May 13, 2020 Sports Betting Terms: Gambling 101 Glossary Accumulator:. A parlay bet in North America, accumulator wagers consist of two or more selections and each side must. Any live wagering option or the total amount wagered on a specific event. Bookmakers accept action on all. Below you'll find a glossary of terms to know. Additionally, you can find a complete guide to betting on horse racing, including strategies, here. Across the board: A bet on one horse to win.

Anyone unfamiliar with placing wagers will soon realise there is a language to betting, a good grasp of which is needed when visiting a bookmakers’ website. Likewise if you’re on the bookmakers’ app, in a bookmaker’s shop or placing a bet at a live race or event you need to know the vocabulary in order to proceed in an informed way.

The main terms used in betting can be learned in a matter of a few minutes and they will come on handy for years, as they come up time and time again. So if you want to know your evens from your handicaps then you are in the right place.

The A-Z of betting

Across the Card

This term refers to the act of placing wagers simultaneously at separate meetings.

All in play or not

When you hear the phrase ‘All in play or not’ - abbreviated to ‘All in’ – it refers to markets where the prices are set, whether or not the selection takes part in the race. The odds ‘include’ the possibility of the selection not taking part, so if your pick is a non-runner you lose the bet.

All Out

Phrase used to describe a greyhound, horse or indeed a player/team pushing at the maximum for the result.

All Weather

All weather racing takes place at racetracks which have an artificial surface, suitable for racing all year round, no matter the weather. Within reason of course. Racing could still be called off in gale force winds. Venues such as Lingfield and Wolverhampton are all weather.

Also Ran

In Horse Racing all the runners who participated but finish outside the ‘places’ which pay out are described as also rans.

Ante Post

This is an important term to understand. Ante Post prices are offered well in advance of a race. You can seek Ante Post odds for a horse to win the next Grand National months ahead of time and you might get a better price, but you run the risk of your selection losing form or getting injured and not taking part. Here you are going ‘All in’ on an Ante Post market, so you could lose the bet if your selection does not finally take part in the event.

At the Post

The race is about to begin and all the horses are ‘At the Post’, meaning on the starting line/point.

Back

Place a wager on or bet on a selection to get a predicted result.

Banker

A safe bet. A very strong favourite. Bettors often include a banker in a multiple or combination bet to strengthen their hand.

Betting Exchange

Betfair is an example of a betting exchange. It is a peer-to-peer network where bettors can offer each other wagers, so customers of betting exchanges bet between themselves.

BIR or BIP

Betting In Running (BIR) or Betting In Play (BIP) refer to Live Betting where participants bet during the course of a race, match or event.

Betting W/O

This means ‘betting without’. You can place a bet on a horse to win a race without the favourite included in the results. So, if the horse you back comes second behind the favourite you’ve won the bet.

Bookie

Short for bookmaker, the person or company licensed to offer odds and accept bets from bettors.

BTTS

Both teams to score. A bet on both teams in a match to score at least one goal each.

Century

Also sometimes called a ton, a century in betting terms means one hundred pounds sterling (£100 GBP).

Colt

A male horse which is less then five years old. At five it becomes a Stallion.

Dam

A horse’s female parent. The male parent is a sire.

Dead Heat

Where an event is tied. Two (or more) selections finish level.

Decimal Odds

Typically the format used to express odds in Europe. The decimal odds equivalent of the fractional odds price 3/1 is 4.00, for example. The decimal odds ‘include’ the stake and potential profit. A successful £10 bet at 3/1 or 4.00 returns £40.

Evens

1/1 odds, which would be 2.00 in the decimal format. A £1 stake at evens would return £2.

Favourite

The selection (horse, greyhound, player or teams) with the shortest odds for the win. The most fancied winner.

FGS / FPTS

Abbreviations for First Goalscorer and First Player To Score, a typical wager in football.

Field

All the other runners / selections in a market (race / tournament etc) excluding the named favourite(s).

Fillie

A female horse will be called a Mare once it reaches five years of age, before which it is called a Fillie.

First Past the Post

The selection which is first to cross the finish line in a race. The winner.

Form

The performance history of an athlete, player, horse, greyhound or team. The level at which the selection usually performs or has recently performed. Used by bookmakers to set prices and by bettors to assess odds and make selections.

Fractional Odds

The standard way of writing odds in the UK. Fractional odds allow you to calculate your potential profit not including your stake. A successful bet at 6/1 with a £2 stake earns you £12, plus you get the stake back, so your ‘returns’ are £14 in that case.

