Gambling Phrases – Gambling Idioms, Quotes & Slang
There are more gambling phrases than we can count, but we did our best to select the most memorable idioms, phrases, and gambling quotes in this article. Some are well-known and frequently used, while others have even entered the top gambling catchphrases you can hear.
The gambling idioms, funny gambling quotes, and pro players wisdom have found their place here. This is the moment to say that this article has no gambling terms definitions you can find in the casino games tutorials. We have not even focused on the jokes, memes, or anecdotes.
Instead, we have collected idioms used in gambling and daily life and added the opinions of pro gamblers, celebrities, and other famous people. Below, you can see the main categories and choose which one to read first. Don’t forget to check the Q&A section at the bottom.
Gambling Quotes, Slang & Phrases
This article will not focus on the basic elements found on a gambling floor or listed in the gaming tutorials. We will not even speak about the unique and funny gambling terms. Instead, we listed many phrases, idioms, quotes, and slang phrases that transform casino gaming into a memorable event.
Gambling Phrases About Skills
Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along. – Terry Pratchett “Interesting Times”
Know the game rules and mastering your skills are the foundation of playing at the best online casinos in the USA for 2024. This process sometimes takes time, especially when players learn from practice at the tables. Alongside the standard phrases and keywords, gamblers also learn the gambling slang. Here are some of the most popular phrases and their short meanings:
| Gambling Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 🤓 According To Hoyle | Edmond Hoyle (1671/72-1769) was a British writer who took it upon himself to write down the rules for many games. This made him an authority on the matter, so the phrase with his name refers to established procedures. |
| 😎 Ace Up One’s Sleeve/Ace In the Hole | Someone has an unseen or unknown advantage over others that can be leveraged at the right time. The Ace reference comes from poker, where this card is the strongest. Therefore, the one who holds it (often) wins. |
| ❌ All Bets Are Off | In some cases, the initial conditions have changed, making the outcome unpredictable. In other cases, the phrase may mean that whatever is at stake will be considered void or null. Of course, there is the standard definition that you can’t place any more stakes. |
| 💸 Bet Your Bottom Dollar | Bet all money you have on something. This phrase was so popular in the past that it became part of the song “Tomorrow” in the musical Annie (1982). |
| 🐄 Bet/Betting the Farm | In the early 20th-century, many gamblers were ready to risk everything in an attempt to win at gambling. Some of them wagered or paid-off gambling debts with their houses, farms, and other estates. |
| ♠️ Call a Spade a Spade | This means speaking frankly and directly on a subject or about a problem. |
| 🐎 Dark Horse | An unknown or little known person who suddenly wins in a competition. |
| 🔫 Dead Man’s Hand | The Wild Bill Hickok poker hand of Aces and eights he was holding when Jack McCall shot and killed him. |
| ✨ Hit the Jackpot | Unexpected good luck that brings everything the person desires or even more. |
| 🔥 Make Bets in a Burning House | Engaging in futile activity in an attempt to achieve a goal or putting an effort in small matters, while serious problems needing solution are getting worse. |
| 😶 Poker Face | Not showing emotions or reacting to events to hide thoughts and feelings. |
| 🃏 Play (Your) Cards Right | Someone is leveraging a situation to their advantage. |
| 🌶️ Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is | Back up the words with actions in bets and life situations. |
| ❤️ Queen of Hearts | Skilful and pre-eminent woman in her area of expertise. |
As you can see by the meanings, those phrases apply to many situations in daily life. That took them out of the gaming rooms in the top casino resorts worldwide and into the common speech. An interesting exception is the “AK47”, where the poker hand combination of Ace & King is named after the popular machinegun because it can “bring down” almost any other hand.
Gambling Idioms About Prizes and Winning
Eat your betting money but don’t bet your eating money. – Unknown
It is impossible to discuss betting without mentioning the gambling idioms for winning prizes and losing. In this section of the review, you can find examples of phrases we can hear around the gaming tables or at horse racing movies. Here are our picks for situations where a player got all the marbles (won the entire prize or reward).
- ➰ “Down to the wire” refers to someone or some situation heading an unpredictable result. The phrase first appeared in horseracing events in the past when the finish line was a wire, a ribbon, or a rope.
- 🍯 “Sweeten the pot” is a situation when the amount of winnings or the promised prize is increased with high bets or attractive offers.
- 🍗 “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” is believed to have appeared years ago in Las Vegas, where a small win of $2 could buy a full chicken dinner. Today it is jolly way players and dealers congratulate a winner.
Most of the gambling slang was created in casinos in Reno, Las Vegas, and other major gaming locations. There, often we can hear that many players go “down to the felt” when they lose all their money. Even though those gamblers are “no dice” (refuse to accept or agree their zero chance to succeed), sometimes it is best to give up on their efforts and leave the tables.
