- Action: A sports betting wager of any kind, a bet.
- Added game: For sports betting, a game not part of Las Vegas regular rotation posted as an accommodation to customers.
- American odds: Odds that carry a +/- designation and indicate the amount needed to wager to win $100 on any given bet. If you’re betting a favorite, the odds minus (-) sign in front, and indicate the money you need to risk to win $100. The odds for underdogs will have a plus (+) sign in front, and indicate the money you’ll win for every $100 risked.
- Angles: Using key factors from previous events to predict the results for future outcomes.
- ATS: "Against the spread," taking points rather than betting with the spread and laying points in sports betting.
- Backdoor cover: Points in the final moments of a game when a team (usually the underdog) scores meaningless points with regards to the outcome but affects the spread or total in the game.
- Bet: To risk something on the outcome of an event.
- Betting line: Gambling odds set by sportsbooks and oddsmakers for the public to bet. This is a type of wagering that establishes the favorite and underdog along with the point total (over/under) of a particular game or contest. This sets the framework for waging a game or match and allows bettors to evaluate the value and return of a bet.
- Bitcoin: A type of cryptocurrency that has been around for more than 10 years and is becoming popular with sports bettors.
- Book: In sports gambling a Book is an establishment that accepts bets on the outcome of horse racing and sporting events.
- Bookie: In sports wagering a person who accepts bets.
- Bookmaker: See ‘bookie’
- 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.
- Canadian Line: In sports betting the Canadian line is a combination point spread and money line in hockey.
- Chalk: The favorite.
- Chalk Player: In sports gambling this person is someone who usually only plays the favored teams, rarely betting on the underdogs.
- Chase your bet: When sports bettors continuously bet to recover from losses.
- 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.
- Closing line: Also known as "CLV" for short, compares the odds you bet a side/total at to what the side/total closed. If you bet a favorable number than what the line closed at, that would be considered "value" because you beat the closing line. The inverse - if you end up betting a team at a worse number than what the line closed at - the market beat you due to reading the game incorrectly.
- Cover: In sports betting this term means a point spread win.
- Cryptocurrency: A digital currency used to buy and sell goods and services. A distinguishing feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized, meaning a central authority (such as a government) isn't the issuing authority. This decentralization means that investors can deal directly with one another instead of operating within a centralized exchange.
- Decimal odds: Unlike American odds, decimal odds represent the amount a bettor will win for every $1 wagered. They are most commonly used in Europe.
- Dime: $1,000.00 sports betting wager.
- Dime Line: In sports betting a Dime line is a line where the juice is 10%.
- Dog: In sports betting, the team perceived to be most likely to lose.
- Dog Player: In sports gambling this term refers to one who mostly plays the underdog.
- Double chance bet: A double chance bet is essentially a two-way moneyline bet in which you bet that one of two things will happen: either that one specific team will win or draw, or that either team will win and there will be no draw.
- Draw no bet: When the option of a draw is removed from the betting line entirely. A bet's odds then become inflated since there's less of a chance that you'll lose. However, if the game ends regulation in a tie, you will refund your risked money.
- Edge: A person's advantage when it comes to sports betting.
- eSports: A competition featuring video games which can be in the form of an organized, multiplayer video game tournament. It can take place between professional esports players or amateurs.
- Even Money: Sports betting term "Even money" is a bet whose odds are 1/1; a wager in which no vigorish or juice is laid.
- Exotic: In sports gambling the term Exotic is any wager other than a straight bet or parlay - also called a prop or proposition.
- Exposure: The maximum amount of money a sports book stands to lose on a game.
- Favorite: The team or competitor that's expected to win a game or contest.
- First half bet: In sports betting, this is a bet placed only on the first half of the game.
- Futures bet: A wager where you bet on the outcome of an event that will take place in the future. Common futures bets include championship winners or MVP selections.
- Gamble: To risk money on the outcome of an event.
- Getting Down: Sports wagering meaning 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 time bet: In sports betting this is a bet placed only on the second half of the game.
- Handicapper: When it comes to sports betting a handicapper is one who studies, rates and wagers on sporting events and/or races.
- Handicapping: A way that oddsmakers even out the playing field between two teams in a game or match. This tactic is often known as "line betting" or "betting the spread." Bookmakers will turn a matchup where the odds are varied into an even money contest by giving positive points to one team (the underdog) and negative points to the other (the favorite).
- Handle: A sports wagering term that means the total amount of bets taken.
- Hedging: A strategy bettors use to lessen the potential financial loss of a previously placed bet. This is most commonly used in parlays and futures bets. In a sense, the bettor is casting a second (or third) wager that goes against the original bet.
- Hook: In sports betting, a Hook is a half point added to football and basketball betting lines.
- 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: In sports wagering, laying the price means betting the favorite by laying money odds.
- Limit: In sports betting, limit is the maximum amount a bookmaker will allow you to bet before he changes the odds and/or the points.
