The iGaming Glossary

Online casinos have their own language. This glossary explains the terms in plain words, from RTP and volatility to wagering rules, jackpots and crypto. Tap any term for a fuller answer. If a word on the site ever confuses you, it is probably defined here. 18+.

A

Accumulator: Several bets combined into one, where every selection must win for the bet to pay. Bigger potential return, lower chance.
Aggregator: A company that bundles games from many studios into a single feed, so a casino can offer hundreds of titles from one connection.
AML (Anti-Money Laundering): The rules and checks a licensed casino follows to stop criminal money moving through its accounts. It is the reason behind identity and source-of-funds requests.
Anticipation: The slow-down animation when scatter symbols start to land. It builds tension but does not change the odds of the next reel.
Autoplay: A setting that spins a slot automatically for a chosen number of rounds. Several regulated markets limit or restrict it.
Avalanche: Another name for cascading reels, where winning symbols are removed and new ones drop in, allowing more than one win from a single spin.

B

Baccarat: A card game where you bet on the Banker hand, the Player hand or a Tie. The Banker bet carries the lowest house edge.
Bankroll: The money you set aside for play. Deciding a bankroll in advance, and stopping when it is gone, is the core of staying in control.
Banker Bet: In baccarat, a wager on the banker hand. Wins usually pay even money minus a small commission.
Basic Strategy: The mathematically correct blackjack play for every hand against the dealer card. It lowers the house edge to its minimum.
Bet Behind: A live blackjack option that lets you bet on the hand of a seated player when seats are full.
Bonus Buy: An option to pay an upfront price to trigger a slot bonus round at once. It is banned in several regulated markets.
Bonus Funds: Money credited by a promotion that carries wagering rules. It is held separately from your withdrawable cash.
Bonus Round: A special slot feature such as free spins or a pick game. It pays on different math from the base game.

C

Card Counting: Tracking the ratio of high to low cards in blackjack to time bigger bets. It is legal but does not work against shuffled live RNG and is discouraged by casinos.
Cascading Reels: A mechanic where winning symbols disappear and new symbols fall into their place, enabling chain wins from one spin. Also called tumble or avalanche.
Cash Out: Settling a bet early for a value the operator offers before the event ends. Common in sports betting sections.
Cashback: A promotion that returns a set percentage of your losses over a period, sometimes as cash and sometimes as bonus funds.
Chip: A token that represents a stake at a table game.
Cluster Pays: A slot format that pays for groups of touching matching symbols rather than fixed lines.
Coin Value: The per-line or per-bet stake setting on a slot, combined with bet level to set your total spin cost.
Comp Points: Loyalty points earned from play that convert into rewards, free spins or cash.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): An affiliate deal that pays a fixed amount for each new depositing player referred.
Croupier: The dealer who runs a casino table game.
Cryptocurrency: Digital money such as Bitcoin used to deposit and withdraw at some casinos.
Curacao Licence: A widely used, lower-cost gambling licence from Curacao, common at crypto and international-facing casinos.

D

Deposit Limit: A responsible-gambling tool that caps how much you can deposit per day, week or month.
Deposit Match: A bonus that adds a percentage of your deposit as bonus funds, for example 100% up to a stated limit.
Demo Play: Playing a game with fake credits to learn it before betting real money. Also called fun mode or free play.
Dealer Studio: The filmed room a live casino game is hosted from.
Drops and Wins: A network promotion where a provider runs prize drops and tournaments across many casinos at the same time.
Dual Play: A live table played at the same time by online players and players standing at a real casino table.

E

eCOGRA: An independent testing body that audits game fairness, payouts and operator conduct.
e-Wallet: A digital wallet that acts as a pass-through account to move money to and from casinos.
Edge Sorting: Exploiting tiny imperfections on card backs to read values. Casinos treat it as cheating and void wins.
En Prison: A French roulette rule that can return an even-money bet after a zero spin, lowering the house edge.
Expanding Wild: A wild symbol that grows to cover a whole reel.