Gaming Idioms & Phrases About Luck
Poker movies are always a good source of information regarding games. Furthermore, many films are real gambling tutorials where we can learn how a game is played and pick some gambling phrases. Part of the main plot is always luck because, as Seneca said: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. Here are some phrases about good and bad luck in gambling:
Feel free to use any of those gambling quotes in the right situations while gambling or in real life. We recommend that you don’t rely entirely on luck because, as the Swedish proverb goes, “Luck never gives; it only lends”. Now that you know what the standard phrases created by the people are, we will share a few quotes and opinions of celebrities and professional gamblers.
Gambling Wisdom from Pro Players & Celebrities
It is known that the professional gamblers are often ready to share their knowledge and wisdom. Alongside the good tips and tricks of the trade, they create many funny gambling quotes. To make this article even more entertaining and diverse, we also added the opinions of many famous people.
Gambling Tips & Quotes About Different Games
Besides gambling slang, pro gamblers and frequent players have enough time to tell gambling catch phrases and anecdotes. Don’t be surprised if your trip around roulette, poker, and blackjack tables bring more than the gambling experience. Here is what players and celebrities can say about the different gambling games:
- 💰 Albert Einstein: “You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it.”
- 🧨 Mark Twain: “Baccarat is a game whereby the croupier gathers in money with a flexible sculling oar, then rakes it home. If I could have borrowed his oar, I would have stayed.”
- 🍭 Paul Newman: “If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”
- 🏇 Will Rogers: “You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people.”
- 🌙 Mitch Hedberg: “I like to play blackjack. I’m not addicted to gambling, I’m addicted to sitting in a semi-circle.”
- 🦍 William Poundstone: “The problem with winning at blackjack and sports betting is that sooner or later, a big guy in a suit tells you to leave.”
- ♟️ Johnny Moss: “Hold ’em is to stud what chess is to checkers.”
Some of those pearls of wisdom may sound like gambling catch phrases, but their meaning is deep and worth reflecting on. As you can see, almost anyone who has been around the gaming table has something to share. The only opinions you can’t find in this article are the words of notorious Las Vegas mobsters, but even so, there are more than enough quotes to memorise and use.
Famous People’s Quotes on Luck & Winning
In this article, we already mentioned the subject of gambling luck, but previously we mentioned only idioms from life that entered the gambling world. Now, we will return to the depts of luck, chances, and winning with quotes from actors, writers and pro gamblers:
- 🤑 Paul Newman, The Colour of Money (1986) quote: “Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.”
- 📉 Cara Bertoia: “It’s hard to walk away from a winning streak, even harder to leave the table when you’re on a losing one.”
- 🐰 R. E. Shay: “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit.”
- 🍀 Phil Hellmuth: “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.”
- 💯 Wayne Gretzky: “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
- 🥳 Ruby Martin: “The gambler who expects to lose is the happiest person at the track.”
This may surprise you, but some of the best gambling quotes are created by writers. An excellent example of a writer who takes gambling scenes seriously is Ian Fleming. His famous character, MI6 agent 007 James Bond, dazzles us with style and gambling skills. Fleming even created a James Bond roulette strategy. In fact, this strategy is particularly popular with players at roulette online casinos in Norway. Bond can be heard saying smart quotes like “At gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck” when playing cards.
Funny Gambling Quotes About Gambling
Do you wish to read more funny gambling quotes? We have prepared more gambling catch phrases, idioms, phrases and opinions you can’t hear in the casinos located on the Las Vegas Strip map. Many of the quotes below are yet to become standard gambling phrases or idioms, but they teach us a lot about gambling, the casinos, and the psychology of the gambler:
- 🧐 Terry Pratchett, “Witches Abroad”: “It’s not gambling to play against someone who’s no good. It’s common sense.”
- 🤯 Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, The Queen of Spades and Other Stories: “Play interests me very much,” said Hermann: “but I am not in the position to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the superfluous.”
- 🌱 Dan Bennett: “One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a package of garden seeds.”
- 🔮 Steven Wright: “Last night, I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house, and four people died.”
- ✔️ Terry Murphy: “A gambler never makes the same mistake twice. It’s usually three or more times.”
- 🧬 Edmund Burke: “Gambling is a principle inherent in human nature.”
- 💡 Baltasar Gracián y Morales: “Quit while you’re ahead. All the best gamblers do.”
- ⚖️ Doyle Brunson: “Try to decide how good your hand is at a given moment. Nothing else matters. Nothing.”
- 🚪 Nicholas Dandalos: “Remember this. The house doesn’t beat the player. It just gives him the opportunity to beat himself.”
- 💱 V. P. Pappy: “Gambling is not about how well you play the games; it’s really about how well you handle your money.”
Seeing how the wisdom flows from everyone who has been near the casino tables, there is no wonder why movies like Rounders (1998) can teach us gambling terms and gambling idioms. Considering all situations you may encounter around the tables, and it is good always to follow the advice of the Chinese proverb “if you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stake, and the quitting time”.
Gambling Phrases Q&A
Our article dedicated to the gambling phrases and idioms also has many quotes from famous people and professional gamblers. This is the section where we will answer interesting and popular questions on the matter:
