Midwest Illegal Gambling

Gambling Slang

• 86 - A slang term meaning to be banned from a casino.Of the explanations pertaining to prohibition, one is a reference to Article 86 of the New York state liquor code which defines the circumstances in which a bar patron should be refused service or "86ed". Others have suggested that this usage originated from the famous Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City, as item number 86 on their menu, their house steak, often ran out during the 19th century. However, there is no recorded usage of this term in the nineteenth century. Yet another explanation is that Chumley's, which was a famous 1900s New York speakeasy, is located at 86 Bedford Street. During Prohibition, an entrance through an interior adjoining courtyard was used, as it provided privacy and discretion for customers. As was a New York tradition, the cops were on the payroll of the bar and would give a ring to the bar that they were coming for a raid. The bartender would then give the command "86 everybody!", which meant that everyone should hightail it out the 86 Bedford entrance because the cops were coming in through the courtyard door.

• action - A wager.

• action Jackson - A gambler who wagers every day- day and night.

• agent - (1) A player cheat who frequents casinos and works with casino dealers and

                    employees.

  (2) Person who for a fee or commission lures people to a crooked game to 

        be fleeced.

  (3) An accomplice.

• apple - A sucker.

• bad beat - When a huge hand is beaten by a better hand. Example: a full house gets beaten by a better full house.

• base dealer - A cheat who deals from the bottom of the deck.

• beard - A player who will place a bet for another player (usually a cheat) who does not wish his/her identity to be known.

• (a) bite - A request by a gambler for a loan.

• blackleg - An old jargon term for riverboat gamblers (meaning cheaters and outlaws) that operated in the rough and dangerous towns along the Mississippi river, in the early 1800s.

• blister - A tiny bump put on the back of a playing card . The cheat may feel the "blister" while holding the deck in the hand for dealing. In this way the cheat always has a choice between two cards which he wishes to deal. See "pegging". See also chapter Marked Cards.

• blockout work - A method of marking cards by "blocking out" a portion of the back design. 

• bricks - Shaven, misshapen dice. Same as flats.

• Broadway - (poker slang) An ace-high straight.

• broads - A 19th century slang term for cards, which were made wider than some other cards from that era.

• bunco - (slang) A trick or scheme that deceives people into parting with money. The term evolved from the word "banco".

• burn joint - Slang term for a casino with nearly unbeatable rules.

• bustout dealer - A crooked dealer employed by a casino or by an after-hours club. This dealer is brought into the game to get rid of a customer who is problematic, or to make sure a high roller does not walk out with big winnings. Also called a streak-breaker.

• bustout joint - A crooked gambling establishment, usually an after-hours club with gambling tables where the dealers are trained cheats.

• card mechanic - A card cheat who specializes in cheating by using sleight-of-hand.

• cold deck - A deck that has been stacked prior to the game and then switched in during the game - usually at the end. The expression means that the deck is cold because it was not in use up until the moment it is switched in.

• cooler - Same as cold deck.

• cooler move - A maneuver used to exchange the deck in play for a cooler.

• crossroader - An old term used to denote cheats, having its origins in the Old West practice of cheating at saloons located at crossroads. The term is still applicable today for cheats that specialize in hitting casinos.

• cucumber - A sucker.

• daub - A paste used by cheats to secretly smear marks over the backs of playing cards; usually during the game.

• egg - A sucker.

• fish - A sucker; also apple, or mark.

• George - A generous big tipper.

• hayseed - A sucker.

• mark - A sucker.

• mechanic - A cheat who specializes in sleight-of-hand. A card mechanic is one who manipulates cards. A dice mechanic manipulates dice.

• muck - (1) A hand mucking maneuver. (2) The pile of discards (to "throw your hand into the muck" means to throw your cards into the pile of discards).

• necktying - A method of camouflaging the action of a second deal by tilting the deck so that mostly the front edge is seen by other players. This tilt conceals the top of the deck which is the most vulnerable spot during a second deal.

• package - A cold deck.

• paper - A deck marked for cheating. 

• paper player - A cheat who uses marked cards. 

• painter - A cheat who uses marked cards. 

• parlay - To stake an original bet and its winnings on a subsequent bet. Also "going paroli", or "running limit".

• past posting - An attempt (usually orchestrated) to place a bet on an outcome of chance after the outcome is already known, while making it seem that the bet had been placed legitimately. The term originated in horse-racing circles: it means placing a bet on a horse after the horse has "passed the post."

• push-off second - A method of second dealing. Two cards are being pushed off as one with the thumb of the dealing hand. The other hand withdraws the lower one of the two cards as the dealing thumb pulls the top card back into alignment with the rest of the deck.

• rabbit hunting - Asking to see what cards would have come up if a hand had continued.

• sheep - A sucker.

• shill - A player employed by the house (or by the gang), whose job it is to bet in order to keep the game going and to warm up potential players (or victims). Same as stick.

• soft player - A scarce casino industry term for a sucker that does not stop playing until all his money is gone.

• spit - A small amount of money.

• square - An honest player; often meaning a sucker.

• squeezers - An old term for indexed playing cards.

• stick - Same as shill.

• toke - A tip for the dealer in a casino or card room.

• Tom - No good. Not generous. Opposite of George.

• whale - A sky-high bettor who tries to negotiate maximum limits that make even the largest casinos uncomfortable.

• white-on-white - A method of marking cards. Usually the cheat uses white correction fluid to make small dots somewhere on the white border on the back of the cards. The white correction fluid can be spotted if viewed under a certain angle because these white spots do not reflect light in the same manner as the rest of the card's finish.