Betting terms – A complete guide

NEW to betting or looking to brush up on gambling-related lingo?

There are a large number of words, terms and phrases that you should familiarise yourself with before getting started. Understanding betting terms will make it easier for you to get to grips with different markets, bonuses and features.

Betting terms A-Z

On this page, we will provide explanations of some of the key betting terms. Whether you are looking to wager on football, horse racing or another sport, you will find our guide extremely helpful. So, let’s get started with the sports betting glossary!

#

• 1×2 – A bet type only available when a draw is a potential result. The name refers to the three possible outcomes, home win, draw or away win. 1×2 bets are most commonly linked to football.

A

• Acca bet / Acca betting – Also known as an accumulator, an acca features multiple selections. All picks must be successful for your bet to be settled as a win.
• Across the card – Referring to the practice of placing bets in pairs or multiples on races held at various events occurring simultaneously or around the same timeframe.
• Action – a bet or a wager.
• All weather racing – All-weather racing refers to horse racing that takes place on synthetic tracks or artificial surfaces, designed to be usable in various weather conditions.
• Also ran – Refers to a horse that did not finish among the top positions in a race, often used in betting to denote horses that were not part of the winning contenders.
• Alphabet bet – A term referring to a wager on six selections consisting of 26 bets: 2 patents (14 bets), 1 yankee (11 bets) and a six-fold accumulator (1 bet).
• Ante-post betting – Associated with horse racing and greyhounds, an ante-post bet is one that is placed before the market has actually opened.
• Arbitrage betting – A betting strategy where you bet on all possible outcomes of an event in order to guarantee that a profit is made.
• Asian Handicap Betting – A form of soccer betting that eliminates the possibility of a draw by assigning a handicap to each team, providing bettors with options such as +0.5 or -1 to create a more balanced betting outcome.
• At the Post – The moment when all participating horses have reached the starting position for a race, signaling that betting is closed for that event.
• ATS (Against the spread) – Similar to a handicap, the spread is a preset set range of points intended to equalize the playing field and eliminate a favorite or underdog.

B

• Banker – A pick that is a heavy favorite to win. Used almost as a guaranteed bet when you are betting on multiple games.
• Bankroll / Gambling budget – an amount of money you are prepared to wager and lose is called bankroll management.
• Bad beat – When something unlucky costs you a win.
• Batter / Batsman / Batswoman – Betting term used in cricket for a player that is currently batting.
• Bet builder – A feature offered by selected bookies that allows punters to build accumulator bets within a single event.
• Betting exchange – A platform where members bet against each other, rather than against the bookmaker.
• Betting line – Certain amount of money you need to wager in order to get the payout; Bookies and oddsmakers use betting lines most often in basketball and NFL betting.
• Betting In Running (BIR) or Betting In Play (BIP) – Refers to the practice of placing bets on a sports event while it is already in progress, allowing bettors to react to unfolding developments during the game or race.
• Betting odds – The price offered by a bookmaker on a particular selection. Bookies measure the odds based on the likelihood of the prediction being accurate, as well as the player/team performance in the past, their current state and who their current opponents are.
• Betting slip – A receipt that features your selections, odds, stake and potential returns.
• Betting strategy – A system used in order to maximise your chances of making a profit when placing bets.
• Betting prediction – Forecasting the outcome of a future event, such as the winner of a game or match.
• Booking points football – With selected bookies, you can bet on the number of cards shown by a referee in a football match. One yellow card often equals 10 points, with a red card totalling 25 points.
• Bowler – A person currently throwing the ball in cricket games is a bowler.
• BTTS (Both Teams To Score) – Available on selected sports, including football and ice hockey. Based on whether both teams will score a goal, you simply bet on “Yes” or “No”.

