For those looking to dip their toes into sports betting, there are hundreds of sports betting terms to get to grips with. They encompass everything from match winner markets to more complex methods, such as handicaps.

We have given you the lowdown by providing a complete A-Z glossary of the most prominent terms and topics associated with sports betting, so you can have fun and win money. Read on for more.

Sports Betting Terms

Before we run through our A-Z list of the sports betting terminology that we have carefully compiled, more words have been added over the past few years to the industry, especially with many of the best offshore sportsbooks offering unfettered access to a greater range of markets and lines for bettors to tap into, and they also have a larger roster of sports for players to choose from.

We also think bettors want to be put in the picture on the most prominent terms, so they can wager with confidence and get value for money. Nowadays, players want to be able to enjoy in-play betting at the best live betting betting sites and wager whenever is most convenient for them. Among the most treasured and frequently heard sports betting terms includes the moneyline and parlay which we have full guides for you to explore in more detail.

Betting Terms and Meaning

After extensive research, we have determined these betting phrases and words to be the most useful, and you can apply the knowledge gained on this page at some of the top new betting sites.

  • Action – Having a wager or placing a bet on a game.
  • Alternate Lines – Prices displayed that are higher or lower than the main line posted at a sportsbook.
  • Arbitrage – Taking advantage of different bookmakers’ odds on an event to turn a profit.
  • Betting slip – A tool you will fill in online when confirming your selections for an event.
  • BTTS – BTTS stands for “both teams to score” in a soccer match.
  • Consensus Pick – This is based on data accumulated by bookmakers to see which side bettors are favoring.
  • Edge – A proposed advantage that a gambler might have for a game.
  • Exotic Bets – These betting options are specials that go beyond the standard range of wagers.
  • Futures – These are wagers that are placed by bettors who like to look at the long-term picture.
  • Handle – The amount recorded for wagering on a game.
  • Hedging – Making a bet on the other side of the fence to reduce losses.
  • House Rules – A set of rules determined by a sportsbook outlining the parameters of play.
  • Juice – Known as the vigorish, this is the amount sportsbooks charge for taking a bet.
  • Limit – The maximum accepted by a sportsbook for a single bet.
  • Longshot – An underdog that has a large price to win a competition.
  • Odds Boosts – Offers by which a sportsbook increase the odds on popular selections.
  • Parimutuel – Pool betting with winnings determined by how much players have wagered.
  • Parlay – This is the American equivalent of an accumulator where multiple outcomes are placed onto one betting slip.
  • PK – A “Pick ‘Em” spread betting market in which both sides are determined to have equal chance anyway.
  • Props – A bet not directly concerning the outcome of a game. They can be split into team and individual props.
  • Push – Wagers will be refunded here if no team covers the spread.
  • Round Robin – Multiple parlays are combined together for a number of different outcomes and payouts.
  • Runline – Used in baseball and it is their equivalent of a point spread.
  • Spread – A handicap to even a contest between two teams.
  • Steam – Odds that change dramatically due to a flurry of bets placed.
  • Teaser –A form of parlay in which players can make the chances of winning more likely.
  • Tip – Betting advice handed out by experts ahead of an event.
  • Under – The other side of the Over line at a sportsbook and used for sports like NBA, NFL, and soccer.
  • Units – A chosen amount which constitutes a regular size of bet for a player.
  • Underdog – The team is perceived to be the most inferior or weaker in a matchup.
  • Value – Odds which are determined to be above the size a bettor believes they should be.
  • Vig – A set charge on all odds by a bookmaker
  • Wise Guy – Those bettors who have an in-depth knowledge of the sports they bet on.

Betting Terms Explained

Now, that we have given you a quick overview of the most widely used sports betting terms, let’s scratch beneath the surface and run through them, providing examples along the way.

Action

Action is a term bandied about a lot, and it simply means placing a wager on the outcome of the event. You will have plugged in the odds on your slip which will show that your wager is live. So, for example, if you were betting on the NASCAR Xfinity Series, you could have a wager on the driver that will win the race. Any winning bets will be resolved after the conclusion of the race.

Alternate Lines

These will give you the opportunity to stake on an event that is higher or lower than the odds presented by a sportsbook. So, for example, if you were betting on an MLB match between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Metz, the Metz might be favorites at -1.5 on the run line, but you could take the Blue Jays instead as the +1.5 favorites to spice things up.

