The list of words that made it big in gambling includes eight most used words, the most obvious is jackpot and poker face, while others are double down, penny ante, above-board, gimmick and crapshoot.

An unreadable face revealing no hint of the feelings or thoughts = Poker Face

The word can be traced back to the 1830s, or that is how far back its use appear. Since then it did not take long at all to be used to describe a person’s game face. More, in particular, the expressionless aspects of the face that do not give the opponent any clue on what the person thinks or feel. This makes it impossible to know if the player has a winning hand in poker or the worst cards ever. Explained in 1874 by the Law of Principles, a great poker-face is one that does not betray the nature of cards by the change of countenance, and it is a valuable possession.

An Unexpected often impressive reward or success = Jackpot

Earlier used in a different form, which was a pot of jacks, the pot described the accumulated poker bets made in a game and the jack referred to a pair of jacks needed to start betting. In slots, the jackpot is the highest payout, while progressive jackpots increases via a percentage contributed by every single wager.

An unpredictable outcome = Crapshoot

Encountered today as a closed compound, Crapshoot entered the language during the 19th century when it was used more like an open compound.; The crap portion of the word was never judgemental and always used to refer to the game of craps. The gambling game is hugely popular and based on the throw of a pair of dice. By the mid 20th century the game became shooting of craps, this term also indicates the unpredictability of its nature. In 1956 the Chicago Daily Tribune placed a boiler room article on distinguishing between income, sound investment and the crap shooting speculation game.

Any dealings on a smaller scale = Penny Ante

Directly used based on the Latin world, ante means preceding or before, an etymological root is shared by your game of penny ante, and noble words such as antepenultimate means ending next to last in a game. Antemortem means the preceding of death and the term that relates to the period before the flood in the bible is antediluvian. First penny ante was an actual poker game which is played by smaller stakes, and then it became the norm to describe any small scale endeavours.

The oldest word on the list is above-board, and its definition is something straightforward. The word originated from playing cards; at first, it was considered to refer to challenging to cheat games and players had to keep their cards over a table. The word gimmick’s definition is either a device or trick used to attract attention or business. Since the 20th century, it more refers to the mechanical device also known as the roulette wheel.