Sports Betting Glossary: Your Comprehensive A-Z Guide to Betting Jargon
Author: Mateusz Mazur
Date: 27.10.2025 Last update: 27.10.2025 13:31
Sports betting has a rich, specialized vocabulary that can be confusing for beginners. This comprehensive glossary defines the essential terms used across all major sports, from NFL to horse racing, demystifying the jargon of Odds, Bet Types, and Strategies. Whether you’re tracking Juice, looking for Value, or identifying a Sharp bettor, this guide provides clear definitions and context.
A-Z Glossary of Sports Betting Terms
| Term | Category | Definition and Context |
| Accumulator (Parlay) | Wagers | A single bet combining multiple selections (legs). All picks must win for the accumulator to pay out. Offers high risk/high reward. (Common UK term.) |
| Action | General | A simple term meaning a wager or bet placed on an event. Conversely, “no action” means the bet is voided or cancelled. |
| Alternate Line | Wagers | A different point spread or total offered by a sportsbook, adjusted from the main line for a change in odds. Allows you to “buy” or “sell” points. |
| American Odds | Odds | The standard format using plus (+) and minus (−) signs (e.g., −150, +150). Negative shows money to bet to win $100; positive shows money won on a $100 bet. |
| Ante-Post (Futures) | Wagers | A bet placed well in advance of an event (e.g., before a season starts). Odds are locked in early, but if the selection doesn’t compete, the stake is often lost (“run or not”). |
| Arbitrage (Arb) | Strategy | Betting on all possible outcomes across different sportsbooks to guarantee a small profit due to line discrepancies. It is a technically risk-free strategy but is rare. |
| Asian Handicap | Wagers | A soccer-specific spread that eliminates the possibility of a draw by giving one team a virtual head start (e.g., +0.5, −1). Quarter-goal lines (e.g., −0.25) split the stake. |
| ATS (Against the Spread) | Wagers | Refers to an outcome relative to the point spread margin. A team’s ATS record tracks how often it covers the spread, regardless of the outright winner. |
| Backdoor Cover | Strategy | When a team that was not covering the spread scores unexpectedly late (often in garbage time) to cover the spread (or cause a push). |
| Bad Beat | General | A painful, unexpected loss on a bet that seemed certain to win, usually due to a freak, last-second play. |
| Bankroll | General | The total amount of money a bettor has strictly set aside for wagering. |
| Bankroll Management | Strategy | The disciplined strategy of managing betting funds, typically by setting a unit size (e.g., 1%of bankroll per bet) to withstand losing streaks. |
| Bar Price | Odds | Mainly in horse racing; the lowest odds not specifically quoted for all remaining participants (e.g., “20-1 bar”). |
| Beard | Slang | A person who places bets for another individual to conceal the true bettor’s identity (often used by sharps to avoid limits). |
| Bet Builder (SGP) | Wagers | A feature allowing you to combine multiple outcomes within a single game into one parlay-style wager (Same-Game Parlay). |
| Betting Exchange | Formats | A platform where bettors wager against each other (instead of a bookmaker), allowing users to “back” (bet on) or “lay” (bet against) an outcome. |
| Book (Bookie) | General | Short for sportsbook; the entity or person accepting the bets and offering the odds. |
| Both Teams To Score (BTTS) | Wagers | A soccer wager that wins if each team scores at least one goal. The final score and winner are irrelevant. |
| Buy Points | Strategy | Paying extra commission (reduced payout odds) to move the point spread or total in your favor (e.g., moving a spread from −7.5 to −7). |
| Cash Out | Formats | A feature allowing you to settle your bet early (before the event is over) for a partial payout based on the current odds, to lock in a profit or cut a loss. |
| Chalk | Slang | A term for the Favorite, particularly a heavy favorite expected to win easily. Betting the chalk means picking the obvious winner. |
| Chasing | Strategy | Increasing stake sizes after a loss in an emotional attempt to immediately win back lost funds. This is a common, detrimental mistake. |
| Circled Game | General | A game with restricted betting limits (lower max wagers), often due to major uncertainties like critical injuries or bad weather forecasts. |
| Closing Line (CL) | Odds | The final odds or spread available just before the game starts. Beating the closing line is a sign of good value betting. |
| Cover | General | When a team wins against the point spread by meeting the required margin. |
| Decimal Odds | Odds | Odds format where the number (e.g., 3.50) represents the total return (stake + profit) for every one unit staked. 2.00 is even money. |
| Dead Heat | General | A tie in a race or event where multiple participants share a position. Payouts are usually split (e.g., half your stake wins at full odds). |
| Dog | Slang | Short for Underdog. |
| Dollar / Dime / Nickel | Slang | Slang for bet sizes: Dollar =$100; Nickel =$500; Dime =$1,000. |
| Double Chance | Wagers | A soccer bet covering two of the three possible outcomes (Home/Draw, Away/Draw, Home/Away). Offers lower odds but higher probability. |
| Edge | Strategy | A perceived advantage a bettor has over the bookmaker’s line, based on research or mispriced odds. The goal is to bet only when you have an edge. |
| Even Money (Evens) | Odds | Odds of +100 (American) or 1/1 (Fractional). Win profit equals the stake. |
| Exotic Bet | Wagers | Non-traditional wagers like parlays, teasers, or complex system bets. |
| Favorite | General | The team or player expected to win, shown with negative odds. |
| Field | Wagers | All remaining competitors not specifically listed in a bet, common in futures or props (e.g., “The Field” vs. the favorite). |
| Fixed-Odds Betting | Formats | The standard betting format where the payout is fixed at the odds you placed the bet, regardless of market changes later. |
