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S |
| S [Poker] | |
| Spades (the suit), in written text. As, for example, is the ace of spades. | |
| S [Poker] | |
| Shorthand, particularly in E-mail and Internet postings, for suited. For example, specifying a hold 'em hand as KQS means king-queen suited. | |
| S & M [Poker] | |
| Sklansky & Malmuth. Generally refers to the ideas and algorithms published by these two authors. When used in a 7-card stud context, often refers to '7 Card Stud For Advanced Players', and when used in a Hold'em context, often refers to 'Texas Hold 'em For Advanced Players'. | |
| S17 [Blackjack] | |
| An abbreviation for the casino rule which requires the dealer to stand on all soft 17s. | |
| Sabot [Baccarat] | |
| The French term for the shoe. | |
| Saddle [Poker] | |
| Bend cards in such a way that the deck will be cut one card above one of these cards. | |
| Safe Jack [Blackjack] | |
| A high-tech version of blackjack. Card values and bet sizes are read by sensors built into the table. | |
| Sail For [Poker] | |
| Lose. "How much did he sail for?" | |
| Sailboats [Poker] | |
| Two or more 4s. (That's what they look like.) | |
| Salmon [Poker] | |
| 7 (the card, or the lowball hand). | |
| Salt Away [Poker] | |
| During a playing session, surreptitiously remove chips from play. This is not strictly cheating, just not fair to the other players who do not have an opportunity to win as much as they might otherwise. It is not permitted in public card rooms to remove chips from the table without cashing out. Players rat hole chips because they don't want to chance losing them back, or because they want to hide their winnings from someone who has staked them or someone they owe money to. | |
| Saltiness [Poker] | |
| Poor luck; the condition of being salty. | |
| Salty [Poker] | |
| Having poor luck; on a losing streak. "How ya doin'?" "Been running salty lately; can't seem to make a hand when it counts." | |
| Same Bet Press Method [Craps] | |
| Using the same Bet after every win. Used for place bets. When you win your first bet you say same bet to the dealer. On your next win you would tell the dealer to press it. Keep repeating the process. | |
| San Jose to Gilroy [Poker] | |
| Three 10s, so called because it used to be 30 miles from San Jose to Gilroy (no longer), and 30 miles is another term for three 10s. Sometimes shortened to just Gilroy. Also, from here to Gilroy. | |
| Sand [Poker] | |
| Use sandpaper on the sides of some cards so that their ranks can be determined by feel, or so that they can be easily located within a full deck; a method of shaving the cards. | |
| Sandbag [Poker] | |
| Playing a strong hand as if it were only a fair one. | |
| Sandbagger [Poker] | |
| One who sandbags, often a term of disapproval. | |
| Sandpaper [Poker] | |
| Cards marked on their sides by sanding. | |
| Sandwich [Poker] | |
| To raise before, and after, a caller who gets caught in the middle. | |
| Santa Barbara [Poker] | |
| In hold 'em, A-K as one's first two cards. Derives from a destructive oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast, the name arising from the more well-known name for the hand, big slick. | |
| Satellite [Poker] | |
| A small-stakes tournament whose winner obtains cheap entry into a bigger tournament. | |
| Satellite Tournament [Poker] | |
| A special tournament whose prize is usually a buy-in for a larger tournament. One-table satellites usually have just one winner; sometimes second place is awarded a free entry to another tournament. In larger satellite tournaments, the winner may get entry to the larger tournament, round-trip airfare plus accommodations (if the satellite takes place in a city other than that of the larger tournament), plus some percentage of the excess cash accumulated in buy-ins and re-buys. Second, third, and sometimes other places also can win a percentage of this cash. A satellite tournament with a large number of entrants, awarding entry or entries to major tournaments, is called a super satellite. | |
| Sauter La Coupe [Poker] | |
| A cheating maneuver in which the dealer palms a card and moves it to the bottom of the deck, there to be dealt at his discretion. | |
| Savannah [Poker] | |
| 7 (the card, or the lowball hand). | |
| Save [Poker] | |
| 1) Make an agreement, between two or more players, to pay the others when one wins a pot. For example, if you and I are saving antes, each time you win a pot, you throw me an ante chip, and each time I win one, I throw you a chip. 2) In a tournament, make an agreement near the end to allocate some of the prize money for first place to lower places. For example, if first place is worth $2000 and second $1000, two players might agree to save $200 and play for the rest. This way, second place would be worth $1200 and first $1800. In another example, nine players might be at the final table in a $100-buy-in tournament that pays only the top six places. They might agree before starting final-table play to save $100 for places seven through nine, the amount to come out of first place or perhaps first and second. That way, everyone who made it to the final table would be guaranteed something. | |
| Save Bets [Poker] | |