C

• Canadian bet – A multiple bet that involves punters selecting five selections from different sports, in order to make 26 individual parts.
• Cash out betting – Cash out is a feature offered by online bookmakers that allows punters to settle bets before their completion. An amount of money is offered by the bookie, based on the current in-play odds.
• Cashback bonus – a type of bonus bookmakers make for a sporting event that allows the player to earn back a percentage of his losses is called cashback bonus.
• Chalk – A slang term commonly referring to the strong favorite.
• Colt – A male horse that is four years old or younger, and it is commonly used in horse racing.
• Combination forecast – Selecting multiple horses to finish in the top two positions in a race, and the bet wins if any of the chosen combinations of horses occupies the first and second places, regardless of the order.
• Consesus – Percentage of the betting public on each side of a game. Some bettors will bet against the “public money” (whichever side more bettors have placed their bets on).
• Corner match bet – Specific to football, this bet simply involves selecting which team will earn the most number of corners during the match.
• Cover – The result of a point spread wager. A favorite needs to win by a number greater than the spread in order to cover. An underdog can win the game outright or lose by a point less than the spread in order to cover.

D

• Dead heat – Two or more participants in a race or competition finish at the exact same time or position, and it results in a tie. In betting terms, the stakes are usually divided among the tied participants.
• Decimal/European odds – Used in continental Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia; If the odd is 3.00 and you wager £100 and win you will get £300 in total, earning £200.
• Dime – US sports slang term for a $1000 bet.
• Double bet – A single bet that involves two selections. Odds for both picks are combined, with both needing to win in order for your bet to be successful.
• Draw no bet – A market where your stake will be refunded in the event of the event ending in a draw.
• Duck – A cricket term referring to a batsman’s dismissal with a score of zero.
• Dutching – Placing multiple bets on different outcomes in the same event to ensure a profit, distributing the stake among the selections based on their odds and probability of winning.
• Each way betting – A bet type available on horse racing and other sports where there is a winner and other participants finishing in placed positions. While being a single bet, there are two wagers, a “win bet” and “place bet”.

E

• EV betting – In betting terms, EV stands for expected value. So, it is not about what you believe will happen, rather the advantage you hold because of your expert knowledge.
• Evens bet – A bet that will return double your stake. Odds are written as EVS, 1/1 or 2.00.
• Edge – Bettors are always looking for that little something that will make them triumph over the bookies. Usually it is only a belief, but some betting strategies can move the margin for victory to your favor.
• Exposure – The total amount of money a bookmaker could lose on a certain wager or event.

F

• FGS (First goalscorer) – A type of bet where you predict which player will score the first goal in a match.
• Flag bet – A flag bet is a complex wager in horse racing involving 23 bets across four selections, including doubles, trebles, a fourfold accumulator, and singles.
• Fractional/British odds – Written with a slash (/) or hyphen (-); If the odd is 4/1 it means that you will win £4 for every £1 you wager, meaning that if you wager £1 and win you will get in £5 in total, earning £4
• Free bet – a type of bonus that bookmakers make that allow you to bet without using your own money; if you win you earn the winnings, however the initial free bet amount goes back to the bookie.
• Futures bet – A bet made on a multi-stage event. Some examples of that are – betting on who wins the championship league; betting on the 3rd place in the NBA or NFL;

G

• Gambler’s fallacy – A belief that if an outcome occurs more often than normal in the past, it will happen less often in the future.
• Goliath bet – A multiple bet in horse racing that includes 247 bets across eight selections. It consists of 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 fourfolds, 56 fivefolds, 28 sixfolds, 8 sevenfolds, and 1 eightfold accumulator. This type of bet covers various combinations and requires all selections to win for a potential payout.

H

• Handicap betting – Where a team or player is given a surplus or deficit, when there is a clear favorite and outsider with the purpose of evening the chances of both teams.
• Handicapper – A bettor who bets on handicap bets.
• Handle – The sum of money that bettors have wagered is known as the handle. It is the total amount of money wagered at sportsbooks both online and offline.
• Hedging bets – A system that involves betting on the opposite outcome to your previous bet, in order to guarantee a small profit.
• Heinz bet – multiple bet that comprises 57 bets in total, across six selections.
• House edge – A term used to describe the advantage that the bookmaker has over you as you play over time.
• Hook – A term used to describe the last half point of a non-whole number spread.

