Card and tabletop games at casinos have a lot of terminology that can come and go but doesn’t really change much over time, but there may be some more niche terms that aren’t familiar to experienced players and many terms that aren’t immediately obvious for newcomers too – understanding these terms can help chances of winning too as learning the game will always provide a better outcome in the long run. So, what are some must know terms, and why do their explanations matter?
Cold or hot deck – This term is given from the cards being dealt – if the shoe, the machine that holds the cards, is pushing out bad cards and causing players to lose, the term of cold deck is applied. For the opposite, if the deck is giving out good cards leading to big wins one after another, this would be seen as a hot deck and may encourage players to continue. For online options, this is often less of a concern through RNG systems and other factors too, but for many players the psychological aspect of cold and hot decks is still an important factor and can still influence play decisions too.
Flat betting and doubling down – These terms apply to betting strategies – if a hand looks strong and the dealers doesn’t look to great, players have the option to double down which provides the opportunity to win twice the amount, but that also doubles the losses too. Flat betting is another strategy that can be effective and is perfectly fine to use too which is the strategy of consistently betting the same amount. Utilising good betting strategies and understanding the terms can certainly help lead to wins though, or at the very least help to avoid some losses.
Multi-deck – In the past, blackjack options offline would fill the shoe with just one deck which made it much easier for players to utilise strategies like card counting, but modern options have changed, and now multi-deck shoes exist as shoes are now filled with between six to eight decks. This does change the odds of play somewhat and makes it much more difficult for players to utilise strategies like card counting too and can often be much more fair too which sometimes works out in the players favour instead of the house.
These are just a few of the many terms attached with many being universal across many games but understanding a bit of game theory and some approaches that big players use to the game can certainly help, even just a little more clarity can demystify the games and make them much more approachable than they may seem at first with concerns over house edge and similar.