Betting Terms

Sports Betting TermsAsian Handicap – a type of bet that allows you to bet on the victory of a team or a player, taking into account the selected advantage.

Arbitrage – is a possibility for a bettor to make a sports forecast for all possible outcomes in different bookmakers and get income regardless of the outcome of the match.

American Odds – a system of odds which gives the bookmaker influence over the point spread without changing the key number.

Alternate Lines – is an extension of the original point spread listed for a particular game.

Against the spread – means the person is taking the Underdog and the points in a game. 

Action – is a bet on any sport that has been valid.

Accumulator – is a type of express bet on several sporting events at once. Accumulator is one of the most popular kinds of a multiple bet, which is more often used in football.


Popular betting termsBankroll – is the amount of money which was set aside for sports betting.

Banker – is short-priced selection of bets

Bad Beat – a situation in a draw when a clear leader loses to an opponent who has a very weak chance of winning.

Backdoor Cover – is a process which describes what happens in a sporting event when actions occur that causes you to win or lose your bet without affecting the whole outcome of the game.

Buck – means the U.S. dollar as a currency which may be used by people all over the world.  

Book (Sportsbook) – a place where a user can wager on various competitions including different sports. 

Bonus – different types of rewards to attract players. 

Betting Unit – is a dollar amount which is placed on a wager remaining consistent on each bet.

Betting Exchange – a marketplace for customers to bet on the outcome of several events.

Beard – a player who makes bets for another user, who for some reason doesn’t want to create his personal account.


Betting terms alphabeticallyCover – means winning the point spread bet.

Contrarian – means betting against the average

Consensus is having everyone on the same page when betting. 

Closing Line Value – means the value of a bet relative to where the line closes.

Circle Game –  is a match in which the betting action is strictly limited

Chalk – means that side of the bet is the favorite.


D Betting TermsDouble Pop – a situation when a user decides to double the amount of what he would normally bet.

Double Chance – a possibility to increase chances of winning by combining two of possible options into a single bet.

Dog – non favorite. 

Dime Line – is the bet with which a 10% tax is levied in favor of a betting shop because of the huge difference between a favorite and outsider.

Decimal Odds –  means the amount one wins for every $1 wagered.

Dead Heat – is a situation when several competitors finish at the same time in a sporting event and cannot be separated.


E Betting TermsExposure – means a bet on sporting events which have not ended at the moment.

Expected Value – waiting for the expected result.

Exotic Wager – means any bet other than a straight bet. 

Exacta – relates to horse racing, means a situation when a user should pick two runners to place first and second in the correct order.  

Even (even money) – is a situation when a bettor stands to lose or win the same amount of money.  

Edge – when a bettor may find bets with a higher probability of happening than the odds

Early Cash Out – returning money before the end of the game.


Future bets – means long-term bets for the future. These bets usually cover the result of the team for the championship or season.

Fractional Odds – odds written as simple fractions (2/3, 5/6, 19/23), in which the numerator shows the amount of net winnings when the bet is equal to the denominator.

Flat Betting – is a financial management strategy, in which the amount of the bet may depend on the coefficient, weakly depends on the game bank and no longer depends on anything else.

Fixed Odds – is a form of wagering against odds offered by a bookmaker or an individual.

First Half – is a bet on the outcome of the first half of the match.

Grand Salami – means bets on the effectiveness of the entire round (game day)


Hook – is a half point, a term which bookmakers use to replace the word “half”. 

Home Field – when the team plays at its home field (often used in football). 

Hedging – is the process of minimizing risks, which is achieved by placing a bet that is essentially the opposite of the one which was placed earlier.

Handle – the total amount of money included in all bets on a specific match.

Handicapping – is a system where a weaker opponent is given some kind of indulgence.

Juice – is a bookmaker’s monetary reward

Joint Favorite – is the chosen favorite, this term means that a bookmaker chooses one favorite for a certain sporting event.


Kelly Criterion – is a financial betting strategy that determines the optimal amount of money wagered on the outcome of a sporting event.

Long Shot – means an absolute outsider or a bet on the victory of a notorious outsider.

Lock – is a bet that will win for sure.

Live betting – is a betting in real time. 

Listed Pitcher – is a baseball term which means that a bet will go into play only if the pitcher comes into the game. If the pitcher is replaced, the bet is returned to its owner.

Limit – is a maximum amount of bets on a certain event with certain odds.

Layoff – is a bet which one bookmaker makes at another bookmaker’s office in order to balance the “distortions” in bets he has accepted for his clients.


M Betting TermsMoneyline bet – is a bet on a team which you expect to win. 

Middle/Middling – is like an arbitrage betting in which the main aim is to exploit the different prices between different bookmakers.

Matched Bet – is a bеtting technique used by individuals to profit from the free bets and incentives offered by bookmakers. 

Martingale System – is a special bеtting system which is used by individuals who want to get a profit from free bets and incentives offered by bookmakers.

Margin – is a bet on a difference in total points or goals.