F

Fiat: Traditional government money such as euros, as opposed to cryptocurrency.
Fixed Jackpot: A top prize set at a fixed amount that does not grow with play.
Free Spins: Slot spins given as a bonus or triggered inside a game. Bonus free spins usually carry wagering rules.
Free Play: Free Play is another name for demo play: trying a game with fake credits before you bet real money.

G

Gamble Feature: An optional double-or-nothing round after a slot win. It adds variance with no gain in expected value.
Game Show: A live entertainment format such as a money wheel, hosted by a presenter rather than dealt as a classic table.
Game Weighting: How much each game type counts toward clearing a bonus, for example slots at 100% and table games much less.
Geolocation: Technology that checks a player's location to enforce where a casino may legally operate.
GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue): Total stakes minus total wins paid, before costs. A core industry revenue measure.
GLI (Gaming Laboratories International): A major independent lab that tests and certifies random number generators and games.

H

Handicap: A betting market that gives one side a virtual head start or deficit to level the odds.
Hit Frequency: How often a slot returns any win. A high hit frequency means frequent small wins, not bigger ones.
Hold and Win: A feature where special symbols lock in place and trigger respins, often building toward a jackpot. Also called Hold and Spin.
Hot and Cold: The false belief that a game is due to pay or has gone cold. Each spin is independent, so this is a myth.
House Edge: The built-in mathematical advantage the casino keeps over time. It is the other side of RTP.

I

In-Play Betting: Placing bets while an event is already live, with odds that move in real time.
Inside Bet: A roulette bet on specific numbers or small groups. It pays more but hits less often.
Insurance: A blackjack side bet offered when the dealer shows an ace. Over time it costs more than it returns.

J

Jackpot: A large top prize. It can be fixed, must-drop or progressive.
Jackpot Network: A group of linked games whose bets feed one shared progressive prize pool.

K

Keno: A lottery-style game where you pick numbers and a draw decides the payout.
KYC (Know Your Customer): The identity checks a casino must complete, usually before a withdrawal, to confirm who you are and where funds came from.

L

La Partage: A French roulette rule that returns half an even-money bet when the ball lands on zero.
Licence: Official permission from a regulator that lets a casino operate legally.
Lightning Games: Live game formats that add random multipliers to standard tables such as roulette or blackjack.
Live Dealer: A real human dealer streamed in real time from a studio to your screen.
Loss Limit: A responsible-gambling cap on how much you can lose within a set period.
Loyalty Program: A scheme that rewards regular play with points, perks or VIP tiers.

M

Max Bet Rule: A bonus condition that caps your stake while wagering. Breaking it can void a bonus and its winnings.
Max Win: The most a slot or bonus can pay, often shown as a multiple of the stake, for example 5,000x. Also called a win cap.
Megaways: A licensed mechanic where the symbols per reel change each spin, creating up to hundreds of thousands of ways to win.
MGA (Malta Gaming Authority): A respected European regulator that licenses many online casinos and studios.
Minimum Deposit: The smallest amount a casino will accept to fund an account.
Multiplier: A feature that multiplies a win or a whole spin, for example 3x.
Must-Drop Jackpot: A jackpot guaranteed to pay before it reaches a set time or amount.

N

Near Miss: When reels stop just short of a big win. It is a visual effect and never a sign a win is coming.
NGR (Net Gaming Revenue): Gross gaming revenue after bonuses, fees and certain costs are taken out.
No Deposit Bonus: A small bonus or set of free spins given without a deposit, usually with strict wagering and a low cashout cap.
Non-Sticky Bonus: A bonus where your own cash is played first, so you can withdraw before touching bonus funds.