Full Time

When you back a team to win a match it is a full-time result bet. Bets in football are settled at the end of 90 minutes plus stoppage time and as standard they do not include results achieved in extra time or on penalties (unless otherwise stated).

Going

How the state of the ground / surface is described in horse racing. The going is good or hard or soft and so on. Different horses suit different conditions so this is crucial to prices.

Grand

A grand is one thousand pounds sterling (£1,000 GBP).

Handicap Race

Common in horse racing, handicap races see horses carry different weights in order to encourage closer competition. Better horses carry heavier weights. In other sports such as football or darts you can bet on teams or players to get results with handicaps included in the odds. So you can bet on a team to win by more than two goals or a darts player to win by more than two legs, for example.

IBAS

Disputes between customers and bookmakers can be referred to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) to be resolved.

Lines

Odds and handicap values offered by bookmakers to customers.

Longshot

A selection with long odds to win. A unfancied horse, an underdog or an outsider in a race or competition can be called a longshot.

Maiden

A rather elegant term to describe a horse which is yet to taste victory in a race.

Monkey

Slang for five hundred pounds sterling (£500 GBP).

Nailed On

If a selection is regarded as almost certain to win it will be referred to as ‘nailed on’. Similar terms are a ‘sure thing’ and a 'certainty'.

Non-Runner

A selection which finally does not participate in a race or competition for which it was entered. If your selection is ‘non-runner no bet’ (NRNB) your stake is returned to you.

Understanding Sports Betting Terminology

Odds

The price available on a selection for a bet from a bookmaker. When you see the term odds against it means that the price is higher than evens (2/1, 5/2 etc) so a successful bet would win you more than the stake you put down. Odds on, meanwhile, are when the odds are shorter than evens (10/11, 1/2, etc), so your bet has a good chance of being successful but you would make a profit smaller than your stake.

On The Nose

Betting on a horse to ‘win only’, as opposed to backing it each way. Each way means you back the horse to win AND to finish in the paid places (usually 2nd to 4th depending on the type of race) and your stake is split on those two bets. So with each way you put less money on the win, unless you double your stake. On the nose all your stake goes on the win.

Picks

Tips given by experts (tipsters) on selections they believe have a good chance of winning or getting results.

Places

When a selection ‘places’ it finishes within the positions that are stated to pay out in the place terms of the race. A small number of runners might mean only the first two finishers place, whereas in a big field down to fifth or sixth might be considered a place finish.

Pony

Another colloquialism for a sum of money. This time it is 25 pounds sterling (£25 GBP).

Price

The odds a bookmaker offers bettors on a selection.

Punter

A customer or bettor. The person placing the bet with the bookmaker.

Return

Profit + returned stake in a successful wager.

Score

Football Betting Terminology Explained

Twenty pounds sterling (£20 GBP).

Selection

The athlete, player, team, individual, greyhound, horse, etc, that the punter has their bet on.

Stake

The amount being put down or placed by the bettor on the bet. Stake units refer to the value of each part of the stake in a multiple bet.

Starting Price (SP)

The final odds on a selection at the point the race starts.

Tips

Also referred to as picks, these are predictions shared with the public, or indeed paying punters in some instances, by betting experts. These experts are also called tipsters.

Tote bets

Bets based on a pool, or combined fund of bettors’ stakes. Estimated returns or dividends for successful bets are available beforehand, but the actual amounts to be paid out are only finalised after the race when all the money has been put in.

Winnings

The amount earned from a successful bet (profit) on top of the returned stake.

X

Stands for a draw in a 1x2 bet such as those on full time results football matches. 1 = home win, X = draw, 2 = away win.

This glossary of betting terms provides a handy reference because there’s a fair amount of slang and jargon used in sports betting. It is really useful to understand what these words and phrases mean, so we have compiled this sports betting glossary to help. You don’t necessarily need to learn all these terms, but you may like to use this glossary as a reference tool for when you encounter something you don’t understand.

Accumulator

An accumulator bet involves a combination of four or more single bets that combine to offer longer odds and potentially bigger winnings. The key distinguishing element of an accumulator bet is that if any leg of your bet doesn’t come true, the bet will not pay out. Technically, a double or a triple bet could be considered an accumulator, but most sites refer to a combination of four or more combined markets when using the term.

Against the spread

Any bet in which, rather than backing a winner, you back a selection to cover the spread.

Ante post

In order to obtain longer odds on certain markets, you can place a bet long in advance of an event actually taking place. This is referred to as an ante post bet, and can be placed sometimes years in advance.