American Odds

This is the de facto setting for most sportsbooks in terms of the way they display prices. While all sportsbooks will have decimal and fractional formats, American odds will price the favorites with a plus (+) sign while the underdogs will have a negative (-) sign attached to their name. All wagers in plus and minus American odds reflect the chances of what you stand to win based on a $100 wager, although you can choose how much you wish to place on an event.

For example, Tampa Bay Lightning might be favorites at -150 to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a regular season NHL game. If you placed a $50 wager on that outcome, you would win $66.67, and get a total payout of $166.67.

Arbitrage

Occasionally, due to there being so many bookmakers on the online market in the US, there will be odds available on a sporting event which allows bettors to profit from arbitrage betting. This is where players bet on every outcome of a sporting event at different sportsbooks, all of which will combine to guarantee a profit.

Bankroll

All sports bettors will need a bankroll to ensure they can enjoy their playing experience. Players will need to feed into their account through either a credit or debit card, e-wallets, such as Skrill or Neteller, or even cryptos. Many of the top offshore sportsbooks are among the best Bitcoin betting sites. Your account could be closed if it remains inactive for a considerable period of time.

Betting Calculator

An essential tool that is a handy companion for any avid bettor, this will reflect what you stand to make from a wager. You can input your wager and before confirming your selection, the sportsbook will take over and do the rest for you. This will be available regardless of whether you wish to bet in American odds, decimal, or fractional.

Betting Slip

Without one of these, you simply won’t be able to make a bet. At BetOnline, the interface is extremely user-friendly and you will be guided to the section where you can place your bet. You just have to fill in the details along with the size of your stake before confirming your wager. Then, it’s just a waiting game to see if you have been successful.

BTTS

BTTS stands for “both teams to score”, and is a form of betting which can only be done on low-scoring sports such as soccer. This can be combined for parlays with moneyline bets, or can be bet on in its own right.

Chalk

A slang term used to describe the favorite, chalk is common parlance for American sports bettors. You may, for example, wish to bet on the Super Bowl and if Kansas City Chiefs were facing Green Bay Packers, and the Chiefs will be the chalk in this particular scenario. They could, for example, be priced at -250 to triumph.

Consensus Pick

The consensus pick relates to concrete data put forward by sportsbooks showing why they are backing the favorite. For NBA, stats, such as three-point success, rebound or head-to-head records could be the tipping point. So, if the Miami Heat were facing the Denver Nuggets, then the Heat could get the nod as the consensus pick as they will be stronger across most key performance indicators.

Cover

Short for covering the spread, the point spread refers to the number of points (plus or minus) applied to the respective final scores of two teams in order to determine the outcome of a bet. So, if the Baltimore Ravens were a -7 favorite against the New York Jets in a regular season NFL game, then those bettors who backed the Ravens to win by eight points or more would see a return on their wager.

Edge

Here, bettors will find a slight advantage in extracting bets that have a higher probability of an outcome happening than the odds you might normally receive. You may have found something in recent statistics to suggest you could get one over the sportsbook. This could be in a college basketball game for March Madness where, for example, you steer clear of Kentucky Wildcats as you aren’t sure how they will fare. After all, every sports bettor want to take money from the operators they are playing at!

Even Money

Simply, this is a type of wager where the potential payout is equal to the original bet. The odds are short, so you won’t make a profit. So, if you were to back the Bucks at EVENS with a $100 wager to beat the Toronto Raptors, you would get your original stake back.

Exotic bets

These are juicier bets that deviate from the norm, and they should be considered as specials. They are closely connected to horse racing, so if you were betting on say the Preakness Stakes, you could do a trifecta style bet, where you must correctly predict the top three horses to finish in the exact order. These can provide excellent returns if you are successful.

Favorite

The traditional term used to describe a team or athlete to win at an event. The favorite will have a minus (-) symbol displayed by the bookmaker, and all sports will have favorites and underdogs. It is the backbone of sports betting.

Futures

For those that like to take a more long-term view with their sports bets, futures can be very engaging. They will stay open until a competition closes, but it is usually best to place a bet when the market is first advertised. So, for example, you could wager on the New York Yankees to win the World Series at +500 before the new MLB season, and if you placed $100, then you would get a huge $600 payout.

Handle

The handle is the revenue generated by sportsbooks from bets placed at their sites. Sports betting has been soaring in the US over the past few years, and figures reported by the American Gaming Association (AGA) showed sports betting grew by 72.7% for 2022, eclipsing $60 billion.

