Glossary of Blackjack Terms


Barring Exclusion of player from the casino

Break When a total of over 21 is reached. The hand therefore loses.

Bust See break

Comp Short for Complimentary this term describes any item or service given to a player by a casino in return for a certain level of play over a given period of time. The higher the and the longer the hours, the better the comps. Typically comps are given in the form of free meals and hotel rooms, but can include tickets to shows in the casino, casino merchandise, limousine rides and if a high roller plays particularly big, even air fare.

Casino Host Employed by some casinos to liaise with players (especially high rollers) to make them feel happy and comfoertable playing at the casino and to arrange the details of their stay. Often the person who decides which comps you get (and who tries to give you as little as possible according to some cynical viewpoints).

Cut After the shuffle in a multi-deck game, the dealer places a plastic card into the decks, typically between one and two decks from the end. Its apparent function is to show the dealer it is time to shuffle. When this appears, the hand in progress will be completed and then the dealer will take the remaining cards out of the shoe and shuffle them with those that have been played and places in the discard rack. The size of the cut often varies between casinos as it is also often used as a defence against card counters, since profitable situations are more likley to occur towards the end of the shoe, when more cards have been seen, giving rise to a greater probability that an excess of high value cards remain to be played. If a player is suspected of card counting, or perhaps just if the casino wants to protect itself against somebody betting big without having any particular suspicion.

Cut (2) After shuffling the dealer hands a plastic card to one of the players to cut the decks. This shows that the dealer has not shuffled in a particular way inimical to the interests of the players since through this procedure it is ultimately a player who determines the order in which the cards come out. After this in a shoe game the dealer will place the plastic card near the back of the cards and place them in the shoe ready for play.


Day Shift See shifts. Typically from around 12PM until around 8PM.


Double ( or Double Down) Option of the player to place a wager equal to that of the hand.Usually allowed only on combinations of two cards and only one card is allowed after the bet is doubled. some casinos place restrictions on which totals my doubled, for example 10 and 11 only.

Expected Value (orEV) Amount the winning player will make on average at any given game. eg a game may have an EV of $30 an hour. five hours play at this game therefore gives an expected value $150. Of course the actual result may vary wildly to this figure, it being merely an average calculated according to the conditions involved. The rules, cut and speed of the game all determine how high the EV is for a particular game.

Graveyard Shift See shifts. Typically from around 4AM until around midday. Usually the quietest shift, hence the name.


Heads Up One player alone against the dealer. Also Solo Game

Heat Unwelcome attention from the casino management. Often results in worsening conditions or exclusion of player from the game.

Negative Count See Positive Count

Positive Count Using a count where low value cards such as 5 and 6 are given a plus value, eg +1, and where high cards such as pictures and aces are give a minus value, eg -1, a positive count indicates that more small cards have been dealt then large ones. A sufficiently high positive count would justify an increased bet by the player. A negative count indicates the opposite.

Resplit When splitting, if another card of equal rank is received, the player is usually permitted to split again, although there may be a limit as to how many times this is allowed. Many places have a limit of three splits, making a maximum of four hands in total from the original hand. See Split

Shifts Casinos are often open for several hours a day so the staff are organised into shifts, typically changing sometime in the evening if the casino opens in the afternoon and at luchtime, early evening and very early morning if the casino is open 24 hours. See graveyard shift, day shift and swing shift

Shoe In a multi-deck game, the box from which the cards are dealt.
Shoe (2) A group of hands between shuffles, eg "I was doing ok, then I had a really bad shoe", "the last shoe of the night was great"

Shuffle Machines Ostensibly to save time, these machines are used to shuffle the cards. Two sets of cards are generally used. When the shoe is over the dealer takes out the set in the machine and replaces it with the set that has just been played. One advantage frothe casinos is that they protect against shuffle tracking. One disadvantage is that they are often noisy. Players do not like them.

Shuffle machines, Continuous. These machines take the place of a shoe and a shuffle machine as described above, with the added function of continually riffling the cards. Only one set of cards need be used. When a hand is over, instead of placing the used cards in the discard rack, the dealer puts the cards back into the machine. As the cards that have just been dealt could conceivably reappear soon after being put back into the machine this generally protects against card counting.

Shuffle Tracking Technique whereby groups of cards are followed through the shuffle and cut in or out of play according to whether they are good or bad for the player. Has the advantage of beingallowing the player to bet from the first hand of the shoe so does not have an obvious pattern.

Solo Game See Heads Up.

Soft Total Any hand including an ace in which all other cards add up to a total of less than eleven. Since an ace can be counted as either 1 or 11, only one card may be required to a make a high total (with the ace counting as 11), but the hand cannot be bust since even with a picture the other cards would total less than 12 with the ace counting as one. For example ace-6 would be Soft 17. Pulling a 4 would give 20 (11+6+4), but a 5 makes 12. (1+6+5). Soft Double is a doubled bet on such a total (in those casinos that allow it), the same rules as for other doubled totals apply.

Split If a player has a hand consisting of two cards of the same rank ( for example example 8-8) an exta wager equal to the exisitng one may be placed in order to make two separate hands. The hands can then played in the normal way, with exception of a pair of aces which usually can only receive one card. If another card of equal rank is received, the player is usually permiited to split again See Resplit

Stiff Any hand less than 17 which risks busting if a card is taken, eg hard 16.

Swing Shift See shifts. Typically from around 8PM until around 4AM and generally the busiest shift.