Online Gambling and Online Sports Betting is Gaining in Popularity!
Here are some of the more common betting terms and definitions you should know when wagering on sports:
Across the Board – A method of wagering on a horse to win, place and show.
Action – A sports betting wager of any kind. Also refers to the number of bets being placed on a certain event.
Added Game – This is a game not part of Las Vegas regular rotation posted as an accommodation to customers. Many sportsbooks will you give you “special” odds on a per request basis.
Angles – Using key factors from previous events to predict the results for future outcomes.
Against The Spread or ATS – This phrase is used in sports betting to describe a bet against the betting line. Every game has a betting line which favors one of the teams. Betting against the spread means the bettor is using the points and betting on the underdog.
Bad Beat – A wager that loses unexpectedly. Fro instance, in poker, a bad beat occurs when a player with strong cards loses. The player bets the clearly stronger hand and their opponent makes a poor call that eventually “hits” and wins.
Beard – A beard is a friend or acquaintance who places bets to conceal the true identity of the real bettor.
Bet – To risk something on the outcome of an event
Book – An establishment that accepts bets on the outcome of horse racing and sporting events.
Bookie or Bookmaker – A person who accepts bets.
Buck – $100 (as in a “buck” bet).
Buy (Points) – In sports betting, a player pays an additional price to receive half a point or more in his favor on a point spread game. Buying points entails paying cash up front to get a more favorable line for the team you wish to bet on, regardless of whether they are the favorite or the underdog.
Canadian Line – In sports betting the Canadian line is a combination point spread and money line in hockey.
Chalk – The favored team, athlete or horse.
Chalk Player – In sports betting, someone who usually only plays the favored teams, rarely betting on the underdogs. Also known as a “chalkeater.”
Circled Game – In sports wagering this is a game in which the betting action is reduced; usually occurs in added games, games with injuries, bad weather, propositions, or halves of games. These games cannot be included in parlays or teasers.
Cover – To beat the pointspread by the required number of points. When you win, you have “covered the spread.”
Data Mining– Searching through a large volume of statistics to find profitable situations to bet on in the future.
Dead Heat – When two or more horses finish in a tie.
Dime – $1000.00 sports betting wager.
Dime Line – A line where the juice is 10 percent.
Dog – Short for “underdog.” In sports betting, the team perceived to be most likely to lose.
Dog Player – A bettor who mostly plays the underdog.
Dollar – $100, in sports betting wager.
Double action – An “if bet” that is processed when the precedent bet wins, ties or cancels.
Double Bet – A wager for twice the size of one’s usual wager; also known as “double pop” or “doubling up.”
Edge – A persons Advantage when it comes to sports betting.
Even Money – A wager on which neither side lays any odds or vig.
Exotic – Any wager other than a straight bet or parlay, also called a prop or proposition.
Exposure – The maximum amount of money a sportsbook stands to lose on a game.
Favorite – In sports betting this is the team expected to win an event. The quoted odds reflect the extent to which the choice is favored.
Fifty cents – $50.00 of sports betting action.
Figure – The amount owed to or by a bookmaker.
First half bet – A bet placed only on the first half of the game.
Future – Placing a bet when odds are posted in advance on the winners of various major events including the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, and the NBA Championship.
Gamble– To risk money on the outcome of an event.
Getting Down – Making a bet.
Grand Salami – A sports betting term meaning the grand total of goals scored in all the hockey games of the day. It can be wagered to go Over/Under.
Half a dollar – $50.00 in sports betting action.
Half time bet – A bet placed only on the second half of the game.
Handicapper – One who studies, rates and wagers on sporting events and/or races.
Handicapping – In sports gambling this is the attempt to predict the outcome of sporting events.
Handle – The total amount of money bet on an event or group of events.
