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+EV and -EV
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EV = Expected Value: This is the
expected outcome (theoretical result) of wagering a certain amount on a
game where the RTP is a known figure.
e.g. The term is usually used in
relation to bonuses. Say you had a 100% cashable bonus on a $100 deposit
and had to wager the Bonus x 10 on a 95% RTP slot;
That would be $1,000 in wagering
@ 95% = a loss of $50.
So at the end of the wagering
you would have lost half of your $100 bonus, but still be left with the
other half. This bonus would therefore be +EV to a value of $50.
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Advantage Player
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This term is used for any player
who takes casino bonuses only when they think that by doing so they have
and overall edge over the casinos and can make a profit by doing so. This can
apply to single bonuses, or taking multiple bonuses as a whole. They will
use ANY betting pattern which is allowed in T&Cs and which they think
will lead to profit.
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AWP Slot
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Amusement With Prizes: This is a
game (also called a Fruit Machine or Pub Slot) which looks a lot like a
Slot Machine, but works in a totally different way – they are NOT truly
random. i.e. Unlike proper Video Slots, you do not
have an equal chance of hitting the jackpot on each spin you play. Put very
simply, the machine will only pay out a Jackpot after it has taken in way
more than the jackpot amount from the player(s).
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B&M Casino
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Bricks and Mortar Casino: A real casino you can walk in to, rather than online.
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BDBA
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Break Da Bank Again; A popular very
high variance slot in MicroGaming Casinos.
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Bonus Abuser
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This is
a nonsense term used by the less reputable casinos as an excuse for
confiscating winnings and/or deposits from players who win using their
bonuses. It is “nonsense” because if the player does not break any of the
bonus T&Cs that the casino set out – then they can’t be “abusing”
anything.
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Bonus Banned
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A
player may be “Bonus Banned” at any casino, group or even software brand at
the discretion of the operator. This only occurs if the player is a known
fraudster or, in the opinion of the operator, has made too much money from
their bonuses without risking much (if any) of their own funds. Bonus Bans
can be lifted if the player shows a willingness to deposit without a bonus
& risk their own money.
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Bonus: Cashable
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Usually
the best deal; the bonus credit is added to your account balance
automatically on deposit, or shortly after you claim it.
As soon
as you complete the WR, the entire account balance is
yours to keep.
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Bonus: Flexible
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This
bonus is a mixture of Cashable & Phantom; The bonus funds are added to
your account and are initially all phantom. As you wager, the bonus credits
are converted into real cash reducing the amount of ‘phantom’ chips. You can cash-out at ANY time without
having to complete the full WR, but when you do any
remaining bonus chips are removed from your account and lost forever. Some
MG casinos use this system, see Flexi-Bonus.
This
type of bonus is great because if you hit a good early streak or big slot
win you are not committed to huge WR!
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Bonus: Phantom
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So
called because the entire bonus is removed from your account upon your
first withdrawal request. These are
normally high % bonuses with relatively low WR. Due to the format, many bonus players use
them in an ‘all or nothing’ way – placing very high wagers to try to win a
lot of profit off the bonus so they still have a significant sum after the
bonus credits are removed on cashing out. Others take them just so they
have a big starting balance and so more play-time, and therefore more
chance of hitting a big win.
Some
players also call this a Sticky
or (Sticky Type 1) Bonus, but I think Phantom is a much better term for it.
A Sticky bonus is something else – see below.
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Bonus: Post-Wager
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These Bonuses
are cashable, but the bonus is not added to your account until after you
have met the WR with your own deposited funds. Most of these bonuses are then instantly
withdrawable, but some do require further WR before all the funds are yours
to keep.
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Bonus: Sticky
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These
bonuses stay in your account and can never be withdrawn, BUT they are not lost when you
cash-out. They are very good because you can withdraw any profits once
you’ve met the WR, and then continue to wager with the bonus chips, win
& cash out more profit until they are all lost!
Some
players call this a Sticky Type 2
Bonus. See Phantom Bonus above.
The
only casinos I know who use this system are those using Grand Virtual
software, Fruit Winner and
Star Games.