| Make an agreement, between two or more players, to pay the others when one wins a pot, except that players involved in such an agreement return all of what the others have invested in the pot. For example, if you and I are saving bets, and you win a pot in which we both play, you return to me everything I put in the pot, and vice versa. In such cases, you and I make money if we are both in a pot only if someone else is in. This procedure is not permitted in most card rooms, because it looks like a form of collusion to the other players. Also push bets | |
| Sawbuck [Poker] | |
| $10 or a $10 bill. | |
| Sawdust Joint [Poker] | |
| 1) A card room or casino that caters to a low-class crowd, sometimes implying a place whose denizens include thieves. Comes from a time when taverns had hardwood floors and sawdust sprinkled on the floor to absorb spilled drinks. 2) Any gambling house of less-than-opulent surroundings, as opposed to a carpet joint. | |
| Sawski [Poker] | |
| $10 or a $10 bill. | |
| Sax [Poker] | |
| 6 (the card, or the lowball hand). | |
| Say [Poker] | |
| Announce in turn whether one is betting or passing. | |
| Sb [Poker] | |
| Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for small blind. | |
| Sba [Blackjack] | |
| The acronym for Statistical Blackjack Analyzer, blackjack software by Karel Janecek. | |
| Scam [Poker] | |
| 1) A cheating agreement between two or more players; collusion. 2) Less frequently, any marginally dishonest scheme. For example, buying cheap clothes from a factory that specializes in making knockoff copies of designer clothes and then selling them as first-class items that were supposedly part of a hijacked truck shipment, because people think they're getting a great deal if they buy something for seemingly less than it's worth because it's apparently "hot," is the "hot clothing scam." | |
| Scam [Roulette] | |
| Any scheme to defraud a player or casino. | |
| Scammer [Poker] | |
| One who scams. | |
| Scare [Video Poker] | |
| A card which may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd- Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten. | |
| Scare Card [Poker] | |
| 1) A card that when it appears makes a better hand more likely. 2) In hold'em, a third suited card on the river is a scare card, because it makes a flush possible. If you're pretty sure your opponent paired a king on the flop, an ace on the turn is a scare card. Scare cards will often make it difficult for the best hand to bet, and offer an opportunity for bluffing. Obviously such cards are scarier in pot-limit or no-limit games. | |
| Scared Money [Craps] | |
| Insufficient cash to gamble with. | |
| Scared Money [Poker] | |
| Money a player is afraid to lose (and thus probably will). There's a card room saying, "Scared money never wins." | |
| Scared Money [Roulette] | |
| Money a player can't afford to lose. | |
| Scarne Cut [Poker] | |
| A form of cut in which the cutter holds the cards in one hand, removes the bottom half with the other and places them atop the remaining half, pulls a packet from the center and places those cards on top of the remaining cards. This cut is named after John Scarne, who lectured and wrote about gambling thieves, and introduced this form of cut as a means of foiling cheaters who had stacked the deck. The Scarne cut is not permitted in most public card rooms, where the deck must not be lifted from the table and must be cut with one hand. Sometimes called whorehouse cut. | |
| Schedule of Prizes [Keno] | |
| Advertised schedule of Winnings; Also Payscale. | |
| Schmengie [Poker] | |
| Put a bad beat on someone. | |
| School [Poker] | |
| The players in a regular game. | |
| Scobe's Wager [Roulette] | |
| If it doesn't hurt to play as if something is true, then you have nothing to lose by playing this way as long as you don't increase your time or risk at the table. | |
| Scoop [Poker] | |
| 1) Declare both ways in a high-low poker game that has a declare. 2) Win both ways in a high-low poker game that has a declare. (Just because you declare both ways does not necessarily mean you'll win both ways.) 3) Win all of the pot in a high-low poker game that does not have a declare by having both the highest and the lowest hand. 4) Win all of the pot in a high-low poker game that does not have a declare by having the best hand for one way and no one has qualifiers for the other way. For example, in high-low seven-stud, 8-or-better, if you have a full house, and no one has an 8-low or better, you scoop the pot. Also called shoot the moon (usually only in home games) for definitions 1 and 2, and sweep for 3. 5) In a no-limit game, a handful of chips. When a player bets, and the dealer does not know exactly how much the bet is, the dealer might say, "One scoop." When a bet is raised by approximately the same amount, the dealer might say, "Two scoops." 6) In a limit game, two bets, that is, a bet and a raise. When a player raises, the dealer might say, "Two scoops." 7) A game in which a player who wins two pots in a row must post a blind on the next hand such that the game is played temporarily at a higher limit. That limit is usually either twice the nominal size of the game, or 50% higher (half kill). Thus, Omaha scoop might be a 4-8 game that becomes either 8-16 or 6-12 after someone wins two pots in a row. | |
| Scoop Hand [Poker] | |
| A hand that wins both ways in any high-low pot, or the whole pot due to having the best hand for high when there is no low. | |
