Sports Betting Terminology
Action: A wager of any kind.
Bankroll: The total amount of money a bettor has set aside for gambling purposes.
Bookmaker: A person who is licensed to create betting lines and take wagers.
Chalk: Refers to the team or player who is heavily favored to win.
Cover: In sports such as football and basketball, a bettor wins their bet if they cover the point spread. For example, if you bet a 7-point favorite and they win by nine, you have covered the spread.
Favorite: The team or individual considered more likely to win the game or match. They have lower odds assigned to them, resulting in a smaller potential payout.
Field: In proposition (prop) bets, bettors are often allowed to bet the field. This refers to an accumulation of all the teams or players that are not specifically listed.
Future: This refers to bets that come down in advance of an event. For example, one can bet a Super Bowl future prior to the beginning of the season by selecting which team(s) they believe will win the championship. A bettor receives payment at the end of the season if their selection did claim the title.
Handicap: A method of equalizing the chances of winning for teams of unequal strength. It is often used in sports where there is a clear favorite and underdog.
Hedging: Placing bets on the opposite side after you have already placed a wager on one side. This can be used to either cut your losses, or guarantee a profit.
Hook: In spread based sports, the hook is an extra half-point that bettors can get. Oftentimes in football, bettors will buy the hook around key numbers like 3 to get a line of 3.5.
Juice: The commission or fee charged by the bookmaker for accepting a bet. It is typically included in the odds and ensures the bookmaker makes a profit regardless of the outcome.
Key Numbers: This represents the most common margins of defeat, and is used frequently in football where many games end with one team winning by a multiple of three or seven.
Lines: Another term for the odds.
Live Betting (In-Play Betting): Placing bets on a game or match that is currently in progress. Odds and options change in real-time as the game unfolds.
Moneyline: In sports like baseball, soccer and hockey, there are so few runs/goals scored that it doesn't make sense to only offer a spread. Instead, these sports offer a moneyline in which you bet on whether or not a specific team is going to win straight-up.
Odds: The probability of a specific outcome occurring, usually represented as a ratio or a decimal.
Over/Under: Also known as the total, this refers to the total amounts of points/goals/runs that will be scored in the game. If both teams combine to score more than the total, the over wins. If they combine to score fewer, the under wins.
Parlay: When a bettor makes multiple bets (at least two) and ties them together, you need multiple events to all win for higher payouts.
Point Spread: A betting option in which a bookmaker assigns a point handicap to the favorite team to level the playing field. Bettors can wager on whether the favorite will win by a certain margin (cover the spread) or if the underdog will lose by less than the spread (beat the spread).
Prop Bet (Proposition Bet): A bet on a specific event or outcome within a game that does not directly affect the final result. Examples include the first team to score, the total number of goals scored, or the number of strikeouts by a pitcher.
Push: When a game ends with a final score exactly equal to the point spread or total set by the bookmaker. In this case, the bet is refunded, and no money is won or lost.
Real Time Odds: Live lines that update immediately as sportsbooks adjust their lines.
Reverse-Line Movement: Betting line movement that contradicts the public betting percentages. For example: if Team A is receiving 80% of the public bets as a 7-point favorite yet the line drops to -6.5, this is an example of reverse line movement. This indicates that sharp money is taking Team B.
Run Line: In moneyline sports like baseball or hockey, you can take the equivalent of a spread — the run/puck line. This alternative allows you to add runs for the underdog, or subtract them from the favorite. This means that a favorite has to win by at least two runs for you to win your bet, while an underdog could either lose by one run or win straight-up to win the bet. The benefit of this is that you can bet more favorable lines on favorites, but because baseball and hockey are such low-scoring games, the chance of success is lower.
Stake: The amount of money risked on a bet.
Steam: A sudden, significant and often unexpected line movement due to a large amount of money being wagered on one side of a bet.
Teaser: Similar to a parlay, but the bettor can adjust the point spread or total in their favor for each game in exchange for lower odds
Underdog: The team or individual considered less likely to win the game or match. They have higher odds assigned to them, resulting in a larger potential payout.
Wager: Any type of bet.
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