Casino glossary A to Z

1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) is the National Problem Gambling Helpline run by the National Council on Problem Gambling. It's free, confidential and open 24/7 by call or text, with chat at ncpgambling.org, for anyone worried about their own gambling or someone else's. Since September 29, 2025, 1-800-GAMBLER no longer reaches the national line. It isn't a crisis line: in a crisis, call or text 988.

See also: National Problem Gambling Helpline, What is 1-800-MY-RESET

21+3 is a blackjack side bet that combines your first two cards with the dealer's upcard into a three-card poker hand. It pays on a flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush or suited three of a kind, with pay tables that vary by game. It's settled before the main hand is played, has nothing to do with reaching 21, and carries a higher edge than the main bet.

See also: Online blackjack, Best blackjack casinos

6:5 blackjack pays a natural blackjack at 6 to 5 instead of the traditional 3 to 2. On a $10 bet that's $12 instead of $15, and the change adds about 1.4 percentage points to the house edge, more than most other rule changes combined. Check the felt or rules screen: 3 to 2 is the standard, and third-party specs list RTG's Suit 'Em Up Blackjack at 3:2.

See also: What is the house edge on blackjack, Best blackjack casinos

9/6 is video poker shorthand for a pay table's full house and flush payouts per coin: 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. In Jacks or Better, 9/6 is the full-pay table at about 99.54%. Short-pay versions cut those numbers: 8/5 returns about 97.3% and 7/5 about 96.2%, so $1,000 played costs about $27 on 8/5 against about $4.60 on 9/6.

See also: Full pay meaning, Video poker strategy

Account verification is the process of proving your identity, age and address to a casino, part of KYC. Expect a government photo ID, a proof of address such as a utility bill or bank statement from the last few months, and sometimes a photo of your payment card. Sending documents before your first withdrawal request can save days, and blurry or cropped scans are a common cause of delays.

See also: How to verify your casino account, KYC documents casinos

ACH, short for Automated Clearing House, is the US network that moves money directly between bank accounts, and an eCheck is an ACH payment made online with your routing and account numbers. State-licensed online casinos commonly offer ACH deposits and withdrawals. Offshore casinos rarely do, because UIGEA restricts payments for unlawful internet gambling and many US banks decline those transfers.

See also: Casino banking methods for US players, Can banks block gambling

Action is the total amount you wager, counted bet by bet, and also a bet that's live on the current round. Ten $5 hands of blackjack is $50 of action even if you finish level. Casinos rate players and pay comps on action, and the house edge works on action too, so it's the right number for estimating cost: $50 of action at a 1% edge costs about 50 cents on average.

See also: House edge explained, Comp points meaning

American roulette is the double-zero version of the game, with 38 pockets: 1 to 36, 0 and 00. It pays the same odds as the single-zero wheel, so the extra pocket lifts the house edge from 2.70% to about 5.26%. In practice, $1,000 of total bets costs about $52.60 on average, against about $27 on a European wheel, so the single-zero table is the cheaper choice when both are offered.

Read the full American roulette guide · See also: How to play roulette, Best roulette casinos

AML, short for anti-money laundering, covers the rules and checks that stop criminal money moving through a business. In US land-based casinos, the Bank Secrecy Act requires reports on cash transactions over $10,000. Online, AML is why casinos verify identity, ask about source of funds, apply closed-loop withdrawals and flag deposits that aren't played. Curaçao's regulator adopted an AML policy in January 2025.

See also: Why casinos ask for documents, Source of funds checks

AMOE, the alternative method of entry, is the no-purchase route to Sweeps Coins that sweepstakes casinos offer so that buying isn't required, typically a mailed request card, a daily login bonus or a social media giveaway. It's central to the legal argument that a site runs a sweepstakes rather than gambling. Mail-in rules are strict, so follow the operator's official sweepstakes rules exactly.

See also: Sweepstakes casino laws, What are sweeps coins

An Anjouan license is an online gambling license issued on the Autonomous Island of Anjouan, part of the Union of the Comoros, usually cited under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act 007 of 2005. It is a foreign license, not a US state license, so it gives US players no state regulator to complain to and no state-backed protection of balances. Silver Oak is the only partner casino that publishes one: Primrose Media Limited, licensed in Anjouan.

Read the full Anjouan license guide · See also: Anjouan license, What is an Anjouan license

An ante is the bet you place before any cards are dealt, your entry fee to the hand. In casino poker games such as Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud and Ultimate Texas Hold'em, you check your cards after anteing and then fold, giving up the ante, or add a play or raise bet to compete with the dealer. A $10 ante with a raise of twice the ante puts $30 on the table.

Read the full Ante guide · See also: Online caribbean stud poker, How to play three card poker

Any seven is a one-roll craps proposition bet that the next roll totals 7. Six of the 36 possible dice combinations make 7, so the true odds are 5 to 1, but the bet pays only 4:1. That gap gives it a house edge of about 16.67%, the worst standard bet on a craps table. A $10 any seven bet costs about $1.67 per roll on average.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

Autoplay is a slot setting that spins the reels automatically a chosen number of times at the same stake. It changes nothing about the odds, but it speeds play up: 100 autoplay spins at $1 is $100 staked in a few minutes. Set loss and single-win stop limits if the game offers them, and treat autoplay as one of the features most likely to make time and money slip by.

Read the full Autoplay guide · See also: How to play slots, Reality check meaning

The Banker is one of the two hands dealt in baccarat, and a Banker bet backs that hand to finish closer to nine than the Player hand. Because the drawing rules favor it slightly, Banker wins are usually paid at even money minus a 5% commission, so a winning $100 bet returns $95 profit. Its house edge of about 1.06% makes it the lowest-cost standard bet on the table.

Read the full Baccarat banker guide · See also: Online baccarat, How to play baccarat

A bank wire moves money between banks, and for offshore casinos it's usually an international transfer. It suits larger withdrawals but tends to carry higher minimums, fees from the casino and from sending, receiving or intermediary banks, and longer delivery times than crypto. Your bank can ask about a gambling-related wire, so keep records and expect questions on large amounts.

See also: Casino bank wire, Bank wire guide

Your bankroll is the money you've set aside purely for gambling, separate from rent, bills and savings, and once it's gone you stop. A common approach is to split it into sessions and size bets so one session can't wipe it out, for example a $200 bankroll played as four $50 sessions at $0.50 a spin. Managing a bankroll controls how fast you spend; it never changes the house edge.

Read the full Bankroll guide · See also: Bankroll management, What is a good bankroll

Basic strategy is the set of blackjack decisions that loses the least on average for every pairing of your hand and the dealer's upcard: when to hit, stand, double, split or surrender. It's math, not a hunch, and it's printed in charts. Played correctly on good rules it brings the house edge down to roughly half a percent, but it never removes the edge, so blackjack still costs money over time.

Read the full Basic strategy guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, What is the house edge on blackjack

Bet behind is a live blackjack option that lets you wager on a seated player's hand without taking a seat yourself. The seated player makes every decision, and your bet wins, loses or pushes with their hand. It lets more people join a full table, but you give up control, and a player who ignores basic strategy raises the cost of your bet.

See also: Live dealer guide, Basic strategy meaning

Bet max, or max bet, is a slot and video poker button that sets your stake to the highest level the game allows and, on many games, plays the spin straight away. In video poker, the royal flush usually pays 4,000 coins on a five-coin bet against 250 on one coin, which is why max coins matter there. On slots it simply multiplies the cost of each spin, so check the stake before tapping it.

Read the full Bet max guide · See also: Coin value meaning, Bankroll management

A betting system is a rule for changing bet size based on past results, such as Martingale (double after a loss), D'Alembert (add one unit after a loss), Fibonacci (follow the Fibonacci sequence after losses) or Paroli (double after a win). No system changes the house edge, because every bet faces the same odds. Systems only rearrange when you win and lose, and losing-streak bets can grow fast.

See also: Roulette strategies tested, Is martingale a good strategy

Bingo is a numbers game where players mark called numbers on cards and win by completing a set pattern first. US halls usually play 75-ball bingo on a 5x5 card, while 90-ball is common elsewhere. Under federal law, bingo is Class II gaming on tribal land, and charitable bingo is regulated by states. Bingo wins of $2,000 or more in 2026 trigger a W-2G.

See also: Tribal gaming, What is W-2G

Bitcoin (BTC) is the original cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, and the most widely listed deposit and withdrawal method at offshore casinos that take US players. Payments go from your wallet to the casino's address and are confirmed on the blockchain, with a new block about every 10 minutes on average. Transfers generally can't be reversed, and the price can swing sharply while your money sits in it.

See also: Bitcoin casinos, How to deposit with Bitcoin, Best bitcoin casinos

Blackjack is the casino card game where you try to beat the dealer by finishing closer to 21 without going over, and it's also the name of the best hand: an ace plus a 10-value card as your first two cards. That hand usually pays 3:2, so $15 on a $10 bet, though some tables pay only 6:5. With basic strategy, blackjack has one of the lowest house edges in the casino.

Read the full Blackjack guide · See also: Online blackjack, How to play blackjack, Best blackjack casinos

A blockchain confirmation happens when your crypto transaction is recorded in a block, and every block added after it counts as one more. Casinos credit deposits once the number of confirmations they require is reached, so a Bitcoin deposit can sit as pending while the network catches up. Bitcoin adds a block about every 10 minutes on average, which is why a three-confirmation rule can mean roughly half an hour.

Read the full Blockchain confirmation guide · See also: Blockchain confirmations, Bitcoin casinos

Blocking software stops your phone or computer from opening gambling sites and apps, adding a barrier once you've decided to stop. Gamban is a paid option, priced at $6.99 a month or $41.99 a year with a 7-day trial, as published on its site, and BetBlocker is another widely used tool. Install it on every device you use, and pair it with self-exclusion for the strongest protection.

See also: Blocking software, Gamban, BetBlocker

Bonus abuse is the label a casino puts on play that breaks a bonus's rules or uses an offer in a way its terms forbid, such as betting over the max-bet limit, playing excluded games or opening a second account. When a casino decides it happened, the usual result is voided bonus winnings, and sometimes a closed account. Reading the bonus terms before you play is the only protection, because the casino interprets them.

Read the full Bonus abuse guide · See also: Bonus abuse rules, Bonus abuse explained

Your bonus balance is the bonus credit in your account, kept apart from your cash balance until wagering is complete. While it's active, rules such as a max bet, excluded games and an expiry date usually apply. Depending on the casino, your cash is used first, as with a non-sticky bonus, or the two are combined, as with a sticky one. If the bonus balance hits zero, the bonus is over.

See also: How is a bonus paid, Non-sticky bonus meaning

A bonus code, also called a promo code or coupon, is a short word you enter at sign-up or in the cashier to attach a specific offer to your deposit. The code doesn't change the rules; it tells the casino which set of terms applies, including the match, spins, wagering and max cashout. Codes change and expire, so check the casino's current promotions page, and remember offers are 21+ with terms.

Read the full Bonus code guide · See also: Bonus codes, Do bonus codes expire

Bonus expiry is the deadline attached to a bonus, which can apply to claiming it, using it or finishing its wagering. Miss it and the bonus, plus any winnings made with it, is usually removed. A 30x requirement on a $200 bonus means $6,000 in bets, which at $2 a spin is 3,000 spins, so check whether the time limit is realistic before opting in.

See also: Bonus expiry, Do bonus codes expire

A bonus round is a special feature inside a slot, such as free spins, a pick-and-win screen or a prize wheel, that starts when certain symbols land. It plays out without extra stakes, but its value is already built into the game's RTP, so it isn't money on top. Bonus rounds are where much of a high-volatility slot's return sits, which is why long dry spells between them are normal.

Read the full Bonus round guide · See also: How to play slots, Free spins meaning

Boxcars is a roll of two sixes, a total of 12. Like snake eyes, only one of 36 combinations makes it, so the one-roll bet usually pays 30:1 against true odds of 35 to 1, a house edge of about 13.89%. On the come-out roll, 12 loses pass line bets and, on most tables, pushes don't pass bets, a rule known as bar 12.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

To bust in blackjack is to go over 21, which loses the hand immediately. A player who busts loses even if the dealer busts later in the same round, and that order of play is a big part of the house edge. Hitting a hard 12 busts on any 10-value card, four of the 13 ranks. The dealer busts by drawing past 21 while following fixed hit-and-stand rules.

