large losing bet placed … Read More

There are many scenarios where the gambler’s fallacy might superficially seem to apply, where it in fact does not. When the probability of different events is not independent, the probability of future events can change based on the outcome of … Read More

The gambler’s fallacy can be illustrated by considering the repeated toss of a coin. With a fair coin the chances of getting heads are exactly 0.5 (one in two). The chances of it coming up heads twice in a row … Read More