Like any other kind of sport, sports betting has a whole world of betting slang and jargon terms. And even if they sound complicated, it’s not a reason to give up your sports betting ambitions. That’s why we’ve prepared this ultimate betting dictionary for Parimatch users who want to learn betting jargon with simple and reassuring sports betting definitions!
So don’t waste a single second, work this page down, and make your first predictions as a real pro with Parimatch!
A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z
A
- Accumulator
- A bet consisted of several selections. All selections need to win for this bet to be successful. Find out more about accumulators.
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- Action
- A betting term meaning that a player has placed a bet on the sport or event.
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- Against the Spread (ATS)
- A type of bet in which a player wagers on a point spread in a particular matchup to back up the opposite type of the wager.
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- American Odds (Money Line odds)
- An odds format that indicates the amount of money needed to bet to win $100. The odds are usually presented as positive for underdogs or negative for favorites. Learn more about the different bet formats.
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- Ante-Post
- A bet placed in advance of a sporting event happening. In some cases, ante-post bets can be placed a year before the event itself.
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- Asian Handicap
- A popular football betting option in which one team is handicapped over the other side. The possibility of a draw is eliminated, so there are two possible outcomes.
B
- Backdoor Cover (Backed)
- A situation when the score gives the bettor an opportunity to cover the spread bet but doesn’t affect the game winner.
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- Bankroll
- A general betting term that describes how much money a person has invested in their betting.
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- Bet
- A wager on the outcome of a sporting event. The transaction between customer and bookmaker.
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- Betting Strategy
- A particular plan of action on how to bet and win simultaneously. A betting strategy usually starts with proper bankroll management or research. Learn more about betting strategies.
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- Bookmaker, or Bookie
- A licensed person or company that is responsible for setting the odds and accepting the bets.
C
- Closing Line
- A final price that the odds finish on before the contest or event starts.
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- Correct Score
- A bet type that provides bettors an opportunity to predict the particular final score of the match.
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- Cover, or Covering the Spread
- A situation in sports betting when a team beats the point spread set by a bookmaker.
D
- Decimal Odds
- A betting odds format that is mostly used in Europe. The decimal odds number shows the possible payout for each $1 wagered (e.g., 1.91). Learn more about betting odds formats.
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- Deposit
- An amount of money credited to your betting account. The deposited money will be used for placing bets.
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- Deposit Bonus
- A special bonus offer to get extra money after making a deposit to the player’s account. Deposit bonuses can be used to bet larger amounts of money and win more.
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- Double Action
- A situation when a bettor will have more than one bet placed on a game. In football terms, the bettor might have bet on a team to win as well as predicted who the first scorer might be.
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- Double Result
- An increasing bet type that means your selection would cover two outcomes. In football terms, you might back a team to win or draw. Your bet would be paid as a winner if any of these outcomes occurred.
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- Draw
- A situation in sports betting when both teams end up with the same result in a match. Also, it’s a bet type that gives the bettor an opportunity to predict a particular outcome of the match – a draw.
E
- Edge
- A sports betting term meaning to have inside information about the match or prepare extensive research before betting.
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- Even Money
- A betting term describing the type of bet in which winning returns would be the same as the stake placed.
F
- Favorite
- A betting term that is allocated to the team or player that is mostly liked to win the competition. Usually, they have the shortest odds in the match or event.
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- First Scorer
- A bet type you can place on a particular player or team to score first in the match.
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- Fixed Odds
- A situation in betting when odds remain constant at a certain price despite other circumstances.
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- Fractional Odds
- A British traditional betting odds format that presents in the following manner: 3/1, 4/1. This format shows the ratio between profit and stake amount. Learn more about betting formats.
G
- Graded Bet
- An action bookmaker makes when it comes to settling a bet. The result would have either been a win, loss, or draw. The bookmaker will grade the bet with one of these outcomes once the event has ended.
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- Grid
- A virtual matrix that represents possible options for betting online.
H
- Half Time Bet
- A type of bet in which the punter predicts the outcome of the first or the second half of the match. This type of bet is mostly used in football.
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- Handicap
- A popular bet type in which the bookmaker gives a points or goals margin to the favorite in a match to create more level odds for each of the outcomes.
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- Hedge, or Hedging
- In sports betting, it means placing a bet on the opposite outcome of the original wager to ensure the guaranteed outcome.
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- Home Field Advantage
- A benefit team or player gets while playing in familiar circumstances at their home stadium, in front of their home fans.
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- Hook
- A betting term that means betting on a half-point in the spread.
I
- If Bet
- A bet type that is similar to a parlay bet as it consists of 2 or more outcomes. In this type of bet, every next outcome depends on a previous one – if your first selection loses, then your whole bet is going to be canceled. But if your first selection wins, the second one becomes live, and so on.
