Casino glossary: 72 terms that decide what you sign up for

Short definitions of the words hiding in bonus pages, cashiers and game help screens, written for Canadian readers.

A

AGCO

Ontario's gaming watchdog, formally the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Private online brands there need its licence, and it writes the rulebook covering ads, fair games and safer gambling features such as limits.

American odds

Prices written with + or -. A +150 line means a CAD 100 bet profits CAD 150. A -200 line means you must risk CAD 200 to profit CAD 100. Sportsbooks across North America favour this style.

Autoplay

Lets a game keep spinning or betting on its own for a number of rounds you pick. Because money leaves quietly and quickly, use it only when loss and time limits are on, and know the exact stop rules.

B

Banker bet

The baccarat wager that the Banker hand ends closest to nine. Its house edge is the lowest of the main options, near 1.06 per cent, even after the usual 5 per cent commission taken from winning Banker bets.

Bankroll

Money set aside purely for gambling, an amount whose loss would not disturb rent, bills or savings. Splitting it across sessions means one bad evening cannot swallow the lot.

Basic strategy

A lookup chart telling you the mathematically strongest blackjack action for each combination of your total and the dealer's upcard. It pushes the casino's edge as low as the table rules permit, yet never turns the game in your favour.

Bet limit

Table minimum and maximum stakes for a single round, usually visible in the lobby. A bonus brings a second, separate ceiling on bet size, and crossing that one can wipe out the bonus.

Bonus abuse

Any use of a promotion that the terms forbid: duplicate accounts, bets above the cap, or hedging tricks designed to guarantee profit. The casino may cancel the bonus together with winnings, so check the rules before claiming.

Bonus buy

A slot function where you purchase entry to the feature round at a multiple of your stake. Sessions get quicker and swingier, and some operators or regulators ban it, so confirm it exists before you plan around it.

C

Cash-out

Two meanings. In crash and certain bets it is the button that secures your win before the round finishes. More generally it is moving money from the casino balance out to your bank, card or wallet.

Cashback

A refund of a slice of your net losses across a period, paid as cash or as bonus credit. Wagering, caps and minimum-loss rules attached to it determine whether it is truly worth having.

Cashier

The account section for deposits, withdrawals and transaction history. Methods, limits, fees and processing speeds are listed there, so it deserves a look before you sign up as well as before you pay.

Chargeback

A card payment reversed after you dispute it with your bank. It can help if a service was never delivered, but careless use can close your casino account. Speak to support first and save every message.

Cooling-off period

A mandatory pause before a raised limit becomes active or before you can come back from a break. It blocks decisions made in a heated moment, and licensed brands often impose a day or longer.

CRA

The Canada Revenue Agency, which collects federal tax. Its general stance is that casual gambling wins are untaxed windfalls, while gambling run like a business, or profit on crypto, may be taxable. Its website is the place to check current rules.

Crash game

A rapid format in which a multiplier rises from 1.00x until a random stopping point. Press cash-out first and you collect stake times multiplier. Wait too long and the round takes the stake.

D

Dealer

The human host of a live table who handles cards or the wheel and chats with players. Games driven by an RNG have no dealer at all, as software does that job.

Decimal odds

Prices stating total return per dollar staked, stake included. At 2.50, a CAD 1 bet comes back as CAD 2.50. Many bettors like it because payout and comparison need just one multiplication.

Demo mode

Playing a game with pretend credits. It is good for learning rules and features, but the credits cannot be cashed out and the results do not forecast real-money sessions.

Deposit limit

A ceiling on how much money you can add per day, week or month. Fixing one before you play is among the most effective safer gambling steps. Cutting it works immediately, raising it takes a delay.

Double down

A blackjack option that doubles your stake in return for exactly one extra card. Players use it on totals like 10 or 11 when the dealer's upcard is weak.

E

E-wallet

A digital account such as PayPal or Skrill that holds funds and pays merchants. Casinos often release e-wallet withdrawals faster than card ones, though fees and bonus eligibility differ by site.

Espacejeux

Loto-Québec's online gambling platform and the licensed provincial offer for people in Quebec, where players must be 18. Service runs in French as standard.

F

FINTRAC

Canada's financial intelligence agency, watching over anti-money-laundering rules. Crypto exchanges and similar firms register with it, and casinos carry their own reporting duties tied to suspicious activity.

Fractional odds

Prices written like 3/2, meaning CAD 3 of profit for each CAD 2 risked. This format is the norm in British-style horse racing and appears on some promotions.

Free spins

Slot rounds handed over as a promotion or earned inside a feature. What you win from them frequently comes with wagering and a cashout ceiling, so find out which game they apply to and what happens to the winnings.

G

Game contribution

How much of each bet counts toward clearing a bonus. A slot may count in full while roulette or live tables count 10 per cent or nothing, which sets the speed at which a bonus can be cleared.

Game show

A live format blending a wheel or draw and bonus rounds with a presenter and multipliers. Expect high volatility and an edge that depends on the segment, so read the rules and bet small.

H

Hit and stand

The two core blackjack choices: hit to draw another card, stand to freeze your total. The correct pick comes from your total and the dealer's visible card, as basic strategy spells out.

House edge

The casino's built-in statistical advantage, expressed as the percentage of each bet it retains on average over time. With a 2.70 per cent edge, expect to hand over about CAD 2.70 per CAD 100 staked.

I

iDebit

A Canadian service that sends money straight from your bank account to a merchant, so card details stay private. It handles deposits and, at some casinos, withdrawals, with fees and limits set by the operator.

iGaming Ontario

The Ontario government body running the regulated online market. It contracts with private brands, publishes the roster of registered operators and administers the province's shared self-exclusion list.

Implied probability

The likelihood a price hints at, found by dividing 100 by the decimal odds. Since the bookmaker's cut is included, adding the figures for every outcome typically lands above 100 per cent.

Instadebit

A Canadian online payment option connected to your bank account. Plenty of casinos serving Canadians take it for deposits and withdrawals, and the merchant never sees a card number. Check limits and fees.

Interac e-Transfer

Canada's bank-to-bank transfer service driven by email or text. Many casinos accept it for deposits, some for withdrawals, so confirm limits, charges and timing in the cashier.

K

Kahnawake Gaming Commission

The regulator of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec. Several online brands that welcome Canadians hold its licence. It is not a provincial authority, so check the operator's licence and terms yourself.

KYC

Short for know your customer. Casinos confirm age, identity and address to follow anti-money-laundering rules, usually asking for photo ID and a proof of address before the first payout.

L

La Partage

A French roulette practice that refunds half an even-money stake when zero lands. The edge on those bets falls to roughly 1.35 per cent, so see whether the table rules mention it.

Live dealer

Games hosted by actual dealers in a studio and streamed to your screen as they happen. You place bets using digital chips. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and game shows are the staples.

Loss limit

A threshold on how much you may lose over a period, after which the casino halts play. It interrupts a losing run, and it works best when chosen before the session.

M

Martingale

A progression that doubles the bet after every loss. It does nothing to the house edge, and a short losing streak can hit table limits or exhaust your bankroll. Regard it as a hazard, not a plan.

Maximum bet

The top stake permitted while a bonus is live. Going over can void the bonus and its winnings. The number appears in the bonus terms and can differ from the table limit shown in the game.

Maximum cashout

The most you can withdraw from bonus winnings, typical of no deposit offers and free spins. Whatever exceeds it disappears, so read it before judging whether an offer deserves your time.

Megaways

A slot engine that varies how many symbols appear on every reel each spin, producing thousands of paths to win. Such games lean toward high volatility, so a balance can lurch quickly.

MGA

The Malta Gaming Authority, a European licensor behind many international casinos. Its licence means oversight from Malta rather than a Canadian province, and complaint routes and protections differ accordingly.

Minimum deposit

The smallest payment the casino takes, or the smallest one that earns a bonus. These can be two different figures, so check the cashier and the promotion terms separately.

N

No deposit bonus

Credit or free spins given at sign-up without any payment. Expect steep wagering, a low maximum cashout and ID checks, all of which cap the offer's real value.

O

Overround

The bookmaker's profit margin tucked into a set of odds. Convert each price to a probability, add them up, and the part above 100 per cent is the overround. Less of it generally means better value.

P

Payout

What a bet or game gives back, or the money that reaches you on withdrawal. Paytables list the prizes for each result, and how long a withdrawal takes depends on the method.

Paysafecard

A prepaid voucher purchased in cash or online and used with a PIN. Deposits stay detached from your bank, but it normally cannot receive withdrawals, so another method is needed to take money out.

Paytable

The chart listing symbols, winning combinations and their prizes, with bonus rules for slots. Read it before playing and you will know exactly how a win is counted.

Pending period

The wait between asking to withdraw and the casino's approval, during which cancelling is often possible. The terms state its length, and it comes before the payment method's own processing time.

PIPEDA

The federal privacy statute covering private-sector organisations, formally the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Provinces such as Quebec, through Law 25, add their own rules on handling personal data.

PlayNow

The gambling website operated by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, also serving Manitoba. It is the government-licensed choice there for casino games and sports betting.

Progressive jackpot

A prize that climbs with each bet across a game or network until somebody hits it, then restarts. Totals can be enormous, while the odds of winning are remote.

Provably fair

A crypto-game design in which a hash is shown before the round and the seed afterwards. You can confirm nobody altered the outcome, although the house edge remains.

Push

A blackjack tie with the dealer. Your stake is returned and no one wins, for example when both hands total 19.

R

Reload bonus

A promotion tied to later deposits instead of the first. It is usually a percentage match with separate wagering and expiry, so compare its conditions with the welcome deal.

RNG

Short for random number generator, the software that decides outcomes in slots, virtual tables and crash. Licensed brands use versions certified by independent test labs for randomness and matching published odds.

RTP

Return to player: the proportion of all stakes a game is built to pay back over time, say 96 per cent. It is an average across millions of rounds and offers no guarantee for your own session.

S

Scatter

A slot symbol that sets off a feature, normally free spins, once enough of them show up anywhere on the grid. No payline is needed, and scatters often pay on their own too.

Self-exclusion

A self-imposed ban from one site or a group of sites for a period you select, meant as a firm barrier. Ontario operates a central version covering its regulated sites.

Session limit

A cap on how long you can stay in one gambling session or play in a day. Hitting it ends the session or signs you out, preventing long stretches nobody planned.

Soft hand

A blackjack total that includes an ace valued at 11. One more card cannot bust it, which allows bolder play. If the ace would take you past 21 it drops to 1 and the hand becomes hard.

Stablecoin

A crypto token engineered to follow a currency, mostly the US dollar. USDT and USDC dampen price swings between deposit and cashout, though network fees and issuer risk stay.

Sticky bonus

Bonus money that cannot be taken out: it vanishes from your balance when you withdraw, leaving only winnings. A cashable bonus behaves differently, and the terms say which one you hold.

T

Time-out

A short enforced break that locks your account from one day to several weeks. It is much briefer than self-exclusion, and you can return afterwards.

V

Volatility

The spread of a game's results. Low volatility returns small amounts frequently, high volatility pays seldom but larger. It governs how quickly your balance moves, not the house edge.

W

Wager

As a verb, to place a bet. As a noun, the amount bet. In bonus language, wagering is the total you must bet across many rounds before bonus winnings become withdrawable.

Wagering requirement

The number of times a bonus, and sometimes the deposit too, must be bet before you can withdraw. At 30x, a CAD 80 bonus means CAD 2,400 of betting. Playthrough and rollover mean the same thing.

Welcome bonus

A new-player offer, normally a match on the first deposit and sometimes free spins. Its wagering, expiry and bet cap rules count for more than the headline figure.

Windfall

In Canadian tax language, an unexpected gain such as a lottery prize or casual gambling win, generally not treated as income. Gambling carried out like a business may be treated differently, so ask an accountant.