Online Sports Betting Glossary
Across the Board - A style of betting on a horse to win, place and show.
Action - The number of valid sports wagers placed on a certain event.
Against The Spread – Refers to the result of a sports event that takes the pointspread into account.
Backed – A team or player on which many bets have been placed.
Beard – A person, other than oneself, placing wagers – done to conceal the bettor’s identity.
Book – A betting establishment accepting wagers on outcomes of sporting events.
Boxing - In horse racing, a single ticket made up of more than one parlay.
Buck – A $100 bet
Buy (Points) – The action describing when a player pays more to receive half-a-point or more in his/her favor in a pointspread game.
Canadian Line - In hockey, this is a combination of pointspread and moneyline.
Carpet – British slang meaning odds of 3:1
Circled Game - A betting game where the limits are lowered or restricted, due to player injuries.
Cover – Beating the pointspread by the necessary number of points.
Dead Heat - A tie with 2 or more horses in a race.
Dime – A $1,000 bet.
Dividend – The agreed payout on a bet
Dog – This is the underdog in sports betting.
Dog Player – A bettor who plays the underdog.
Dollar Bet - A $100 bet.
Double Action – A conditional wager that is processed when the precedent bet wins, ties or cancels.
Doubling Up - A wager for double the size of a bettor’s normal wager.
E
Edge – The bettor’s advantage in sports betting.
Even Money – A wager with on odds on either side 1:1 betting.
Exotic - Any bet with the exception of a straight bet or parlay
Exposure - The max quantity of money a sportsbook can lose on a game.
Favorite - The player or team expected to win the sports event.
Figure – The cash amount owed by a bookmaker or to a bookmaker.
Final Four - The final 4 teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.
Forecast – A bet correctly predicting 1st and 2nd for a particular event.
Futures - Bets placed on a sporting event scheduled to take place in the future.
Getting Down – Placing a wager.
Goliath - A multiple bet consisting of 247 bets involving eight selections in different events.
H
Half Time Bet - A bet placed only on the second half of the game.
Handicapper – A person who rates and studies sports events.
Handicapping – Predicting the results of sporting events.
Handle - The total bet on a sports event or group of events.
Hang Cheng – Asian Pointspread.
Hoops – The game of basketball
Hot Game - A game drawing plenty of heat from informed handicappers.
Joint Favorites – Two teams favored by a bookmaker to win.
L
Lay a Bet - A bookie accepting a bet
Laying the Points - Betting the favorite by shedding points.
Laying the Price - Betting the favorite via placing money odds.
Layoff – Bookies placing wagers with one another - owing to heavy player betting, in order to limit liability.
Limit - The max bet a bookie will allow players, before the odds/points are altered.
Listed Pitchers - A wager in baseball which is only placed if both starting pitchers actually start the game – if not the bet is cancelled.
Long Odds – Greater than 10:1
M
Margin – The amount ahead one competitor finishes ahead of another.
Middle – Winning both sides in a sports betting contest – done through different odds.
Move the Line – In a pointspread game, a player pays a little more to get half-a-point more in his favor in a pointspread game.
N
Nickel – A $500 bet.
Nickel Line - A sports wagering line where the juice is five percent.
No Action - A bet in which no money is lost or won.
O
Odds-Against – The Odds are greater than the evens (3:2)
Odds Maker – The person setting the betting odds (not bookies)
Off the board – In the United States, a Sportsbook not accepting Action.
Off the Board - A game that the bookmaker is not offering action on at that moment.
Over/Under - A bet on whether the combined total of the points/goals scored by the two teams will exceed or be less than a specified number.
Parlay – This bet is made on 2 or more teams /outcomes where the original bet and winnings are re-invested on the next wager.
Place – To finish in the top 3, 4 or 5 in an event.
Pointspread - The handicap which the favorite team or player gives to the underdog for wagering purposes.
Price - The odds or pointspread.
Puckline - Giving odds of a goal spread in hockey instead of using a Canadian Line, where both a goal spread and moneyline are typically played.
Push – For betting purposes, a contest with no winner or loser.
Reverse Teaser – Parlay where the line is moved to the bettor's disadvantage in exchange for a bigger payday.
Run down - The 411 on the lines for a specific date, sport, time, etcetera.
Runner - One who places bets for another.
S
Sharp - A professional gambler.
Sides – 2 teams playing, with one underdog and one favorite.
Single Action - An if bet that's processed only if the precedent bet wins.
Spread – The predicted scoring difference between two opponents as quoted by a bookmaker.
Square - A novice in sports betting.
Steam - When a line starts to move rapidly.
Store - A bookie/sports betting organization.
Straight Bet - A bet on one team, one athlete or one horse.
T
Taking the Points - Betting on the underdog and its advantage in the pointspread.
Taking the Price – Betting on the underdog and accepting the money odds.
Teaser - A bet on 2 or more teams where the line on each team is adjusted in the favor of the bettor.
Tie - A bet in where no money is lost/won owing to the teams' scores being equal to the number of points in the given line.
Total - The collective quantity of points, goals or runs scored by both teams during a game, including the overtime.
Totals Bet - A proposition bet where the bettor speculates that in a game, the total score by both teams will be smaller or greater than the line offered by the sportsbook.
U
Under – Betting which assumes that that the final total will be less than the total
Underdog - The team generally thought to be most likely to lose.
Value – This is the highest possible edge.
Vig – The bookie’s juice.
W
Email this page
Print this page
Bookmark with del.icio.us
