Why is there – so – much jargon in the casino world? Some would have you believe it’s to deliberately confuse. Personally, I’m on the fence. Perhaps there is an element of intentionally making things sound more ‘strategic’ or ‘intellectual’ than they are. But also, who’s going to type out Random Number Generator instead of RNG every time they want to refer to it? Not I!

 

So, why not explain it all? Together we’ll traverse the heights of the most pervasive casino jargon. We’ll sift through the dreaded acronyms, unpick those lengthy words in the terms and conditions (yes, those are important!) and tackle any remaining odds and ends. 

 

 

All the Letters!

 

First up, we’re going to deal with some of the most common acronyms that you’ll run into when playing online casino games. Believe me, there are lots! These are the most common of them all though.

 

RTP: This is an important one! RTP stands for return to player. It refers to the amount of money you’ll get back – on average – as a percentage. Most people consider slots with an RTP of 96% to be good ones to play. This is because you’ll get (on average – don’t forget that bit) 96% of your stake back in returns – over time. It’s worth bearing in mind that RTP is calculated over many, many, many thousands of spins of the reel. So, you won’t always get exactly the advertised RTP. Especially in games with particularly high volatility – we’ll get to that in a bit. 

 

RNG: If you’re a keen slots player then you’ll probably have come across this term before, but actually it’s in all kinds of games. It stands for Random Number Generator. It refers to how slot machines (and many other online casino table games) work. This ensures randomness in every single spin of the reels, or turn of the roulette table, no matter the player, stake, site, or anything. Companies like iTech Labs and eCOGRA ensure that online casinos use RNGs in their online games to give everybody a – truly – fair experience.

 

BTC: In particular, BTC stands for Bitcoin, but you’ll also see casinos offering ETH (Ethereum) and various other cryptocurrencies using their acronyms (USDT, SOL etc., etc.). For example, casinos will often advertise btc blackjack, meaning you can play blackjack on their site, using Bitcoin as your currency. You make your deposits and (sometimes but not always) place your bets in cryptocurrency. These are good ones to know, because there are some distinct perks to playing with crypto that it pays (literally) to know about.

 

KYC: This stands for Know Your Customer. It refers to the procedures and policies that casino operators – have to – put in place to make sure they, well, know their customers! Amongst other things, it can weed out the people who are not the correct age to play casino games. While KYC checks might seem a little tedious, they’re key to keeping the online gambling space safe – for everybody.

 

FS: This is a good one. Free spins! This is exactly what it says on the tin, a set number of free spins for you to enjoy. Of course, free spins almost always come with some terms, so that’s exactly what we’ll get onto next.

 

The Dreaded Casino Terms and Conditions

 

I know, I know they’re boring. But it really is essential to read terms and conditions – particularly when you’re signing up for a bonus! Poor terms (that aren’t player friendly) can take what seems like a good bonus and turn it into a – frankly – annoying one. So, let’s take a look at some of the most common terms. That way, you’ll be able to spot a good bonus from a rubbish one.

 

Wagering Requirement: This is. The. Single. Term. That makes the biggest difference to the value of a bonus. It refers to how many times you need to wager the bonus amount before you can withdraw any winnings – yes, any, any winnings at all. For example, if you took a bonus amount of $50 with a wagering requirement of 10x, you’d need to wager a total of $500 before you could withdraw your winnings. Usually, casinos like to keep the wagering requirement (occasionally written as WR) between 10x and 50x. However, watch out as they can get higher! And if they do, you don’t want to be stuck with an impossible task on your hands.

 

Expiry Date: This is an easy one! Just like you don’t want to be using your milk after the expiry date, you don’t want to be using a bonus either. In fact, quite simply, you can’t. If you don’t use up your bonus (every last dime) before it expires – including completing that pesky wagering requirement – then, you lose it. Use it or lose it, an easy one to remember.

Minimum (Qualifying) Deposit: Most bonuses require you to deposit some money with the online casino in order to ‘unlock’ them. Except the hallowed no-deposit bonus of course. This deposit stops you from investing absolutely nothing, snagging a bonus, hitting the jackpot, and never playing again. Win Caps are another term that helps with this problem. Anyway, this ‘unlocking’ deposit is known as the minimum deposit, or (sometimes) minimum qualifying deposit. If you don’t make a deposit that’s large enough, then you won’t qualify for the bonus – not even a little bit of it!