I

• Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) – An impartial third-party organization in the UK that provides adjudication and resolution services for disputes between licensed gambling operators and their customers.

J

• Juice – The term juice means a cut or a price a sportsbook takes for accepting a wager on any sports event.

L

• Lay betting – Available on betting exchanges, a lay bet involves wagering on a particular event not occurring. You effectively take on the role of a bookmaker.
• Linemaker – A sportsbook that creates odds is a linemaker or an oddsmaker.
• Liability in betting – The amount of money required in order to cover the result of a bet.
• Live betting – Betting during live games; Also known as in-play betting and betting in running.
• Lock – Some teams may be clear winners, and that is called a lock.
• Longshot – Similarly to the term underdog, a longshot means that a team or a player is unlikely to win, meaning that the bookmaker will attach high, yet improbable odds to their win.
• Lucky 15 – Commonly associated with horse racing, a Lucky 15 bet features four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one 4-fold accumulator; In order for the bettor to earn a victory he needs only one of the selections to go through.
• Lucky 31 – A multiple bet in sports betting, typically used in horse racing. It consists of 31 bets across five selections: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 fourfold, and 1 fivefold accumulator; One or more selections are required to win.
• Lucky 63 – A type of multiple bet commonly used in horse racing and consists of 63 bets across six selections. It includes 6 singles, 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 fourfolds, 6 fivefolds, and 1 sixfold accumulator; Only on of the selections are required to win.

M

• Maiden – A slang term meaning that a horse has not won a race yet.
• Maiden over – In cricket when a bowler successfully bowls six consecutive deliveries without conceding a single run it is called Maiden over.
• Matched betting – A strategy where punters make the most out of free bets and promotions from bookmakers by placing opposing bets to guarantee a profit.
• Monkey – A slang term for £500 in the UK.
• Money line bet – bets placed on a game’s outcome.
• Moneyline/American odds – Used in the US; The symbols used are (-) (likely to win) and (+) (underdog that is unlikely to win); If the odd is -600 you need to wager £600 in order to earn £100; if the odd is +600 you need to wager £100 in order to earn £600;
• Multiple bet – This term is also known as an accumulator or parlay, is a single wager that combines two or more individual bets into one.

N

• Nickel – US slang term for $500.
• No action – A game that is no longer taking bets and all wagers are refunded.
• No deposit bonus – a type of bonus that is usually for new customers in the form of a free bet is called a no deposit bonus.
• Non-runner no bet – The stake is repaid to the customer if the selection withdraws from the race and the wager is non-runner no bet.

O

• Outright bet – A bet placed on an entire tournament or league, as opposed to a specific event. For example, the winner of the football World Cup.
• Over-under bet – A bet placed on whether a particular in-game statistic will be higher or lower than a particular number.
• Overround – Bookmaker’s profit margin embedded in the odds, ensuring they make money regardless of the outcome.

P

• Parimutuel betting – Also known as Pools, this form of betting involves wagering against other punters, rather than a bookie.
• Point spread betting – A form of betting where you wager on the amount of points a team will win by, rather than betting on the general outcome.
• Parlay bet – Another name for an acca, a parlay is a single bet that features multiple selections.
• Patent bet – A multiple bet involving seven bets of equal value, on three different selections. Three singles, three doubles and one treble are placed.
• Place bet – A type of wager where the bettor predicts that a specified participant in a race or competition will finish in one of the top positions.
• Placepot bet – A bet the equivalent of placing one 6-fold accumulator.
• Pony – A slang term commonly used in the UK to refer to £25.
• Puckline – Hockey has a point spread of -1.5 for the favorite and +1.5 for the underdog.
• Proposition Bets – A bet on anything that is not directly tied to the outcome of the game. A player gets a red card for an example.
• Push – One of the less known sports betting terms meaning that a bet landed on the exact number offered by the sportsbook, and the bet gets refunded.
• Punter – Also known as a bettor, player or customer; A person who bets.

