Casino Phrases You Don’t Know You’re Using: 40 Everyday Expressions and Their Origins

Dozens of everyday English expressions come straight from the gambling table. “Hit the jackpot”, “pass the buck”, “ace in the hole”, “poker face”, “up the ante”, “call someone’s bluff” and “blue chip” all come from poker; “the die is cast”, “crapshoot” and “no dice” from dice games; “above board” and “according to Hoyle” from card play in general; and “dark horse” and “long shot” from the racetrack. Most of the poker phrases date from 19th-century America, while the dice sayings are far older.

Below, about 40 of them are grouped by where they started, with what they mean today and where the origin is documented. Some popular stories turn out to be legends, and those are flagged.

Updated October 2026. Origins checked against dictionaries and the historical sources listed at the end of the page.

Quick Reference: Phrase, Meaning and Origin

Phrases From Poker

Poker spread along the Mississippi and through the American West in the 19th century, and its vocabulary moved into ordinary speech faster than any other game’s.

Hit the jackpot

In draw poker a “jackpot” was a pot that could only be opened by a player holding a pair of jacks or better. When nobody could open, everyone added another ante and the pot grew, sometimes to a large sum. The word later attached itself to the top prize on slot machines, and “hitting the jackpot” became shorthand for any windfall.

Pass the buck, and the buck stops here

Frontier poker players used a marker, often a knife with a buckhorn handle, to show whose turn it was to deal. A player who did not want the deal could pass the buck to the next person. That is the origin of “passing the buck” for dodging responsibility. President Harry Truman turned it around with the sign on his Oval Office desk, “The Buck Stops Here”, a gift from a prison warden who was himself a keen poker player.

Ace in the hole

In stud poker your “hole” card is dealt face down and stays hidden until the showdown. An ace there is a strength nobody else can see. Merriam-Webster dates the figurative sense, a decisive resource held in reserve, to 1882. A close cousin, “an ace up your sleeve”, implies something less honest: a card hidden by a cheat.

Poker face

Good players learn to keep their expression the same whether they hold four aces or nothing. A “poker face” now describes anyone who hides their reaction, in a negotiation, a job interview or a family argument.

Up the ante, and penny-ante

The ante is the small compulsory bet everyone puts in before the cards are dealt. “Upping the ante” means raising the stakes for everyone, and “penny-ante” describes something trivial, from games played for pennies. Our guide to poker hand rankings covers how these betting structures work in modern games.

Call someone’s bluff

To bluff is to bet as if you hold a strong hand when you do not. Calling the bet forces the cards to be shown, and in everyday speech “calling someone’s bluff” means demanding that they prove a threat or claim. For the poker side of it, see when to bluff in poker.

Blue chip

In the traditional American set of poker chips, white chips are worth the least, red more, and blue the most. According to Dow Jones company history, its reporter Oliver Gingold applied the term to high-priced shares in the 1920s after watching a run of expensive trades, saying he would write about “these blue-chip stocks”. Dictionaries record stock-market uses earlier still, but the poker origin is not in dispute. Today a blue-chip company, investment or recruit is simply top quality.

More poker phrases

• When the chips are down: the bets are placed and the outcome is about to be decided, so it is the moment that counts.
• Cash in your chips: leave the game and exchange chips for money; also an old euphemism for dying.
• Stand pat: in draw poker, keep the cards you were dealt rather than drawing new ones; figuratively, refuse to change.
• Four-flusher: a player who pretends a four-card flush is a real five-card one, and so any bluffer or fraud.
• Sweeten the pot: add money to a pot to make it more attractive, now any improved offer.
• Play your cards close to your chest: hold your hand so no one can see it; keep your plans to yourself.
• Lay your cards on the table: reveal your hand; be completely open about your position.
• Show your hand: reveal your intentions, often before you meant to.

Phrases From Card Games in General

Above board

Card cheats needed their hands out of sight to swap or mark cards, so honest play meant keeping your hands above the board, the table. “Above board” still means open and legitimate, and its opposite, “under the table”, means secret and often illegal.

According to Hoyle

Edmond Hoyle (1672 to 1769) published A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist in 1742 and became the recognized authority on card-game rules. “According to Hoyle” came to mean “strictly by the rules”. The irony is that Hoyle never wrote about poker, which did not exist in his lifetime, yet he was made a charter member of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

Other card-table expressions

• Wild card: a card that can stand for any other; now any unpredictable person or factor, and the extra playoff places in US sports.
• Follow suit: in trick-taking games you must play a card of the suit that was led; figuratively, do what others have done.
• Trump card: in many card games a trump beats every card of the other suits; a trump card is a decisive advantage.
• Hold all the aces: have every advantage.
• The cards are stacked against you: cheats “stack” a deck by arranging it in advance, so the odds are unfairly against you.
• House of cards: a structure built from playing cards collapses at a touch, and so does a weak plan.
• A few cards short of a full deck: not entirely rational; a game with missing cards cannot be played properly.
• Luck of the draw: the result depends on which card you happen to draw, not on skill.
• Card sharp: a skilled card cheat, not simply a good player, as our casino slang glossary explains.

Phrases From Dice

The die is cast

In January 49 BC Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon, the river that marked the limit of his command, and so began a civil war. Roman biographer Suetonius records his words as “iacta alea est”, “the die is cast”. The Greek writer Plutarch says Caesar spoke in Greek, quoting a line from the playwright Menander that is closer to “let the die be cast”. Either way, the image is of a throw that cannot be taken back.

