Craps: "Terms"

Action: Having a wager on the outcome of an event, usually a sporting event. Players are said to be in action when they have a bet riding on the game, race or fight.

Buy-in: The amount of cash used to purchase chips before entering a table game: blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, etc.

Betting right: In craps, betting with the shooter that the dice will pass.

Betting wrong: In craps, betting against the shooter that the dice won't pass.

Boxman: In craps, the casino executive seated between the standing croupiers who oversees the game.

Cage or casino cage: the main cashier where you can redeem chips, coins and tokens for cash, establish credit or cash checks.

Carousel: A group of slot machines, usually of the same type and coinage, and often connected to a common progressive jackpot.

Checks: a casino term for the chips or tokens used in table games.

Chips: the casino's tokens issued in various denominations and used in lieu of cash at the gambling tables.

Change color: Exchanging casino chips for larger or smaller denominations. For instance, changing 20 red ($5) chips for one black ($100) chip.

Come out roll: In craps, the first roll of the shooter before a point has been established.

Comp: short for complimentary, designates the freebies extended usually from the casino to players: drinks, meals, shows, rooms, etc.

Credit line: the amount of credit a player is allowed to gamble with.

Credits: In a slot machine, the amount of coins accumulated by the player. A common tourist mistake is leaving a machine before cashing out your coins or playing off the credits!

Drop: The total money (cash, chips and marker) taken in by a table, from the drop box, which receives all the money taken in at a table.

European Wheel: In roulette, a wheel with only a single "0" position, as opposed to American wheels with "0" and "00" positions. Players have better odds on European wheels which are rare in Las Vegas.

Even Money: When the odds are 1-to-1, and the payoff equals the amount wagered.

Eye in the Sky: the casino's surveillance system which monitors and video tapes the casino floor.

Grind house or grind joint: A casino with mostly low table minimums and small denomination slot machines.

High roller: A big bettor, sometimes called a whale or premium player.

House advantage: The casino's advantage on a bet, that is, the difference between the casino's payoff and the actual odds, expressed as a percentage. For instance the casino enjoys a minimum 5.26 percent advantage on roulette, which means the payoffs are at least 5.26% less than the actual odds. The house advantage is zero percent when the payoff is equal to the actual odds.

Juice: Influence; if you have friends in high places who can help you, you have access to juice. If you are in high places you have juice.

Junket: an organized tour of gamblers who receive low travel rates in exchange for gambling a predetermined amount of money.

Las Vegas Strip or The Strip: the section of Las Vegas Boulevard from Sahara Avenue south to Hacienda Road, which includes most of the major Las Vegas casino-resorts.

Loose slot: A slot machine that pays off freely.

Marker: Promissory notes or IOUs signed by players who have credit in casinos. Ordinarily, players exchange markers for chips at the table, not at the casino cashier.

Payoff, payout: The payment of a winning bet to a player, most often from a slot machine.

Pit: The area reserved for casino personnel inside a group or cluster of gaming tables.

Pit boss: The casino executive who oversees the action from inside the pit. He's sometimes called a pit bull.

Progressive or progressive jackpot: The payout on a machine or group of machines that increases with each coin played. Some progressive jackpots reach into the millions of dollars.

Rated players: Gamblers whose bets are tracked by the casino in order to determine the amount of complimentaries that will be extended to them.

RFB: Short for room, food and beverage, and refers to complimentaries extended to players who are rated by the casino.

Shill: A casino employee who gambles at the tables with the house's money, thus creating the semblance of action.

Tip: A gratuity given to a casino employee.

Toke: Casino personnel's term for a tip.

Vigorish or vig: Generally, the house advantage on a bet, expressed as a percentage. In sports betting, the vigorish is the amount the casino charges to place a bet: The average vigorish on a football bet is 10 percent, which means you must bet $1.10 to win $1.

Wise guy: This used to tab members of organized crime, but more recently casinos use it to refer to astute sports bettors.