R

• Reversed forecast – A type of bet in horse racing where you select two horses to finish in the top two positions, and the order in which they finish doesn’t matter as long as they both end up in the top two.
• Reload bonus – a type of bonus bookies provide when you insert a certain amount of cash into your account; For example a bookmaker can have a monthly reload bonus where for every £100 deposited that month you earn £5.
• RTP – Known as “Return to Player”, RTP refers to the average amount of money that a casino game will pay out over time.
• Round Robin bet – A series of smaller parlays created from a larger list of bets.
• Runline – Baseball has a point spread of -1.5 for the favorite and +1.5 for the underdog.
• Runners – A sports betting term with twofold meaning; in horse racing a runner refers to the horse in the race, while in betting in general a runner can be the bettor.

S

• Scalping – A short-term trading strategy where bettors aim to make quick, small profits by exploiting price movements or discrepancies in the betting markets.
• Score – Result of the match or game in points.
• Single bet – Often described as the simplest bet type. It is a bet placed on a single outcome of a specific event.
• Sharp bettor – A person or a group of people who work for living as professional bettors.
• SP in betting – The starting price given to a competitor at the start of an event, generally in horse racing.
• Stake – The amount of money that a bettor wagers on a particular bet or outcome. It represents the financial risk or investment placed on a specific betting selection.
• Steam – An abrupt change in the spread on a game. It usually happens when a betting syndicate or a big amount of gamblers pour a wave of cash into one side of a game.
• Straight forecast – A type of bet in horse racing where the bettor predicts the exact order in which two specified horses will finish in the top two positions in a race.
• Super flag bet – A bet on 5 selections taking part in different events consisting of 10 Doubles, 10 Trebles, 5 Four-Folds, 1 Five-Fold and 10 Single Stakes About Bets in pairs totaling 46 bets.
• Super heinz bet – A multiple bet that features seven selections and totals 120 separate wagers.

T

• Teaser bet – A teaser bet is a form of Parlay bet in which it allows the bettor to alter the game’s point spread, which increases the wager’s likelihood of winning. In return, if they win, the bookmaker will reduce their reward.
• Tote bet – A bet where your stake goes into a pool, from which winnings are paid from.
• Tipster – A person who constantly provides predictions on the likely outcomes of sporting events.
• Treble bet – A multiple bet that consists of three separate wagers, on three different events. All picks must be accurate in order for your bet to win.
• Tricast bet – A bet where you must pick the first three finishers, in the correct order.
• Trixie – A betting strategy with three selections, comprising three doubles and one treble, requiring at least two winning selections for a return.

U

• Undercard – Used in the world of boxing and other combat sports, the undercard is the list of fights that precede the main event.
• Underdog – A sports team, player or outcome that is highly unexpected or almost certain to lose according to the bookmakers.
• Up and down bet – A bet that consists of two individual sections. With the “Up” bet, you are betting on your selection to win. The “Down” bet refers to the same pick placing.

V

• Vig/Vigorish – Also known as the house edge or a fee charged by the bookies.
• Void bet – Your stake is returned due to an unforeseen situation occurring. For example, a tennis player retiring from a match due to injury.

W

• Welcome bonus – a bonus bookmakers make that is a one time thing when you make your first deposit earning you some extra cash that you can bet with is called a welcome bonus.
• Wagering requirements – A must-read text that explains the rules, criteria and circumstances that you have to meet in order to earn a bonus is called wagering requirement.
• Wiseguy – Punters that place smart and well thought out bets.

X

• X – A sign that represents that a game ended in a draw.

Y

• Yankee bet – This wager is made up of 11 individual bets, from four selections.

Pocket betting terminology

Upon entering the best betting sites, there will likely be terminology that confuses you. In order to give yourself the best possible chance of being successful, make sure that you are familiar with the terms and phrases outlined on this page.

Referring to different bet types, strategies and features, our guide will benefit all bettors. 

About the author

James Fuller

James is an experienced copywriter with over a decade’s worth of experience in the casino industry. He is an avid sports fan, following football, tennis, Formula 1 and golf in particular.

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry, or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.