O

Odds: The price of a bet, showing both the payout and the implied chance of winning.
Operator: The company that runs a casino brand and holds or rents the licence.
Outside Bet: A roulette bet on large groups such as red, black, odd or even. It pays less but hits more often.
Overround: The built-in margin in a set of betting odds that gives the operator its edge. Also called the vig or margin.

P

Pay N Play: A login-free deposit method using bank identification, where the account is created automatically.
Payline: A set pattern across the reels that pays when matching symbols land along it.
Paytable: The screen that lists symbol values, features and rules for a game. Worth checking before you play.
Pending Period: The time a withdrawal waits before it is processed. Some casinos allow it to be reversed during this window.
Progressive Jackpot: A jackpot that grows as players bet across a network until one player wins the pool.
Provably Fair: A cryptographic method, common at crypto casinos, that lets a player verify a result was not altered.
Punto Banco: The most common form of baccarat, where the house banks every hand.
Push: A tie in blackjack or another table game where your stake is returned.

R

Reload Bonus: A deposit bonus offered to existing players on later deposits.
Respin: A single extra spin awarded after a result, often holding some symbols in place.
Return to Player (RTP): The long-run percentage of stakes a game is built to pay back, for example 96%. The rest is the house edge.
Reverse Withdrawal: When a casino lets you cancel a pending cashout and return it to your balance. It can quietly encourage more play.
RGS (Remote Game Server): The backend that runs a game's logic and serves it to many casinos.
RNG (Random Number Generator): The certified software that produces random outcomes in digital casino games.
Rollover: Rollover is another name for a wagering requirement: how many times you must bet a bonus before you can withdraw.

S

Scatter: A symbol that pays or triggers a feature regardless of where it lands on the reels.
Self-Exclusion: A responsible-gambling tool that blocks your access to a casino for a chosen period.
Side Bet: An extra optional wager on a table game. It usually carries a higher house edge than the main bet.
Software Provider: The studio that designs and builds the games behind the lobby. Browse our provider reviews.
Sportsbook: The sports-betting section of an iGaming brand.
Stablecoin: A cryptocurrency pegged to a normal currency, used to avoid price swings while still paying in crypto.
Stake: The amount of money wagered on a single bet or spin.
Sticky Bonus: A bonus where the bonus funds themselves cannot be withdrawn, only the winnings made from them.
Sticky Wild: A wild symbol that stays in place for a set number of spins.

T

Terms and Conditions: The rules attached to a casino or a bonus. Reading them prevents most withdrawal disputes.
Tournament: A promotion where players compete on a leaderboard over a period for a prize pool.
Tumble: Tumble is another name for cascading reels, where winning symbols vanish and new ones drop in for chain wins.

U

Underage Gambling: Gambling by anyone below the legal age. Licensed casinos must verify age, and play is strictly 18+.

V

Variance: Variance is another word for volatility: how a slot spreads its wins between frequent small ones and rare large ones.
VIP Program: A tiered loyalty scheme giving regular players perks, faster withdrawals or a personal host.
Volatility: How a slot pays out, from low (frequent small wins) to high (rare large wins).

W

Wager-Free Spins: Free spins whose winnings are paid as cash with no wagering rules attached.
Wagering Requirement: How many times you must bet a bonus before you can withdraw, for example 35x. Also called playthrough or rollover.
Walking Wild: A wild symbol that moves one reel across on each new spin.
Ways to Win: A slot format that pays for matching symbols on adjacent reels in any position, such as 243 ways.
Welcome Bonus: The first-deposit offer for new players, often a deposit match plus free spins.
White Label: A ready-made casino platform one company rents to launch a brand quickly.
Wild: A symbol that substitutes for others to help complete wins.
Win Cap: A win cap is another name for max win: the most a slot or bonus can pay, often a multiple of the stake.
Withdrawal Limit: The maximum you can cash out within a day, week or month, set by the casino.

Gambling should stay fun and affordable. Know the terms, set your limits, and never chase losses. If it stops being fun, take a break and see our responsible gambling page. 18+.