Hedging

With hedge betting, you will be looking to mitigate your risk in a bet that you have placed. It is almost like a saver bet in the event that things go slightly awry. So, for example, you might initially bet on one MLB team to reach the World Series, but then you decide to further invest in another team, and by doing so, you will be able to lock in a profit. It’s essentially a win-win situation.

House Rules

You should see these as the regulations that sportsbooks set, and players should meet expectations. For example, this could involve responsible gambling that players should be aware of. Failure to abide by the rules could see a temporary suspension or worse still, permanent exclusion from the site.

Juice

More often referred to as the vig, it’s usually denoted next to a point spread, which could be priced at -110. With football point spread betting, the -110 line could be on both sides, while for prop betting, it could be as high as -120. The house though usually has an advantage, as they are collecting $1 for every $10 bet.

Limit

This is the maximum amount accepted by a sportsbook for a single wager. It can also refer to the maximum you can deposit or withdraw in one go, and this will be clearly displayed in the cashier section, depending on which payment method you use. You ought to read this before proceeding. There are some great crypto sports betting sites out there for you to enjoy.

Longshot

Used to describe a heavy outsider, this coin has mainly been termed for horse racing, and for many races, the best horse racing betting sites will have odds for picks that are rank outsiders. This could be a horse that doesn’t have much pedigree, although sometimes in the biggest meets, such as the Kentucky Derby, they can make a name for themselves.

Matched Betting

Matched betting is the use of offers from various sportsbooks to guarantee a profit. For instance, if you have a free bet offer of a substantial value, you can matched bet by placing this on one outcome on one sportsbook, and then place a counter bet on another sportsbook with a regular bet, and guarantee that you will make money overall one way or the other.

Moneyline

The holy grail of sports betting! Here, you just have to predict the matchwinner of a contest, and it is great for novice bettors. So, for example, you could wager on the LA Clippers to beat the LA Lakers in an NBA game, and if the Clippers come out on top, you will get a payout. This line is available at the best NBA sportsbooks.

No Action

From time to time, sportsbooks may decide to cancel wagers for a given event. Reasons can vary, but with no action, there will be no winners, and your original stake will be returned to you. For example, if you were betting on cricket, weather can force play to be abandoned for the day without a single ball being bowled.

Odds Boosts

An offer which features odds boosts is often a very popular one. This is where an online sportsbook will increase the odds of the most popular types of sports bets that day. Usually this will make a favorite go from around a +100 chance, to potentially a +500 chance, guaranteeing players a much bigger win if the favorite comes in.

Oddsmaker

The oddsmaker is responsible for helping a sportsbook set its prices for a given sports event. They will have crunched the numbers, and there may be a reason, for example as to why they are siding with the Lightning to win the Stanley Cup.

Parimutuel

Parimutuel betting originate in France and relates to a form of pools betting, which is very popular in the US when betting on horse racing. Ultimately, parimutuel winnings are calculated depending on how much is wagered on a horse, rather than there being fixed odds. If more is wagered on a horse, then the payout will be smaller, but will be larger if you are one of only a few who have bet on the winner.

Parlay

These are accumulators, whereby you can compile a single wager with multiple outcomes. They are fun, and the payouts can be big, but you need each leg of a wager to pull through for you to be a winner. For example, you might bet on the result of three soccer teams during a round of MLS fixtures, but each one must prevail for you to be successful.

PK

PK stands for “Pick ‘Em” and is known as such because it refers to a spread market where both teams are even anyway, so no points are added or removed from them in the spread. As a result, you are literally picking the team and nothing else, effectively like the moneyline.

Props

These can be divided into team and individual but they won’t necessarily determine the outcome of a game. A props bet can spice up your betting slip, so you could for example, wager on Giannis Antetokounmpo to light things up for the Bucks and shoot +30.5 points, and if he were to score 31 points or more, then your wager will be successful.

Puck Line

Exactly the same as a spread market, but exclusive to hockey, the puck line evens up markets between two teams in the NHL or other hockey leagues.

Push

If no team meets the spread, then the original wager will be returned to the bettor. A push can be a whole number, such as 3 or 7 points. So, if Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns by 3 points, then the wager will be considered to be a push, and you will be given back your original wager.

Round Robin

Combining multiple parlays, a round robin bet enables players to win even if certain outcomes do not come in, unlike in an individual parlay. This is because you choose a number of selections beforehand, and the sportsbook will place a number of different parlays to couple up all of your selections. Therefore, as long as a fair few of your selections win, you are likely to be in profit overall.