N Betting TermsNovelty Betis placing wagers on random events which are not related to sports. 

No Action – means the situation when the owner gets his amount of money back, which he placed on the outcome of the event.

Nickel – is a sports betting slang word in betting which means the sum of five hundred dollars for betting.


Over – is a bet which shows that the total of the game will be bigger than a certain value.

Opening Line – is a first official line for a certain event.

Off the Board – is a situation in betting when the sportsbook does not take any bets on a particular event. 

Odds-on Favorite – is a situation when a person bets on his favorite team or player (usually this favorite is about to win)

Oddsmaker (Linemaker) – is a very special person which has a responsibility to put out solid lines and/or totals. This person could be a part of a large group of people – it depends on the event.


Puppy – is a bet on a team or an athlete that is weaker than the opponent.

Puckline – is a term from ice hockey which means a bet with a handicap for a match. 

Public Betting Percentage – is the percentage of bets the public is betting on a specific side. 

Push – is a situation when the point total hits the exact number in which you bet.

Proposition bets (prop) – is a set of events on which the bookmaker accepts bets with different outcome options and odds on them.

Power Ranking – is a list of best players for a certain game over a period of time. Such ratings are usually conducted for a quarter or a year period.

Point spread – is a type of bet which takes into account the difference between scored goals scored or points.

Player Props – is a wager on a certain outcome or a specific player’s statistics. 

Pick’em – this is a match in the bookmaker’s line without any favorite. The result of such a match is very difficult to predict.

Parlay – is a progressive betting strategy, where the amount of the bet increases. The main thing is that after each win, the amount of profit is added to the initial amount.


Runner – is a person who makes bets on behalf of and with the money of a player who wants to hide his identity from the bookmaker.

Runline – is a betting line in baseball which can be changed during the game.

Round Robin – is a special betting strategy, when one large bet is split into several small ones in order to reduce risks.

ROI – is an abbreviation of the phrase Return on Investment, which means the bettor’s efficiency indicator.

Reverse Line Movementis a situation, when the line moves to the opposite direction, despite the fact that most of the bets are coming on one side.

Reduced Juice – is a lower commission charged by the bookmaker for each bet.


Straight up – refers to a wager when the bettor only needs a team or individual to win a game or event outright without any regards to the point spread.

Steam – is a bookmaker line, which moves quickly to one side because of appearing a large number of same-type bets. 

Square – is someone who doesn’t bet on a full-time basis or not a professional – usually square bets casually. 

Sharp money – this term is always referred to a professional bettor – a person who bets to make long-term profits. Bookmakers often look for these wise guys who can bring “sharp money”. 

Sharp (wiseguy) – is a bettor who is a professional and wins consistently, making long-term profits.


T Betting TermsTaking the pointswhen a person bets on the underdog against the spread.  This type is usually used in basketball and football. If an underdog is expressed as +8.5 and the team wins the game, or loses by eight or fewer points, then those users who bet on this team win.

Take the price – when a person bets on underdog in the moneyline (similar meaning to taking the points). User may take the price which was offered on a game by the sportsbook. 

Take the points – to bet on the underdog in the point spread. This term means the same as take price.

True odds – coefficients that show the chances of winning for each player. True odds may be different from the line which is set up by a bookmaker’s office. 

Tout – a special person who, based on his experience and competencies, helps other players to place bets. Tout may sell picks by himself or be a part of a service, which sells different kinds of packages. Usually touts earn money by selling an amount of picks for a certain amount of time. It could be the whole season or a tournament. 

Totals – it is a type of bet which counts the total number of points (for example, the number of goals in a football match, points on a basketball game or sets on a tennis match).

Total bet (over/under) – is a type of bet when a player bets that the result of the match will be more or less than one which is stated by the bookmaker. 

TKO – is the term for MMA. This abbreviation means technical knockout (there are three options of TKO: stop which is done by the referee, stop which is done by the doctor or by the corner).

Tissue Price – denotes the odds which are offered by the bookmaker for the players of a new offer, it is a kind of way to attract players to a new offer from a betting company.

Teaser – is a type of bet that allows, if necessary, to adjust the line in your favor and to buy the required number of goals, points, games or pucks.


U Betting TermsUnderdog (dog) – it is the opposite meaning of the term “favorite” – a sportsman who is an outsider in a particular match and is unlikely to be able to claim a victory. In cases where the underdog wins, people call the result of the match an upset.

Under – the name of the bet on the overall result, which is less than the value set by the bookmaker. It is used in such bets where the player needs to guess that the result of the match will be less than the one indicated by the bookmaker.


Wire-to-Wire – is the term used in sports for a champion who retains the lead throughout the match. More often this term is used for golf and means the player who wins the title with the lowest cumulative score at the end of each round.

Wager – this term denotes the number of mandatory bets that each player must make in order to wager his bonus from the bookmaker’s office. Each bookmaker usually sets the amount of the wager and of the minimum available bet.

Last updated on 31 Oct 2022 - 13:09

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