Sports Betting Terms
Posted By admin On 11/04/22- Sports Betting Terms Vig
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Like many other industries, the sports betting world has its own jargon and many terms, lingo can be confusing. Our Sports Betting 101 Glossary provides a quick and simple definition of often-used terms that you may read on VegasInsider.com or hear at your local sportsbook.
The sports betting glossary provides a list of terms and phrases that are used in the sports betting industry. This terminology is used throughout our site. If we left something out, then don’t hesitate to shoot us a message here so that we can add the term. Sports Betting Terms and Glossary. If you are new to sports betting, even if you have been around for a while, you can get very confused about the words and lingo that echo through the sportsbook. This helpful sports betting glossary will answer many of your questions and explain terms you may have heard, but don’t yet understand. And also give you a few new cool words to. Betting limits are the largest wagers sportsbooks will take from its clientele. The limits will differ based on the sports book, sport, event start time and other factors. Often sports books will set lower betting limits when the line is initially released.
Sports Betting Resources and Terms
Action: Any bet.
Added Game: A matchup that is not part of the daily betting rotation. 'Added Games' are often make-up or rescheduled games that were expected to be played on a previous date. In pro baseball, it's likely Game 2 of an unscheduled double-header from a rainout.
Alternate lines: Some sportsbooks may offer different (or alternate) point spreads that pay different odds for the same game. These provide bettors more options to wager on certain games.
ATS: Against the spread
Arbitrage: Savvy bettors who try to scalp the market by playing both sides of a particular matchup, with hopes of cashing a middle. The hope is to guarantee getting money back regardless of the outcome.
Bankroll: The total amount of money a bettor can spend on a betting app.
Beard: Messenger bettor, used at brick and mortar casinos and sportsbooks if the real bettor wishes to remain anonymous.
Beef: Dispute
Betting Trends: Stats that show the total amount of money wagered on a game
Buck: $100
Buying Points: Paying additional money to move the point-spread in a direction of your preference. Often used in football, bettors will buy 'on' or 'off' key numbers to avoid losing by a point or two.
Chalk: Favorite in a game by a large margin
Chalk Eater:Bettor who is known for betting on the favorites consistently
Churn: The effect of betting and rebetting money, similar to Arbitrage
Circle Game: Game where action is limited due to uncertainties about weather, injuries, etc
Cover: Win by more than the point-spread
Dime: $1,000
Dollar: $100
Dog: Abbreviation for Underdog, team expected to lose the game
Draw: A tie, used often in Soccer and sometimes in Boxing or Mixed Martial Arts
Earn: Practical hold percentage
Edge: Advantage
Even Money: When a selection has no juice or vig involved. A $100 wager will win $100, while normal wagers would make bettors lay $110 to win $100.
Exotic Bet: Action other than a straight bet or parlay, often unusual bets you won't see in many places. Can be listed under prop bets in sportsbooks.
Exposure: The amount of money the house actually stands to lose on a game or a race.
Extension: The amount of money the house theoretically will risk losing on a game or a race.
Favorite: The team in a sports betting matchup that is expected to win. In football and basketball, the favorite gives points while in moneyline sports, the favorite has to lay a higher price in order to cash a ticket.
Figure: Amount owed by or to a bookmaker
Firing: Betting a lot. A player who is 'firing' is wagering large sums
Fractional Odds: Not used commonly in the United States. These are odds used mainly in Europe. Odds are listed in fraction form (1/10) instead of as a moneyline (-100).
Futures: Wagers where bettors can invest in the future outcome of a team to win a particular event, even if it isn't in the near future. Example – bettors often choose a team to win the World Series or Super Bowl and receive higher payouts based on the numbers from the oddsmakers depending on how far out the event is.
Grand Salami: A popular NHL wager where bettors handicap the total number of goals scored in all games for one day. Some sportsbooks may offer alternate versions for home, away, or periods of games during the day. Some sportsbooks may offer a similar bet for runs in Major League Baseball but this is mostly used in hockey.
Gross Win: Win before expenses
Handicapper: One who studies sports and predicts outcomes of teams and players.
Handle: Total amount of bets taken
Hedge: Bet the opposite of your original wager in order to reduce the amount of action you have on a game
Hold: The percentage the house wins
Hook: Half point in point-spreads, as in 'lost by the hook'
Home Field Advantage: Edge the home team is expected to have as a result of familiarity with the playing area, favorable demographics and effect of travel on the visiting team
Hoops: Basketball
Hot Tip: Information the bookmaker is not yet privy to
In-Game Wagering: The ability to bet on a sporting event after the game has already started and until it concludes.Also known as live betting.
juice: Bookmaker's commission, most often refers to the 11 to 10 football bettors lay on straight wagers; vigorish
Key Numbers: Most often heard in pro football, the key numbers are the most common margins of the final outcome. The key numbers in the NFL are 3, 7 and 10 points.