See also: How to play blackjack, Hard hand meaning

A buy feature, also called a bonus buy or feature buy, lets you pay a set multiple of your stake to start a slot's bonus round straight away. At a price of 100x, a $1 stake means $100 for one bonus, and the result can be well below that. It doesn't remove the house edge, and many casinos exclude bonus buys from wagering or ban them while a bonus is active.

Read the full Buy feature guide · See also: Bonus round meaning, Gambling budget

Card counting is a blackjack method of tracking which cards have left a shoe to judge whether the remaining cards favor the player. The best-known system, Hi-Lo, adds one for each 2 to 6 and subtracts one for each ten or ace. It belongs to land-based history and theory: online RNG blackjack reshuffles every hand, so there is nothing to count, and land casinos can refuse play to suspected counters.

Read the full Card counting guide · See also: Blackjack card counting online, Can you count cards online

Caribbean Stud Poker is a five-card game played against the dealer. You ante, see your five cards, then fold or raise twice the ante. The dealer must hold ace-king or better to qualify; if not, the ante pays 1:1 and the raise pushes. Strong hands earn bonus odds on the raise, and many versions add a progressive side bet. The house edge on the ante is about 5.2%.

See also: Online caribbean stud poker, What is ante

With cascading reels, winning symbols disappear after a payout and new ones drop into the gaps, which can form another win from the same paid spin. The chain keeps going until no new win appears, and many games add a growing multiplier along the way. It can feel like bonus spins, but the cascades are part of the game's math and already counted in its listed RTP.

Read the full Cascading reels guide · See also: How to play slots, Multiplier meaning

Cash App is a US payment app from Block that sends money between users and lets you buy and sell Bitcoin. That Bitcoin feature is why it comes up for offshore casino deposits: you can buy Bitcoin in the app and send it to the casino's wallet address. Cash App itself isn't a casino payment method at offshore sites, and its own limits, fees and verification rules apply.

See also: Cash App casinos, Can I use Cash App at online casinos

A cashable bonus is one where the bonus amount itself becomes withdrawable once you meet the wagering requirement, along with any winnings. It's the opposite of a sticky or phantom bonus, which is removed at cashout. With a $100 cashable bonus and a $350 balance after wagering, you could withdraw the full $350, subject to any max cashout and withdrawal limits in the terms.

See also: Can I withdraw a bonus, Sticky bonus meaning

Cashback is a partial refund of losses, worked out as a percentage of a lost deposit or of net losses over a period. At offshore casinos it's often paid as bonus credit with wagering attached, so 25% cashback on a $200 loss is $50 in bonus money, not $50 in cash. Check whether it's cash or bonus, the wagering and any max cashout before counting it as value.

Read the full Cashback guide · See also: Casino cashback bonus, What is cashback

The cashier is the section of a casino account where you deposit, withdraw, enter bonus codes and see pending transactions. It lists the payment methods actually available to you, with their minimums, maximums and fees, which can differ from marketing pages. Before depositing, check the withdrawal options here too, because some deposit methods, such as prepaid vouchers, can't receive payouts.

See also: First deposit checklist, Casino banking methods for US players

Casino Hold'em is a table game based on Texas Hold'em and played against the dealer. You ante, get two cards, see a three-card flop, then fold or call with a bet twice the ante. The dealer needs a pair of 4s or better to qualify; if not, the ante pays by a bonus table and the call pushes. The house edge is about 2.2% of the ante. RTG lists a similar game, Caribbean Hold'em.

See also: How to play casino holdem, Online caribbean hold'em

A cease-and-desist letter is a formal demand from a regulator or attorney general that an operator stop an activity, such as offering online casino games in a state. The Michigan Gaming Control Board, for example, announced letters to 13 unlicensed operators on April 9, 2025, to 15 operators on August 14, 2025 and 33 letters on October 8, 2026. A letter isn't a court ruling, but it's a clear public warning.

See also: Cease and desist letters, Online casinos in Michigan

A chargeback is a card payment reversed by your card issuer after you dispute it, rather than a refund the merchant agrees to. At casinos it covers card deposits only and is meant for unauthorized or undelivered charges, not for gambling losses. Casino terms typically treat a chargeback as grounds to close the account and keep any balance, and crypto deposits generally can't be reversed at all.

Read the full Chargeback guide · See also: Chargebacks at casinos, What is a chargeback

Chasing losses means gambling more, or betting bigger, to win back money you've already lost. It's one of the clearest warning signs of problem gambling, because the house edge doesn't care about your history: after losing $200, a $200 bet faces the same edge as your first one, and losses usually grow. Stopping at a preset limit, and calling 1-800-MY-RESET if it keeps happening, helps.

See also: Chasing losses, Signs of a gambling problem

A check by courier is a withdrawal paid as a paper check and delivered by a courier service. It's an older option some offshore casinos offer US players, usually with a fee, a minimum and a long wait, because the check has to be delivered and then clear at your bank. A check drawn on a foreign bank can take weeks to clear and may carry bank fees.

See also: Casino check by courier, What is a check by courier

A classic slot is a simple game modeled on traditional slot machines, usually with three reels, one to five paylines and symbols such as fruit, bars, bells and 7s. Bonus features are few or none, so wins come mostly from lining up symbols. Fruit machine is the British name for the style. Most online games are video slots instead, with five or more reels and bonus features.

See also: How to play slots, Penny slots guide

A closed-loop policy means withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with, up to the amount deposited, before any other method can be used. It's an anti-money laundering measure common in regulated markets. If a method can't take payouts, as with a prepaid voucher, the casino picks an alternative, often a bank transfer or crypto, which may need extra verification.

See also: How to withdraw from an online casino, Casino banking methods for US players

Cluster pays is a slot payout system where wins come from groups of matching symbols touching each other horizontally or vertically, usually five or more, instead of lines across the reels. Games use larger grids, such as 7x7, and often remove winning clusters so new symbols cascade in. Bigger clusters pay more, but the RTP and volatility still set the long-run cost.

See also: Cascading reels meaning, How to play slots

Coin value, or coin size, is the dollar amount of each coin you bet in an online slot, such as $0.01, $0.05 or $0.25. The game multiplies it by the coins per line and the number of lines to get your total bet: $0.05 a coin, one coin a line and 25 lines makes a $1.25 spin. It's one of several dials that set the real price of each spin.

Read the full Coin value guide · See also: Denomination meaning, How to play slots

A cold wallet keeps crypto keys offline, usually on a hardware device or paper, so online attackers can't reach them. It's the safer place for savings, while a hot wallet handles day-to-day transfers. For casino play, keeping only a set budget in a hot wallet and the rest offline adds security and also puts a natural brake on impulsive deposits.

See also: Casino crypto wallets, Casino account security

A column bet is a roulette wager on one of the three vertical columns of 12 numbers on the layout, placed in the 2 to 1 box at the end of the column. It pays 2:1 and loses on zero, just like a dozen bet; only the grouping of numbers differs. Spreading chips across two columns covers 24 numbers but doesn't change the house edge on either bet.

See also: Outside bet meaning, Online european roulette

A come bet is a craps wager made after the point is set that works like a fresh pass line bet, with the next roll as its own come-out. It wins on 7 or 11, loses on 2, 3 or 12, and otherwise moves to the number rolled, which then has to repeat before a 7. It carries the same house edge as the pass line, about 1.41%, and can take an odds bet behind it.

Read the full Come bet guide · See also: Online craps, How to play craps

The come-out roll is the first roll of a new craps round. A 7 or 11 wins pass line bets at once, a 2, 3 or 12 loses them, and any other total (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) becomes the point. After that, the shooter, the player holding the dice, keeps rolling until the point repeats, a win for pass bettors, or a 7 appears, ending the round as a seven out.

See also: Craps pass line meaning, How to play craps

A commission is the percentage the house takes from a winning bet instead of paying it in full, most often 5% on baccarat Banker wins and on pai gow poker wins. It's used where a bet would otherwise favor the player, so it is how the house builds in its edge. A $100 Banker win pays $95 profit, and some no-commission tables change other payouts to make up the difference.

Read the full Commission guide · See also: Online baccarat, Online pai gow poker

Comp points, short for complimentary points, are loyalty points earned on every dollar you wager, win or lose, that can later be swapped for bonus credit or perks. In land-based casinos, comps also mean meals, rooms and slot play for rated players. Online rates usually work out to a fraction of a cent per dollar bet, so comps are a small rebate on play, not a reason to play more.

Read the full Comp points guide · See also: Casino comp points, Comp points guide

A cool-off, or cooling-off period, is a break you choose during which the casino locks your account so you can't deposit or play until the time runs out, often anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks. It sits between a deposit limit and full self-exclusion and suits the moment you want distance without a permanent ban. If a short break isn't enough, self-exclusion and confidential help from 1-800-MY-RESET are the next steps.

Read the full Cool off guide · See also: Cool off periods, What is a cool off period

A corner bet is a roulette chip placed where four numbers meet on the grid, such as 17, 18, 20 and 21, covering all four at once. It pays 8:1, so a $5 corner wins $40 plus your stake. On a single-zero wheel it wins about 4 times in 37 spins on average and carries the same 2.70% edge as every other standard bet there.

See also: Inside bet meaning, How to play roulette

The pass line is the basic craps bet that the shooter will win, placed before the come-out roll. It wins on 7 or 11, loses on 2, 3 or 12, and any other number becomes the point, which must be rolled again before a 7. It pays even money with a house edge of about 1.41%, so $500 of pass line action costs about $7 on average.

Read the full Craps pass line guide · See also: Online craps, How to play craps

A crash game is a fast casino game where a multiplier climbs from 1x until it suddenly crashes at a random point. You place a bet, then cash out before the crash to win your stake times the current multiplier; wait too long and you lose it. Rounds last seconds, which makes spending add up quickly, and the RTP set by the game's provider still applies.

See also: Crypto casino scams, Crypto and problem gambling

A croupier is the casino employee who runs a table game: spinning the roulette wheel, dealing baccarat or blackjack, collecting losing bets and paying winners. The word is French and is most used for roulette and baccarat, while blackjack staff are usually just called dealers. In live dealer games the croupier works from a studio on camera, and in RNG games software does the job.

See also: Live dealer meaning, How to play roulette

A crypto exchange is a platform where you buy and sell cryptocurrency for dollars, then withdraw it to a wallet address. US exchanges register with FinCEN as money services businesses and run identity checks, so expect KYC before you can buy. Some exchanges restrict transfers to gambling sites, so read their terms, and compare trading fees, spreads and withdrawal fees, which all cut into a deposit.

See also: How to buy Bitcoin for casinos, How do I buy Bitcoin to deposit

A crypto wallet is the app or device that holds the keys to your cryptocurrency and lets you send and receive it. A hot wallet is connected to the internet, such as a phone app, and is convenient for casino deposits. When you set one up, you get a 12- or 24-word recovery phrase; write it down offline and never share it, because anyone who has it controls the funds.

See also: How to set up a crypto wallet, Casino crypto wallets

A Curaçao license is permission to run online gambling under the law of Curaçao, now issued directly by the Curaçao Gaming Authority under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), in force since December 24, 2024. The reform replaced the old master-license and sublicense system. It's a foreign license, not a US state license, and it doesn't make an offshore casino legal for US players.

Read the full Curacao license guide · See also: Curacao license, What is a Curacao license

Currency conversion happens when money changes from one currency to another, such as dollars to Bitcoin or dollars to euros. Each step can carry a spread or fee, and a US card charged by a merchant abroad may add a foreign transaction fee, often up to 3%. Keeping your casino account in US dollars and checking exchange rates before buying crypto keeps the hidden cost down.

See also: Casino currency and exchange, Casino card declines

In casino poker games, the dealer qualifies when their hand meets a set minimum, which changes how some bets are paid. The minimum is queen-high in Three Card Poker, ace-king in Caribbean Stud, a pair of 4s in Casino Hold'em and a pair in Ultimate Texas Hold'em. In Three Card Poker, a non-qualifying dealer means the ante pays even money and the play bet pushes. Rules differ by game.

See also: How to play three card poker, Online caribbean stud poker

A dealer tip is a voluntary payment you send to a live dealer through a tip button in the game, a habit carried over from land-based tables, where tips are called tokes. Tips leave your balance immediately, aren't bets and can't be refunded. They don't change your odds or how the game is dealt, so tip only if you want to, and count it as part of your entertainment budget.

See also: Live dealer guide, What is live dealer

Demo mode lets you play a casino game with play credits that have no cash value, so you can learn the rules, features and bet settings without staking money. Nothing you win can be withdrawn. It's a useful way to see how a slot behaves, but a good run in demo mode says nothing about what will happen with real money, where every spin still faces the house edge.

