Home Contents Abbreviations Dictionary Numbers Reference

The Encyclopedia of Casino Twenty-One - The Ultimate Free Online Blackjack Strategy Resource FAQ | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ | Books | S | O | Reports

Catalog Videos | O Software Pubs | O | P Strategy 1 2 6 LS ES EHC NHC

R

RA. See re-split aces.

RB. See Red/Black.

rack. See chip tray.

rainbow. Also called barber pole. A bet made with different denomination checks. (e.g., $225 in greens, $45 in reds, $11 in silver, and three half dollars)

Rainbow Blackjack. A blackjack variation believed to have originated in Mississippi.  The layout of this game identifies each player's position at the table with a color thus allowing each player to bet on other players' hands as well as his own.

random. A statistical term pertaining to or characterizing a set of items every member of which has an equal chance of occurring with a particular frequency.
[68 Webster's New World Dictionary]
[7/90 Baxter Shuffles in Atlantic City... BJC 10]

random number generator. (RNG) A computer program that yields pseudo-random or truly random numbers.

random shuffle. To perform a shuffle, intermixing the cards in such a manner as to completely destroy any previous sequence, rank patterns, or intentional clumping of cards. It can be shown that it requires at least 7 shuffles to produce randomness in a single-deck game. In general, most casinos require 3 or 4 shuffles for single-deck and only 2 shuffles for multiple-deck games. See non-random shuffle.
[77 Epstein Theory of Gambling & Stat Logic 162]
[88 Griffin Theory of Blackjack]
[90 Diaconis Trailing the Dovetail Shuffle to its Lair]

rank. The denomination or value of a card (e.g., The 8 of spades has a rank of 8. The queen of hearts has a rank of 10). See suit.

rank count system. (RCS) {RCS} A simplified counting system taking into account only one or two card values. See ace count. See five count.

rat holing. To hide or place chips secretly in your pocket or purse.  This is done in order to make the pit believe you have won less or lost more at the table.

rated player. A player who has had his or her play rated in order to qualify for comps and other privileges.  Many card counters shy away from being rated for obvious reasons.  See rating slip.

rating slip. A form on which the activities of a player are recorded, showing wins, losses, amounts bet and variations of play. Also used to record dealer performance. A rating procedure is typically performed before granting a player comp privileges.  See rated player.

RC. Acronym for running count.

RCS. See Rank Count System.

readable. As in a readable dealer. 1) A dealer whose hole-card can be spotted by a player or other person in the casino. 2) A dealer whose body language can be read. See tells.

Real World Casino. (RWC) See Real World Casino in software section.

rec.gambling. (RG) The Internet's Usenet gambling community.   Several message groups belong to the rec.gambling hierarchy including groups for blackjack, craps, lottery, poker, racing, sports, other games, and miscellaneous.  The primary blackjack related groups are:

• rec.gambling.blackjack. (RGB) The Internet Usenet newsgroup for blackjack.
  [ news:rec.gambling.blackjack ]

• rec.gambling.blackjack.moderated. (RGBM) The Internet Usenet moderated newsgroup for blackjack.
  [ news:rec.gambling.blackjack.moderated ]
  [ http://www.PosEV.com/rgbm/post-archive/threads.html ]

See Abdul Jalib.  See Michael Solinas.   See FAQ.
[ http://www.posev.com/ ]
[ http://search.dejanews.com/bg.xp?level=rec.gambling&ST=BG ]
[ http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=rec.gambling ]

red chip. A $5 value casino chip.

red zone. (RZ) A reference to the free pages on the Blackjack Review Network.   See green zone.
[ http://www.BJRnet.com ]

redBJ. Abbreviation for red naturals pay 2 to 1.
[Wong Current Blackjack News 93]

Red/Black. (RB or R/B) This is a side bet believed to have been introduced at the Four Queens casino in 1992. In addition to your regular bet you may bet on the color of the dealer's up-card. Like the Over/Under 13 side bet this proposition can be beaten by a proper counting system.  HA = 3.85% (Each count per deck worth 1.92%)
[9/92 Schlesinger Lost in the Maze of New Rules BJF]
[9/92 Saugen How to play Red or Black 21 BJC 16]

Red Seven Count. {PCS/L1}. (Arnold Snyder). An unbalanced card counting system.

BC = .98 (approx.) PE = .54 (approx.)

Reid, Richard.  Editor and publisher of the bjmath web site at http://www.bjmath.com.

relay. A team player who relays signals from one person to another.

Reno. City in Nevada near Lake Tahoe and Carson City with a major concentration of casinos. Population is over 130,000.
[5/90 Olsen Reno/Sparks Area Report BJC 4]

Reno rules. Typical Reno / Sparks / Lake Tahoe rules are as follows:

• Double on 10 or 11 only.
• Dealer hits soft 17.