Layoff Bet: A wager made by one bookmaker with another to help balance his action and reduce his potential risk or losses
Limit: Bet the opposite of your original wager in order to reduce the amount of action you have on a game
Line: The betting proposition on a game and/or payoff odds on the bet
Live Betting: See In-Game Wagering. Becoming more popular as most betting apps seem to have this feature now.
Lock: An easy betting win.
Long Shot: Large underdog
L3, L5, L10: Last Three, Last Five, Last 10
Marker: Credit offered at Casinos.
Moneyline: Used often in sports like baseball, hockey and soccer -- these odds are set on the straight up winner of the matchup. There is no point-spread with moneylines. Just pick the winner!
Middle: To win both sides of a game. For example, if you bet the underdog +3 1/2 and the favorite - 2 1/2 and the favorite wins by 3, you've MIDDLED the book. The book has BEEN MIDDLED.
Neutral Site: Arena, court or field where neither side has a home field advantage. For example the Super Bowl most years.
Nickel: $500
Odds: Numbers used to determine the favorite and underdog of a sporting match. Unless the game is a pick 'em, there is always a favorite or underdog.
O/U: Over/Under
Off the Board: Game where bets are no longer being accepted. This often happens when there is unknown about a key player's injury status.
Overlay: When the odds on a proposition are in favor of the bettor rather than the house
Parlay: A bet with two or more teams where all the teams must win for the bettor to be successful. The more events in a parlay, the more money there is to cash in on but the harder it becomes to win the wager.
Past Post: To make a bet after an event has started
Pick or Pick'em: A game where neither team is favored
Point-Spread: A number or line set by oddsmakers to provide an advantage or disadvantage based on the margin of victory or defeat for the teams in the matchup. There is always a favorite (-) and an underdog (+). The most popular type of betting in the United States, mainly used in both football and basketball.
Sports Betting Terms Vig
Practical Hold Percentage: The amount won by a bookmaker divided by the total amount booked
Press: To bet a larger amount than usual
Public Dog: When betting trends lean heavily to an underdog
Public Trends: Betting Percentages showing money and ticket count for games
Puppy: Underdog
Push: Tie. The bettor doesn't win or lose money, almost as if the bet didn't happen (Parlays not included).
(ROI): Return on Investment.The amount of money you win on a wager, or your return on your investment or stake.
Reverse-Line Movement: When a line (point-spread) moves in the opposite direction of the betting percentages. Some pundits believe you can follow sharp money with reverse-line movement, especially when the trends and lines differ drastically.
Round Robin: A series of parlays. A three-team round robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays
Rundown: Line update
Run-Line: A popular pro baseball wager where the favorite (-1.5) must win by two plus runs to win or the underdog (+1.5) must win or lose by less than two runs to win.
Runner: See Beard
Score: To win a lot of money
Scratch: Withdraw or cancel
Sharp bettors: Money wagered by bettors be that a sportsbook operator respects. Sharp money often comes from large wagers placed by professional bettors. It should be noted that not all large wagers are considered Sharp.
Side: To win one side and tie the other. For example, if you lay -2 1/2 and take 3 on the same game and the favorite wins by 3 you have SIDED the book. The book has been SIDED
Steam: When the odds change because of the money wagered on a game or participant is primarily one-sided for a team. Some bettors will chase the steam thinking the other bettors know something they may not but instead they are just mostly all following the trend.
Straight Bet: A bet on just one team
Sucker Bet: Bet with a large house edge
system: When bettors and handicappers develop angles based on historical or seasonal stats.
Take a Price: Bet the underdog, take the points
Tapped Out: Broke, busted, common result of pressing
Teaser: A wager used in football and basketball that allows bettors to combine two or more selections together while adjusting the points on those selections.
Tissue Price: The initial odds offered by the sportsbook. This price is usually considered a much fairer deal for the bettor.
Toke: A tip or gratuity
Toss Up: Game where the line is close to a pick-em and either side is expected to win.
Tout Service: A business that sells opinions on sporting events
Trend: Daily, Weekly and Seasonal angles that bettors and handicappers often follow or fade in their wagers.
Triple Sharp: The sharpest of the sharp, (Note: There is no such term as 'Double Sharp')
Unit/s:Amount bet on a game.
Wager: A bet
Win Totals: A future wager that allows bettors to handicap the number of victories and losses of a team during the course of a regular season.
Underdog: The team in a sports betting matchup that is not expected to win. In football and basketball, the underdog receives points while in moneyline sports, the 'dog can net a positive return if it wins.
Underlay: When the odds on a proposition are in favor of the house
Value: An overlay
Wire-to-Wire Commonly seen in the NBA, a bet where a team will lead after every quarter for the entire game.