| Future Bet | Wagers | A long-term bet on an event that will be decided later, such as a Super Bowl winner or season MVP. |
| Grand Salami | Wagers | A single Over/Under bet on the total combined goals or runs scored in all games played in a league on a given day (e.g., all NHL games). |
| Handicapper | General | A person who analyzes and predicts sports results; also the act of analyzing itself. |
| Handle | General | The total amount of money wagered on an event or during a period. |
| Hedge / Hedging | Strategy | Placing a bet opposite to an original wager (e.g., betting on an opponent) to reduce risk or lock in a profit. |
| Hook | Slang | The half-point (.5) added to a spread or total (e.g., −7.5) to ensure no push (tie). |
| Juice (Vig or Vigorish) | Odds | The commission or fee the bookmaker charges, ensuring they profit if betting action is balanced. Standard is −110 odds. |
| Key Number | General | Common margins of victory in NFL and NBA (e.g., 3, 7, 10), which are strategically important when setting or adjusting spreads. |
| Kelly Criterion | Strategy | An advanced formula that calculates the optimal percentage of your bankroll to wager on a bet to maximize long-term growth based on your estimated edge. |
| Limit | General | The maximum amount a sportsbook will accept on a single bet. |
| Live Betting (In-Play) | Formats | Placing wagers while the game is ongoing, with odds constantly updating based on the action. |
| Lock | Slang | A bet perceived as a guaranteed winner; used casually, but should be viewed skeptically. |
| Longshot | General | An underdog with high odds and low probability of winning, offering high payouts. |
| Martingale System | Strategy | A high-risk, flawed system where you double your stake after every loss to recover all previous losses with the next win. Not recommended for sports betting. |
| Middle (Middling) | Strategy | Betting on both sides of a game at different lines (due to line movement) in hopes the final score falls in the middle, winning both bets. |
| Moneyline Odds | Odds | See American Odds. |
| Oddsmaker (Linemaker) | General | The person or team who sets the initial betting lines and odds for a game. |
| Off the Board (OTB) | Formats | When a game is removed from betting options due to severe uncertainty (e.g., star player injury). |
| Odds-On | Odds | Refers to a favorite whose odds are less than even money (e.g., −200 or 1/2), meaning the potential profit is less than the stake. |
| Parlay | Wagers | See Accumulator. |
| Pari-Mutuel (Pool) | Formats | A betting system (mostly horse racing) where all money goes into a pool, and payouts are determined by sharing the pool among winners after the house takes a commission. |
| Prop Bet (Proposition) | Wagers | A wager on a specific event or player statistic within a game (e.g., QB passing yards Over/Under). |
| Public | General | Refers to the general, casual betting community (as opposed to sharps). Often favors popular teams and Overs. |
| Puck Line | Wagers | Hockey’s version of the point spread, usually fixed at −1.5 or +1.5 goals (with adjusted odds). |
| Push | General | A tie in terms of the spread or total, resulting in the original stake being refunded. |
| Round Robin | Wagers | A way to bet multiple parlays at once by taking a set of teams and placing all possible parlay combinations of a chosen size. |
| Run Line | Wagers | Baseball’s point spread, typically fixed at −1.5 or +1.5 runs (with adjusted odds). |
| Sharp | Slang | A professional, expert, and highly knowledgeable bettor. |
| Spread | Wagers | See Point Spread. |
| Square | Slang | A recreational or novice bettor, the opposite of a sharp. |
| Stake | General | The amount of money wagered on a bet. |
| Starting Price (SP) | Odds | The official odds of a horse at the start of a race (UK term). |
| Steam Move | Strategy | A sudden, sharp line movement caused by a rush of money on one side, often from professional bettors. |
| Straight Bet | Wagers | A single wager on one outcome (Moneyline, Spread, or Total). |
| Straight Up (SU) | General | Winning the game without the point spread; the outright winner. |
| Teaser | Wagers | A special parlay allowing you to adjust the spreads/totals in your favor (e.g., 6 points) for a reduced payout. |
| Total | Wagers | See Over/Under. |
| True Odds | Odds | The real probability odds of an event occurring, before the bookmaker adds the commission (vig). |
| Underdog | General | See Dog. |
| Unit | Strategy | A standard, consistent bet sizing measurement (e.g., 1% of the bankroll) used by bettors for disciplined risk management. |
| Value | Strategy | Placing a bet when you believe the odds underestimate the true probability of an outcome, giving you an edge. |
| Vegas Line | General | Colloquial term for the consensus odds or point spread for a game, reflecting the market authority. |
| Vig (Vigorish) | Odds | See Juice. |
| Wise Guy | Slang | Another term for a Sharp bettor. |
| Yankee | Wagers | A system bet on 4 selections, consisting of 11 bets (doubles, trebles, and a four-fold parlay). |
| Yield | Odds | A performance metric similar to ROI, measuring the profit percentage relative to the total amount staked over time. |
| Zigzag Theory | Strategy | An NBA playoff strategy involving betting on the team that lost the previous game to cover the spread, on the theory that they will adjust and fight harder. |
Why Learn This Jargon?
Familiarity with this language is key to betting successfully and responsibly:
- Spotting Value: Understanding the Juice allows you to calculate the true cost of your bet and identify when a book offers an Edge (value). Seeking out reduced vig lines (like −105 instead of −110) can significantly improve your long-term ROI.
- Discipline: Terms like Bankroll and Unit are the foundation of proper risk management, preventing emotional mistakes like Chasing losses.
- Market Awareness: Knowing what a Steam Move is helps you understand why a line suddenly shifted, allowing you to choose the optimal time to place your wager.