| Scoop the Kitty [Poker] | |
| Win all the money the players have put up during a poker session. | |
| Scoop the Pool [Poker] | |
| Win all the money the players have put up during a poker session. | |
| Scooper [Poker] | |
| 1) A hand that wins both ways in any high-low pot. 2) The player holding the hand that wins both ways in any high-low pot. 3) The player who declares both ways in a high-low poker game that has a declare. | |
| Scooping Hand [Poker] | |
| A hand that wins both ways in any high-low pot, or the whole pot due to having the best hand for high when there is no low. | |
| Scoot [Poker] | |
| Pass chips between players, considered against the rules in some clubs. For example, John goes broke, and says to Sue, in the same game, "Could you lend me $20 to stay in the game?" Sue takes $20 off her stack, and passes them over to John. This is called scooting, and is considered illegal, even though it may not be specifically mentioned in the rules, because Sue has taken money off her own stack, which goes counter to the rules governing table stakes. The term came from scoot partner. | |
| Scoot Partner [Poker] | |
| Someone with whom one player saves antes (or chips of the normal denomination for the game), as described under save and save bets. | |
| Scootermockins [Poker] | |
| Dollars. | |
| Scooting [Poker] | |
| Passing chips to another player after winning a pot. | |
| Score [Poker] | |
| 1) The Win. "He made a good score." 2) To Win. "I scored last night." 3) Win big. 4) Win by cheating. | |
| Score a Big Touch [Poker] | |
| Win big, usually dishonestly. | |
| Scored Pair [Poker] | |
| Having a pair in the pocket in hold 'em or seven-card stud, that is, a pair as one's starting (first two) cards. | |
| Scotch Straight [Poker] | |
| In high draw poker, a special skip straight, a nonstandard hand sometimes given value in a private or home game, five even cards in a series separated each from the other by one rank, that is, 2-4-6-8-10. The same hand, but with no value, is called a rizlo. | |
| Scourge of Scotland [Poker] | |
| The 9 of diamonds, so called because every ninth Scottish king was (supposedly) a tyrant, and diamonds were a symbol of Scotland. Also called Curse of Scotland. | |
| Scramble [Poker] | |
| Thoroughly mix the deck while it is face-down on the table by spreading the cards over a large area, a move sometimes made by a dealer prior to actually shuffling the cards in traditional fashion. Sometimes this extra time taken mixing the cards is done at the request of a player. Some say that the legendary Johnny Moss, three-time winner of the World Series of Poker, originated the term scramble. Also called wash. | |
| Scratch Paper [Poker] | |
| Cards marked on their backs with sandpaper or a sharp instrument. | |
| Screen Out [Poker] | |
| Make a diversion, to draw attention away from a thief who is in the process of performing a cheating maneuver. Also called shade. | |
| Screen-Out [Poker] | |
| A diversion made (by another player) to draw attention away from a thief who is in the process of performing a cheating maneuver. | |
| Screwed Down [Poker] | |
| Playing very tight. | |
| Screwy Louie [Poker] | |
| A form of seven stud in which cards are passed to left and right, sometimes multiple times, and sometimes with five cards chosen at the end and rolled, that is, exposed one at a time. Also called pass the trash, Anaconda. | |
| Sd [Blackjack] | |
| 1. The acronym for Single Deck. 2. The acronym for Standard Deviation. | |
| Seat [Poker] | |
| 1) A chair at a poker table, or, more particularly, the player in that chair, or the seating position of that player. A house dealer might say to an approaching cocktail waitress, "Seat 1 wants a drink." 2) An opening in a poker game, particularly as it just becomes available for a new player. A dealer may announce to the floorman, "Seat open on 3." Someone who has not yet sat down to play may ask the board man, "Do you have a seat in 10-20 hold 'em?" | |
| Seat Charge [Poker] | |
| In public card rooms, an hourly fee for playing poker. | |
| Seat Position [Poker] | |
| The actual seat a player has, normally numbered sequentially starting with 1 as the first seat to dealer's left. Not to be confused with position in a particular pot. Typically unrelated to play of a hand but often important in peripheral aspects, e.g.: "Seats 1 and 10 are nonsmoking here", "Seat 5 has a good view of the table", "Seat 3 is in a high-traffic area". | |
| Seat-Man [Poker] | |
| 1) A professional dealer. | |
| Seated [Poker] | |
| 1) Playing (in a game). 2) Pertaining to a player in a game (as opposed to someone who is either not yet playing, or who is away from the table). In describing the disposition of a jackpot, you may see the wording, "When a jackpot is won, 50% goes to the holder of the losing hand, 25% to the holder of the winning hand, and the remaining 25% to seated players | |
| Seating List [Poker] | |
| In most card rooms, if there is no seat available for you when you arrive, you can put your name on a list to be seated when a seat opens up. Typically, games are listed across the top of a board, and names are written below each game so that players are seated for games in the order in which they arrive. | |
| Second [Poker] | |
