Blackjack Glossary

Glossary of Blackjack Terms

Ace Adjustment : To adjust your bet according to how many Aces are left in the deck/decks. 

Ace Poor: The deck is “poor” of Aces. 

Ace Rich:The deck has more Aces left than what is the norm. 

Balanced Count: This is a card counting system where the sum of the card adds up to 0.

Bankroll: The amount of money you have to play for. 

Bet Spread: The amount of bets you are making during a blackjack session. 

Burn Card: The first card that is discarded and placed at the bottom of the deck after it has been shuffled. 

Bust: This means to get more than 21 and lose the game. 

Card Counting: You assign numbers to all the cards and base your bets on the count you make from this. 

Deck Penetration: The percentage of cards played out before the deck is re-shuffled. 

Double Down: You double your initial bet and take one more card. 

Early Surrender: Quitting before the dealer has checked his hole card for an ace. 

Flat Betting: This is when you bet the same sum on each hand. 

Hard Hand: A hand where there is no Ace or the Ace is counted as 1 to avoid losing. 

Hole Card: The dealer’s card which is placed face down on the table. 

Late Surrender: With this rule you can quit also after seeing the dealer’s hole card. 

Natural: This is when you have a blackjack. 

Pat Hand: This is what your hand is called when it adds up to 17 or more. 

Push: This is what a tie between the dealer and player is called and it usually results in the player getting his bet back. 

Shoe Game: This is what a blackjack game dealt from a shoe is called. 

Soft Hand: When your hand includes an Ace and it can be counted both as 11 or 1 without you losing the game the hand is called soft. 

Soft Double: This is when you double on a soft hand. 

Stand: You keep your cards and don’t take any additional ones. 

Surrender:This means that you quit after you hand has been dealt and in some casinos it is an option. 

True Count: Your count divided by the amount of decks in the shoe. 

Unbalanced Count: In this system the number of positive and negative cards is not equal. 

Vig:This is the name for the house edge on your bet.