See also: Demo mode guide, Free slots vs real money

The denomination is the dollar size of one coin or credit in a slot or video poker game, such as 1¢, 5¢, 25¢ or $1. Every bet is counted in those units, so a five-coin bet on a 25¢ video poker game costs $1.25 a hand. Penny slots are named for a 1¢ denomination, but with many lines and coins a spin can still cost several dollars.

Read the full Denomination guide · See also: Coin value meaning, Penny slots guide

A deposit limit is a cap you set on how much money you can add to a casino account over a day, week or month. Once you reach it, further deposits are refused until the period resets. Set it from your entertainment budget, for example $100 a week, before you start playing. It doesn't change your odds, but it puts a firm ceiling on what gambling can cost you.

Read the full Deposit limit guide · See also: Deposit limits, Deposit limits guide

Deposit plus bonus (D+B) wagering means the wagering multiple applies to your deposit and the bonus combined, not just the bonus. With a $100 deposit and a $100 match at 30x, bonus-only wagering is $3,000, but D+B wagering is $6,000. At a 4% slot edge, that's about $240 in expected cost instead of $120, so check which base the terms use.

See also: Bonus wagering requirements, Bonus value calculator method

Deuces Wild is a video poker game where every 2 acts as a wild card, so the lowest paying hand is three of a kind and five of a kind becomes possible. The full-pay version is often quoted at just over 100% return with perfect strategy, but pay tables vary widely. Third-party reviewers list RTG's Deuces Wild at 97% to 99%, so read the pay table before playing.

See also: Online deuces wild, What is Deuces Wild

Don't pass is the craps bet against the shooter. On the come-out roll it wins on 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11 and pushes on 12. Once a point is set, it wins if a 7 arrives before the point repeats. The house edge is about 1.36%, slightly lower than the pass line's 1.41%, and you can lay odds behind it at no extra edge.

See also: Online craps, Craps pass line meaning

Double after split, or DAS, is a blackjack rule that lets you double down on a hand created by splitting a pair. Split 9s against a dealer 6, draw a 2 on one hand for 11, and DAS lets you double that hand. The rule lowers the house edge by roughly 0.14 percentage points, so look for DAS or double after split allowed in the game's rules.

See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Split meaning

Double Double Bonus Poker is a video poker game that pays extra for four of a kind, most of all for four aces with a 2, 3 or 4 kicker, typically 2,000 coins on a five-coin bet. To fund those prizes, two pair pays only even money. The common 9/6 version returns about 98.98% with perfect strategy, and results swing more than in Jacks or Better because so much return sits in rare hands.

See also: Online double double bonus poker, What is Double Double Bonus

To double down in blackjack is to double your original bet after seeing your first two cards, in exchange for exactly one more card. On a $10 hand you add $10, take one card and stand, so a win pays $20 and a loss costs $20. Basic strategy uses it on strong starting totals, such as 11 against a weak dealer upcard, and table rules may limit which totals qualify.

Read the full Double down guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack meaning

A download casino is one you reach through software installed on your computer instead of a web page. The program stores game graphics locally and connects to the casino's servers for your balance and results. Most offshore casinos now run in the browser, but Silver Oak publishes a Windows client. Download only from the casino's own site, never from a link in an email or an unofficial mirror site.

Read the full Download casino guide · See also: Instant play vs download, What is a download casino

A dozen bet is a roulette wager on one of three groups of 12 numbers: 1–12, 13–24 or 25–36. It pays 2:1, so $10 on the middle dozen returns $20 profit if the ball lands between 13 and 24. Zero and double zero lose it. On a single-zero wheel it wins 12 times in 37 spins on average and carries the usual 2.70% house edge.

See also: Outside bet meaning, How to play roulette

A dual-currency system is the setup sweepstakes casinos use: Gold Coins for play only, and Sweeps Coins that can be redeemed for cash prizes. Operators sell Gold Coin packages and give Sweeps Coins as a bonus, arguing that no purchase buys a chance to win. New York's 2025 law and similar bans in other states target exactly this model when the second currency is redeemable for cash.

See also: Sweepstakes casino laws, What is the difference between sweepstakes and real money

A duplicate account is a second account opened by the same person, or often from the same household, address, device or payment method, at one casino. Terms nearly always allow one account per person, and duplicates are treated as bonus abuse: accounts closed, bonuses voided and winnings withheld. If you've forgotten a login, contact support instead of signing up again.

See also: Can I have two casino accounts, Bonus abuse meaning

An e-wallet is an online account that stores money and pays merchants without sharing your card or bank details, such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller. In the US, PayPal appears at state-licensed online casinos, while offshore casinos that take US players rarely list mainstream e-wallets, and crypto wallets often fill that role instead. Check the casino's cashier for the methods actually offered.

See also: PayPal casinos, Casino banking methods for US players

eCOGRA is a London-based testing and certification agency for online gambling, founded in 2003 and known for its Safe and Fair seal. It tests RNGs, audits payout percentages and reviews operator practices for the casinos and suppliers that hire it. A genuine seal should link to a certificate on eCOGRA's own site; a logo with no verifiable link proves nothing.

See also: How to spot a rogue casino, How RNGs work

Edge sorting is an advantage technique where a player spots tiny differences in the printed pattern on the backs of cards and arranges for key cards to be turned so they can be recognized later. It became famous through baccarat cases in which courts in New Jersey and England ruled against the player. It doesn't apply online, where RNG games use virtual cards and live studios control their own decks.

See also: Online baccarat, Card counting meaning

En prison is a French roulette rule for even-money bets such as red, black, odd or even. When the ball lands on zero, your bet isn't lost straight away; it's held, or imprisoned, for the next spin. If that spin wins, you get the stake back without profit, and if it loses, the bet is gone. The rule cuts the house edge on even-money bets to about 1.35%.

See also: European roulette meaning, How to play roulette

ERC20 is the token standard on the Ethereum blockchain, used by USDT, USDC and many other tokens. An ERC20 address starts with 0x, the same format as an ether address. Every ERC20 transfer pays a gas fee in ETH, so you need some ether in your wallet even when sending stablecoins. Match the network exactly to what the casino's cashier shows before you send.

See also: Ethereum casinos, Crypto fees guide

Ethereum is a blockchain launched in 2015 whose coin, ether (ETH), is accepted by many crypto casinos. It also carries tokens built to the ERC20 standard, including USDT and USDC. Every Ethereum transaction pays a gas fee in ETH, which rises when the network is busy, so a small deposit can lose a noticeable share to fees. Check which network the casino's address uses.

See also: Ethereum casinos, Best Ethereum casinos

European roulette is played on a 37-pocket wheel with numbers 1 to 36 and a single green zero. Payouts match other wheels, but the lone zero gives the house an edge of about 2.70%, roughly half the double-zero game's 5.26%. Third-party reviewers list RTG's European Roulette at 97.3% RTP, which matches that math. Some versions add en prison or la partage rules that lower the edge on even-money bets.

Read the full European roulette guide · See also: Online european roulette, Best roulette casinos

Even money is a 1:1 payout, where a winning $10 bet returns $10 profit plus your stake. Roulette's red, black, odd and even, the craps pass line and baccarat's Player bet all pay even money. In blackjack, even money is also an offer made when you hold blackjack and the dealer shows an ace: taking it pays 1:1 at once, which works out the same as buying insurance.

See also: Insurance meaning, Outside bet meaning

An expanding wild is a wild that grows to cover its entire reel when it lands, turning one symbol into a full column of wilds. That can complete wins on several lines at once, and some games add a respin while the expanded reel stays in place. Like every feature, the extra wins are part of the slot's published RTP, not a bonus on top of it.

See also: What is wild, Online slot reviews

Expected value (EV) is the average result of a bet if it were repeated many times, worked out as each outcome times its probability. A $10 bet on red in single-zero roulette has an EV of about minus 27 cents. Players use EV to compare bets and bonuses: a $100 bonus with $3,000 of wagering at a 4% edge has an EV of about minus $20 before any max cashout.

See also: Expected value of a bonus, Casino math basics

The field is a one-roll craps bet that the next roll will be 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. Most of those pay even money, while 2 and 12 pay extra, often 2:1 on both or 2:1 on one and 3:1 on the other. It looks like it covers a lot, but 5, 6, 7 and 8 are the most common totals, and the edge is about 5.56%, or 2.78% when 12 pays 3:1.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

The five-number bet covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 on a double-zero American roulette wheel and pays 6:1. Its house edge of about 7.89% makes it the worst standard bet on the table, so $100 placed there costs about $7.89 on average against $5.26 on any other bet. On single-zero wheels the nearest equivalent is the first four, or basket, bet on 0, 1, 2 and 3, which pays 8:1.

See also: American roulette meaning, Inside bet meaning

Form 1099 is a family of IRS information returns for income other than wages. For players, the one that comes up is 1099-MISC, which sweepstakes operators may use to report prize redemptions, with reporting thresholds set by the IRS, so check current guidance. Like a W-2G, it's only a reporting form: winnings are taxable income whether or not you receive one.

See also: Gambling taxes guide, Do offshore casinos report to the IRS

A free chip is a fixed amount of casino bonus credit, such as $25 or $100, added to your account without a deposit, usually with a code. It isn't cash: you must meet a wagering requirement on eligible games, and the most you can withdraw is capped, often at $100 to $200. A $50 chip at 40x needs $2,000 in bets before anything becomes withdrawable.

Read the full Free chip guide · See also: Casino free chip, What is a free chip

Free play is promotional credit you can bet with but not withdraw directly. In US land-based casinos, players' clubs load it onto slot machines, and it usually has to be played through once, with only the winnings kept. Online, the term can mean a time-limited bonus or credit with wagering attached. Either way it comes with conditions, so read them before counting it as value.

See also: Casino free chip, Las Vegas vs online casinos

Free spins means two different things. A promotional free spin is a slot spin the casino pays for, at a fixed bet on a named game, with wagering and a cap on any winnings. An in-game free spin is a bonus round a slot triggers itself, played at your current stake. For promotions, 50 spins at $0.20 is $10 of play, and the terms decide how much of any win you can keep.

Read the full Free spins guide · See also: Casino free spins, How do free spins work

A full-pay video poker game uses the most generous standard pay table for its variant, so it returns the most to a player using correct strategy. In Jacks or Better that's the 9/6 table, at about 99.54%; the common 8/5 version drops to about 97.3%. Two machines can carry the same name and deal the same cards yet pay differently, so read the pay table first.

Read the full Full pay guide · See also: Video poker pay table meaning, Online jacks or better

A gamble feature lets you risk a win you've just landed for a chance to double it, usually by guessing the color or suit of a face-down card; guess wrong and the whole win is gone. Third-party specs list a double-or-nothing option on RTG's Jacks or Better. A fair red-or-black guess adds swings without improving your average result, so it's a choice about risk, not value.

See also: Online jacks or better, Casino myths

The gambler's fallacy is the belief that past random results change future ones, such as thinking red is due after eight blacks in a row, or that a slot will pay because it hasn't for a while. Each spin, roll or hand is independent, so the chance of red on the next spin of a single-zero wheel stays 18 in 37 whatever came before. No pattern or system changes that.

See also: Gambler fallacy, Casino myths

Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship where people share their experience to stop gambling, using a 12-step program with meetings in person and online; find one at gamblersanonymous.org. Membership costs nothing, and the only requirement is a desire to stop gambling. Gam-Anon runs a separate support group for family and friends, and many people use GA alongside counseling or 1-800-MY-RESET.

See also: Gamblers Anonymous, What is Gamblers Anonymous

The gambling age is the minimum age set by state law for each form of gambling, and it varies by state and product. State-licensed online casinos require players to be 21 in states such as New Jersey and Michigan, while many states allow lottery play at 18. Offshore casinos set their own minimum in their terms, and sweepstakes sites usually require 18 or 21 depending on the state.

See also: Gambling age by state, What age to gamble online

The gambling loss deduction lets you deduct wagering losses on your federal return, but only up to your gambling winnings for the year. From tax year 2026, the 2025 tax law reportedly limits the deduction to 90% of losses, still capped at winnings, and an April 2026 proposed IRS rule states the same limit. Keep detailed records of every session, and check IRS guidance or a tax professional.

See also: Gambling loss deduction, Can I deduct gambling losses

Gambling winnings are taxable federal income, whether or not you receive a W-2G and whether the casino is state-licensed or offshore. Payers withhold 24% on certain large winnings, such as lottery and sports prizes over $5,000 that meet the 300-times rule, but not on slots, bingo or keno. Many states tax winnings too. Keep a record of wins and losses, and check IRS guidance or a tax professional.

See also: Gambling taxes, Do I pay tax on casino winnings

A live game show is a live dealer game built like a TV show, with a host, a big wheel or board and bonus rounds with random multipliers. Players bet on where the wheel stops or which feature triggers. They're lively entertainment, but returns vary from game to game and can be lower than core table games, so check the published RTP in the game's rules first.

See also: Live dealer guide, Best live dealer casinos

Game weighting, or game contribution, is the share of each bet that counts toward a bonus's wagering requirement. Slots usually count 100%, so a $1 spin clears $1. Table games and video poker often count far less or nothing: at 10%, a $1 blackjack hand clears only 10 cents, so $3,000 of wagering would need $30,000 in blackjack bets. Check the weighting table before you pick a game.

Read the full Game weighting guide · See also: Bonus game weighting, What games count toward wagering

Geolocation is the technology a casino uses to check where you are, through GPS, Wi-Fi, IP address or device data. State-licensed online casinos must confirm you're inside the state's borders before you play, as their regulators require. Offshore casinos use IP checks to block restricted countries and states, and their terms often let them void play from a restricted location.

See also: States with legal online casinos, VPN and online casinos

GLI, Gaming Laboratories International, is a testing lab founded in 1989 and based in Lakewood, New Jersey, whose standards many US state regulators use to certify slot machines, RNGs and online games. A GLI certificate covers a specific game version or system. Third-party sources list GLI among RealTime Gaming's credentials, so look for the actual certificate rather than a mention.

See also: RealTime Gaming (RTG) casinos, How RNGs work

Gold Coins are the play-only currency at sweepstakes and social casinos, used for slots and table-style games purely for entertainment. They have no cash value and can't be redeemed for prizes. You get them at sign-up and through daily rewards, or buy them in packages that often come with bonus Sweeps Coins. Keeping Gold Coins worthless is how operators argue that a purchase is separate from any prize.

Read the full Gold Coins guide · See also: Can you redeem gold coins, Sweepstakes casino laws

Gray market describes gambling sites that serve a country without a license from it, usually holding a foreign license and operating where local law is unclear or unenforced. Offshore casinos taking US players are often called gray-market, but several state regulators reject that label: Michigan's regulator calls such sites illegal offshore operators. Black market usually means sites with no license anywhere.

See also: Offshore casinos legality, Is it illegal to play at offshore casinos

A grinder is a player who makes lots of small bets over long sessions, usually on low-edge games, to stretch a bankroll, clear a bonus's wagering or build comp points. The word also describes a steady, disciplined poker player. At a casino, grinding slows the rate you spend but can't overcome the house edge: 2,000 bets of $1 at a 1% edge still cost about $20 on average.

Read the full Grinder guide · See also: Expected value of a bonus, Bankroll management

A hard hand in blackjack is any hand with no ace, or with an ace that must count as 1 to stay at 21 or under. Hard 16, such as 10-6, is the classic example. With no ace to soften a big card, a hard 12 or more can bust on the next card, which is why basic strategy sometimes stands on a hard total that looks weak.

Read the full Hard hand guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Soft hand meaning

A hardway bet is a craps wager that 4, 6, 8 or 10 will be rolled as a pair, such as 4-4 for hard 8, before a 7 or the same total rolled any other way. Hard 4 and hard 10 usually pay 7:1 with an 11.11% edge; hard 6 and hard 8 pay 9:1 with a 9.09% edge. They're popular side action but cost far more than the pass line's 1.41%.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

A high roller is a player who regularly bets and deposits far more than the average customer, and whom casinos court with VIP tiers, bigger matches, higher limits and personal hosts. At offshore casinos the catch is that withdrawal caps rarely grow as fast as the stakes, so a $30,000 win under a $5,000 weekly cap takes six weeks to cash out in full.

Read the full High roller guide · See also: Best high roller casinos, Weekly withdrawal limits

Hit has two casino meanings. In blackjack, to hit is to take another card, which risks a bust once your hard total reaches 12 or more. In slots, a hit is any winning spin, even one that pays less than your stake, and hit frequency measures how often they happen. Hitting a jackpot simply means winning it, which on a progressive is a long shot.

See also: How to play blackjack, Hit frequency meaning

Hit frequency is the share of spins, hands or bets that return any win at all, shown as a percentage or as 1 in X. It tells you how often a game pays, not how much, and a hit can be smaller than your stake: a $1 spin that pays $0.40 still counts. That's why hit frequency alone never tells you whether a game is good value; RTP does that job.

Read the full Hit frequency guide · See also: Slot volatility explained, What is RTP

Hold and spin is a slot bonus where coin or bonus symbols lock in place and you get a short set of respins, usually three, to land more. Each new symbol typically resets the respin count. RealTime Gaming calls its version Hold and Win. When the respins run out, the locked values are added up and paid, sometimes with a fixed jackpot for filling the grid.

Read the full Hold and spin guide · See also: Bonus round meaning, Progressive jackpots explained

The hole card is the dealer's face-down card in blackjack. Under most US rules, when the dealer's upcard is an ace or 10-value card, the dealer peeks at the hole card and ends the hand at once with blackjack, so you lose only your original bet. Under no-hole-card rules, common in European games, the second card comes later, and doubles or splits can be lost to a dealer blackjack.

See also: How to play blackjack, Online blackjack

The hot and cold myth is the belief that a slot or table goes through hot streaks when it pays and cold spells when it doesn't, so you can time your play. RNG games have no memory: each spin or hand is independent, and a machine that just paid is no less likely to pay again. Streaks happen by chance and are only visible looking back.

See also: Hot and cold slots myth, What is a hot slot

The house edge is the average percentage of every bet a casino expects to keep over the long run. A 5% edge means about $5 kept for every $100 wagered, whatever happens in a single session. Multiply your total stake by the edge to estimate the cost of play: $1,000 in single-zero roulette bets at 2.70% averages about $27. It's the mirror image of RTP.

Read the full House edge guide · See also: House edge explained, Casino math basics

An i-Slot is an interactive slot with a storyline that develops as you play, opening new scenes, features or bonuses over many spins. The term comes from Rival Gaming's i-Slots series, which third-party sources say includes titles such as As the Reels Turn and Reel Crime. Progress is usually saved to your account, but the story doesn't change the game's RTP.

See also: Rival Gaming casinos, Casino software providers guide

iGaming is the industry term for real-money online casino gaming, such as slots, table games and live dealer games, and sometimes online poker. It's usually kept separate from online sports betting, which far more states allow. Seven states license iGaming: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Maine legalized tribal online casinos in January 2026, but nothing had launched by October 2026.

See also: States with legal online casinos, Which states allow online casinos

IGRA, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, enacted October 17, 1988 (25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.), is the federal law governing gaming on tribal land. It sets three classes: Class I social and traditional games, Class II bingo and certain non-banked card games, and Class III casino games and slots, which need a tribal-state compact. It also created the National Indian Gaming Commission.

See also: Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Tribal gaming

The Illegal Gambling Business Act (18 U.S.C. § 1955) makes it a federal crime to run all or part of a gambling business that breaks state law, involves five or more people and has operated for more than 30 days or taken $2,000 in a single day. Penalties reach five years in prison, plus forfeiture. It targets operators, and it's one reason state law is the starting point.

See also: Illegal Gambling Business Act, Is online gambling legal in the US

An inside bet is any roulette wager placed on the numbered grid itself, covering one to six specific numbers: straight-up, split, street, corner, six line and, on double-zero wheels, the five-number bet. Inside bets pay more because they win less often, but on a single-zero wheel each one carries the same 2.70% house edge as the outside bets.

Read the full Inside bet guide · See also: How to play roulette, Online european roulette

Instant play means playing casino games straight in a web browser, with nothing to download. You open the casino's site on a computer or phone, log in, and games load in the page. Most offshore casinos that take US players work this way, and none of our partner casinos publishes a mobile app, which is why bookmarking the real address matters more than hunting for an app.

Read the full Instant play guide · See also: Instant play vs download, What is instant play

Insurance in blackjack is a side bet offered when the dealer shows an ace. You stake up to half your original bet that the dealer has blackjack, and it pays 2:1 if they do. On a $20 hand, $10 of insurance wins $20 if the dealer has 21 and is lost otherwise. Despite the name, it doesn't protect your hand, and basic strategy says to decline it.

Read the full Insurance guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack meaning

iTech Labs is an Australia-based testing lab that certifies RNGs, game math and online gambling systems for regulators and operators in many jurisdictions. Its certificates name the games or platform tested and the date. As with any lab seal, a real certificate can be checked against the lab's own records, and an image on a casino page without that link isn't proof of testing.

See also: How RNGs work, Casino red flags

Jacks or Better is the classic video poker game: a pair of jacks or higher returns your stake, and bigger hands pay by the pay table up to a royal flush. The full-pay 9/6 version returns about 99.54% with correct strategy, and third-party reviewers list RTG's Jacks or Better at that figure, with a double-or-nothing gamble option. Lower tables such as 8/5 cost noticeably more.

See also: Online jacks or better, What is Jacks or Better

Joker Poker is a video poker game dealt from a 53-card deck that includes one joker, which acts as a wild card. Because the joker makes hands easier, the lowest paying hand is usually a pair of kings or better, and five of a kind is possible. Pay tables vary between versions, and third-party sources don't publish an RTP for RTG's Joker Poker, so compare the table before you play.

See also: Online joker poker, Video poker strategy

Keno is a lottery-style game where you pick numbers, usually from 1 to 80, and the game draws 20. You win based on how many of your picks, or spots, are drawn and on the pay table for the number of spots you chose. Land-based keno is known for a high house edge compared with table games. Third-party specs list RTG's Keno with a quick-pick option but no published RTP.

See also: Online keno, What is keno

A keno spot is a number you mark on a keno ticket, and the count of spots names the ticket, so six marks make a 6-spot. In standard keno, 20 of 80 numbers are drawn, and each match is a catch. More spots open bigger top prizes, but catching all of them gets much rarer: on a 10-spot, catching all 10 happens about once in 8.9 million games.

Read the full Keno spot guide · See also: Online keno, How to play keno

A kicker is the highest side card that isn't part of your made hand, used to break ties between hands of the same rank. A pair of kings with an ace beats a pair of kings with a queen, and the ace is the kicker. It decides many dealer-versus-player hands, and in Double Double Bonus video poker a 2, 3 or 4 kicker with four aces earns the top four-of-a-kind payout.

Read the full Kicker guide · See also: Video poker strategy, Online double double bonus poker

KYC, short for know your customer, is the identity check a casino runs to confirm who you are, that you're old enough and that the payment methods are yours. Expect a photo ID, a recent proof of address and sometimes a card photo or crypto wallet details. At offshore casinos KYC usually happens before the first withdrawal, and an unfinished check is the most common reason a payout stalls.

Read the full KYC guide · See also: KYC documents casinos, How to verify your casino account

La partage is a French roulette rule for even-money bets: when the ball lands on zero, the house takes only half your stake and returns the other half. A $20 bet on red loses $10 on a zero instead of $20. The rule lowers the house edge on even-money bets from 2.70% to about 1.35%, the same as en prison, and it doesn't apply to inside bets.

See also: European roulette meaning, Outside bet meaning

A leaderboard is the live ranking table in a casino tournament or promotion, showing where players stand and what each place wins. Scoring varies: total wagered, net winnings, biggest single win as a multiple of the bet, or points per spin. Leaderboards that rank by amount staked reward playing more and longer, so set a budget first and treat any prize as a bonus, not a target.

See also: Slot tournaments, Casino tournament prizes

Let It Ride is a poker table game where you place three equal bets and get three cards, with two community cards to come. After seeing your cards, and again after the first community card, you can pull back one bet or let it ride. Your final five-card hand pays on a pair of 10s or better, with no dealer hand to beat. RTG's version is called Let 'Em Ride.

See also: Online let 'em ride, What is Let em Ride

Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency launched in 2011 as a faster, lower-fee alternative to Bitcoin, with a new block about every 2.5 minutes on average. Many offshore casinos list it in the cashier for deposits and sometimes withdrawals. Its quicker blocks can mean faster credit, but the casino's own pending period usually decides how soon a withdrawal actually arrives in your wallet.

See also: Litecoin casinos, Is Litecoin faster than Bitcoin

A live dealer game is a table game run by a real person, dealing real cards or spinning a real wheel, streamed on video while you bet through on-screen buttons. Results come from the physical game, not an RNG. None of our partner casinos shows a live dealer section on its own site, and reviewers' reports conflict, so check the lobby. Expect higher minimum bets than on RNG tables.

Read the full Live dealer guide · See also: Live dealer guide, Do RTG casinos have live dealer

A live studio is the broadcast facility where live dealer games are filmed, with tables, cameras, dealers and staff who manage the stream. Software reads each card or result and turns it into data for your bet screen. Studios serving state-licensed casinos work under approval from the state regulator. For offshore casinos, check the game's information for the studio's name and its license, if any.

See also: Live dealer guide, Fresh Deck Studios (live dealer) casinos

A loss limit caps how much you can lose over a day, week or month, measured as deposits minus withdrawals or as net losses on bets. Once you reach it, the casino stops further play until the period resets. You set it, and it works best when it matches what you can afford to spend on entertainment, such as $50 a week, rather than serving as a target to play up to.

See also: Deposit limits, Gambling budget

A lottery is a game of chance where players buy tickets for a drawing or an instant game, with prizes paid from ticket sales. Most US states run lotteries, including multi-state draws such as Powerball and Mega Millions, while a few states, such as Utah, ban gambling outright. Some states sell tickets online, and lottery wins over $5,000 face 24% federal withholding.

See also: State lotteries online, Gambling taxes

The Martingale is a betting system where you double your stake after every loss on an even-money bet, hoping a win recovers everything plus one base unit. Starting at $5, seven straight losses mean the eighth bet is $640, with $635 already gone, and table limits can stop you doubling. It wins small amounts often, loses big amounts rarely, and never changes the house edge.

Read the full Martingale guide · See also: Is martingale a good strategy, Roulette strategies tested

A match bonus is bonus credit a casino adds in proportion to your deposit, up to a stated maximum: 100% on $50 adds $50, and 200% adds $100. The percentage gets attention, but the wagering rule decides what it's worth, and a large match can come with a max cashout cap. Most match bonuses are slot-focused, with table games excluded or weighted lower, so check the terms.

Read the full Match bonus guide · See also: Casino match bonus, Casino deposit match explained

The max bet rule caps how much you can stake per spin or hand while a bonus is active, often $5 or $10, or a percentage of the bonus. Break it even once and the casino can void your bonus winnings, even if the oversized bet lost. It's one of the most common reasons bonus withdrawals are refused, so set your stake below the cap before you start.

See also: Bonus terms red flags, Why was my bonus removed

Max cashout is the most a casino lets you withdraw from winnings made with a particular bonus, however large your balance grows. If a free chip has a $100 max cashout and you finish wagering with $480, the casino pays $100 and removes the other $380. Caps are often set as a multiple of the deposit or bonus, such as 10x, so check them before accepting an offer.

Read the full Max cashout guide · See also: Max cashout rules, What is max cashout

Max win is the largest payout a slot can award on one spin or feature, stated as a multiple of your total bet, such as 5,000x. At a $1 stake that's $5,000; at $0.20 it's $1,000. Many games end a feature once the cap is hit. At offshore casinos, also compare the max win with the casino's weekly withdrawal limit and any bonus max cashout, which can be far lower.

See also: Weekly withdrawal limits, Max cashout meaning

MCC 7995 is the merchant category code card networks assign to gambling transactions, such as betting, casino gaming and lottery purchases. When a casino deposit carries this code, your bank sees it as gambling, and many US issuers decline it, ask for extra checks or treat it as a cash advance with fees. That's a big reason card deposits at offshore casinos often fail and crypto is offered instead.

Read the full MCC 7995 guide · See also: Casino card declines, Credit card gambling blocks

Megaways is a slot mechanic, created by Big Time Gaming and licensed to other studios, where the number of symbols on each reel changes every spin. On a typical six-reel game, each reel shows two to seven symbols, giving up to 117,649 ways to win. Most Megaways slots add cascading reels and high volatility, so long losing runs between big wins are normal.

See also: Ways to win meaning, Volatility meaning

The minimum deposit is the smallest amount a casino accepts in one payment, such as $10 or $20, and it can vary by method; a bonus may require more. If a welcome match needs a $25 minimum and you deposit $20, you may get no bonus at all. Low minimums suit small budgets, but fees on small crypto or card deposits can eat a large share of the amount.

See also: Casino minimum deposits, What is the minimum deposit

The minimum withdrawal is the smallest amount a casino will pay out in one request, and it often differs by payment method. If the minimum is $50 and your balance is $35, you can't cash out until it grows, which can pull you into extra play. Crypto minimums are often lower than those for bank wire or check, so check the cashier before you deposit.

See also: What is the minimum withdrawal, Casino withdrawal limits

A mirror site is a copy of a casino's website at a different address, showing the same games and accounts. Official mirrors are run by the casino, often after a domain is blocked or changed. Unofficial mirror sites copy a casino's name without permission, and some exist to collect logins and deposits. Reach a casino only through an address you've confirmed, never through a link in an unexpected message.

Read the full Mirror site guide · See also: Casino mirror sites, Phishing scams

A multiplier multiplies a payout, so a 3x multiplier turns a $5 win into $15. Slots attach them to wilds, free spins and cascades, and some grow with each win in a feature. The same x appears in bonus terms, where 30x wagering or a 10x max cashout multiplies your bonus or deposit to set a target or a cap, and that version works against you.

Read the full Multiplier guide · See also: What is wild, Wagering requirements explained

Murphy v. NCAA is the Supreme Court decision of May 14, 2018 that struck down PASPA. In a 6-3 ruling written by Justice Alito, the Court held that barring states from authorizing sports betting violated the Constitution's anticommandeering rule, and that no part of the law could survive. The ruling opened the door to state sports betting; it didn't legalize online casinos.

See also: PASPA and Murphy v NCAA, Is sports betting legal in my state

A must-drop jackpot is a progressive prize that has to be won before a set time, such as daily, or before the meter reaches a stated cap, such as $1,000. The cap is published, so you can see how close the meter is, but each spin's chance still depends on the game's math and how many others are playing. Read the rules for which bets qualify.

See also: Progressive jackpots explained, Jackpot odds

A natural is a winning total dealt or rolled straight away. In baccarat it's a two-card total of 8 or 9, which ends the hand with no more cards drawn. In craps it's a 7 or 11 on the come-out roll, which wins pass line bets. Blackjack players sometimes call an ace plus a 10-value card a natural too, and it usually pays 3:2.

See also: How to play baccarat, Craps pass line meaning

A near miss is a losing result that looks close to a win, such as two jackpot symbols on the payline and a third just above it. It means nothing: every spin is decided independently by the RNG, so the next spin is no more likely to hit. Near misses can feel like encouragement to keep playing, which makes them worth recognizing rather than chasing.

See also: Hot and cold slots myth, What is RNG

Neosurf is a prepaid payment voucher: you buy it, get a code and type the code at a merchant's checkout to pay without card or bank details. Some offshore casinos list it as a deposit method, but it's deposit-only, so winnings must come back another way, such as crypto or a bank transfer. Check the casino's withdrawal options and KYC rules before depositing with a voucher.

Read the full Neosurf guide · See also: Neosurf casinos, Prepaid vouchers guide

A network fee is the amount paid to a blockchain's miners or validators to process a crypto transfer; on Ethereum it's called a gas fee. It goes to the network, not the casino, and it rises when the network is busy. A $5 fee on a $50 deposit is 10% gone before you play. Casinos may also charge their own withdrawal fee on top, so check both.

See also: Crypto fees guide, Do casinos charge fees

A no deposit bonus is a small amount of casino credit, a free chip or a batch of spins, added to a new account before you deposit anything. It lets you try a casino's games, but wagering rules and a max cashout cap decide whether any of it reaches your bank, and many casinos require a deposit before the first withdrawal. A $25 chip with a $100 cap is a typical shape.

Read the full No deposit bonus guide · See also: Casino no deposit bonus, What is a no deposit bonus

A non-sticky bonus keeps your deposit and the bonus in separate balances, and you play with your own cash first. Win early, and you can usually withdraw by forfeiting the bonus; lose your cash, and the bonus takes over with its wagering rules. With a $100 deposit and a $100 bonus, a run up to $400 in cash can often be withdrawn before the bonus is ever touched.

Read the full Non-sticky bonus guide · See also: Casino non-sticky bonus, Sticky bonus meaning

Odds express the chance of an outcome, as a probability (1 in 37) or as odds against (36 to 1), and casinos also use odds to describe what a bet pays. A payout quoted to 1 returns your stake on top, so 35 to 1 on $10 pays $350 plus the $10, while for 1 includes the stake. A single-number roulette bet has true odds of 36 to 1 but pays 35 to 1, and that gap is the house edge.

See also: Casino math basics, House edge explained

An odds bet is an extra craps wager placed behind a pass line or come bet once a point is set, paid at true odds: 2:1 on 4 or 10, 3:2 on 5 or 9 and 6:5 on 6 or 8. It has no house edge, so adding odds lowers the average cost of your combined bet. Casinos cap it as a multiple of the line bet, such as 3x-4x-5x odds.

Read the full Odds bet guide · See also: Online craps, Craps pass line meaning

An offshore casino is an online casino run from outside the United States that accepts US players without a license from any US state. It may hold a foreign license from somewhere like Curaçao or Anjouan, or none. Only seven states license real-money online casinos, and offshore sites aren't among them, so there's no state regulator to complain to and no state-backed protection of balances.

Read the full Offshore casino guide · See also: Offshore casinos legality, Offshore vs state licensed casinos

An outside bet is a roulette wager placed in the boxes around the number grid, covering 12 or 18 numbers at once: red or black, odd or even, 1–18 or 19–36, a dozen or a column. These win more often than inside bets and pay 1:1 or 2:1, and the green zero makes all of them lose. On a single-zero wheel the edge is still 2.70%.

Read the full Outside bet guide · See also: How to play roulette, Inside bet meaning

Pai Gow is an old Chinese tile game, and the name now usually means Pai Gow Poker, the casino card game built on it. You get seven cards and set a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand, and both must beat the dealer's hands to win. Many hands push, which makes the game slow and steady, and winning bets usually pay even money minus a 5% commission.

Read the full Pai Gow guide · See also: Online pai gow poker, How to play pai gow poker

Pair Plus is the Three Card Poker side bet that pays if your three cards make a pair or better, whatever the dealer holds. A common US pay table is 1:1 for a pair, 3:1 for a flush, 6:1 for a straight, 30:1 for three of a kind and 40:1 for a straight flush, which gives a house edge of about 7.28%. Tables paying 4:1 on a flush drop that to about 2.32%.

See also: How to play three card poker, What is Tri Card Poker

A parlay is a single sports bet that combines two or more selections, all of which must win for the bet to pay. The odds multiply, so a two-leg parlay at -110 per leg pays about 2.64 to 1, but the bookmaker's margin compounds too, and one losing leg sinks the lot. Parlays are popular because the payouts look large, but they usually cost more per dollar than single bets.

See also: Sports betting laws, House edge meaning

PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, was a federal law that barred most states from authorizing sports betting, leaving Nevada as the main exception. The Supreme Court struck down the whole statute in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018, which let states legalize sports betting on their own terms. PASPA never covered online casino games.

See also: PASPA and Murphy v NCAA, Sports betting laws

Payback, or payback percentage, is the share of all money staked on a game that it returns to players on average over a very long run. A 95% payback means about $95 back for every $100 wagered across millions of plays, with $5 kept by the house. The term is common on land-based slot machines; online, the same figure is usually called RTP.

Read the full Payback guide · See also: House edge explained, Best high RTP casinos

A payline is a set path across a slot's reels, and you win only when matching symbols land along it, usually starting from the leftmost reel. Games range from one line on classic slots to 50 or more on video slots, and on many games your total bet equals the line bet times the number of lines. Twenty-five lines at $0.04 is a $1 spin.

Read the full Paylines guide · See also: How to play slots, Ways to win meaning

Payout speed is the total time from requesting a withdrawal to having the money, made up of the casino's pending and processing period plus the payment method's own transfer time. Crypto is usually quickest once approved, while bank wires and checks can take much longer. Unfinished KYC, bonus checks and weekends often add days, so judge a casino by its published times and reviewers' reports.

See also: Casino withdrawal times, How long do casino withdrawals take

PayPal is an e-wallet that lets you pay without sharing card or bank details. Its policies allow gambling payments only to approved operators licensed where they operate, so in the US you'll find it at state-licensed online casinos in states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan, not at offshore casinos. A site claiming PayPal while holding no US state license deserves a closer look.

See also: PayPal casinos, Can I use PayPal at online casinos

A paytable is the screen inside a casino game that lists every winning combination and what it pays, plus the rules for wilds, scatters and features. On slots it explains how wins form and often shows the RTP. On video poker the pay table largely decides the game's return, so it's the first screen to read before you bet a cent.

Read the full Paytable guide · See also: Video poker pay table meaning, How to play slots

The pending period is the stretch between requesting a withdrawal and the casino approving it, while staff check your identity, bonus play and limits. Nothing has been sent yet. Published pending windows at offshore casinos run from about 48 hours to 10 business days, and the payment method's own transfer time comes after that, so plan around the total, not just the headline.

Read the full Pending period guide · See also: Casino pending withdrawals, Why is my casino withdrawal pending

Perfect Pairs is a blackjack side bet that pays when your first two cards are a pair. A mixed pair (different colors) often pays 5:1, a colored pair (same color, different suits) 10:1, and a perfect pair (identical cards) 25:1. Third-party reviewers list RTG's Blackjack + Perfect Pairs with an RTP range of 95.9% to 99.59%, and the side bet usually costs more than the main hand.

See also: Online blackjack + perfect pairs, What is blackjack perfect pairs

A person-to-person (P2P) transfer is a payment sent to a named individual through a money transfer service, rather than to the casino as a merchant. Some offshore casinos have used it for deposits and payouts, with fees, ID checks and limits set by the transfer service. Sending money to a private person carries scam risk, so use only methods the casino's own cashier lists.

See also: Casino person to person transfer, Crypto casino scams

A place bet is a craps wager that a chosen number, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, will be rolled before a 7, made at any time without waiting for a point. Payouts are below true odds: 6 and 8 pay 7:6 (1.52% edge), 5 and 9 pay 7:5 (4.00%), and 4 and 10 pay 9:5 (6.67%). That's why players often place the 6 and 8 in $6 units.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

Plinko is a game where a ball drops through rows of pegs and lands in a slot at the bottom with a set multiplier, higher at the edges and lower in the middle. Many versions let you choose a risk level and the number of rows, which changes volatility. Third-party specs list RTG's Fu Long Plinko at 95% RTP with a 1,000x max win and adjustable volatility.

See also: Online fu long plinko, Online plinko beyond

A pooled jackpot is a single progressive prize fed by bets from many players across several casinos or games, so the meter grows faster than one site could manage. RealTime Gaming's Aztec's Millions and Jackpot Piñatas are described as pooled this way. A bigger pool means a bigger headline, not better odds on any one spin, and offshore withdrawal caps can stretch the payout.

Read the full Pooled jackpot guide · See also: What is a pooled jackpot, RTG progressive jackpot system (Real Series random jackpots, pooled progressives, Real Drop)

Problem gambling is gambling that harms your finances, relationships, work or health; at its most severe, clinicians diagnose it as gambling disorder. Signs include chasing losses, hiding play, borrowing to gamble and feeling unable to stop. It's treatable. Confidential help is available at no cost from 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), Gamblers Anonymous and state programs, and 988 is there in a crisis.

See also: Signs of a gambling problem, Is gambling addiction treatable, Treatment options

A progressive jackpot is a prize that grows a little with every qualifying bet until someone wins it, then resets to a seed amount and climbs again. RealTime Gaming slots such as Aztec's Millions and Megasaur carry these meters. The headline is real, but the odds are long, part of each bet funds the meter, and at offshore casinos weekly withdrawal caps can spread a big win over months.

Read the full Progressive jackpot guide · See also: Progressive jackpots explained, Best progressive jackpot casinos

Promotional play is how sweepstakes casinos describe their games: entertainment play with Gold Coins, plus a promotional sweepstakes, open without purchase, in which Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for prizes. The label is a legal argument, not a ruling. States including New York, New Jersey and California now treat dual-currency play as illegal, so the framing gives players no protection there.

See also: Sweepstakes casino bans, Are sweepstakes casinos legal

Proposition bets are the one-roll and short-term craps wagers in the center of the table, such as any seven, any craps, yo, snake eyes and boxcars. They offer big-looking payouts, from 4:1 up to 30:1, but carry house edges of roughly 11% to 17%, against 1.41% on the pass line. A $5 prop bet on every roll adds up fast, so treat them as an expensive extra.

See also: Online craps, How to play craps

Provably fair is a system used mainly at crypto casinos that lets you check a game result wasn't altered after you bet. The casino commits to a hashed server seed before play, you add a client seed, and after the round you can verify the outcome using the revealed seed. It proves the result matched the published method; it doesn't remove the house edge.

See also: Best crypto casinos, How RNGs work

Punto banco is the standard casino form of baccarat, where the house banks every hand and cards are drawn by fixed rules. Punto means Player and banco means Banker, and you simply bet on which hand finishes closer to nine, or on a tie. Online and live dealer baccarat almost always use punto banco rules, with the Banker bet carrying the lowest edge at about 1.06% and Player about 1.24%.

See also: How to play baccarat, Best baccarat casinos

A push is a tie: your bet neither wins nor loses and the stake comes back. In blackjack it happens when your total equals the dealer's, so a $25 hand ending 19 against 19 returns $25 and nothing more. Pushes also appear in pai gow poker, on the bar-12 rule for craps don't pass bets, and on baccarat Banker and Player bets when the hand ties.

Read the full Push guide · See also: How to play blackjack, Blackjack meaning

Rake is the fee a poker room takes from each pot or tournament entry, usually a small percentage up to a cap, because players compete against each other rather than the house. Casino table games such as Three Card Poker or Caribbean Stud have no rake; the house edge does the same job. Online poker for real money is legal only in a few states, through state-licensed sites.

See also: Online poker laws, Is online poker legal in the US

A random jackpot is a slot jackpot that can be awarded on any spin, with no need to line up particular symbols; the game's RNG decides when it lands. RealTime Gaming uses random jackpots on its Real Series slots and on titles like Aladdin's Wishes, which third-party reviewers say can be won without a maximum bet. Each spin's chance is independent, so a jackpot is never due.

Read the full Random jackpot guide · See also: Progressive jackpots explained, Aladdin's Wishes slot review

A Real Series jackpot is a random, tiered jackpot that RealTime Gaming attaches to its Real Series slots, which otherwise pay fixed amounts. It can land on any spin, whatever symbols appear, and its meter is fed by one casino or one operator's group of casinos rather than a wide network. Expect smaller meters than wide-area progressives, and check the game's info screen for the tiers.

Read the full Real Series jackpot guide · See also: Real Series jackpots guide, What are Real Series jackpots

A reality check is a pop-up that interrupts play at set intervals to show how long you've been gambling and, often, your net win or loss for the session. Time and money are easy to lose track of on fast games, and the reminder gives you a planned moment to stop. Set it to something short, such as every 30 minutes, if the casino lets you choose.

Read the full Reality check guide · See also: Reality checks guide, What is a reality check

RealTime Gaming (RTG) is a casino software provider founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1998, which third-party sources say moved operations to Costa Rica in 2007. It's known for Real Series random jackpots and pooled progressives such as Aztec's Millions, and in 2022 it adopted the SpinLogic Gaming brand for US and many international markets. Third-party reviews list RTG at SlotoCash, Silver Oak, Planet 7 and Slot Madness.

See also: RealTime Gaming (RTG) casinos, What is RTG, Best RTG casinos

Redemption is turning Sweeps Coins into a prize, usually cash by bank transfer or a gift card. Operators typically require identity verification, a minimum number of coins and that each coin has been played through at least once. Redemption times vary and can stretch for days. In states that ban dual-currency sweepstakes, sites block play or redemptions, so check the current rules for your state.

See also: What are sweeps coins, Sweepstakes vs real money casinos

A reload bonus is a deposit match for existing players, offered after the welcome package is used up. It usually runs on a schedule, such as a weekend or weekday code, with its own percentage, minimum deposit and wagering rule. A 50% reload on $100 adds $50 in bonus credit, and the terms can be far kinder or far tougher than the welcome offer's.

Read the full Reload bonus guide · See also: Casino reload bonus, What is a reload bonus

A retrigger happens when you land the trigger symbols again during a slot's free spins round, adding more spins to the remaining total, often the same number you started with. Third-party specs list extra free spins on dozens of RTG slots. Some games cap retriggers or total spins, so check the paytable, and remember the chance of a retrigger is already counted in the game's RTP.

See also: Free spins meaning, Scatter meaning

A reverse withdrawal is canceling a payout request while it's still pending, which puts the money back in your casino balance where it can be played again. Some casinos allow it with one click during the pending period. It's one of the most common ways players lose winnings they had already decided to keep, so asking support to disable reversals, where that's offered, is worth considering.

Read the full Reverse withdrawal guide · See also: Casino pending withdrawals, Chasing losses

An RNG, or random number generator, is the software that decides the outcome of every digital casino game, from each slot spin to every card in online blackjack. It produces unpredictable numbers that the game maps to results, so no spin depends on the one before it. Independent labs test RNGs, and regulated states require certification; at offshore casinos, check which lab, if any, is named.

Read the full RNG guide · See also: How RNGs work, Are slots rigged online

RNG certification is an independent lab's confirmation that a game's random number generator produces unpredictable results and that the game pays at its stated RTP. Labs include GLI, eCOGRA, iTech Labs and BMM, and third-party sources say RTG games are tested by TST. State regulators require certified games; at offshore casinos, look for a named lab and a dated certificate, not just a logo.

See also: How RNGs work, Are RTG games fair

A royal flush is the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of one suit, the highest standard poker hand. A random five-card deal makes one about once in 649,740 hands, and in Jacks or Better with correct strategy it arrives roughly once every 40,000 hands. Video poker usually pays 4,000 coins for it on a five-coin bet, against 250 for one coin, which is why max coins matter.

Read the full Royal flush guide · See also: Online jacks or better, Jackpot odds

RTP, or return to player, is the percentage of all money wagered on a game that it's designed to pay back over a very large number of rounds. A slot listed at 96% returns about $96 per $100 staked in the long run and keeps $4. RTP says nothing about a single session, and the same slot can be offered in several RTP versions, so check the game's info screen.

Read the full RTP guide · See also: How slot RTP works, What is RTP

An RTP range means a slot is supplied to casinos in several return versions, for example 96%, 94% and 92%, and each casino chooses which one to run. The game looks and plays the same, but on $1,000 of spins the gap between 96% and 92% is about $40 in average cost. Third-party specs list an RTP range for some RTG slots, so check the info screen at your casino.

See also: How slot RTP works, Best high RTP casinos

A scatter is a slot symbol that pays or triggers a feature wherever it lands, without sitting on a payline. Three or more usually start free spins or a bonus round, and scatter wins are normally multiplied by your total bet rather than the line bet. In RTG's Witchy Wins, for example, three, four or five scatters award 8, 15 or 50 free spins, according to third-party specs.

Read the full Scatter guide · See also: How to play slots, Witchy Wins slot review

Scratch cards are instant-win games where you reveal hidden symbols and win if they match a prize pattern. US state lotteries sell paper scratchers, and online casinos offer digital versions with a return set by the game; third-party sources list RTG's Treasure Tree as one. Each card's result is fixed when it's printed or bought, so how you scratch makes no difference.

See also: Online treasure tree, State lotteries online

Self-exclusion is a voluntary request to be barred from gambling, at one casino or across every licensed operator in a state program, for a set period or permanently. Once it's in place, the operator should close your account and refuse new sign-ups. At offshore casinos it's handled by each site's support team, so exclude from every account you hold and add blocking software for extra protection.

Read the full Self-exclusion guide · See also: Self exclusion guide, Self exclusion at offshore casinos

A self-exclusion list is a state-run register of people who've asked to be barred from gambling, which state-licensed casinos and online operators must honor, often for one year, five years or life. The National Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program at nvsep.org offers another route. Offshore casinos aren't part of state lists, so exclude directly with each site and add blocking software.

See also: State self exclusion lists, Self exclusion guide

A gambling session is one continuous sitting of play, from your first bet to the moment you stop. Planning one means setting a money limit, a time limit and a stop point before you start, for example $40 and 45 minutes. Results inside one session swing widely, and the cost of play adds up with every bet, so ending on schedule matters more than ending on a win.

Read the full Session guide · See also: Bankroll management, Responsible gambling

A session limit caps how long you can play in one sitting, or how much you can lose or stake in it, after which the casino logs you out or blocks bets. A time limit of 60 minutes, for example, ends play on schedule however the session is going. Some casinos let you set one in account settings; if yours doesn't, a phone timer and a fixed budget do the same job.

See also: Reality checks guide, Responsible gambling

A shoe is the box that holds several shuffled decks and lets the dealer slide out one card at a time. Blackjack and baccarat tables often use six- or eight-deck shoes, and live dealer studios use them too. Online RNG games have no physical shoe; the software reshuffles its virtual cards for every hand, which is why card counting doesn't work there.

Read the full Shoe guide · See also: How to play blackjack, Card counting meaning

Sic Bo is a Chinese dice game played with three dice, where you bet on totals, specific numbers or combinations. The simplest bets, Small (totals 4 to 10) and Big (11 to 17), pay even money and lose on any triple, giving a house edge of about 2.78%. Bets on a specific triple pay much more but carry a far higher edge, so check the pay table before you bet.

See also: Online sic bo, How to play sic bo

A side bet is an optional extra wager placed alongside the main bet, paying on a specific outcome such as a pair, a poker hand or a suited combination. Popular blackjack side bets include Perfect Pairs and 21+3. Payouts look large, from 5:1 to 100:1 or more, but side bets usually carry a much higher house edge than the main game, so they raise the cost of each round.

See also: Online blackjack + perfect pairs, House edge meaning

A six line, also called a double street, is a roulette bet covering two neighboring rows of three numbers, six in total, such as 31 to 36. The chip sits on the outer line where the two rows meet. It pays 5:1, so a $10 six line wins $50 plus your stake. Like other inside bets, it carries a 2.70% edge on a single-zero wheel.

See also: Inside bet meaning, Online european roulette

Snake eyes is a roll of two ones, a total of 2, the rarest craps total along with 12. Only one of 36 combinations makes it, so a one-roll bet on 2 has true odds of 35 to 1 and usually pays 30:1, a house edge of about 13.89%. On the come-out roll, snake eyes is craps: it loses pass line bets, while don't pass bets win.

See also: Online craps, Craps pass line meaning

A social casino is an app or website with slots and table games played only with virtual coins that can't be cashed out or redeemed for prizes. You can often buy more coins, but nothing you win has money value, which separates it from sweepstakes and real-money casinos. New York's 2025 sweepstakes law, for example, doesn't reach games without cash-redeemable rewards.

Read the full Social casino guide · See also: Social casinos guide, What is a social casino

The soft 17 rule says whether the blackjack dealer must stand or draw on a soft 17, such as ace-6. Dealer stands on soft 17 (S17) is better for you; dealer hits soft 17 (H17) adds roughly 0.2 percentage points to the house edge. Third-party specs say RTG's Suit 'Em Up Blackjack has the dealer hit soft 17, so check the rules printed on the table before you sit down.

See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Online suit 'em up blackjack

A soft hand in blackjack has an ace counted as 11 without going over 21, such as ace-6, a soft 17. Because the ace can drop to 1, one more card can't bust you, so basic strategy often hits or doubles soft totals that would be stands as hard hands. Whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17 is a key table rule that shifts the house edge.

Read the full Soft hand guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Hard hand meaning

Source of funds is where the money you deposit comes from, such as wages, savings or the sale of an asset, and a source of funds check is a casino asking you to prove it, usually with bank statements or pay stubs. It goes beyond ID checks and tends to come with large deposits or withdrawals, holding a payout until you answer. It's tied to anti-money laundering rules.

Read the full Source of funds guide · See also: Source of funds checks, Why casinos ask for documents

Source of wealth is how you built your overall wealth, such as salary over many years, a business, an inheritance or investments, as opposed to source of funds, which is where a specific deposit came from. Casinos ask about it mainly for high rollers or very large withdrawals, under anti-money laundering rules, and may want tax returns or business records before paying out.

See also: Source of funds checks, Source of funds meaning

SpinLogic Gaming is the brand RealTime Gaming adopted in 2022 for its US and many international operations, according to third-party sources; one review site calls it RTG under a different name. The catalog, jackpots and game math are shared, so a SpinLogic logo on a casino usually means RTG titles. Third-party reviews list SpinLogic games at SlotoCash and Silver Oak.

See also: SpinLogic Gaming casinos, RealTime Gaming (RTG) casinos

To split in blackjack is to turn a starting pair into two hands by adding a second bet equal to the first, then playing each hand on its own. A $10 pair of 8s becomes two $10 hands, so $20 rides on the round. Rules vary on re-splitting, which makes a third or fourth hand if another pair arrives, on split aces and on doubling after a split.

Read the full Split guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Double down meaning

A sportsbook is the part of a gambling site, or a standalone site, that takes bets on sports events. Since Murphy v. NCAA in 2018, states can legalize sports betting, and most now have, many with licensed mobile apps. Many offshore casinos also run a sportsbook tab with no state license. Casino bonuses usually exclude sports bets, and sports wagers rarely count toward casino wagering.

See also: Sports betting laws, Is sports betting legal in my state

The squeeze is a slow, dramatic reveal of baccarat cards, bending them so the pips appear a little at a time. It started at high-stakes tables in Asia and is now a feature of some live dealer baccarat games. It's pure theater: the cards are already set when dealt, so the squeeze doesn't change the result or the odds, only the pace of the hand.

See also: How to play baccarat, Best baccarat casinos

SSL encryption, now technically TLS, scrambles data between your browser and a website so others can't read it, shown by https and a padlock in the address bar. Every casino that handles logins and payments should use it. It protects data in transit only: a padlock says nothing about whether a casino pays out, holds a license or treats players fairly.

See also: Casino account security, How to spot a rogue casino

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged one-to-one to the US dollar. Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are the best known. At offshore casinos they let you deposit crypto without Bitcoin's price swings, but many casinos pay withdrawals only in Bitcoin, and you must send stablecoins on the exact network the cashier names, such as ERC20 or TRC20.

Read the full Stablecoin guide · See also: Stablecoins guide, USDT Tether casinos

Stacked symbols appear in tall blocks on a reel strip, so the same symbol can fill two, three or all positions in a column on one spin. When stacks line up across several reels, one spin can pay on many lines at once. Stacks make a slot's results streakier, with bigger occasional hits and more blank spins, without changing its RTP. Stacked wilds work the same way.

See also: Volatility meaning, How to play slots

A state regulator is the agency that licenses and supervises gambling in a state, such as the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board or the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Regulators approve operators, test games, handle player complaints and act against illegal sites, including cease-and-desist letters to offshore casinos. Offshore casinos answer to none of them.

See also: State regulators, How to file a casino complaint

A state-licensed online casino is one approved by a state regulator to offer real-money games to players inside that state. Only New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island license them. Licensed sites must verify location and age, use tested games and give players a complaint route to the regulator, protections that offshore casinos don't provide.

See also: States with legal online casinos, Player protections offshore vs licensed

A sticky bonus is casino bonus money you can bet with but never withdraw. It sticks to your balance while you play, and when you cash out, the bonus amount is deducted. With a $100 sticky bonus and a $350 balance after wagering, you'd receive $250. Because the bonus vanishes at withdrawal, it's also called a phantom bonus, and it's worth less than a cashable one.

Read the full Sticky bonus guide · See also: Casino sticky bonus, What is a sticky bonus

A sticky wild is a wild symbol that stays in place for more than one spin, usually through free spins or a set number of respins, while the other reels keep spinning. Each sticky wild can add to several wins in a row, which is why they often appear in bonus rounds. Third-party specs list sticky wilds on several RTG slots, and the paytable explains how long they stay.

See also: What is wild, How to play slots

A straight-up bet is a roulette wager on a single number, including 0 or 00, and it pays 35:1. A $5 chip on 17 wins $175 plus the $5 back if 17 hits. The true odds are 36 to 1 on a single-zero wheel and 37 to 1 on a double-zero wheel, and that gap between true odds and the payout is exactly where the 2.70% or 5.26% house edge comes from.

See also: Inside bet meaning, Online european roulette

A street bet covers one row of three numbers on the roulette layout, such as 13, 14 and 15, with the chip placed on the outer edge of that row. It pays 11:1, so $10 wins $110 plus your stake. On a single-zero wheel a street wins about 3 times in 37 spins on average, and the house edge is the standard 2.70%. On a double-zero wheel it rises to 5.26%.

See also: Inside bet meaning, How to play roulette

Surrender in blackjack lets you fold your hand after the first two cards and take back half your bet, so a $20 hand loses $10 instead of risking all $20. Late surrender, the common version, is offered only after the dealer checks for blackjack. It's correct on a handful of weak hands, such as hard 16 against a dealer 10, and not every game offers it.

Read the full Surrender guide · See also: Blackjack basic strategy, Online blackjack

Sweeps Coins are the prize currency at a sweepstakes casino: coins that can be redeemed for a cash prize once you meet the operator's rules, usually including identity checks, a minimum amount and at least one playthrough. You get them as a bonus with Gold Coin purchases, through daily rewards or by mail-in request. A growing list of states bans the model, including New York, New Jersey and California.

Read the full Sweeps Coins guide · See also: What are sweeps coins, Sweepstakes casino bans

A sweepstakes ban is a state law that outlaws dual-currency sweepstakes casinos. Recorded bans include New Jersey (A5447, August 15, 2025), Connecticut and Montana (October 1, 2025), New York (S5935-A, effective December 5, 2025), California (AB 831, January 1, 2026), Tennessee (May 22, 2026), Indiana (HEA 1052, July 1, 2026), Maine (LD 2007, July 2026), Louisiana (Act 182, August 1, 2026) and Oklahoma (November 1, 2026).

See also: Sweepstakes casino bans, Which states ban sweepstakes casinos

A sweepstakes casino is a website with casino-style games that uses two virtual currencies, one for play only and one that can be redeemed for cash prizes, and argues this makes it a promotion rather than gambling. A growing list of states disagrees: bans are recorded in New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Montana, Louisiana, Maine, Indiana, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Read the full Sweepstakes casino guide · See also: Sweepstakes vs real money casinos, Are sweepstakes casinos legal

Texas Hold'em Bonus is a casino poker game where you ante and get two hole cards, then fold or bet twice the ante to see the flop. You can add optional bets on the turn and river before your best five-card hand is compared with the dealer's, with no qualifying hand needed. A separate optional bonus bet pays on your two hole cards, such as a pair of aces.

See also: How to play casino holdem, What is ante

Theoretical loss, or theo, is what a game is expected to cost you on average: total amount staked times the house edge. At $1 a spin and 600 spins an hour on a 96% RTP slot, that's $600 staked and about $24 an hour. Casinos use theo to set comps and VIP perks. Results in any one session will differ, but theo shows the real price of play.

See also: House edge explained, Gambling budget

The third card rule is the fixed table that decides whether baccarat's Player and Banker hands draw a third card. Neither hand draws on a natural 8 or 9. Otherwise the Player hand draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7, and the Banker's decision depends on its own total and the Player's third card. You make no decisions; the dealer or software applies the rule.

See also: How to play baccarat, Online baccarat

Three Card Poker is a table game where you and the dealer each get three cards. You ante, then fold or make a play bet equal to the ante, and the dealer needs queen-high to qualify. An ante bonus pays for a straight or better whatever the dealer holds, and the separate Pair Plus bet pays on your own cards. RTG's version is Tri Card Poker, listed at 95.51% RTP by SlotCatalog.

See also: How to play three card poker, Online tri card poker

A tie bet in baccarat backs the Player and Banker hands to finish with the same total. It usually pays 8:1, and with a house edge of about 14.36% it's far costlier than Banker (about 1.06%) or Player (about 1.24%). Some tables pay 9:1, which cuts the edge to about 4.84%. When a tie occurs, Banker and Player bets push.

See also: Online baccarat, Baccarat banker meaning

A casino tournament is a competition where players race for a prize pool over a set period, ranked on a leaderboard by points, total winnings or biggest multiplier. Some have an entry fee or buy-in, while others are open to anyone playing the chosen games. Prizes are often paid as bonus credit with wagering attached, and tournaments that rank by amount wagered reward spending more.

See also: Casino tournaments guide, What are casino tournaments

TRC20 is the token standard on the Tron blockchain, and USDT on TRC20 is a popular way to move stablecoins because network fees are usually low and transfers are quick. A TRC20 address starts with the letter T. If a casino's cashier shows a TRC20 USDT address, send from a wallet or exchange on the same network; an ERC20 transfer to it can be lost.

See also: USDT Tether casinos, Crypto fees guide

A tribal compact is an agreement between a federally recognized tribe and a state that sets the terms for Class III gaming, such as slots and table games, on tribal land. Under IGRA, it takes effect once the Secretary of the Interior publishes approval in the Federal Register. Compacts decide which games tribes offer, how revenue is shared, and in some states whether tribes run sports or online betting.

See also: Tribal gaming, Native American casinos guide

True odds are the real odds of an outcome, based on its actual probability. A 7 in craps comes up on 6 of 36 dice combinations, so the true odds against it are 5 to 1. A bet paid at true odds has no house edge, which is why the craps odds bet is so valued; almost every other casino bet pays less than true odds, and that shortfall is the edge.

See also: Casino math basics, Odds bet meaning

Turbo spin is a slot setting that shortens the reel animation so each spin finishes sooner. The result is identical, because it's decided the moment you press spin, but you play more spins per hour. Going from 500 to 900 spins an hour at $1 lifts the hourly stake from $500 to $900 and, at a 4% edge, the average cost from $20 to $36.

Read the full Turbo spin guide · See also: How RNGs work, Autoplay meaning

Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds a second check when you log in, usually a code from an authenticator app or a text message, on top of your password. It stops someone with a stolen password from getting into your casino account or crypto wallet. App-based codes are generally safer than text messages, which can be intercepted through SIM swaps. Turn it on wherever a casino offers it.

See also: Two factor authentication, Casino account security

UIGEA, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. §§ 5361–5367), bars gambling businesses from knowingly accepting cards, bank transfers, checks and similar payments tied to unlawful internet gambling. It doesn't make any bet illegal by itself and doesn't make placing a bet a federal crime for the player; legality depends on state and other federal law. It's the background to US card blocks.

Read the full UIGEA guide · See also: UIGEA, What is UIGEA

Ultimate Texas Hold'em is a casino poker game where you post equal ante and blind bets, then choose when to bet: 3x or 4x the ante before the flop, 2x after it, 1x at the river, or fold. The dealer needs a pair to qualify. The blind pays only on a straight or better, and an optional Trips bet pays on three of a kind or better. The edge is about 2.2% of the ante.

See also: How to play casino holdem, What is Caribbean Holdem

USDT, or Tether, is the largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, designed to stay worth $1. It runs on several blockchains, most commonly Ethereum (ERC20) and Tron (TRC20), and casinos that accept it name the network in the cashier. Sending USDT on the wrong network can lose the funds. It avoids Bitcoin's price swings, but some casinos accept it for deposits only, so check the withdrawal options.

See also: USDT Tether casinos, What is USDT

Variance measures how far results spread around the average, and standard deviation, its square root, puts that spread in dollars. A high-variance game can leave you well up or well down after an hour, even though the house edge sets the same average. That's why short-term results say almost nothing about a game's fairness, and why a bankroll needs room for losing streaks.

See also: Slot volatility explained, Bankroll management

Venmo is a US peer-to-peer payment app owned by PayPal. Some state-licensed online casinos accept it in states where online casinos are legal, but offshore casinos don't list it as a direct method. Sending Venmo money to a private person as a casino deposit leaves you with little recourse if something goes wrong, because personal payments between friends aren't covered by purchase protection.

See also: Venmo casinos, Can I use Venmo at online casinos

Video poker is a single-player game based on five-card draw: you're dealt five cards, choose which to hold, and replace the rest in one draw. Winning hands pay by a fixed pay table, so the return depends on the variant and the table, and correct holds matter. Third-party reviewers list RTG's Jacks or Better at 99.54% RTP, among the highest returns in an online casino.

See also: How to play video poker, Best video poker casinos

A video poker pay table is the grid on the game screen showing what each winning hand pays per coin, from the lowest qualifying hand up to a royal flush. Because the cards come from a fair 52-card deck, the pay table alone sets the game's return. In Jacks or Better, cutting the full house from 9 to 8 and the flush from 6 to 5 drops the return from about 99.54% to about 97.3%.

Read the full Video poker pay table guide · See also: Video poker strategy, Best video poker casinos

Vigorish, shortened to vig or juice, is the fee or margin a bookmaker or casino builds into a bet. In sports betting it shows up as odds of -110 on both sides, meaning you risk $110 to win $100. In casino games the closest example is the 5% commission on baccarat Banker wins. Either way, it's the reason the house profits even when results split evenly.

See also: Commission meaning, Sports betting laws

A VIP program is a tiered loyalty scheme that gives the players who deposit and wager most extra perks, such as cashback, bigger reload matches, higher withdrawal limits and a personal host. Entry comes through published thresholds or invitation. Every perk is funded by the volume of play it encourages, so judge a VIP tier by its cash terms, not its name, and never play more to reach one.

Read the full VIP program guide · See also: Casino VIP bonus, How do VIP programs work

Volatility describes how a game's payouts are spread: frequent small wins at low volatility, rare large ones at high volatility. It doesn't change the average cost, which RTP sets, but it changes the ride. On a $50 budget at $1 a spin, a high-volatility slot can end in 15 minutes or produce one large hit, while a low-volatility one tends to last longer with smaller wins.

Read the full Volatility guide · See also: Slot volatility explained, What is volatility

A VPN ban is a casino rule that prohibits playing through a virtual private network or proxy that hides your real location. Offshore casinos' terms typically treat it as a serious breach that lets them close the account and keep winnings, and state-licensed casinos block such connections through geolocation. Masking your location breaks these terms and can cost you a withdrawal, so play only where you're allowed.

See also: VPN and online casinos, Can I use a VPN

Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings, is the IRS form a payer files to report winnings above set thresholds, with a copy to you. For payments in 2026, slot, bingo and keno wins of $2,000 or more trigger it, and other wagers need winnings that meet the threshold and are at least 300 times the bet. All gambling winnings are taxable federal income, with or without a form.

Read the full W-2G guide · See also: W-2G form, What is a W-2G

A wager, also called a bet or stake, is the money you put at risk on a game outcome. In slots it's the total bet per spin; in table games, the chips in each betting area. Casinos measure wagering for bonuses and comps by the total of all wagers, not deposits, so $50 played through ten times at $1 a spin is $500 wagered.

See also: Wagering requirements explained, House edge meaning

A wager limit caps the total amount you can bet over a period, or the size of a single bet. Because turnover drives the cost of play, it's a direct brake on spending: limiting yourself to $500 of slot bets a week at a 4% edge holds the average cost near $20. It's different from a table maximum or a bonus max bet rule, which the casino sets, not you.

See also: Gambling and money, Gambling budget

A wager-free bonus has no wagering requirement, so any winnings it produces are cash you can withdraw straight away, subject to any stated cap. Wager-free spins are the most common form. These offers are rare at offshore casinos and usually smaller than standard bonuses, but 20 wager-free spins can be worth more than a much larger match with 40x wagering.

See also: Casino no wagering bonus, Casino low wagering bonus

A wagering requirement is the total amount you must bet before a casino lets you withdraw bonus money or winnings made with it. A $100 bonus at 30x means $3,000 in bets, and if the multiple applies to deposit plus bonus, it doubles. Every dollar wagered faces the house edge, so 30x on slots at 96% RTP costs about $120 on average, more than the bonus itself.

Read the full Wagering requirement guide · See also: Wagering requirements explained, What is wagering requirement

A walking wild is a wild symbol that moves one reel, usually to the left, after each spin, often triggering a respin at no extra cost as it goes, until it walks off the grid. A wild landing on reel 5 can take part in up to five spins in a row. Third-party specs list walking wilds on a handful of RTG slots, and the paytable shows the direction and any multiplier.

See also: What is wild, How to play slots

A wallet address is the public string of letters and numbers that tells a blockchain where to send crypto. At a casino you meet two: the casino's deposit address in its cashier and your own address, pasted into a withdrawal request. Copy and paste rather than type, check the first and last characters, and match the network, because a transfer to a wrong address usually can't be recovered.

Read the full Wallet address guide · See also: How to set up a crypto wallet, Casino crypto wallets

Ways to win replaces fixed paylines: a ways slot pays for matching symbols on neighboring reels, starting from reel 1, in any row. The headline number is every possible left-to-right route, so a 5x3 grid gives 3x3x3x3x3 = 243 ways and a 5x4 grid gives 1,024. Your stake covers all of them, so a $0.50 spin plays every way at once.

Read the full Ways to win guide · See also: Paylines meaning, Best slots casinos

A welcome package is a set of bonuses for new players, usually deposit matches spread over the first several deposits, sometimes with free spins. The headline adds them all up, so an offer of $4,000 over four deposits may mean four separate $1,000 matches, each with its own minimum deposit, wagering and max cashout. Offers are 21+ (18+ where allowed) and terms apply, so read each stage.

See also: Casino welcome bonus, Best welcome bonus casinos

WGS, Wager Gaming Technology, is a casino software provider that third-party sources say began in 1996 as Odds On Gaming and became Vegas Technology after a 2003 merger, before being renamed Wager Gaming. It supplies slots and table games to offshore casinos. Miami Club Casino runs WGS software rather than RTG, so its games, jackpots and RTPs differ from those at RTG casinos.

See also: Wager Gaming Technology (WGS), formerly Vegas Technology casinos, Miami Club Casino review

A whale is casino slang for one of the very few players who bet and lose such large sums that they make up a big share of a casino's revenue. Casinos assign hosts and custom deals to keep them. At offshore casinos the sharpest issue is that deposits can be far larger than weekly payouts, so a whale's winning balance may take many months to withdraw.

Read the full Whale guide · See also: Best VIP casinos, Weekly withdrawal limits

A wide-area progressive is a jackpot linked across many casinos, so bets from players at every connected site feed one meter, unlike a local progressive fed by one machine bank, casino or operator group. That's why these jackpots can pass $1 million. Third-party sources describe RTG's Aztec's Millions and Jackpot Piñatas as pooled across casinos. Offshore withdrawal caps can stretch a large payout over months.

See also: Pooled jackpot meaning, Progressive jackpots explained

A wild is a symbol or card that stands in for others to complete a win. In slots it substitutes for regular symbols, usually not scatters, and some wilds also multiply, expand, stick or move. In Deuces Wild video poker, every 2 counts as any card. Wilds make wins more frequent, but their effect is already counted in the game's RTP, so they don't add value on top.

Read the full Wild guide · See also: How to play slots, Online deuces wild

The Wire Act of 1961 (18 U.S.C. § 1084) bars people in the business of betting from knowingly using wire communications to send interstate or foreign bets or betting information. In January 2021 the First Circuit held that it covers only sports betting, though state attorneys general noted the ruling binds the Justice Department only as to the parties in that case. It targets operators, not individual bettors.

Read the full Wire Act guide · See also: Wire Act, What is the Wire Act

A withdrawal fee is a charge for cashing out, either a flat amount per request or a percentage, sometimes waived for the first payout each week or month. On a $100 crypto withdrawal, a $10 fee is 10% of the money. Banks and blockchains may add their own fees, so the full cost can come from three places: the casino, the network and your bank.

See also: Casino withdrawal fees, Do casinos charge fees

A withdrawal limit is the most a casino will pay you in one request, week or month, however large your balance. Unlike a max cashout, it doesn't remove winnings; it spreads them out. At offshore casinos weekly caps of $2,500 to $5,000 are common, so a $20,000 win under a $2,500 weekly cap takes eight weeks to arrive. VIP tiers sometimes raise the limit.

Read the full Withdrawal limit guide · See also: Casino withdrawal limits, What is a weekly withdrawal limit

Yo is craps slang for 11, called yo or yo-leven so it isn't misheard as seven. The yo bet is a one-roll wager that the next roll totals 11. Two of 36 combinations make 11 (5-6 and 6-5), so the true odds are 17 to 1, and it usually pays 15:1, a house edge of about 11.11%. On the come-out roll, 11 also wins pass line bets.

See also: Online craps, Craps pass line meaning

Zelle is a bank-to-bank payment service built into many US banking apps for sending money to people you know. It isn't a merchant payment method at offshore casinos, so a Zelle deposit means sending money to a private person. Authorized Zelle payments are hard to reverse and have no purchase protection, so treat any such request with caution and use only methods listed in the casino's cashier.

See also: Zelle casinos, Can I use Zelle at online casinos