Gambling expressions

The Die is cast.

This is a strange one for me. Every gaming site and most non-gaming sites say that Julius said it as he crossing the Rubicon, and they say it means he has rolled the die and lets see what happens.
However, I am the victim of some Catholic School education and there we were taught it refers to the die that is used in coin making.
You make a die, you use it and when done you break it, but once the die is cast there can be no more changes.

Quote: billryan

The Die is cast.

This is a strange one for me. Every gaming site and most non-gaming sites say that Julius said it as he crossing the Rubicon, and they say it means he has rolled the die and lets see what happens.
However, I am the victim of some Catholic School education and there we were taught it refers to the die that is used in coin making.
You make a die, you use it and when done you break it, but once the die is cast there can be no more changes.

This is one of my favorites and I grew up learning it the same way. My mind was blown when I found out the Caesar origin. It’s a real lesson in how language changes meaning over time.

The further twist on this expression is that in the Roman days, dice were cast in a cup. So to say the die is cast for a modern person, you might visualize a craps table and the die spinning in the air. The outcome not yet determined. But for a Roman the cup was turned over and the die was no longer spinning. So the outcome was determined but not yet known. A subtle but (to me) interesting distinction on the phrase meaning.

𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧



and then there's:



𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 8 - 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙨

All bets are off

Ready to roll (actually I think this comes from painting)

Odds-on favorite

I always seem to hear this term thrown around. It is my understanding the the "odds-on" part meant that the odds were less than even money. I think people say "odds-on favorite" when they just mean "favorite" because it sounds better.

Across The Board (originally referring to equal amounts bet on a horse to win, place, and show, but now used to refer to applying to something in general, as in, "across the board pay raises") - in fact, I remember reading about a school that tried to ban a dictionary from its library because it included the term and it was in a jurisdiction where horse race betting was illegal.

Ace in the hole

Roll the bones

Long shot

That's where the money is! (Dealer referring to side bets with long odds)

I was about to play it! (Ploppy pointing to a side bet though never having a single bet on it at any time all shoe!!)

“The hard way”

𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮



a horse who finished first, 2nd or 3rd

originally in horse racing win, place and show were the only bets offered

also meant that the horse's owner and connections would get some part of the purse


𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧


a horse player who bets a huge amount on an extreme favorite to show, sometimes to place, knowing that the track is obligated to pay him at least 5% profit if the horse does show

called such because when the horse doesn't show he might go looking for a bridge to jump off of


𝙢𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙧


a horse that runs well only on a sloppy or muddy track
some horses love the slop - you can see that they're enjoying it