Crapshoot and no dice

Craps grew out of the older English game of hazard. In hazard, the low throws of two and three were nicknamed “crabs”, which became “craps” once the game reached New Orleans in the early 1800s. A “crapshoot” now means any venture whose outcome is close to random. “No dice” is American slang for “no” or “it didn’t work”, from a roll that produces nothing. Our guide to common craps bets explains the modern game behind the words.

More dice expressions

• On a roll: a craps shooter who keeps making points is “on a roll”; anyone on a streak of success is too.
• Dicey: risky, uncertain, as in a throw of the dice.
• Load the dice: weight dice so they fall a certain way, and so rig any outcome in advance.
• Snake eyes: two ones on a pair of dice, a losing come-out roll in craps and by extension bad luck.

Phrases From Roulette and the Casino

Break the bank

In the 19th-century casinos of Monte Carlo, each table had a fixed cash reserve. A player who won it all was said to have “broken the bank”, and play at that table stopped until it was refilled. The phrase was made famous by the 1891 music-hall song “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Fred Gilbert, inspired by the gambler and fraudster Charles Wells. Today something that “won’t break the bank” is affordable.

Russian roulette

The term appears to have been coined in fiction. Its earliest known use is in Georges Surdez’s short story “Russian Roulette”, published in Collier’s magazine on 30 January 1937. It now describes any reckless gamble with serious consequences.

A myth about roulette itself

Roulette is often said to have been invented by the mathematician Blaise Pascal while he was trying to build a perpetual motion machine. That story is legend. The first clear description of roulette with pockets reserved for the bank comes from Paris in 1796, and the single-zero wheel was introduced at Bad Homburg in 1843. Our article on the history of casino games and culture follows the game from there to Las Vegas.

More casino expressions

• The house always wins: every casino game carries a built-in edge, so over time the casino comes out ahead.
• High roller: a gambler who bets large sums; now anyone who spends lavishly.
• All bets are off: when a game is disrupted the bets are cancelled; now any situation where earlier expectations no longer apply.
• Hedge your bets: place a second bet that offsets the first, reducing the risk of losing everything.
• Bet your bottom dollar: stake your last coin, in other words be completely sure.
• Go for broke: risk everything on one attempt.

Phrases From the Racetrack

• Dark horse: a horse unknown to bettors, so nobody can judge its chances. Benjamin Disraeli used it in his 1831 novel The Young Duke, describing a horse “which had never been thought of” sweeping past the grandstand. It now means any surprise contender.
• Long shot: a horse given long odds, and any unlikely outcome.
• Front-runner: the horse leading the race; the favorite in any contest.
• Down to the wire: a race decided at the finishing line; any contest that stays close to the end.
• Neck and neck: two horses level with each other; an even contest.

Lucky and Unlucky Numbers

Gambling and superstition have always traveled together. In the West, 7 is the classic lucky number, which is why it decorates slot reels, and 13 is the unlucky one, so much so that some buildings skip the 13th floor. In Chinese culture the word for 4 sounds like the word for death, so 4 is avoided, while 8 sounds like the word for prosperity: the 2008 Beijing Olympics opened at 8 pm on 8 August 2008. Casinos in Macau and Las Vegas that cater to Asian players often reflect these beliefs in room numbers and table layouts.

None of this changes the maths. Every number on a roulette wheel has the same chance on every spin, and a “lucky” seat at a blackjack table plays exactly like any other. Our list of live casino myths covers the most common beliefs about luck at the tables.

Why Casino Language Keeps Spreading

Gambling phrases stick because they compress a whole situation into a few words: risk, chance, bluffing, hidden strength, the moment of no return. Poker supplied the most, because it combines all of those in one game and because it was everywhere in 19th-century America, from riverboats to army camps. Live dealer casinos keep the language moving: dealers still call “no more bets”, players still talk about being “on a roll”, and the chat box at a live table is full of the same words. For etiquette at those tables, see how to behave in a live casino.

Frequently asked questions

What everyday phrases come from gambling?

Many: hit the jackpot, pass the buck, ace in the hole, poker face, up the ante, call someone’s bluff, blue chip, wild card, above board, according to Hoyle, the die is cast, crapshoot, no dice, break the bank, long shot and dark horse are among the best known.

Where does the phrase “pass the buck” come from?

From poker. Frontier players used a marker, often a buckhorn-handled knife, to show whose turn it was to deal, and a player could pass it on to avoid the deal. President Truman’s desk sign “The Buck Stops Here” reversed the idea.

What does “ace in the hole” mean?

A hidden advantage held in reserve. It comes from stud poker, where the hole card is dealt face down; Merriam-Webster dates the figurative use to 1882.

Why are they called blue chip stocks?

Because blue chips are traditionally the highest-value chips in poker. Dow Jones credits its reporter Oliver Gingold with applying the term to expensive stocks in the 1920s.

Where does “the die is cast” come from?

From Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. Suetonius records his words as “iacta alea est”; Plutarch says Caesar quoted the Greek playwright Menander.

Where does the word jackpot come from?

From draw poker, where a jackpot could only be opened by a player holding a pair of jacks or better, so the pot often grew over several deals. The word later moved to slot machine top prizes.

Did Blaise Pascal invent roulette?

Probably not. The story is legend; the first clear description of roulette dates from Paris in 1796, and the single-zero wheel arrived at Bad Homburg in 1843.

What is a slang word for gamblers?

There are several, depending on the player. “Punter” is the everyday British word for anyone who bets, a “high roller” or “whale” bets very large amounts, and a “shark” or “sharp” is a skilled player who expects to win. Online gamblers often call themselves “degens”, “degenerate gambler”, usually as a joke. Our casino slang guide explains many more.