Internet sports betting will use a lot of gambling terms that you may not be familiar with as a lot of the language comes from the 'street' language of old school bookies. The following is a Glossary of Gambling Terms for: NFL betting, College Football betting, NCAA Football betting, Baseball Betting, MMA Betting, UFC betting, Boxing wagering, NHL betting, NBA betting, NCAA Basketball betting, College Basketball Betting and other major sports. You will find all the major terms that Internet sportsbooks use in posting their betting lines.
Gambling Terminology
Slang for gambling is hard, but we’re here to help! Gambling terms vary far and wide, but we have assembled a gambling terminology glossary here. All the gambling terminology and gambler slang you could ever find will be made clear here. You’ll be speaking the gambling vocabulary after a quick review of this page in no time, including betting terms, and slang for gambling itself. Most of these are specific to sports betting, but still find their way to other areas online. Whether you’re into NCAA Football betting, NFL betting, NCAA Basketball betting, College Basketball Betting, College Football betting, Baseball Betting, MMA Betting, UFC betting, Boxing wagering, NHL betting, NBA betting, or all other major sports, you’ll be speaking gambler lingo in no time! This can be particularly challenging without help, as sports betting lingo, bet slang, betting jargon, betting lingo, betting acronyms, sports betting terminology, and specifically basketball betting terms all have very specific sports betting terms that need to be mastered to even make a bet! Football betting terms and football betting terminology in particular can be challenging, but we’ve got you covered there too:Action
- Any time you make a bet, this counts as an action.Added Game
- Any betting line not typically part of the usual pool of games to bet on in the Las Vegas rotation, but is included to benefit those making wagers with a bookie.ATS
- The ATS betting term means Against The Spread. This is when you’re betting on the underdog team to win by a wide margin, and along with it, ample winnings.Bet
- Any time you put down money on the outcome of a sporting event, you’re betting.Book
- Originally, bookies were the ones that took bets on sporting events. Book is short for any sportsbook or related group that takes these bets.Bookie
- The original term that started them all, a bookie is someone that takes bets on sporting events.Bookmaker
- Another term referencing a bookie that takes bets on sporting events.Buck
- A $100 bet, being an example of a sports betting slang term.Buy (Points)
- If you are willing to pay more for it, you can get a half point or more in your favor on any point spread you bet on.Canadian Line
- Alternatively called a Puck Line, this is a mixture of a Point Spread and Moneyline.Chalk
- Another slang term, this one meaning the favored side to win.Chalk Player
- Anyone that typically bets on the favored side and never on underdogs.Circled Game
- Events of this kind have lower betting limits and limitations on how many people can get so a bookie won’t carry as much risk. Sometimes called a Red Circle box. This happens when unintended circumstances may adversely effect the outcome of an event, such as player injuries, unusual weather conditions, and games being unexpectedly added. Doesn’t include parlays and teaser wagers.Cover
- Any time a point spread is won.Dime Bet
- Another betting slang term that means a $1000 bet is placed.Dimeline
- When the favored party and the underdog only differ on their moneyline by 10 cents, such as the Yankees and Red Socks. This is used in baseball to attract eager gamblings looking for a decent risk to reward ratio.Dog
- The underdog not favored to win in an event.Dog Player
- A gambler that typically bets on the underdog.Dollar Bet
- Another betting slang term, here meaning $100. It’s the same as “Buck,” and they are used interchangeably just like the terms are outside of gambling.Even Money
- Any wager with 1:1 odds, meaning there is no juice or vigorish.Exotic Wager
- Wagers that aren’t Straight Bets or Parlays count as exotic wagers, such as Teasers, Sweetheart Teasers, IF bet, Reverses, and Prop bets.Favorite
- Any side expected to win an event. The opposite of the dog or underdog.Fifth Inning Line (5 Inn.)
- Any bet placed on only the initial 5 innings of any baseball game.Fifty Cents
- Another betting slang term that means a $50 bet.First Half Bet (1H)
- Bets placed on a football or basketball game that only account for the score up to halftime.Future
- The betting odds calculated in advanced on future sporting events.Getting Value
- Gambling vocabulary for the best odds on betting line.Grand Salami
- The Total of goals scored in all hockey games played on the same day.Grading
- After you bet and the event has been decided, this is when the amount is put into your account.Half a Dollar
- Another piece of gambling slang for a $50 wager.Half Time Bet (2H)
- The opposite of a First Half Bet, this is any bet placed on the second half of a football or basketball game.Handicapper
- These are the people that look at all available information on a sporting event, and calculate the odds of the outcome.Handicapping
- This is the act of the above when calculating the outcome of an event.Handle
- The gross total of bets taken by a bookie on a sporting event.Hedging
- Betting on both sides of an event to keep losses at a minimum or guarantee a bare minimum amount of winnings. Considered to be a safe betting strategy that sacrifices maximum winnings for protection from losses.