| The second card off the deck, when referring to being dealt by a cheating dealer; often plural. "He dealt himself a second." "They barred him for dealing seconds." | |
| Second Best [Poker] | |
| Holding a hand that comes in second on the showdown (that is, loses). "Here I am, second best again." | |
| Second Button [Poker] | |
| A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair. | |
| Second Dealer [Poker] | |
| A mechanic (card manipulator) whose specialty is dealing the second card from the top. The reason for such a move is to hold back the top card, which he knows because he has peeked it, until he can deal it to himself, to a confederate, or to someone he is trying to cheat. | |
| Second Dealing [Poker] | |
| Perform a cheating maneuver in which a card manipulator deals cards not from the top of the deck, but from directly beneath the top card. | |
| Second Hand [Poker] | |
| The second player to act in any betting round. | |
| Second Nuts [Poker] | |
| In hold 'em, having the second-best possible hand for the situation, or, the actual second-best hand in such a situation. For example, if four spades (not including either the ace or king) and no pairs are on the board, the nuts would be an ace-high flush, while the second nuts would be a king-high flush | |
| Second Pair [Poker] | |
| A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair. | |
| Second Position [Poker] | |
| 1) The player two positions to the left of the dealer. 2) The seat position of that player. | |
| Second Story [Poker] | |
| A raise, usually while holding a good hand; so called because, if it is called, and the player wins, it doubles the size of his stack. | |
| Second-Story Man [Poker] | |
| A mechanic (card manipulator) whose specialty is dealing the second card from the top. The reason for such a move is to hold back the top card, which he knows because he has peeked it, until he can deal it to himself, to a confederate, or to someone he is trying to cheat. Sometimes second dealer. Also called deuce dealer, number two man. | |
| Secondary Payoff [Video Poker] | |
| In many cases we are drawing with the hopes of making a particular big payoff, but much of the EV of the play comes from smaller payoffs when we miss the big one. For example, you might draw two cards to a Royal Flush but end up with a high pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, a straight or a flush, all of which we would call secondary payoffs. | |
| Seconds [Blackjack] | |
| Dealing seconds is a cheating move by the dealer. Through a sleight of hand maneuver, the dealer peeks at the top card on the undealt deck and determines when he will deal the card and to whom. The rest of the players are dealt seconds, that is the second card rather than the top card. A dealer can use this move to help a confederate at the table or to cheat the players at the table. | |
| Seconds [Poker] | |
| The dealing of one or more cards from the next-to-the-top position of the deck. | |
| Seconds Dealer [Poker] | |
| A mechanic (card manipulator) whose specialty is dealing the second card from the top. The reason for such a move is to hold back the top card, which he knows because he has peeked it, until he can deal it to himself, to a confederate, or to someone he is trying to cheat. Sometimes second dealer. Also called deuce dealer, number two man. | |
| Section (Sector) Shooter [Roulette] | |
| A dealer who tries to hit certain numbers or sections on the wheel. | |
| Section Shooting [Roulette] | |
| The act of placing the ball in a given section of the wheel. | |
| Section Slicing [Roulette] | |
| Dividing the wheel into sections based upon which numbers have been hitting for the purpose of discovering biases. | |
| See [Poker] | |
| To call, as in: "I'll see you" or "I'll see that bet". | |
| See a Bet [Poker] | |
| To call, as in: "I'll see you" or "I'll see that bet". | |
| Seed [Poker] | |
| 1) An ace. Also called bullet (and several other names). 2) A $1 chip. Also called bone. | |
| Sell [Poker] | |
| As in "sell a hand". In a spread limit game, this means to bet less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet. | |
| Sell a Hand [Poker] | |
| In a spread limit game, this means to bet less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet. | |
| Semi-Bluff [Poker] | |
| A semi-bluff is similar to a bluff, except that the semi-bluffer has some chance of making a winning hand. The idea behind a semi-bluff is that while neither the bluff nor the draw might be positive expectation, in combination they could be. Betting a weak draw is often only correct as a semi-bluff. | |
| Senate Dealer [Poker] | |
| A professional dealer, in particular, one who does not participate in the game. | |
| Send [Poker] | |
| Signal someone's hand, usually by one thief to his confederate; usually followed by the hand. "He sent him the hand" means that he gave his partner a signal that gave away the hand that the former had managed to get a look at. | |
| Send Around [Poker] | |
| Playing a strong hand as if it were only a fair one. | |
| Send in [Poker] | |
| In a no-limit game, bet large, particularly when that involves all of one's chips. | |
| Send it Around [Poker] | |
| Playing a strong hand as if it were only a fair one. | |
| Send it in [Poker] | |
| In a no-limit game, bet large, particularly when that involves all of one's chips. | |
