This popular casino strategy game has a special language and history. For new and veteran players alike, this article presents the terms, lingo and jargon known as blackjack speak. Some of these terms will be familiar and others will make you smile.

However, impressing your game-playing friends with blackjack speak is a certainty.

I have left out some of the obvious terms known to blackjack players and instead concentrated on the unusual.
Here we go with the game of 21.

21 wins: blackjack player or dealer who comes closest to 21 without going over wins.

Anchor/Third Base: blackjack lingo for player to the right of the dealer receiving the last card.

Back Counter: a card counter looking for opportunities to play when the count is positive.

Barber Pole: blackjack jargon for stack of chips consisting of a variety of colors.

Breaking/Stiff Hand: card count of 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 that will bust or go over 21 with one card.

Camouflage: blackjack lingo for tactics to conceal a skilled player’s identity like disguises or acting like an average Joe or Jill.

Clump: group of cards that favors either the house or player.

Color Up: exchange smaller for larger denominations.

Count Down the Deck: memorizing cards already played to determine the remainder.

DD: abbreviation for double deck game or double down.

Deuces: blackjack term for the number 2 cards.

DAS: abbreviation for double after split, allows for doubling down after splitting a pair.

Double down/Doubling down: doubling the bet before receiving one additional card.

Early Surrender: player loses 50% of bet if he/she decides to surrender after the first two cards.

First Base/First Baseman: blackjack lingo for player to the left of the dealer and the first person to receive cards.

Five-card Charlie: blackjack jargon for 5-card blackjack that totals 21 or less.

Hard Hand: those hands that do not contain an ace or a hand where the ace is valued at 1.

Late Surrender: player loses 50% of bet if he/she decides to surrender after seeing the dealer’s up card.

Natural/Blackjack: when the first two cards dealt are an ace and a card with a value of 10.

Nickel: blackjack lingo for $5 chip.

Paint: blackjack term for face cards-Jack, Queen and King.

Perfect Pairs: blackjack jargon for side bet that pays for mixed pair, colored pair, and perfect pair after the initial deal.

Rainbow Bet: wagering with several colors/denominations of playing chips.

RSA: abbreviation for resplit aces with no limit.

S17: refers to dealer standing on all 17’s.

Soft Hand: hand that has an ace counted as 11. After a hit, this hand could become a Hard Hand if the value of the ace changes to 1.

Soft Double: doubling down when one card is an ace.

Spanish 21: blackjack version where the 4-ten cards are removed.

Steam: term for a player who increases his/her bets to recoup losses.

Tells: blackjack lingo for signals in the form of gestures or attitude expressed by the dealer that may provide useful strategies as to the value of their hole card.

Toke: Tip to the dealer. Are you a \’George or Tom\’ type of tipper?

Author Bio: Gayle Mitchell is the publisher/webmaster at gamerisms.com, the games glossary-quiz site for passionate sport, casino, skill and video game players. There is a complete blackjack glossary and quiz at the site. Subscribe to gamerisms sports and games blog to receive updates for the games we love to play.

Category: Recreation
Keywords: blackjack, blackjack terms, lingo, jargon, casino game