Betting Terms Explained

Understanding the meaning of betting terms is crucial to making informed bets on sporting events. Our glossary of sports betting terms contains some of the most common phrases you will come across when visiting a bookmaker in the UK. Learn how to use these different terms and what they mean in the context of betting on the outcome of a sporting event. Extensive research seems to indicate that a better understanding of the language of sports betting can directly lead to an increase in winners among those who study it.

Review your betting vocabulary to increase your chances of winning today. We cover betting terms for horse racing, football, rugby and every betting sport under the sun. For all you bettors itching to take the plunge and place a line, this guide is for you.

Here's an example of common words that someone new to sports betting might need. Betting on sports requires understanding, learning and exploring all kinds of jargon. For starters, you should get to know the word "odds". This refers to the probability or likelihood of a particular outcome. It's really a very important term, and understanding it can be very helpful. Then there's the word "spread." This refers to the difference in points between two events or competitors in an event, which determines who is the favorite and who is the underdog. And then there are words like "parlay" and "teaser", which are used to describe multiple bets that are linked together. In these cases, the outcome of each individual bet affects the success of the entire parlay.

A-H

Accumulator – this term refers to the collective bet that features two or more bets in a single bet slip.
Ante-post – this relates to the early market bets offered before the competition begins.
Betting Line – refers to the odds on a match that determine the favourites and the underdog in a tie.
Buy points – this bet entails paying more than what the sportsbook’s predetermined to move the point spread to a custom betting line.
Chalk – the team pegged as the favourites to win.
Cover – this reflects the scenario in which the favourite team wins the match by a bigger margin than described in the handicap or spread bet.
Double bet – also known as doubling up, when a player wagers twice the value of the bet to take advantage of the odds.
Draw – when a match ends in a tie after regulation time.
Edge – relates to the advantage that a bettor has from having knowledge about how the result will go.
Exposure – refers to the value attached to a potential loss in a match.
Favourite – this is the individual or the team that is perceived to have the best chance to win the match.
Future – this refers to wagers on the winner of the competition before the event begins.
Grand Salami – this refers to the bet on the total number of goals that will be scored in all the games in a single league round of matches.
Handicap – this refers to the point margin given to the underdog in a match that is intended to level the playing field.
Hedging – this refers to placing a bet on the opposite side after having placed a wager on a different side to ensure that you do not lose.

I-W

In-play betting – the process of placing bets on the outcome of the game after it has already started playing. It is also known as live betting.
Juice – this is the portion that the sportsbook charge for the allowing players to bet online.
Limit – reflects the maximum bet that is allowed on a specific line.
Lock – a situation in which a selected bet is considered an obvious win.
Money Line – refers to a wager on the outcome of the game to be either win, lose or draw.
Odds – indicates the probability of the outcome of a match.
Outright bet – betting on the winner of a tournament.
Pari-mutuel – this refers to a wager amongst bettors as opposed to against a sportsbook.
Parlay – the process in which the betting calculator adds extra bets onto a single bet slip to improve the odds.
Stake – to risk your money wagering on a sports event.
Teaser – a specific selection of parlay bets that are combined in a single ticket to attract players to wager online.
Total – the aggregate amount of goals or points in a match in which bettors predict the match will end. It is also known as the betting terms over-under.
Underdog – the team or player pegged the less likely to win in a tie.
Wiseguy – a term used to refer to a well-informed or knowledgeable bettor or handicapper.