English is one of the richest languages in the world. One reason for this is that English finds it easy to take words, terms, and idioms from other languages. We would like to explore words, terms, and idioms that gaming−whether at a land-based casino or at an online casino such as Jackpot Capital−has gifted English!
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The next time you are spinning for a casino jackpot perhaps you can savor the source of those two words. Casino dates back to 18th century Italian. The word casino was a diminutive for casa which means house. A casino at that time was a building set up to provide all sorts of games and entertainment for people.
The term jackpot comes from a poker variation that was popular in the Wild West in which no one could open the betting unless they had a pair of jacks or better. So, the pots grew and grew and the term jackpot soon took on the more modern meaning of winning a large prize.
What is an Idiom?
Idioms are connected to slang. They are terms and phrases that people use in everyday conversation. Slang is often more short-lived. If a slang phrase becomes standard it then can become an idiom. If people overuse idioms that came to a language through slang, it loses the sense of acceptance that took it from slang to idiom and becomes a cliché.
Cliches are the death knell of writers while idiom is the spice of any language. The most difficult part of most languages to learn is the idioms the native speakers use in everyday conversation.
As such, there are many different sets of idioms in English since there are many countries where English is the native language and a few where English is a lingua franca. An American who relocates to Australia, for example, has to relearn English as Aussie English differs from American English in both vocabulary and idiom!
Hit the Jackpot
We should start with this idiom since jackpots are prominent games at Jackpot Capital. You can hit the jackpot in many ways. For instance, if you buy an asset at the low and sell at the high you may feel that you have hit the jackpot.
Happily married people feel that they both hit the jackpot when they married each other. A new college graduate who applies for a high-level job along with possibly 100 others hits the jackpot if they get the job.
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Ace in the Hole
It is obvious that this idiom comes from poker where in many games, there are two hole cards. Having an ace in the hole that the other players can’t see may make the difference in the hand.
Every coach or manager in any sport at any level hopes to have an ace in the hole for a critical moment in a game. The ace in the hole might be a player or it might be a play that the coach designed and waited patiently for the right time to use it.
An ace in the hole is a great advantage in any negotiation. The best negotiators train to be able to unveil their ace in the hole at the proper time.
Up the Ante
The ante is an amount of money that all players put into the pot before the dealer deals the cards. In a friendly game, the ante may be a single penny. There is no ante in Texas Hold’em. In that game, there are two blinds, the Big Blind and the Small Blind.
In Texas Hold’em a player has to call or raise the Big Blind if they want to see the flop.
In any business negotiation, to up the ante means to raise the cost of staying in the negotiation. The cause might be someone else making a very high bid for the item being negotiated
In war, there might be a time when the winning side offers a conditional surrender. If the other side believes it has an ace in the hole, it might reject the offer of a conditional surrender. Then if the tide of war continues as it was before the offer was made, the winning side might up the ante by demanding an unconditional surrender.
Sweeten the Pot
This fascinating idiom is actually the mirror image of the previous idiom. In both cases, the person or side with the upper hand makes a demand that the lesser side must accept or fall out of the negotiation. in the previous case, the side with the upper hand was the side with something the other person or side wants to buy, such as a house.
If you want to buy the house the bank may up the ante by asking for a higher down payment.
In this idiom, one side wants the other side’s patronage. The request to sweeten the pot comes from the person or entity that is being wooed to patronize a company or a sports team, for example.
To sweeten the pot means for the side receiving offers to demand even more money, benefits, perks, or any other accoutrements of the job or position before accepting the job or position.
Play Your Cards Right
This is exactly what any businessperson strives to do during a protracted negotiation. Playing one’s cards right means timing every new offer as well as they can for the best effect.
Playing one’s cards right implies a step-by-step process. It is the opposite of another common idiom: to lay one’s cards on the table. At the end of a hand in poker all the players still in the hand lay their cards on the table. In a negotiation, it is often a very big mistake to lay one’s virtual cards on the table too early or all at once.
If the other side in the negotiation senses that you have laid all your cards on the table and you don’t have an ace in the hole, they will take the upper hand in the negotiation and they will up the ante!
These are just a few of many idioms the world of gaming has bequeathed the English language. Idioms are truly the spice of the English language!
Play Your Cards Right at Video Poker and Blackjack Here at Jackpot Capital
We have published several articles on how to play your cards right at these super-popular games of skill. Since the return to player rate in these games, if you play your cards right, is about 99.5%, it pays to read our articles on the games and to PLAY ONLINE CASINO GAMES HERE AT JACKPOT CAPITAL!