Hedging – Placing wagers on the opposite side in order to cut losses or guarantee a minimum amount of winnings. Hedging generally means betting both sides of a line (not at the same time) so that you can lock in a smaller victory, but remove all (or some) risk. For example, lets say you’re betting on the Master’s, and you pick Tiger to win the tourney. Then on day three, he gets a huge lead, and you can now bet the field at better odds with the same amount of money. Either way, you will make more than your original bet and your risk will be eliminated or mitigated. However, by hedging you will make less than your original bet would have paid had you not hedged.
Hook – Half point added to football and basketball betting lines.
Hot game – Sports betting term for a game that is drawing a lot of action on one side by knowledgeable handicappers.
Juice – The bookmaker’s commission on a losing bet, also known as “vigorish.”
Laying the Points – Betting the favorite by giving up points.
Laying the Price – Betting the favorite by laying money odds.
Layoff – Money bet by a house with another bookmaker to reduce its liability.
Limit – The maximum amount a bookmaker will allow you to bet before he changes the odds and/or the points.
Lines – Another word for odds.
Linemaker – The person who establishes the original and subsequent betting lines. Also known as “oddsmaker.”
Listed Pitchers – A baseball bet which will be placed only if both of the pitchers scheduled to start a game actually start. If they don’t, the bet is cancelled.
Lock – An easy winner.
Longshot – A team, athlete or horse perceived to be unlikely to win.
Middle – To win both sides of the same contest in a sports betting event. Wagering on the underdog at one point spread and the favorite at a different point spread and winning both sides.
Money line – A wager where no pointspread is involved. With money odds, whenever there is a minus (-) you lay that amount to win a hundred dollars, where there is a plus (+) you get that amount for every hundred dollars wagered. The money line is the bet you make if you just want to pick the winner and loser, regardless of the point differential. Of course, when Seattle is playing Cleveland, the outcome isn’t exactly 50/50, so there still needs to be an adjustment. And that adjustment comes in the form of the payout. If Seattle is favored -160, that means you need to bet 160 bucks to win 100. If CLE is the underdog at +145, that means that you bet 100 on Cleveland to win 145.
Move the line – A player pays an additional price to receive half a point or more in his favor on a point spread game.
Nickel – $500.
Nickel Line – A sports wagering line where the juice is five percent.
No Action – A wager in which no money is lost nor won.
Odds – The likelihood of the outcome occurring, stated in numeric form.
Off the board – A game on which the bookmaker will not accept action.
One dollar – $100.00 in sports betting action.
Opening Line– The earliest line posted for a particular sporting event.
Outlaw Line – Term for the earliest line in sports betting. This is an overnight line that only a handful of players are allowed to bet into.
Over – In sports gambling the “over” is a sports bet in which the bettor guesses that the combined point total of two teams will be above a specified total.
Over/Under – This one’s pretty easy. Whereas the spread concerns the bettor with who will win or lose and by how much, the over/under simply serves as the expectation of how many points both teams will score. An over/under of 65 means that expectations are the sum of both teams’ final scores to be 65. You can bet the under, meaning you expect the actual total to be less than the expectation, or the over, which means you expect it to be more than the expectation. It’s perhaps the simplest type of wager in sports.
Parlay – In sports wagering, a bet with two or more teams in which all teams must win or cover for the bettor to win and receive higher payouts. An umbrella bet that relies on winning all of several smaller bets. If I parlay the Lakers and Mavericks (assume they’re both favorites), that means I’m betting on the Lakers in their game to cover the spread and the Mavs to cover the spread in their game. If they both cover, then you win the parlay and get a larger payout than if you would have just bet on one game. However, if either team fails to cover, the bet is lost. The odds of winning your bet are worse, so the payout goes up. You can parlay as many bets together as you would like, but the more you parlay, the less likely you are to win your bet. You can also parlay spread bets with over/under bets or prop bets.
Pick ’em – When neither team is favored. Also called a “pick” in sports betting terms.
Point spread – The predicted scoring differential between two opponents as quoted by a sports book. The expected margin of victory of the favorite over the underdog. If the spread is 9, and Philadelphia is favored over the NY Giants, then the expectation is that the Eagles will beat the Giants by 3 points. Your spread bet will be based on that expectation. You can bet on the Giants, which means that you expect them to lose by less than 3 or win outright (NYG +3), or you can bet on the Eagles to win by more than 3 (Eagles -3). If the Eagles win by exactly 3, then the bet is a push (a gamblers word for a tie) and you get your money back.