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- In-Play Betting
- A sports betting term that means to place a bet during the event itself.
J
- Joint Favorite
- A situation in betting when two or more competitors in the same game have almost equal odds.
L
- Last Scorer
- A betting market that allows betting on who will be the last scorer in the fixture.
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- Lay Odds
- To make a bet on odds favorable to the other party. For example, betting on a loss of a particular team, not on its opponents’ win.
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- Layoff
- A situation in betting when one bookmaker places a bet with another bookmaker to cover any potential losses they might incur during a popular match.
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- Limit
- A betting term that is used by bookies to set a maximum or minimum amount of the bet, payout, or deposit. Also, players themself set limits within bankroll management strategies.
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- Line
- A list of odds available for a particular sports event.
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- Live Betting
- A term that is similar to in-play betting that means placing a bet during the event.
M
- Margin
- In betting, it’s a term that refers to the amount of profit a bookmaker will make from any bet placed.
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- Matchplay
- A phrase in betting that is used to describe a format of the sport. For example, golf consists of stroke play and matchplay.
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- Moneyline
- A specific betting market with 2 possible outcomes, so the bettor can guess the outright winner.
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- Multiple Bets
- A type of bet that is similar to a parlay bet. A multiple bet is a single wager with at least 2 selections in a single ticket.
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- MVP (Most Valuable Player)
- A sports term meaning the most valuable and resulting player of the match, tournament, or season.
N
- No Deposit Bonus
- A special bonus offer for bettors to receive extra money on a betting account without depositing personal funds first.
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- Novelty Betting
- To predict the outcome of non-sporting events with money bets.
O
- Odds
- A ratio that determines the probability of a particular outcome in a sports event. Odds can be displayed in various formats such as decimal, fractional, etc. Learn more in our odds guide.
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- Odds Format
- Different ways of displaying odds in different regions. There are 3 most popular formats: decimal, fractional, or American form.
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- Odds on Favorite
- A betting term that describes a situation when there is a particular favorite to win a sports event.
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- Outright Betting
- To place a bet on the overall winner of the tournament or the playoff stage.
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- Over/Under Bet
- A type of bet in which a sportsbook predicts a number for statistics given name, and bettors are allowed to predict that the actual result will be over or under the number set.
P
- Parlay
- A type of wager that is also called an accumulator, or multiple bet. It allows bettors to wager on at least 2 selections within a single ticket.
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- Payout
- The total amount of money the bettor will win after the wager wins.
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- Point Spread
- A bet placed on a margin of the team’s or player’s victory in the match or game.
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- Price
- Another term for “betting odds” meaning the probability of a particular outcome of the sports event.
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- Prop Bet, or Proposition Bet
- A special bet type that is usually offered for particular unique events.
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- Push
- A situation when a bet or stake is refunded to the bettor.
Q
- Quarter Bet
- A bet placed on the outcome of the quarter of a sporting event like an NBA or NFL match. The odds for quarter betting are often better than the mainline due to the shortened time period.
R
- Rotation Number
- An ID number that is created for every betting market available.
S
- Single
- A type of bet with a single selection in a ticket.
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- Sportsbook
- A betting term that is usually used to describe land-based or offline bookmaker companies.
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- Spread
- A betting term meaning to take or lay points to a particular team or player. This means that a bettor can bet whether a team or player will win by a certain amount of points or lose within a number range.
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- Stake
- A betting term that describes the amount of money a person wants to bet.
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- Straight Bet
- A bet that is placed with a single selection in the ticket.
T
- Teaser
- A type of bet that allows the bettor to combine bets on two different games. The bettor can adjust the spreads for two games but will see a lower return on the bets in case of a win.
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- Ticket
- A virtual receipt from a bookmaker to confirm the stake, selection, and possible payout.
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- Tip
- Prediction advice that is usually offered by experts or sports betting tipsters to suggest the most possible outcome for the event.
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- Tie
- Another term for a draw. The situation when the outcome of a match ends with an equal result for both players or teams.
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- Total
- A popular type of bet in which bettors are allowed to wager that a specific number of goals, yellow cards, penalties, or other statistics set will reach the total number or not.
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- Three-Way Betting
- To bet on a sports event that has three outcomes – home team win, away team win, or draw.
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- Two-Way Betting
- To bet on a sports event with two outcomes – home team win or away team win. The draw is not included as an option.
U
- Underdog
- A player or the team that has lower chances to win in the competition. The underdog refers to a selection that has higher odds than the favorite.
W
- Wager
- Another term for a “bet”. It refers to the amount of money a bettor is willing to bet on a selection, or as a general action of betting on a particular sports event.
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- Wagering Requirement
- Bonuses offer terms that usually influence the way a bonus can be used or a bettor can withdraw the winnings generated using bonus money.