Arbitrage betting

Arbitrage betting or ‘arbing’ is a process through which gamblers aim to make a profit by betting on all possible outcomes of an event, at different odds. Arbitrage betting involves taking advantage of the variation in odds offered by different bookmakers, and calculating an appropriate stake level that will ensure any losses are covered by winnings in all potential outcomes.

Asian handicap

Asian handicap betting offers the possibility of split handicaps, allowing you to bet on selections that are handicapped (in order to even the field) by both whole numbers and half numbers.

Bar

In a horse racing betting forecast, certain horses are considered such distant outsiders that their odds are not quoted. The odds beyond which runners are not included are referred to as ‘bar’, so you might see a forecast that includes ’50-1 bar’.

Banker

Across all sports, a selection that is h3ly fancied to win is often referred to as a ‘banker’.

Bet

Laying money on the successful prediction of the outcome of an event

Betting Exchange

A forum through which gamblers can bet directly against each other, rather than a bookmaker. Betting exchanges like the Betfair Betting Exchange allow lay bets to be made, as well as win and place bets, meaning that gamblers can bet on selections to lose.

Bookmaker

A bookmaker is the organisation that provides odds on the outcome of events in order to accept bets based on predictions by customers.

Closing line

The point after which odds on a particular market are set is known as the closing line. Before this point, odds may be adjusted according to the number of wagers being received on either side of a market.

Double bet

Two single selections placed as one bet, with the odds being combined to give the bettor potentially higher winnings. However, both selections in the bet need to come true for a payout to occur.

Dutching

The process of backing a number of contenders for a particular event, in order to ensure the same amount of profit if any of your selections win.

Each-way bet

An each-way bet is available in events that feature a winner and a number of other competitors finishing in a sequence of places.

The bet involves a single selection but is comprised of two bets: a ‘win bet’ and a ‘place bet’. The same selection is thereby backed to win the event at set odds, and backed to finish within a range of places at different odds. The each-way bet will provide a payout if either part of the bet proves successful.

Evens bet

Also known as a ‘scotch’ or ‘levels’, a successful evens bet will return double the stake placed on the bet. Odds will be displayed as 1/1 (fractional) or 2.00 (decimal).

Fixed-odds betting

By securing a bet at fixed odds, you guarantee that your potential returns from that bet will not change, regardless of whether or not the odds on that market fluctuate after your bet is placed.

In-play betting

In-play betting is a form of betting that has become hugely popular through online betting sites, which involves placing a bet on a particular outcome after the event has started. Betfair offers in-play betting for several sports including in-play football betting and in-play Horse Racing betting.

Martingale

With origins in 18th century France, a martingale is a betting system in which the gambler doubles the stake placed on a new bet after each bet that is lost. By doubling the stake each time, the gambler aims to recoup all prior losses when a win is achieved.

Outright bet

Outright bets are wagers placed on whole competitions rather than single matches. For example, bets placed on the winners of the Premier League in a given season, or the outright winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. These bets can be placed before an event begins, but some bookmakers offer outright bets part-way through certain events or competitions.

Place bet

A place bet involves backing a selection to finish in a particular place, or within a range of places, in an event.

Spread betting

A bet placed on the predicted movement of a market, rather than the outcome of an event. Spread betting is takes place in financial markets as well as sports and politics.

Square

A betting novice or amateur.

Stake

The amount of money a punter risks on a specific bet.

Straight bet

A bet on the outcome of one of the three basic bet types.

Tip

A betting prediction provided by someone with perceived knowledge of

the event/competitors.

Tipster

Someone who provides tips.

Treble bets

A treble bet is any combination of three selections that a bookmaker offers combined odds on. A treble is a form of accumulator bet, although it is typically only bets involving four legs or more that are dubbed accumulators.

Underdog

The underdog is typically the less-favoured team or competitor in an event in the eyes of a bookmaker, offering longer odds and potentially higher returns to gamblers.

Value

Betting at odds that represent a lower chance than the underlying probability and therefore offer ‘value’ to the bettor in terms of increased potential profit.

Terminology Words And Definitions

Void bet

Void bets lead to stakes being returned by the bookmaker, and can occur in a number of situations. For example, if you placed a bet on the first goalscorer in a football match before the team selections were announced, and that player is not named in the squad for the game, your bet will be void and your stake returned.

Betting Terms Explained

Most bookmakers include in their conditions the terms under which bets will be void, and these typically include any circumstance whereby a bookmaker has made an error in quoting odds.