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Crypto
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CryptoLogic: Another name for
WagerLogic - a popular brand of casino software (No USA). See this
page.
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DonD
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Deal or No Deal; As well as being a
very popular television game show in many countries, it is also the name of
many offline Fruit Machines, online Slots and other types of game based on
the show, where your luck picking boxes can lead to HUGE wins!
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Even-Money Wager
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A term used by some casinos in
their bonus T&Cs; It means a bet which returns 1:1 on your wager. e.g.
Betting on Black or Evens on Roulette, etc…
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Flush Cash-out
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Flushing a cash-out just means speeding up the process by
the casino removing the money from the “pending withdrawal” state and moving
it straight into processing. Some (not all) of the better casinos will do
this for players on request.
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Free-Chip
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This is a bonus given without
the player needing to deposit, at a casino where he is already an active
member (i.e. has deposited and played in the past).
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Fruit Machine
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A game which looks a lot like a
Slot Machine, but works in a totally different way and is NOT truly random.
See AWP Slot above.
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Gnome
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A person who creates multiple accounts
at the same casino in order to try to exploit a generous bonus over and
over. This involves using false information and nearly always ends up with
the player getting found out, banned, and losing their winnings and/or
deposits.
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GV
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Grand Virtual: A popular brand of
casino software (No USA). See this
page.
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House
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The provider of the betting
opportunity; e.g. Casino, Poker Room, SportsBook, etc..
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House Edge (HE)
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This is the percentage the house
makes over the long run on any game. e.g. if a game had a House Edge of 5%
the casino would make $5 for every $100 wagered on the game.
It is the same thing as RTP, but expressed the other way round; 100% - RTP = HE
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LOTR
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Lord Of The Rings; A popular slot in MicroGaming
Casinos.
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Low-Risk Wager
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A term used by some casinos in
their bonus T&Cs; They don’t allow Low-Risk Wagering to clear the WR on a bonus. Low-Risk Wagering includes such things as
betting on Black and Red at the same time in Roulette. The casino should
clearly spell out which exact bets are not allowed; if they don’t, either
check with the casino first, or don’t play there.
NEVER
assume anything – if you break a rule you wont get paid.
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Maximum Cash-out
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Maximum cash-outs are usually
only enforced when playing with a bonus, though we have heard of some rogue
casinos imposing this on a non-bonus deposit! It is important to always
check bonus terms for this rule BEFORE claiming the bonus.
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MG
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MicroGaming: A popular brand of
casino software (No USA). See this page.
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NDB
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No Deposit Bonus: A bonus given
without the player having to make a deposit.
Note that if the player has NEVER
deposited at the casino before, they usually will be asked to make a small
“token” deposit before withdrawing the winnings from the NDB.
This is for anti-fraud and
anti-underage gambling verification reasons.
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NetEnt
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Net Entertainment: A popular
brand of casino software (No USA). See this page.
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No-Risk Wager
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A term used by some casinos in
their bonus T&Cs; this is basically a nonsense term because the only time
a wager can be truly “no risk” is if the game has 0% House Edge.
See also Low-Risk
Wager above.
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PAB
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Pitch-A-Bitch: This is
CasinoMeister's FREE service to help players with problems at non-rogue
casinos. Start on this page. Make sure you read ALL the rules!
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Phantom
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Phantom Bonus: See Bonuses
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Post-Wager
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Post-Wager Bonus: See Bonuses
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Progressive JP
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Progressive Jackpot: This is a
jackpot which steadily increases as people play because a tiny proportion
of their bet is “filtered off” into a jackpot “pool”. The jackpot is usually
won by getting the top-pay symbols on a certain win-line on a slot, the
best hand in a table poker game, or by other similar events occurring. The
odds of winning any Progressive Jackpot are many millions to one against.
In our opinion it is folly to “chase” one.
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Pub Slot
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A game which looks a lot like a
Slot Machine, but works in a totally different way and is NOT truly random.
See AWP Slot above.
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Rigged
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When people talk about a game
being “rigged” they mean it has been programmed to produce a non-random
result which favours the casino or house.
