The Casino Glossary Q to T

Continuing our series of terms online gambling fans are likely to come across in internet casinos and UK casinos.

If you can think of any terms beginning with Q to T that we've missed out, or of any words or phrases you'd like to know the meaning of, Email Us.

Q to T

Quit: Something gamblers need to remember to do while they're ahead!

Quads: A poker term meaning four of a kind, eg: 4-4-4-4

Racecard: Your programme for a day at the races.

Rag: In poker, a card that you can't use to improve your hand.

Railbird: Someone who watches poker games from the sidelines.

Rake: The casino's percentage of the pot or what's used to clear bets from the table.

Random Number Generator or RNG: A device used to produce random numbers, that is, numbers that do not have any discernable pattern. Online casinos use computer programmed random number generators to determine the numbers that come up in games.

Read: In poker, read means to try and assess whether another player is bluffing or not.

Red-black bet: In roulette, this is an even money bet on whether the ball will land on red or black.

River: The fifth community card placed on the board in texas hold'em poker.

Royal Flush: The most valuable hand in poker, a royal flush is made up of five cards of the same suit from 10 through to Ace, eg: 10-J-Q-K-A spades.

Run free: A horse that is running too fast.

Seven card stud: A stud poker variation.

Seventh street: The final round of betting in seven card stud.

Shoe: The box from which cards are dealt.

Shuffle: What the dealer does when he mixes the cards.

Snowmen: A pair of eights in poker.

Soft hand: A blackjack term. A soft hand is one which contains an ace counted as 11.

Stand: In blackjack, not to take another card.

Straight: In poker, five cards in sequence, not of the same suit.

Straight flush: In poker, five cards in sequence of the same suit.

Surrender: This term is used in blackjack and roulette, but it doesn't mean the same thing. In blackjack, using the surrender tactic allows you to give up your hand after two cards if you don't like it, and only lose half your bet. In another version of surrender, you lose your whole bet if the dealer has blackjack, but only half if he doesn't. The consensus among blackjack fans is that surrender can be valuable, but not all casinos offer it. In roulette, surrender applies if you've made outside bets that pay even money. If the ball then lands on 0 or 00 you only lose half your bet.

Texas Hold 'Em: The most popular poker game around.

Three of a kind: In poker, three cards of the same denomination, eg: 5-5-5.

Tic tac: Sign language used by on-course bookmakers. This evolved as a way of bookmakers talking to each other without punters understanding what they were saying. Now, sadly, a dying art.

Tote: Short for totaliser, this system was introduced into Britain in 1929 to show the number of bets and amount staked on races.

Two pairs: In poker, two pairs not of equal rank eg: 8-8 + Q-Q. If more than one hand has two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins.