Blackjack Glossary

By the bjshoe team · The complete A-Z of blackjack terms · Updated May 2026

Every term and piece of jargon you'll encounter at a blackjack table or in counting literature, defined plainly.

A

Action: The total amount you wager during a session. "I gave the casino $5,000 in action" means you bet $5,000 cumulatively.
Ace: The most valuable card. Counts as either 1 or 11, whichever helps the hand more.
Anchor: The seat directly to the dealer's right — last to act before the dealer plays. Sometimes called "third base."

Back-counting: Watching a table without playing, keeping a running count, and only sitting down when the count goes positive. Also known as Wonging.
Bankroll: The total money you've set aside for play. Card counters typically need ~100× their maximum bet as bankroll.
Basic strategy: The mathematically optimal play for every hand without counting. See the basic strategy chart.
Bet spread: The ratio between your minimum and maximum bets. A 1-12 spread means betting 12 units when the count is high vs 1 unit when neutral.
Blackjack: A two-card hand of Ace + 10-value card, totalling 21. Pays 3:2 (or 6:5 at worse tables). Also called a "natural."
Burn card: A card discarded by the dealer at the start of a shoe, before any are dealt to players.
Bust: Hand total exceeds 21. Automatic loss for a player; for a dealer, all remaining player hands win.

Card counting: Tracking the ratio of high to low cards remaining in the shoe to gain an edge over the house. See our counting guide.
Cold deck: Slang for a shoe that has been giving the player bad cards. Has no actual predictive value.
Comp: Free perks (rooms, meals, drinks) casinos give to high-volume players. Comps are cancelled for suspected counters.
Continuous Shuffle Machine (CSM): A device that reshuffles cards after every hand, making counting impossible.
Cut card: A colored plastic card inserted into the shoe to mark where the dealer will shuffle. Deeper placement (more cards dealt before shuffle) favors counters.

Double down (Double): Doubling your bet in exchange for taking exactly one more card. Available only on your first two cards.
Double after split (DAS): A favorable rule allowing you to double down on a hand created by splitting.
Deck penetration: How far into the shoe the dealer goes before reshuffling. Higher penetration = better for counters.

Early surrender: A rare rule allowing surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack. Worth ~0.6% to the player.
European No-Hole-Card (ENHC): Variation where the dealer takes their hole card only after all players act. Bad for players (~+0.11% house).
Even money: Same as 1:1 payout. Also: an offer made when the dealer shows an Ace and you have blackjack — accepting means taking guaranteed 1:1 instead of the usual 3:2 with insurance. Mathematically equivalent to taking insurance — usually a bad call.
Expected value (EV): The average outcome of a decision over many trials. Negative EV means you lose money over time on that decision.

First base: The seat to the dealer's far left — first to act each round.
Flat betting: Betting the same amount every hand. Pit bosses ask suspected counters to flat-bet to neutralize their edge.
Hard hand: A hand with no Ace, or one where the Ace must count as 1 to avoid busting. Hard 16 = "10+6"; soft 16 = "A+5".
Heat: Casino attention directed at a suspected advantage player. "I was getting heat from the pit boss."
Hi-Lo: The most popular card counting system. +1 for 2-6, 0 for 7-9, -1 for 10-A.
Hit: Request another card.
Hole card: The dealer's face-down card.
Hot deck: Slang for a shoe currently giving good cards. No real predictive value to a non-counter.
House edge: The casino's mathematical advantage. ~0.5% in good blackjack vs perfect basic strategy.

Insurance: A side bet, up to half your wager, offered when the dealer shows an Ace. Pays 2:1 if the dealer has blackjack. Negative EV for non-counters — decline.
Illustrious 18: The 18 most valuable basic-strategy deviations to make when card counting, in order of profitability.

Late surrender: Surrendering after the dealer checks for blackjack. Standard form when surrender is offered. Worth ~0.07% to the player.
Natural: Same as blackjack — Ace + 10-value on the first two cards.
Pair: Two cards of the same rank. Pairs are the only hands you can split.
Penetration: See deck penetration.
Pit boss: Casino employee supervising a section of tables. Authorized to back off or eject suspected counters.
Push: A tie with the dealer. Your bet is returned, no win or loss.

Resplit: Splitting a pair again after the first split produces another matching card. Sometimes capped at 4 hands total.
Running count: The unadjusted Hi-Lo count — sum of +1s and -1s seen since the last shuffle.
Shoe: The multi-deck card holder the dealer deals from. Also refers to the cards inside it.
Soft hand: A hand containing an Ace counted as 11. You can't bust on the next hit (the Ace just becomes 1).
Soft 17: A 17 made with an Ace counted as 11 (e.g. A+6). H17 / S17 tables differ on whether the dealer hits or stands here.
Split: Separating a pair into two hands, with a matching bet on the new one.
Spread: See bet spread.
Stand: End your turn with your current hand.
Stiff hand: A hard total of 12-16 — likely to bust if hit, likely to lose if you stand.
Surrender: Forfeit the hand for half your bet back. See late vs early surrender.

Third base: See anchor.
Toke: A tip to the dealer, usually in the form of a small bet placed for them.
True count: Running count divided by decks remaining — the count value that actually drives betting decisions. See the counting guide.
Unit: The minimum bet size used as the base for your bet spread. "Betting 4 units" at a $10 table means $40.
Up-card: The dealer's face-up card.
Variance: The expected swing in results around the mean. Blackjack has high variance — short-term wins and losses can be large even with a small mathematical edge.
Wonging: Named after Stanford Wong. Same as back-counting: only sitting down when the count is favorable.