If you play your cards right, you could really improve your English with this podcast. But you have to roll the dice and take a chance! Improve your gambling vocabulary and learn some gambling idioms with this episode.

Recommendation from Pilar from France.; a BBC podcast with different accents and topics. The Infinite Monkey Cage

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Vocabulary
To/a gamble
To/a bet, to place a bet, to put a bet on something, to win/lose a bet
To bet on cards, horses, football (to do the pools), dogs, the lottery, scratch cards
The casino: roulette, blackjack, craps, punto banco (baccarat), a game of chance, slot machines/one-armed bandit, croupier/dealer, poker (poker face – no emotion or reaction)
A betting shop,bookmaker/bookie = turf accountant, online
To double down (on a bet)
Double or nothing/quits
To cash in your chips

Idioms
All bets are off – what seemed certain is now unclear, agreements no longer apply
Put your money where your mouth is – take action to support your statements or opinions
Play your cards right – exploit a situation to your best advantage
Hit the jackpot – enjoy great success, get what you want
Bingo! – indicates success or a winning plan
Luck of the draw – random success/failure
Hedge your bets – back two or more possible winners
Go for broke = All or nothing
It’s in the cards – it’s inevitable, it’s going to happen
To have an ace/card up your sleeve – a hidden advantage, keep something back until the time is right
Poker face(d) – without facial expression
Stack the deck – unfairly make it harder/impossible to lose
Put your cards on the table – make your thoughts or ideas perfectly clear
Roll the dice – take a chance on something. “Let’s roll the dice and see what happens.”
No dice – refusing to accept or agree to something.
The stakes are high = There’s a lot to play for – when a lot can be either won or lost
Sweeten the pot – make a risk more appealing
Playing Russian roulette – taking overly dangerous risks
No dice – refusal to agree to do something
In for a penny, in for a pound – why not take an even bigger risk?
Don’t bet on that – don’t be so sure; you could be wrong

Proverbs
“Lucky in cards, unlucky in love.” (That’s what people say. Whether it’s true or not is another matter!)
“Quit while you’re ahead.” (Perhaps what makes the difference between a good gambler and a gambling addict.)

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English.
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On next week’s episode: A personal story during troubled times

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’

“Dub Feral” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

“Aces High” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/