| Send it. [Poker] | |
| Push the pot, losers." Said by an ungracious winner after showing down the best hand, usually in a big pot. | |
| Sequence [Poker] | |
| A hand consisting of 5 cards in sequence but not in suit. | |
| Sequence Flush [Poker] | |
| An obsolete term for Straight flush | |
| Sequencing [Blackjack] | |
| An advanced shuffle-tracking, team technique. The players identify certain cards (usually Aces, hence "Ace Sequencing") in the shuffle and by controlling the table attempt to subsequently steer these cards to the team's hands. | |
| Sequential Royal Flush [Video Poker] | |
| A Royal Flush in order, either left-to-right or right-to-left like 10h-Jh-Qh-Kh-Ah. Some Video Poker Machines have a separate large Jackpot for one of these. You will get one of these once in about two and a half million hands, so most of us will never get one. Still, it's possible, and a lot more likely than winning the lottery. | |
| Sergeant from K Company [Poker] | |
| A king (the card). | |
| Sergeants from K Company [Poker] | |
| Two or more kings. | |
| Serious Poker [Poker] | |
| Serious poker players like to distinguish the game they play from the average weekly penny poker game. | |
| Serve [Poker] | |
| Deal (cards), particularly when done as a living. | |
| Session [Blackjack] | |
| A short period of time for recording results. A session might be the time you spent at one table, or the time you spent in one casino, or the time you spent playing blackjack between breaks away from the game. | |
| Session [Poker] | |
| 1) With respect to a given player, a period of playing cards, from the point at which the player first sits down to the table until he cashes out (or leaves the table broke). 2) With respect to a group, the period of time for which the game lasts, from the deal of the first hand until it breaks up for lack of players, or due to a prearranged ending time. For both meanings, sometimes called poker session | |
| Session [Roulette] | |
| A given period of play at a casino game. Usually terminated at a predetermined time, or at a certain level of wins or losses. | |
| Session [Slots] | |
| A defined time period, location period, or period of play on a selected machine. It is helpful, for the purposes of money management, to work with defined sessions rather than to just play endlessly where you always will end up with no money. | |
| Session Stake [Roulette] | |
| The amount of money set aside for one session of play. | |
| Set [Poker] | |
| 1) In hold 'em and stud, three of a kind. To flop a set in hold 'em means that (most often) one started with a pair and one of those cards was among the flop (the first three community cards). Less often it means a pair was among the flop and the player had another card of that rank in the hole. 2) Four of a kind, particularly as part of the phrase set of fours. 3) Arrange the two hands that are made out of the seven cards dealt each player in pai gow poker. | |
| Set All in [Poker] | |
| In a no-limit game, bet all of someone's chips. You can set another player in, or set yourself in. Both uses often include all in. "When he checked, I set him in, and when he called, I got even." "He set me all in." | |
| Set Bet (Keno) [Keno] | |
| Pre-specified Bet Details easily accessed by terminal or interactive gaming system player. | |
| Set of Fours [Poker] | |
| Four of a kind | |
| Set Over Set [Poker] | |
| 1) In hold 'em, one player's set (In hold 'em and stud, three of a kind) against another's. 2) In hold 'em, one player's pocket pair (pair in the hole) against another's, in the situation in which the board cards help neither player. If you start with a pair of nines and I have a pair of sevens, and the board comes 10-J-2-3-8, that is a situation of set over set. (In this case, set does not refer to three of a kind.) | |
| Set Someone All in [Poker] | |
| In a no-limit game, bet all of someone's chips. You can set another player in, or set yourself in. Both uses often include all in. "When he checked, I set him in, and when he called, I got even." "He set me all in." | |
| Set Someone in [Poker] | |
| In a no-limit game, bet all of someone's chips. You can set another player in, or set yourself in. Both uses often include all in. "When he checked, I set him in, and when he called, I got even." "He set me all in." | |
| Set Up [Poker] | |
| 1) Make a bet or action that causes another player to think you always act that way, so that you can take advantage of the misconception later; set a trap for someone. For example, if in draw poker, you raise and draw one card to three of a kind several times, you may be trying to set someone up to think that every time you raise and draw one you have trips (particularly if you rarely raise on two pair). If later you raise and draw two when you really have three of a kind (if things work out the way you want, preferably aces), the player you have been setting up may think you can't possibly have trips, and will call a large bet after the draw with two pair or possibly even one high pair. (Of course, if things don't work out the way they're supposed to, he'll make a hand that beats your three aces. That's a chance a good player just has to take.) 2) Prepare a victim for being cheated. 3) Having check cashing privileges (or sometimes just credit) in a particular establishment. "Are you set up in the cage?" | |
