Glossary: C
- Cage
- A casino cashier's counter, so called because it is usually enclosed
in bars for security.
- Call for Insurance
- Offer the players the opportunity to take an insurance side-bet when the
dealer's upcard is an ace. This is usually done explicitly to ensure that
players are given the opportunity (or, more aptly, to ensure no player can
claim that he was not offered this opportunity afterwards).
- Capping
- Betting on another player's hand. This is allowed in few locations, because
it is generally done by those who are counting cards, without playing themselves,
when the deck is in favor of the player.
- "Card Down"
- Exclaimed by the dealer to alert the pit boss when a card is dropped.
- Casino
- A gaming establishment. Specifically, the part of the establishment where
gambling takes place, as opposed to the hotel, restaurants, etc. that are
usually housed in the same building.
- Change Up
- To exchange cheques for the next higher denomination.
- Cheque
- A gambling tokens that have monetary value, to be used in placing and
paying wagers.
- "Cheque Down"
- Exclaimed by the dealer to alert the pit boss when a cheque is dropped.
- Chip
- Synonymous with cheque (and probably more familiar to players who are more
accustomed to kitchen-table poker). The term "cheque" is preferred.
- Clean Money
- Cheques that are put into play from a player's bankroll. (As opposed to
"Dirty Money")
- Clumping
- A natural phenomenon that occurs by virtue of the way in which the cards
are collected at the end of each hands. "Clumps" of high-value and
low-value cards tend to stay together, even after the cards have been
shuffled. The practice of observing these clumps is "clump reading."
- Cold Deck
- A deck (or shoe) that is unfavorable to players. Typically, this is a deck
with a high percentage of low-value cards, though it may be used as a dispersion
when a player has been dealt a run of losing hands. A "cold deck" can also refer
to a deck that has been stacked to be unfavorable to players.
- Color
- Cheques. The color of a cheque denotes its value. Standard cheque colors are
white ($1), red ($5), green ($25), and black ($100). Higher denomination, or
odd denomination, cheques are also color-coded, but there seem to be no
standards.
- "Color Coming In"
- Exclaimed by the dealer to alert the pit boss when a player is changing a
stack of cheques for others of higher denomination.
- Color for Color
- The practice of paying off wagers in the same denomination(s) in which
they were made.
- Color Out
- To exchange cheques for higher denominations when the player is leaving
the table.
- Color Up
- To exchange cheques for higher denominations. Used as a synonym for
"color out," except that a player may "color up" and continue playing.
- Comp(limentary)
- Items that are given away to players, such as free drinks, meals, and
rooms. The use of "Free" is divisive — comps are given to players
in exchange for their action (though not necessarily their losses).
- Convert
- To change cheques from one denomination to another. This may refer to
exchanging cheques for others of a higher or lower denomination.
- Count
- Refers to the approximate value of cards remaining in the deck/shoe to be dealt.
As a noun, the "count" is a number that approximates their value. Aside of card
counting, the "count" can also refer to the value of a hand.
- Count Down (Cheques)
- To reduce a volume of cheques into smaller stacks that can be counted at a
glance.
- Count Down (Deck/Shoe)
- Counting cards—i.e., keeping track of the value, or an approximation
of the value, of cards that have been dealt.
- Counter
- A person who counts cards.
- Counting Cards
- The practice of observing the cards that have been dealt in order to
approximate the advantage that remains in the deck/shoe.
- Cover
- A lid that is placed over the house's rack of cheques.
- Cover a Bet
- To accept a bet for play, even before cheques have been issued.
- Cover Bet
- A bet made by a counter to dilute suspicion that he may be counting—typically
a high wager (or a low one) at an inappropriate time.
- Cow
- To combine bankrolls to buy into a game. The practice is referred to
as "Cowing Up."
- Credit
- To take out a loan (marker) from a casino. This can also refer to the
player's ability (as permitted by the house) to take out loans. A player
who gambles "on credit" is playing with cheques obtained by taking such
a loan.
- Crimp
- To cheat by folding or damaging a card for the purpose of being able
to identify it later.
- Cut
- To divide a deck into two or more smaller stacks. During the shuffle,
cards are repeatedly cut and riffled, and a player is allowed to cut
the deck before they are dealt.
- Cut Card
- A card (usually an opaque sheet of plastic the size of a card) that is
used by a player to indicate where the deck should be cut. The cut card
is placed in the deck before play, and the deck must be re-shuffled when
it comes out of the shoe.
- Cut Into
- The practice of using a stack of cheques that has been counted to measure
another than has not. The stacks are placed side-by-side and excess chops
are removed from the uncounted stack.
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