Sports Betting Terms: A Plain-Language Glossary

Prices and probability

• Odds: the payout terms of a bet. “Team A −3 at −110” combines a point spread (−3) with a price (−110): risk $110 to win $100.
• American, decimal, and fractional odds: three formats for the same price. −150, 1.67, and 2/3 all pay the same.
• Implied probability: the win rate a price needs to break even. −110 implies 52.38%.
• Vig or juice: the margin built into prices. A −110/−110 market implies 104.76% in total instead of 100%.
• Hold: the share of money wagered a book expects to keep, about 4.55% on a −110/−110 market with balanced action.
• No-vig (fair) odds: a price with the margin removed, used as an estimate of the true chance.
• Expected value (EV): the average profit or loss of a bet over many repetitions. A +EV bet has a positive average at the price offered.
• Favorite and underdog: the side priced as more likely to win, and the side priced as less likely. “Chalk” is slang for the favorite and “dog” for the underdog.
• Even money: +100, or 2.00 in decimal; a winning bet’s profit equals its stake.

Bet types

• Moneyline: a bet on who wins, with no point spread.
• Point spread: a handicap on the final score. A team at −3 must win by more than three points.
• Total (over/under): a bet on whether the combined score finishes above or below a number.
• Prop: a bet on a specific player or game event, such as a pitcher’s strikeouts.
• Parlay: two or more bets combined into one ticket; every leg must win.
• Teaser: a parlay that moves each spread or total in your favor in exchange for a lower payout.
• Futures: bets settled well after they are placed, such as on a championship winner.
• Live (in-play) betting: bets placed after the event has started, at prices that update during play.
• Alternate line: a spread or total at a different number from the main line, at a different price.

Lines and settlement

• Line or number: the spread or total itself, such as −3 or 47.5.
• Cover: to win against the spread.
• Push: a result landing exactly on the number. The stake is returned.
• Hook: the half point on a line, as in −3.5. It rules out a push.
• Key numbers: margins that occur unusually often. In the NFL, 3 and 7.
• Pick’em (PK): a spread of zero; whoever wins the game wins the bet.
• Void: a bet canceled under the book’s rules, for example when an event is abandoned. The stake is returned.
• Grading: the book’s settlement of a bet as a win, loss, push, or void.

How markets move

• Opening line: the first price posted, usually with low betting limits.
• Closing line: the last price before the event starts.
• Closing line value (CLV): how much better or worse your price was than the closing line.
• Line movement: any change in a number or a price over time.
• Steam: a fast move across many books at once.
• Sharp and recreational: shorthand for bettors whose action books respect and adjust to, versus casual bettors. The labels describe reputation, not proof of skill.
• Limits: the maximum stake a book accepts on a market, which tends to rise as the event approaches.

Money and records

• Bankroll: money set aside only for betting.
• Unit: a standard stake size, often a set percentage of the bankroll.
• ROI: total profit divided by the total amount staked.
• Handle: the total amount wagered with a book or on a market.
• Hedge: a bet against an earlier position to reduce risk.
• Middle: holding both sides of a market at different numbers so that one result wins both, such as an underdog at +3.5 and the favorite at −2.5 when the favorite wins by exactly 3.
• Arbitrage: bets on every outcome at different books whose prices lock in a return whatever the result, before accounting for limits and voided bets.

Several of these terms have their own guides, including how odds work, juice and vig, and closing line value.