| Set you in [Poker] | |
| To bet as much as your opponent has left in front of him. | |
| Settle Up [Poker] | |
| At the end of a poker session, pay one's losses. | |
| Settlement [Blackjack] | |
| The resolution of the bet. The dealer either collects the player's chips, pays the player or leaves the chips on the table in the case of a push. | |
| Settlement [Poker] | |
| The period of time at the end of a poker game (usually private) at which losers pay their losses and winners collect their winnings; cashing in of chips. | |
| Setup [Poker] | |
| 1) A box containing two decks of plastic cards. You sometimes hear players ask for "a new setup." This means they want not just a new deck, but two fresh decks, because in a game that uses plastic cards, often the decks are rotated and not replaced until a set period of time ends, or until requested (or when the cards become damaged). 2) Preparation of a victim for being cheated. | |
| Seven / 8 [Poker] | |
| A poker game, seven-card stud high-low split, with an 8 qualifier for low. | |
| Seven Card Stud [Poker] | |
| Variation of Poker. One of the poker games most commonly played in public card rooms, seven card stud is probably the most well known. In seven card stud (sometimes "seven stud" or just "stud"), each player is dealt seven cards of their own: two down, then four up, and a final card down. There is a round of betting after the first up card and after each subsequent card dealt. | |
| Seven Deuces Wild [Poker] | |
| This game is played exactly like Seven Card Stud except that all deuces in the deck are wild. | |
| Seven Out [Craps] | |
| [1] When the shooter rolls seven after a point has been established. Control of the dice is transferred to the next shooter. Another term for this is "miss out." This is often incorrectly called "crap out.". [2] Betting that the next roll will be the number of 7 (5&2). | |
| Seven Rule [Poker] | |
| In lowball, the rule that states that you must bet a 7 or better (that is, a no-pair hand topped by a 7, 6, or 5) after the draw. In some clubs, failing to bet a 7 costs you the entire pot; in more clubs, it costs you only the action (betting) after the draw. In such a case, if a player passes a 7, and then calls with it, if the player who bet has worse than his hand, that player gets his money back, and the player who passed the 7 wins what was in the pot before the draw; if the player who bet has better than his hand, that player of course wins the whole pot, that is, the bet after the draw along with the remainder of the pot. The purpose of the rule is to speed up the game (by preventing players from passing good hands, and then waiting for the action to get back to them so they can raise | |
| Seven Stud Hi Low [Poker] | |
| This game plays the same as Seven Card Stud except that the player with the lowest hand gets half the pot. (See Low) This varient is an Ace to 5 low hand, where straights and flushes are not counted in the low hand. This means that a wheel will most likely win the pot. Pairs and trips count against you in the low hand. Thus when evaluating ^AH ^2H ^3D ^3C ^4S ^9S ^JS, we throw the ^3C out leaving you with a 9 low hand. If it is impossible to get 5 cards out of the seven without having a pair then your hand is evaluated as the worst possible poker hand, usually leaving you with a pair or worse. | |
| Seven's a Bruiser, the Front Line's a Loser [Craps] | |
| Betting that the next roll will be the number of 7 (5&2). | |
| Seven-Card Flip [Poker] | |
| A form of seven-card stud, found exclusively in home games, in which each player receives four cards face down, turns any two up, and then the betting commences. Also called you roll two. | |
| Seven-Stud [Poker] | |
| Seven-card stud. | |
| Seven-Stud / 8 [Poker] | |
| Seven-card stud. | |
| Seven-Toed Pete [Poker] | |
| A name for seven-card stud, heard only in home games. | |
| Seven-Twenty-Seven [Poker] | |
| A stud game (sort of), played only in home games, in which each player is dealt a down card, followed by a round of betting, and then one or more cards face up. Aces have a value of 1 or 11, face cards a value of , and all other cards have face value. This is a split-pot game, with the object being to end up with a total closest to 7 or 27. On each round, players can either receive a further up card, or refuse further cards. After any round in which no player takes a card, the players declare which "way" they are going (7 or 27, sometimes called high or low), and there is a showdown. (Sometimes there is one more round of betting before the showdown.) In some versions, once a player refuses up cards a certain number of times (say, three), that player can no longer request further cards. The purpose of this rule is that when a player is in a "lock" (cannot lose) situation, that is, when he is the only one going low, and there are more than one player going high, and who have quit asking for up cards, the player with the lock can prolong the betting by drawing cards to a point at which he cannot hit without destroying his lock. In some games, being on one side or the other of 7 or 27 (when no one has exactly that total) wins over the other side. For example, in some games, 6 loses to 7, while in others, the reverse is true. The best hand is some combination that adds up to 7, and includes two aces, so that the hand also adds up to 27. This is a potential scooping hand, but a hand with which a player must be careful at declare time in a game in which the rules dictate that a player who declares for both ways must clearly win both ways (that is, cannot tie for either). While this is not really a poker game, it is very popular in some home games (because it has many of the elements of poker, including bluffing). Two-twenty-two and three-thirty-three are similar games | |
