Glossary
Crypto casino and betting terms explained in one plain sentence, from RTP to rollover.
A
AML (anti-money laundering)
AML (anti-money laundering) is the set of laws and checks that make casinos confirm who their customers are and where their money comes from.
B
Bankroll
A bankroll is the fixed amount of money you set aside for gambling and can afford to lose, kept separate from the money you need to live on.
Bonus abuse
Bonus abuse is a casino's term for claiming or playing bonuses in ways its rules forbid, such as opening more than one account.
C
Cashback
Cashback is a reward that returns a set share of your net losses over a period, such as a day or a week.
Client seed
A client seed is the player's input to a provably fair result, a value you can set yourself that is mixed with the casino's server seed and a nonce.
Confirmation
A confirmation is a block added to a blockchain that includes your transaction or builds on top of it, and each extra one makes the payment harder to reverse.
Curaçao licence
A Curaçao licence is a permit to run online gambling issued by the Curaçao Gaming Authority, the regulator that many crypto casinos operate under.
Custodial wallet
A custodial wallet is one where a company holds the private keys and controls the crypto for you, as an exchange or a casino account does.
E
Expected value (EV)
Expected value (EV) is the average result of a bet if you could repeat it a huge number of times, found by weighting each possible outcome by its chance.
G
Gambler's fallacy
The gambler's fallacy is the mistaken belief that a random result is more or less likely to happen because of what happened in earlier rounds.
Game provider
A game provider is the studio that designs and runs a casino game, which the casino then offers to players on its own site.
Game weighting
Game weighting is the share of each bet that counts towards a bonus wagering requirement, which differs by game and is often less than 100%.
H
Hash
A hash is a fixed-length fingerprint of some data, where the same input always gives the same hash but the hash cannot be turned back into the input.
Hot wallet
A hot wallet is a crypto wallet whose keys are kept on a device or server connected to the internet, which makes it quick to use but easier to attack.
House edge
The house edge is the share of each bet a casino expects to keep on average over the long run, equal to 100% minus the game's RTP.
K
KYC (know your customer)
KYC (know your customer) is the identity check where a casino asks for documents such as a passport and proof of address, often before it pays a withdrawal.
M
Martingale
The martingale is a betting system where you double your stake after every loss, hoping the next win recovers all your losses plus one base bet.
Maximum bet rule
A maximum bet rule is a bonus term that caps how much you may stake on a single bet or spin while a bonus is active.
Maximum cashout
A maximum cashout is a cap on how much you can withdraw from winnings made with a bonus, however much you actually win.
N
Network fee
A network fee is what a blockchain charges to process a transaction, and it is set by the network and how busy it is, not by the casino.
No-deposit bonus
A no-deposit bonus is a small amount of bonus money or free spins that a casino gives you for signing up, without you paying anything in first.
Nonce
A nonce is a counter that goes up by one with each bet, so that every bet made with the same pair of seeds gets a different result.
P
Provably fair
Provably fair is a system that lets you check for yourself that a casino fixed its part of a bet's result before you bet and did not change it afterwards.
R
Rakeback
Rakeback is a reward that usually pays back a small part of the house edge on every bet you place, whether the bet wins or loses.
Random number generator (RNG)
A random number generator (RNG) is the software that produces the unpredictable numbers a casino game turns into spins, cards and dice rolls.
Return to player (RTP)
RTP (return to player) is the share of all money bet on a game that it is built to pay back to players over a very large number of bets, shown as a percentage.
S
Self-custody
Self-custody means you hold the private keys to your crypto yourself, usually backed up as a seed phrase, so that only you can move it.
Self-exclusion
Self-exclusion is a tool that lets you ask a casino to block you from gambling with it for a set period or for good.
Server seed
A server seed is a secret random value a casino picks before you bet and uses, together with your client seed and a nonce, to work out provably fair results.
Stablecoin
A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to hold a steady value, most often one US dollar, such as USDT or USDC.
Sticky bonus
A sticky bonus is a bonus you can bet with but never withdraw, so it is either removed when you cash out or kept for more play, depending on the terms.
V
Variance
Variance is a measure of how far results are spread around their average, worked out as the average squared distance from the expected value.
VIP programme
A VIP programme is a casino loyalty scheme that moves players up levels and gives them bigger rewards the more they bet.
Volatility
Volatility is how much a game's results swing around its average, from small frequent wins at the low end to rare large wins at the high end.
W
Wagering requirement
A wagering requirement is the total amount you must bet, usually a multiple of the bonus, before bonus money and its winnings can be withdrawn.