Reppert System. {PCS/L2}. (Reppert). See Andersen Count.

BC = .97 PE = .45

rescue. See double down rescue.

re-split pairs. (RS) The advantageous rule that allows the player to split a pair after having already split a pair. See re-split aces. See RSx.

Revere, Lawrence. Former casino pit-boss and author of the classic blackjack text-book Playing Blackjack as a Business and co-developer of several counting systems.  Lawrence Revere, born Griffith K. Owens and also known as Leonard "Specs" Parsons and Paul Mann, was a leading blackjack expert during the 60's and early 70's. His Advanced Point Count (A.P.C.) was one of the top working tools of the professional blackjack player of the time. Revere died on April 23, 1977, after a seven week bout with cancer of the liver and lung.

Revere Advanced Plus-Minus. {PCS/L1}. (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun).

BC = .89 PE = .59

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business]

Revere Five-Count. {RCS}. (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun). See five-count.

BC = .41 PE = .14

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 83]

Revere Point Count. {PCS/L2}. (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun) (c1971).

BC = .98 PE = .56

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 117]

Revere Plus-Minus. {PCS/L1}. (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun) (c1969). See Braun Hi-Lo.

BC = .97 PE = .51

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 93]

Revere Ten-Count. {TCS}. (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun).
[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 105]

Revere 1971 Advanced Point Count. {PCS/L4. (APC) (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun) (c1971).

BC = 1.00 PE = .53

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 145]

Revere 1973 Advanced Point Count. {PCS/L4}. (APC) (Lawrence Revere / Julian Braun) (c1973). Also known as the 14 Count since the positive card values add up to 14.

BC = .92 PE = .66

RFB. Acronym for Room, Food and Beverage. See comp.

RG. Acronym for the rec.gambling Internet newsgroups.

RGB. Acronym for the rec.gambling.blackjack Internet newsgroup.

RGBM. Acronym for the moderated rec.gambling.blackjack Internet newsgroup.

RGE. Originally the acronym for Arnold Snyder's publishing company which published Blackjack Forum magazine.  See rge21.

rge21.  This was originally the official web site for Arnold Snyder's Blackjack Forum magazine and RGE publishing company. Snyder is no longer affiliated with RGE. Snyder has a new site at blackjackforumonline.com as linked below.  See Bishop.
[ http://www.rge21.com --> http://www.advantageplayer.com ]
[ http://www.blackjackforumonline.com ]

rich. As in the deck is 10 rich. To have a larger than normal percentage of that card value present in the deck. See poor.

rider.   A bet made by a player behind another player's (caller's) bet.  In most casinos, the player who has the original bet controls the play of the hand.  In some casinos, the person who has placed the largest bet controls the hand.   There are some basic strategy variations for casinos who allow rider bets and also allow a rider to not split while allowing the caller to split. 
[92 Wong Basic Blackjack 64]

riffle. A type of shuffle. Typically, several riffles make up a complete shuffle. As used in the literature, a riffle is usually defined as the breaking of a deck into two approximately equal parts and the interleaving of one part into the other. Most people would call this procedure a shuffle but to avoid confusion the term riffle has been used instead. A shuffle is typically used to refer to the sum-total of the actions to reorder the cards. (e.g., A riffle-riffle-strip-riffle would be considered a complete shuffle.)

ring. Rings have been used by blackjack players to:

• Keep track of the count.
• Keep track of aces or other cards.
• Mark or nick the cards.
• Peeking at the dealer's hole-card.

Riot Act. As in reading them the Riot Act. What many card counters and professional blackjack players are told as they are told quietly, but forcefully, to leave and not return, upon pain of arrest for trespassing. See heat.  See barring.
[86 Rose Gambling and the Law 201]

rising sequence. See sequence. 

risk averse. As in risk averse strategies.  To include the size of your bankroll and your risk of going broke in any playing or betting strategy.

risk averse indices.  Risk-averse indices were first proposed by Joel Friedman in the early 1980s. According to Karel Janecek, author of the Statistical Blackjack Analyzer (SBA) software, the importance of the risk-averse indices was underestimated and the indices were not much used in practice until recently, when the feature of risk-averse indices generation were first included in SBA.  The basic idea behind risk-averse indices is that when making a playing decision the player should not always maximize the expected (average) profit, but should also take the possibly increased risk into consideration.   Simulations run by several blackjack experts, John Auston among others, show that the correct usage of risk-averse indices improves player's performance by about 3%. Now, you may think that 3% is not that much, and may not be worth the extra trouble. In general this could be true. But the point is that the 3% improvement comes with practically no extra effort! The only change is that few indices have different numbers. Today players strive to achieve extra few percent improvement and are often willing to change their counting system. Here you can reach the same improvement by just changing, say, 10 index numbers.
[About SBA - http://www.BJRnet.com/catalog/sba.htm ]

risk of ruin. (ROR) The probability of losing your bankroll.  Can be expressed as a trip risk of ruin or total bank risk of ruin.  The software Blackjack Risk Manager is a very useful tool for calculating this figure.  See gambler's ruin.