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RJ
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Random Jackpot: This is a jackpot,
usually on a slot machine, where it is won entirely at random and is not related
to the symbols appearing on the reels at the end of your spin. Nearly all
casino softwares incorporate an RJ on one or more of their games.
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RNG
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Random Number Generator; An electronic circuit which produces a random number to be used by casino
software to determine the outcome of a game.
Some players talk about the RNG
being “rigged”, but this is not possible. All an RNG does is produce a
number – if anything is rigged, it is the software.
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Rogue Casino
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This term was first coined by CasinoMeister;
It describes any casino or group who have demonstrated gross unfairness
towards one or more of their players. Usually denying winnings due to vague
or made up terms, dragging out cash-outs, not paying at all, not responding
to players or advocates trying to help them, etc…
Rogue casinos should be TOTALLY
avoided by everyone. Don’t even play free-chips.
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RTG
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RealTime Gaming: A popular brand of
casino software (USA
allowed). See this
page.
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RTP
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Return To Player: How much the game
pays out, on average; Say a slot machine is set to 95% RTP - that means you
will get 95% of all your wagers back in winnings.
e.g. For every $100 worth of
bets you place, you will win back $95. Note: The RTP is based on playing
infinite spins – short sessions can have massively different results.
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Shill
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This is a person who pretends to
be an ordinary player, when in reality they actually work for, or are being
paid by casinos to discretely advertise them. Typically a Shill will post
on forums such things as “I played at XYZ casino and it’s absolutely
great!”
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Spammer
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A person who sends out
unsolicited e-mails or posts links to their website or casino on forums
without permission from the forum owners.
Forum spammers are really stupid
as they always get quickly banned.
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Spirit of the Bonus
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This is a rogue term used by
some casinos in their bonus T&Cs; basically it is a cover-all for ANY
type of betting activity the casino thinks gives the player an unfair
advantage over them. Some casinos will deny winnings based on Spirit of the
Bonus even when no specific T&C has been broken. However, no reputable
casino should do this.
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Sticky
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Sticky Bonus: See Bonuses
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SUB
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Sign-Up Bonus: The first bonus you
are offered when joining a new casino. Also sometimes called a Welcome
Bonus.
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T&Cs
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Terms and Conditions: The rules you
must adhere to when partaking in any form of online gambling. If bonuses
are involved, be sure to always thoroughly read the bonus T&Cs as well
as the General T&Cs, as unpleasant rules can be found in either.
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Tilt
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On Tilt: This is when a player
gets fed up or annoyed and starts placing large or reckless bets they
wouldn’t normally do. The term is most used for Poker players.
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TR1,
TR2,
TS1 &
TS2
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Common abbreviations for four of
MicroGaming’s
most popular slots:
TR1: Tomb Raider (original
15-line version)
TR2: Tomb Raider – Secret of the
Sword
TS1: Thunderstruck (original
9-line version)
TS2: Thunderstruck II
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Troll
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A person posting on forums whose
main purpose seems to be stirring up trouble and/or baiting and insulting
other members for their own gratification.
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Variance
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The expected swings in fortune
of any given game:
Low Variance: You get lots of
frequent wins, but they are mostly very small.
High Variance: You get very few
wins, but you have the chance of a massive hit.
Some examples:
Blackjack is a very Low Variance
game – the max win is Bet x 1.5
Lotteries are very High Variance
– you have a tiny chance of winning millions.
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White Label
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White Label Casinos are ones
where the management don’t actually own and run the software themselves,
but sort of “rent” it from the owners. A good example is the Rival Gaming
Software Brand; the majority of their casinos are owned by Silverstone
Overseas (part of Rival) who also handle the Customer Support and Money
Processing. All the casino management do is handle the casino’s design and
Marketing.
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WR
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Wagering Requirements: When you
take a bonus, this is the amount you need to bet before being allowed to
cash out (Except for Flexible or Sticky bonuses – see above).
This
involves Wagering a set amount of money on specified games. e.g. If
you played 10 hands of BlackJack at $10 per hand, won half & lost half
of your hands, your bank balance would be the same as when you started but
you will have wagered $100.
However,
most non-slot games are “weighted” so they count less in the WR.
E.g. if
Blackjack counts at 10%, you need to wager 10x more.
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