gambling

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Games of chance

Nouns

1. gambling, gaming, risk, betting, dicing, bookmaking, speculation, laying odds; bet, stake, wager, ante, pot, pool, kitty, bank, progressive betting, betting system, spread; jackpot; [even, short, or long] odds; house advantage, PC, percentage, vig[orish]; betting system; wheel of fortune, tossup, toss of the dice, Russian roulette, heads or tails, turn of the card[s] or wheel; gamble, risk (see chance).Slang, flier.

2. casino, gambling or gaming house, betting parlor, gambling hall, gaming table[s], roulette wheel, craps table, slot machine, one-armed bandit, etc., pinball machine; shoe, sabot; race track, the turf, the horses, the dogs, parimutuel window[s], racing forms, tout sheets, totalizator, tote board; chip, counter; bucket shop, off-track betting, OTB; wheel of fortune. Slang, grind or sawdust joint, house, shop, store, trap, creep dive or joint.

3.

a. game of chance, betting game, crank game.

b. blackjack, twenty-one, vingt-et-un, first base, card-counting.

c. [American or European] roulette, rouge et noir, canoe, fret, layout; straight-up, column, dozens, split, street, corner, or square bet.

d. craps, dice, crap game, poker dice; win, hardway, pass, don't pass, come or don't come bet; boxes, craps, Jonah, fimps, little Phoebe, little Joe, carolina, point, natural, sice, big Joe, cock-eyes, boxcars, snake eyes. Slang, Harlem tennis, poor man's roulette.

e. [draw, stud, closed, or open] poker, high- or lowball, high-low; bet, raise, call, showdown, openers.

f. lottery, raffle, drawing, sweepstakes, numbers game, policy; bingo, keno, beano, lotto, big game.

g. baccarat, chemindefer; [three-card] monte; wheel of fortune; cribbage, bridge, etc. (see amusement).

4. [degenerate or compulsive] gambler, gamester, player, dicer, horse-player, bettor, crapshooter, pokerface, etc.; cheat[er], mark (see deception); banker, croupier, caller, callman, dealer, ladderman; adventurer, speculator, entrepreneur; bookmaker, tout; kibitzer. Slang, bookie, runner, banker, customer's man; vulture capitalist; piket, tinhorn, prof, grind, low-baller, plunger, screamer; sharp[er].

Verbs — gamble, game, speculate; flip a coin, call head or tails, shoot craps, play the ponies, etc.; bet, wager, hazard, stake, put up; make a bet, make book, bet on, ante [up]; call, cover, see; check, pass, stand [pat], hit; double down; cheat, use loaded dice or marked cards. Informal, get a piece of the action, ball the jack, take a flyer, get down. See chance.

Phrases — there are two great pleasures in gambling: winning and losing.

Quotations — Life is a gamble at terrible odds — if it was a bet, you wouldn't take it (Tom Stoppard), Gaming corrupts our dispositions and teaches us a habit of hostility against all mankind (Thomas Jefferson), [Gambling: ] The child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief (George Washington).

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. betting, staking, gaming, playing, wagering, playing at hazard, venturing, plunging, backing, laying money on, speculation, action*, taking a flier*, taking a shot*, laying odds*.

Types of gambling include: dicing, sports betting, lottery, lotto, matching, casino, baccarat, chemin de fer (French), roulette, bingo, keno, faro, poker, gin rummy, stud poker, draw poker, strip poker, straight poker, fan-tan, newmarket, nap, blackjack, twenty-one, seven-up, Napoleon, Wellington, chuck-farthing, playing slot machines, craps*, crap-shooting*, shooting crap*, rolling bones*, playing the ponies*, spit in the ocean*, backing the cards*, working the machines*, penny-ante*.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

*The sure way of getting nothing for something.''—Wilson Mizner. ''This tyrant vice.''—David Garrick.