| Sevens Rule [Poker] | |
| In lowball, the rule that states that you must bet a 7 or better (that is, a no-pair hand topped by a 7, 6, or 5) after the draw. In some clubs, failing to bet a 7 costs you the entire pot; in more clubs, it costs you only the action (betting) after the draw. In such a case, if a player passes a 7, and then calls with it, if the player who bet has worse than his hand, that player gets his money back, and the player who passed the 7 wins what was in the pot before the draw; if the player who bet has better than his hand, that player of course wins the whole pot, that is, the bet after the draw along with the remainder of the pot. The purpose of the rule is to speed up the game (by preventing players from passing good hands, and then waiting for the action to get back to them so they can raise | |
| Seventh Street [Poker] | |
| The final betting round on the last card in Seven-Card Stud. | |
| Sex [Poker] | |
| 6 (the card, or the lowball hand). Heard in a card room: He: "Do you like sex?" She: "Sure, sex-four, sex-five..." | |
| Shade [Poker] | |
| Make a diversion, to draw attention away from a thief who is in the process of performing a cheating maneuver. Also called screen out. | |
| Shade Work [Poker] | |
| Markings placed on the backs of cards, additions made to the natural design (as additional circles on a clock face or spokes on a bicycle wheel), for the use of cheating players or dealers. | |
| Shade Worker [Poker] | |
| A card thief who uses shade work. | |
| Shading [Poker] | |
| Markings (or cosmetics) put on the backs of cards with paint, ink, or some other fluid, so that a thief can read the ranks (and sometimes suits) of the cards from the back; alterations made to the natural design on the backs of the cards. | |
| Shake-Shake [Poker] | |
| Another name for pai gow poker. | |
| Shark [Poker] | |
| 1) Expert player. 2) Thief. 3) Loan shark. | |
| Sharker [Poker] | |
| 1) Expert player.2) Thief. | |
| Sharp [Poker] | |
| 1) Expert player. 2) Thief. Often, cardsharp. | |
| Sharp Top [Poker] | |
| A four or an ace. Some lexicographers use the term only for an ace | |
| Sharpe Ratio [Blackjack] | |
| A method of comparing risk and ruin, named after Nobel prize winner William Sharpe. It compares the difference in return and investment may have over a risk-less investment to the risk of the original investment. | |
| Shave [Poker] | |
| Trim the sides of cards, to make them thinner so as to be easily detected by a thief. Also called trim. | |
| Shaved [Poker] | |
| Pertaining to the situation in which a hand is beaten by one only slightly better. Also called edged, edged out, or topped out. | |
| Shears [Poker] | |
| 1) Cards whose shape or size has been altered by a thief so they can be located by feel during manipulation of the deck. 2) A tool for making such cards. | |
| Shed [Poker] | |
| In draw poker, discard. | |
| Sheet [Poker] | |
| The cashier's or floor man's record of stakes and cows, and sometimes transactions against players' banks and tab cards, which, at the end of the shift, is figured in with the determination of the net gain (or loss) for the shift; the balance sheet for the shift. From this comes the expression on the sheet, which means playing stake or cow. | |
| Sheet Player [Poker] | |
| One who plays for the house, that is, on the sheet. | |
| Shelf [Poker] | |
| Where a stake player's chips are kept when he is between playing sessions, usually a space under the control of the cashier, often just to one side of the window (to the cage). From this comes the expression on the shelf; the expression is generally used only for a stake player | |
| Shift [Poker] | |
| 1) One of the three traditional working periods in a card room or casino: day, swing, and graveyard. 2) The personnel of a particular shift. "What time does swing shift come on?" | |
| Shift Boss [Keno] | |
| The shift supervisor. | |
| Shift Boss [Roulette] | |
| The individual in charge of the casino during a given work shift. | |
| Shift Cards [Poker] | |
| While dealing, reverse the order of two cards as they are dealt. | |
| Shifting Sands [Poker] | |
| A variant of Mexican stud in which the rank of each player's hole card is wild for that player. The game probably gets its name because a player's wild card can change each round, along with the composition of the hand. The game is also called Rickey de Laet. | |
| Shill [Blackjack] | |
| A casino employee, usually hired to be a "starter" in casino games. This employee may play at otherwise empty tables in order to attract players. Typically they have a large amount of chips in front of them giving players the idea that the table is hot. | |
| Shill [Poker] | |
