Refers to taking or laying points (aka spread) as opposed to taking a game straight up.
The simultaneous purchase and sale of the game in different markets to profit from unequal prices.
The available funds you have to bet with.
A person who is licensed to create betting lines and take wagers.
Paying additional fee in order to get a game at a more attractive price. Often times bettors will buy points in football around key numbers such as 3 and 7.
In sports such as football and basketball, a bettor wins their bet if they cover the point spread. For example, if you bet a 7-point favorite and they win by nine, you have covered the spread.
A bet of $1,000.
Short for underdog, this is the team which bookmakers assume will lose the game.
Also known as a push. If a game falls exactly on the spread, there is no winner and bettors will receive their money back.
A bettor’s advantage against the house. This will typically refer to an instance where you have a positive expected value.
A bet where you are not paying any vigorish (percentage deducted from a gambler's winnings by the organizers of a game).
The team bookmakers expect will win the game.
In proposition (prop) bets, bettors are often allowed to bet the field. This refers to an accumulation of all the teams or players that are specifically listed.
This refers to bets that come down in advance of an event. For example, one can bet a Super Bowl future prior to the beginning of the season by selecting which team(s) they believe will win the championship. A bettor receives payment at the end of the season if their selection did claim the title.
Placing bets on the opposite side after you have already placed a wager on one side. This can be used to either cut your losses or guarantee a profit.
In spread based sports, the hook is an extra half-point that betters can get. Oftentimes in football, bettors will buy the hook around key numbers like 3 to get a line of 3.5.
Wagers that can be placed after the event start time. Lines and odds are updated throughout the event.
Payout is fixed at the time the wager is placed.
This typically refers to the over/under total for how many goals/runs will be scored across all games in a specific league.
This is the tax that sportsbooks create for placing a wager. Typically, books offer -110, which means that you need to win 52.38% of your bets to break even. Some books will offer reduced juice with lines between -104 and -107.
This represents the most common margins of defeat and is used frequently in football where many games end with one team winning by a multiple of three or seven.
The most money a sportsbook will take on a single event.
Another term for the odds.
Live betting allows player to wager on games as they happen with updated lines that reflect the current score of the game.
This occurs when you bet on both sides of a game and have an opportunity to win both bets. For example, if you bet on Team A +10.5 and Team B -7.5, you will win both bets if Team B wins by 8-10 points.
This is a type of wager that ignores the spread. It’s a wager on who will win the game outright. For example, betting on a +220 underdog means you will win $220 on a $100 wager if your team wins the game.
This represents the total combined points/goals/runs for both teams in a game. Bettors can wager on whether the final score will go over or under the set total.
A wager that includes two or more bets. To win the parlay, all bets must be successful.
Short for proposition bets. These are bets on whether a specific event will happen during a game. For example, you can bet on the number of touchdowns scored by a player, or how many strikeouts a pitcher will have.
When neither team covers the spread. In this case, all money is refunded.
This occurs when the betting line moves in the opposite direction of the betting percentages. For example, if a team is getting 80% of bets as a 7-point favorite, but the line moves to -6, this is reverse line movement.
A spread used in baseball, where a favorite typically has a -1.5 runline and an underdog has a +1.5 runline.
This refers to sudden, drastic and uniform line movement across the entire sports betting marketplace.
A wager that allows bettors to combine multiple games and adjust the spread in their favor.
This is the team that is not expected to win. Commonly referred to as the "dog".
A measurement of the size of a given bet. It allows sports bettors to compare themselves without disclosing the dollar amount of their bets. For example, if a bettor always bets $10, then a $10 bet represents one unit.
Also known as juice, this is the tax that sportsbooks create for placing a wager. Typically, books offer -110, which means that you need to win 52.38% of your bets to break even. Some books will offer reduced juice with lines between -104 and -107.
