Casino Glossary

• Hole Card

  Blackjack

  The dealer's face down card.

• Pat Hand

  BlackjackPoker

  1) In draw poker, a strong hand which doesn't need any more cards;

  2) In blackjack, a hand where the player should take no more cards (hard 17 or higher).

• First Base

  Blackjack

  The leftmost (from the dealer's viewpoint) player-occupied position in a blackjack table. This player acts first.

• S17

  Blackjack

  Code that indicates the dealer stands on all hands totaling 17. This includes soft 17, e.g. A6. This rule favors the player.

• Blackjack

  Blackjack

  An ace and a face card or 10, dealt as the first two cards to a player or the dealer. An unbeatable hand that pays 3 to 2 to the player (as long as the dealer doesn't also have a blackjack).

• Hit

  Blackjack

  A player decision to take another card in blackjack. Also the card received.

• Hard Total

  Blackjack

  The count of a hand in which any ace (if present) must be valued as a 1 to avoid busting. E.g. A86, K7. In a soft hand, an ace can be either 1 or 11.

• Face Down

  Blackjack

  Only the player knows what cards have been dealt to them.

• Stand or Stay

  Blackjack

  Take no more cards from the dealer.

• Bust

  Blackjack

  Going over a total of 21 in blackjack, an automatic loss for the player.

  See also: Bust Card