Power Ratings – The strength of a team in comparison to another team.
Press – To wager a larger amount than usual.
Price – Sports betting term for the odds or point spread.
Prop (Proposition) Bet – A prop (proposition) bet is any bet that’s not on the final score, but on a particular aspect of the game. It’s a special wager offered by the sports book on unique and various topics. These wagers can be on sporting events, politics, the Oscars and more. The wagers use the money line format of pay off odds and might include who scores the first touchdown in the Super Bowl, who will win the next presidential election, the number of three point shots Kobe Bryant attempts in a game or how many combined onside kick attempts there are in a game. Prop bets can also be more conventional, like odds on whether or not Adrian Peterson will break 100 yards rushing in a game. These are rarely put on the screen in sports books, but rather listed on fliers near the cage.
Puckline – Giving odds of a goal spread instead of using a Canadian Line in hockey, where both a goal spread and money line are played.
Puppy – The underdog in an event.
Push – When the contest ends with no winner or loser for wagering purposes.
Round Robin – A series of three or more teams in 2-team parlays.
Run down – In sports gambling this is all the lines for an specific date, sport, time, etc.
Run line – In baseball, this is a spread used instead of the money line.
Runner – One who places bets for another when it comes to sports betting.
Scouts – Person(s) who waits for what he thinks is an unusually strong wager. AKA. Sports Player.
Sharp – A sophisticated or professional gambler.
Sides – In sports betting, the names of the two teams playing: the underdog and the favorite.
Single action – An “if bet” in sports gambling that is processed only if the precedent bet wins.
Sportsbook – a person or company that accepts bets.
Spread – See “Point Spread”.
Square – A novice when it comes to sports betting.
Steam – In sports betting steam is when a line starts to move rapidly. Most “steam games” do not necessarily reflect objective circumstances, but are games that a mass of bettors are drawn to for some reason.
Store – A bookie or sports betting establishment.
Straight bet – A wager on just one team or horse.
Straight-up – Winning the game without any regards to the pointspread.
Systems – Using trends for the past that you are consistent with to predict future outcomes.
Taking the points – When it comes to sports gambling this means betting the underdog and its advantage in the point spread. If the spread on the Raiders vs. Chargers is Raiders -6, then the Charges are favored by 6 points. If you take the Raiders and the points, you are betting that the Raiders will lose by less than 6 (or win). Simply put, taking the points means betting on the underdog.
Taking the price – Betting on the underdog and accepting money odds.
Teaser – A tease is a type of parlay, but the payout is less because the bettor gets more favorable betting terms. For instance, if you tease Seattle to cover against Oakland with the over, then the line would get reduced (say from 5 points to 1) and the over would get reduced by 4 points as well, say from 53 to 49. This makes winning the individual bets easier, but it doesn’t pay as well because of the favorable terms.
Ticket – A sports betting wager.
Tie – A wager in which no money is lost nor won because the teams’ scores were equal to the number of points in the given line.
Total – The combined amount of runs, points or goals scored by both teams during the game, including the overtime.
Totals Bet – In sports gambling this is a proposition bet in which the bettor speculates that the total score by both teams in a game will be more or less than the line posted by the sports book.
Tout – Someone who sells their expertise on sports wagering.
Trends – Using the past to predict the future focusing in on only one team.
Under – A wager that the total points scored by two teams will be under a certain figure. Also see “Over/Under”.
Underdog – The team perceived to be most likely to lose. Also known as the “dog” for short.
Value – Getting the best odds on a wagering proposition; the highest possible edge.
Vigorish – The bookmaker’s commission on a losing bet; also known as “juice” or “vig” for short.
Wager – To risk money on the outcome of an event.
Wise guy – A wise guy is the sports gambling term for a well-informed or knowledgeable handicapper or bettor.
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