riverboat gambling. Riverboat casino gambling is legal in several states. At time of writing the major concentration has been along the Mississippi river. States that have legalized riverboat gambling include:

• Indiana
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Missouri

Also, at time of writing, several other states were considering legalizing riverboat gambling.
[Spr 93 Dalton The Blackjack Map BJR]

RM. Acronym for Royal Match 21.

RM21. Acronym for Royal Match 21.

RNG. Acronym for Random Number Generator.

Roberts, Stanley.  (a.k.a. Stanley Sludikoff)   Publisher of Gambling Times Magazine and Win Magazine.

Roberts Ace-Count. {RCS}. (Stanley Roberts) TBD
[73 Roberts How to Win at Weekend Blackjack]

Roberts Five-Six Count. {RCS}. (Stanley Roberts) TBD
[73 Roberts How to Win at Weekend Blackjack]

Roberts Ten-Count. {TCS}. (Stanley Roberts) (c1980) TBD
[2/78 Mitchell BJ Systems From BS to Expert GT 15]
[82 Roberts Winning Blackjack]

Roberts One-Number Register. {PCS/L1}. (Stanley Roberts).

A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -2

(Unbalanced converted 10 count)

BC = .72 PE = .61

Roginski, Thomas C.. Co-author of the book Fundamentals of Blackjack.  See C-R Point Count.

rollover. When the top half of a stack of cards becomes the bottom. A 2 step rollover refers to a stack of cards A over B over C becoming C over B over A.

ROR. Acronym for Risk Of Ruin.

round. 1) When all players have completed their hand against one dealer hand.  2) A blackjack tournament term referring to the number of hands played per table session.

Rouge et Noir System. {PCS/L1}. (Staff of Rouge et Noir) (c1969). Also called Rouge et Noir Expert. See Hi-Lo.

BC = .97 PE = .51

[80 Revere Playing Blackjack as a Business 161]

royal 21. Also called royal pontoon. When the player gets 7-7-7. This is a popular bonus hand in social blackjack games and in some casinos. See 6-7-8. See A-J of spades.  PA = 0.01% (If winning 7-7-7 pays 3 to 2)
[90 Chambliss Fundamentals of Blackjack 59]
[92 Schlesinger Lost in the Maze of New Rules 15]

Royal Match 21. (RM , RM21) A product of Bet Technology of Carson City, NV this side bet was introduced in 1992 at the Nugget Casino in Carson City. This $1 side bet has the player wagering that his first two cards will be of the same suit. Typical rules were that if your first two cards were K,Q of the same suit you won either 10 to 1 or 25 to 1 on your Royal Match bet. In addition, some casinos offered 2.5 to 1 if your first two cards were in suit.  HA = 3.8% (Approx.)
[92 Wong Basic Blackjack]
[8/7/92 Liggett Royal Match 21 Making a Hit CP]
[9/92 Schlesinger Lost in the Maze of New Rules BJF]
[ http://www.betech.com/royalmatch.html ]

RPC. Acronym for Revere Point Count.

RPI. See Carter RPI.

RSA. Acronym for re-split aces.

RSx. Acronym for "re-split pairs up to x number of hands."

R&T Point Count. {PCS/L2}. Mike Francis (1980). R&T Publishing Co., Reno, NV.

BC = .90 PE = .63

rubber band. A term coined to describe a system of assigning dealers to table games who are not assigned a specific table during a shift. So called because a rubber band is often placed around the clip-board under the name of the last dealer assigned.
[81 Uston Million Dollar Blackjack 320]

ruin. See risk of ruin.

rule of 6. A common single deck policy in many casinos.  The rule of 6 states that a dealer may deal five rounds to one player, four rounds to two players, three rounds to three players and two rounds to four players.  Some casinos will also only deal one round to five or more players.

rules. The laws or regulations that govern the play of the game.  See S-17.   See H-17.  See insurance.  See blackjack.
[Sum 92 Dalton The Rules of the Game BJR 10]

running count. (RC) The cumulative value of all cards played at any given time and based on the set of preassigned values for each card denomination. Most card counting systems also require the player to convert this number to what is called the true count in order to make accurate variations to basic strategy play. Unless the player is using an unbalanced count the running count is zero for a neutral or unplayed deck.

RWC. See Real World Casino in software section.

Last Update 08/09/10