Reference
A plain-English glossary of casino terms
Every term used elsewhere on this site, defined without jargon. Use it as a quick reference while reading the comparison or our guides.
- RTP (Return to Player)
- A theoretical long-run average of how much a game returns to players out of every pound wagered, expressed as a percentage. It describes design over millions of spins, not any single session.
- RNG (Random Number Generator)
- The software behind every slot spin, shuffle and roulette result, producing outcomes with no predictable pattern and no memory of previous results.
- House edge
- The mathematical advantage built into a casino game that means the operator is favoured over a large number of plays, regardless of any individual outcome.
- Volatility (or variance)
- How a game pays out over time: low-volatility games pay smaller amounts more often, high-volatility games pay less often but can pay significantly more when they do.
- Wagering requirement
- The number of times bonus funds (or bonus-plus-deposit funds, depending on the terms) must be played through before any resulting winnings can be withdrawn.
- Welcome offer
- An introductory bonus for new customers, typically structured as a deposit match, bonus spins, or both. Terms and eligibility vary by operator.
- Live dealer / live casino
- Table games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat streamed in real time from a studio or venue, dealt by a real person rather than generated purely by software.
- Game studio / provider
- The company that develops a casino game — for example a slot or live table format — which is then licensed by operators to include in their lobby.
- UKGC (UK Gambling Commission)
- The statutory body that licenses and regulates gambling in Great Britain, sets conditions operators must meet, and can take enforcement action against those that don't.
- GamStop
- A free, national self-exclusion scheme that blocks a person's access to all UKGC-licensed online gambling sites at once, for a period they choose.
- Deposit limit
- An account setting that caps how much a player can deposit in a given day, week or month, required at every UKGC-licensed operator.
- Reality check
- A notification, shown at intervals a player sets, summarising session length and net win or loss so far.
- Self-exclusion
- A request to an individual operator to block your own account for a set period, distinct from GamStop's whole-market exclusion.
- Progressive jackpot
- A prize pool that grows as players contribute a small portion of each stake, often shared across multiple games or operators, until it's won.
- Payline
- A pattern across a slot's reels that must line up with matching symbols to produce a win; modern slots may use hundreds of paylines or a "ways to win" system instead.
- Affiliate link
- A link that identifies traffic as coming from a referring site, such as Reel Outpost, so that site can be credited (and potentially paid a commission) for a resulting sign-up.
- T&Cs (Terms and Conditions)
- The full rules governing an offer or an account, which take precedence over any summary description — always worth reading before opting in to a bonus.