| 1) Someone who plays for the house, to help start games or keep short or shaky games going, to keep the live players (that is, those who are not shills) from leaving. A shill is different from a stake, because a shill keeps no part of the winnings, and is usually in the employ of the house or casino. Shills often have to play according to shill rules. Shills are not common in California card rooms, where the function is more likely to be filled by employees helping get a game started, basically just filling seats till more live players come in. Also, game starter, house player, percentage player. An old term for shill is seat-man. 2) Someone who plays like a shill, that is, a no-action player. This is a derisive term used by other players to describe a tight or otherwise conservative player. 3) Act in the role of a shill. "I usually deal for 40 minutes, and then shill till my next down." | |
| Shill [Roulette] | |
| An individual employed by the casino to play games that are being underplayed. | |
| Shill Rules [Poker] | |
| How a card room wants its shills to play. For example, in a lowball game, a shill might not be permitted to draw to worse than a 7, call a raise to draw, call after the draw with worse than an 8 (often only a good (smooth) 8), and be required to fold (no matter what she has) if another shill bets | |
| Shills [Baccarat] | |
| House employees, usually attractive young women, who sit around an empty baccarat table to attract players to the game. Also starter. | |
| Shimmy [Baccarat] | |
| The American slang expression for chemin de fer. | |
| Shiner [Poker] | |
| A cheating device, a mirror or other shiny object, such as a highly-polished cigarette lighter, placed apparently innocently on the table, used to read the reflected faces of the cards while they are being dealt. Also, gaper, glimmer, reflector | |
| Shirley [Poker] | |
| A timid player; always preceded by play like. If someone says to you, "You play like Shirley," he is accusing you of having no gamble. | |
| Shoe [Baccarat] | |
| Device, usually a wooden box, used for holding and dispensing playing cards to be dealt. | |
| Shoe [Blackjack] | |
| This is the shoe box shaped transparent or wooden device that holds up to eight decks used in blackjack. It allows the dealer to deal one card off the top quickly and efficiently. Two, four, and six deck shoes are common. | |
| Shoe Clerk [Poker] | |
| 1) A player who does not stay for a raise (with the implication that he is dropping out of fear) or, particularly in a no-limit game, for any large bet.2) Someone who is not serious about playing a particular pot, and thus will not call a raise. For example, for definitions 1 and 2, you might hear an aggressive player say, "Let's raise and get the shoe clerks out." Also known as ribbon clerk. 3) A weak player. | |
| Shoe Game [Blackjack] | |
| A reference to blackjack games which use a shoe to hold the cards. | |
| Shoot [Craps] | |
| A complete series of rolls until the shooter sevens out. | |
| Shoot an Angle [Poker] | |
| Use an angle (Any technically legal but ethically dubious way to increase your expectation at a game; a trick.). | |
| Shoot it Up [Poker] | |
| Raise. | |
| Shoot the Moon [Poker] | |
| Scoop (1- Declare both ways in a high-low poker game that has a declare. 2- Win both ways in a high-low poker game that has a declare.). In both cases, this phrase is usually heard in home games, and not public card rooms. The term is sometimes shortened to simply moon. | |
| Shoot the Pot [Poker] | |
| Raise. | |
| Shoot the Pot Up [Poker] | |
| Raise. | |
| Shooter [Craps] | |
| The player who is rolling the dice. | |
| Shooter on the Dark Side, Says he Won't [Craps] | |
| A don't pass bet by the shooter. | |
| Shootout [Poker] | |
| A tournament format in which a single player ends up with the entire prize money, or in which play continues at each table until only one player remains. | |
| Shootout Tournament [Poker] | |
| 1) A special tournament in which a number of tables of players each play down to one winner, and then the winners of each table compete in the playoff. Often all players who make it to the final table receive a prize, usually ranging from an amount equal to the buy-in for the first busted out to the main prize, which often is 40 to 50% of the total prize pool. 2) A tournament in which one player ends up with all the money, one that is played till only one player remains. | |
| Shop [Poker] | |
| 1) A card room. Also called joint or store. 2) Stop in at a card room just to check out the action. | |
| Short [Poker] | |
| 1) Low on funds. 2) Shy of a complete bet. "Who's short in the pot?" implies that someone has not put in a full bet. "He's short $10" means that he was not able to call the full bet, and implies that a side pot will be generated. 3) Be unable to pay time due to having insufficient chips (in respect to a certain cutoff point established by the house, usually equal to only a few chips, as for example less than $4 in a game with a $20 buy-in). 4) Not put the full amount of the bet in the pot. "Who shorted the pot?" | |
| Short Buy [Poker] | |
| A buy-in of less than the minimum required for the game. | |
| Short Call [Poker] | |
| While going all in, calling less than the full bet (and thus generating a side pot). | |
| Short Cards [Poker] | |
| Any card game other than poker (such as gin or klabberjass), usually used to des | |