- Line: In sports betting, the current odds or point spread on a particular event.
- Linemaker: In the sports betting industry, this is the person who establishes the original and subsequent betting lines.
- Listed Pitchers: In sports gambling, a listed pitcher is 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.
- Live betting: A bet that is placed on a game or match while the competition is taking place.
- Lock: When a bettor believes the game's outcome is clear, making it easy money for anyone betting on the winning side.
- Longshot: In sports wagering this is a team or horse perceived to be unlikely to win.
- Middle: To win both sides of the same contest in sports betting event. Wagering on the underdog at one point spread and the favorite at a different point spread and winning both sides.
- Moneyline: Also known as a straight up bet. This is when you bet whether a team will win outright.
- 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: $500.00, in on a sports gambling wager.
- Nickel line: A sports wagering line where the juice is 5%.
- No action: A wager in sports betting in which no money is lost nor won.
- Odds: The likelihood of the outcome occurring, stated in numbers form.
- Off the board: In sports betting this is a game on which the bookmaker will not accept action.
- Opening line: The first posted odds that are available for betting. This is the number that is determined for the spread, moneyline, and other wagers from an array of data, analysis, trends, and other statistics that professional oddsmakers take into account.
- 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.
- Overnight Line: Term for the earliest line in sports betting that is posted the night before the game is played.
- Over/Under: Also known as the "total" or "points total." This type of bet indicates the final combined score of boths teams in a game or match. Bettors wager whether the final combined score will be “over” or “under” the set total.
- Parlay: A single sports bet that is a combination of different wagers into one. With a parlay, you can combine multiple wagers with moneylines, spreads, totals, futures and props.
- Pick 'em: When neither team is favored. Also called a "pick" in sports betting terms.
- Point spread: In sports betting this is the predicted scoring differential between two opponents as quoted by a sports book.
- Points total: Commonly known as the over/under. When constructing betting lines, oddsmakers assign a number to the game or match to indicate how many points both teams will score combined. It's up to the bettor to decide whether to bet the point total will go over the set amount or under it.
- Press: In sports betting, this means to wager a larger amount than usual.
- Price: Sports betting term for the odds or point spread.
- Prop bet: Also known as "proposition bets," prop bets are unique, creative bets that tend to focus on an individual player's performance or a team's overall statistics.
- Public betting: The percentage of wagers on a given side or total in a betting event. Also known as betting percentage, not to be confused with money percentage.
- Puck line: The puck line in NHL betting is essentially the spread bet. Bookmakers usually post this at +/- 1.5. When betting the puck line, the favorite must win by at least two goals for a successful -1.5 wager, and the underdog would have to lose by no less than one goal or win outright for a successful +1.5 wager.
- Push: Essentially a tie in a bet between the bettor and the sportsbook. Neither side wins, and the bettor collects back the money they wagered on the bet.
- Round Robin: A series of multiple parlays that come from a larger list of bets. The name derives from a round-robin tournament where every contestant must play every other contestant participating in the tournament.
- Run down: In sports gambling, this is all the lines for a specific date, sport, time, etc.
- Run line: A run line bet is the MLB version of a bet against the spread. However, unlike NFL, NBA, NCAAB, and NCAAF spread lines, the MLB run line always is posted at +/- 1.5.
- Runner: One who places bets for another when it comes to sports betting.
- Sharp money: This is a strategy to get the best number available with the most value. Sharps money is placed on opening lines of games or matches as soon after they are released, allowing bettors to get the best value before they become adjusted or inflated by the general betting public.
- Sharps: (Wise Guys) are analytical and data-driven bettors. They bet based purely on value of betting numbers, not teams, and their success is measured in how much Closing Line Value (CLV) they attain in the wagers they make.
- 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: Also known as "handicap betting," the spread is a wager where a team must win by at least a specific number of points/goals/scores (as the favorite) or lose by less than a designated number (as the underdog).
- 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 is drawn to for some reason.
- Straight bet: In sports betting, this is a wager on just one team or horse.
- Straight-up: Winning the game without any regards to the pointspread.
- Taking the points: When it comes to sports gambling this means betting the underdog and its advantage in the point spread.
- Taking the price: In sports wagering this means betting the underdog and accepting money odds.
- Teaser: This is similar to a traditional parlay bet, except the bettor may adjust the line spreads or use alternative over/unders to increase the chances of winning the wager. If the teaser is successful, the payout is lower because the odds are more advantageous to winning the bet.
- Ticket: A sports betting wager.
- Tie: In sports betting a tie is 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: When it comes to sports betting a under is a wager in which the bettor guesses that the total points scored by two teams will be under a certain figure.
- Underdog: The team or competitor that's expected to lose a match or competition.
- Value: In sports betting, value means getting the best odds on a wagering proposition; the highest possible edge.
- Vigorish (Vig): The bookmaker's commission on a losing bet; also known as juice in sports betting.
- 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.