Runline

Baseball’s equivalent of the point spread, you could lay $100 on the Yankees at -130, so a $130 wager would return $100. However, if you bet them to exceed the point spread, you could wager $100 to get $150 in return. The run line will usually be set by the best online sportsbooks, and teams will be assigned a +1.5 or -1.5 line.

Spread

Spread betting is where you bet on an even contest between two teams due to their being a handicap placed on them. The favorite in the spread will have a negative amount of points to start with, while the underdog will have a positive amount. As such, the odds for both outcomes will be closer to +100.

Steam

Sportsbooks could be forced into a quick change on the line after a heavy volume of wagering for an event. Many experienced bettors may decide what is known as “chase the steam”, and find other operators that have the original and competitive prices available for a particular matchup. This could be the case for an NFL game where odds may have changed for a San Francisco Giants game, and instead of accepting it, you could use your money elsewhere.

Straight bet

This is just a single wager that you will place when you fill in your betting slip. You could use it for an NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves vs Dallas Mavericks, and a Moneyline, whereby you back the Timberwolves to win.

Superfecta

A very ambitious bet in a race or league table market, a superfecta is a bet in which you try to get the first four in order. Even if you get the correct four but in the wrong order, your superfecta bet will lose. While these bets are unlikely to come off, you can win big.

Teaser

Parlays can often be difficult to win with, but a teaser bet makes it slightly easier. You are still reliant on all your chosen outcomes winning, but a teaser allows you to place a handicap or spread on your outcomes to make them slightly easier to win, i.e. giving your chosen team in a parlay a few points headstart.

Tip

A piece of advice given to you by a sportsbook. Most operators will have an army of writers that will write previews ahead of the biggest events and they may outline specific odds to explore in more detail. Tips are always handy as they can provide insight and help you think about something you hadn’t previously thought of, although don’t take them as gospel. Supplement reading tips by carrying out your own research.

Under

On the opposite side of the Over line, the Under section is always intriguing when it comes to sports betting. It works best for high-scoring sports, such as the NBA. So, if you bet on a game between the Chicago Red Bulls and the New York Knicks, you could see the Under 150.5 points line set. Therefore, you would only win your over/under wager if 150 points or fewer were netted across all four quarters.

Units

Players may determine what is their normal quantity of bet when betting on their favorite sports. That can therefore become a unit for them, by which they can then calculate winnings and losses. A more confident bet could be worth three units, for instance, of whatever your most common size of bet is.

Underdog

They will be perceived as the inferior team and trade as the longer price with an operator. For example, at the best NHL betting sites, there can be a gulf in class between some teams. For example, if the Boston Bruins were facing Seattle Kraken, then Kraken would be the clear underdogs, and they would have a + sign attached to their name.

Value

When a selection in a market has odds of a higher price than a player believes they should be, they may determine this as value compared to the market. This may become a strategy for certain players, as they try and seek this across a variety of different markets or sportsbooks.

Vig

When a sportsbook offers you odds, there is a “vig” applied to it as a regular service fee. This is applied to all markets, and is subtracted from all winnings of a bet as a small charge.

Vince Lombardi Trophy

This is the trophy that has been awarded to the team that wins the Super Bowl. It is engraved with the NFL logo, and the Super Bowl was first contested in 1967. In 2023, the Chiefs clinched the Super Bowl with a 35-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, and the best Super Bowl betting sites will be well stocked with the latest odds.

Wire to Wire

You may well have come across the term wire to wire in horse racing, where a horse will lead from the starting stalls right until the end of the race, ensuring victory. In sports betting, you will place a wire to wire bet on a team in a match to lead at the end of the first period, such as the first quarter in an NFL game, and also at the end of the match.

Wise Guy

These bettors will be clued up about something or have prior knowledge about an event that sportsbooks will be unaware of. Their insights might be based on certain statistical models or something equally sophisticated that sportsbooks haven’t taken into account. This could be about the form of players or home court advantage for a particular March Madness game.

A Collection of the Best Sports Betting Guides

If you require extra reading, we have a bank of sports betting resources that you should find handy.

• Futures Betting Guide
• Over/Under Betting Guide
• Plus and Minus in Sports Betting
• Point Spread Betting Guide
• Prop Bets Guide
• Best Parlay Betting Sites