# 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.

**Units**: see ["Bankroll Management & Units Explanation"](https://arcanesociety.gitbook.io/arcane-society/guides/sports-betting-guides/bankroll-management-and-units-explanation)

**Wager**: Any type of bet.