The sports betting industry incorporates loads of sports and a plenty of modern technologies. Sometimes it feels like there are too many terms to get to grips with when you first start betting. A lot of the words that are used in horse racing and sportsbook gambling are very old-fashioned terms. On top of that, there are modern terms also added as the world of betting evolves and changes.
Depending on how much someone wants to know about betting markets and terms, they may need a full A-Z betting glossary to understand all of the different words they’ll come across. A glossary like this covers all the different terms used in casino, sportsbook and horse racing betting. Each sport has its own terms to learn before someone chooses to place a bet.
Don’t worry though, you don’t have to understand the whole glossary to understand most bets. Below, we explore the most frequently used terms and explain what a betting line is so people can understand what each type of bet involves.
Betting terms
Here are some of the terms that you will come across if you choose to use a betting site:
Betting line
Multiple betting lines can be combined into a single bet. When we talk about an accumulator bet — something most people are familiar with — we’re talking about a bet with a lot of different lines in it.
Lines can also refer to the individual predictions within a bet builder or “build-a-bet” style wager, which allows people to combine multiple outcomes from one game, such as player shots on target and player tackles. Each of the predictions is a separate “line” of the bet.
Accumulator
An accumulator is a bet where multiple lines are combined, which tends to result in much bigger odds. The odds of each outcome are combined in the bet, which can quickly lead to long odds. In this type of bet, all the lines need to be winners if the bet is going to pay out.
These bets are also referred to as accas, and are referred to as parlay bets in America.
Odds
Odds refer to the return you will get if the bet is a winner. These are most often measured as decimal or fractional odds. If a bet is referred to as 2/1, it means the potential returns are two pounds for every one pound staked, plus your stake back. In decimal, this is listed as 3.00.
The odds often relate to the way people are betting and which team or individual is seen as the favourite. The favourite for an event is the expected winner in the bookmakers’ eyes and the shortest priced of the markets.
Outright betting
The outright market usually refers to the winner of an overall tournament, competition or individual title. At the start of a Premier League season, betting on an outright outcome would mean betting on the team you think is going to win the league at the end of the season.
At a golf tournament such as The Masters, the same would apply. An outright bet refers to the overall winner of the tournament.
Each-way betting
An each-way bet is made up of two different parts and is typically available in horseracing, though it can be used in greyhound racing and motorsports. This is a bet on the entrant to win and then a separate bet on them to finish in a “place” position, often the top three or four.
The bet is often used when somebody backs an outsider to do well but suspects they may not win the race overall.
In-play betting
A huge number of modern sports sites are focused on bringing their customers the best live experience, and it makes sense for them. They can offer more markets on these sports if they can provide in-play coverage.
In big games, there are loads of markets that gamblers can bet on if they choose, including team markets and individual markets. Also referred to as live betting, in-play betting is very popular in football betting but is growing in other sports too. Rugby, cricket and tennis provide more potential in-play markets for bookmakers to offer.
Cash out
After introducing in-play betting, many bookmakers and gambling companies began to offer players a cash out option during games too. This is an offer from the bookmaker to settle the bet, it will always be less than the overall sum of the winnings, but for long-shot bets, people may choose to take the cash out early rather than risk losing.
Tipsters
You will eventually hear the term tipster if you’re doing research on a certain sport. A tipster is somebody who provides advice and analysis on potential bets and markets. Some betting companies even have their own tipsters, though a lot of them use magazines, blogs and social media to get their advice out.
Fans often like to follow a lot of different tipsters and celebrities in the field, and people are very passionate about their teams and countries — some even go so far as to shave flags into their hair.
Handicap betting
If a huge, on-form team is playing against opposition they’re expected to beat, the odds are going to be slim. As a result, bettors can potentially choose to handicap their team by a certain number of goals. A handicap of minus two (-2) usually means the team must win by more than two goals for the bet to pay out. If there’s a bet on Manchester City with a -2 handicap, and they win 3-0 or 4-1, the bet is a winner.
Bonuses
One term to keep a keen eye out for is bonuses. Betting companies have a competitive market to deal with, and one of the ways that they reward players is through bonuses. A signup bonus, for example, is a reward for new players who sign up and make a deposit into their account.
A lot of betting sites also reward players who continue to use their services, so there are bonuses and promotions aimed at existing customers too.
Predicting and doing research
Anyone who is looking to have more than a very casual long shot might want to do some research on the bets they intend to make.
There are many different statistics available now and there are more markets than ever, so people can be more meticulous when deciding what they want to back and which bets they think represent the best value. The big leagues have collected extensive statistics, with the Premier League being a prime example. Loads of these stats are made publicly available.
Of course, there is always an element of fortune and randomness in the outcome of any bet, so there’s no guarantee based on form. Anyone who is looking to explore gambling sites and potentially place any bets should make sure they understand the risks and only gamble what they can afford to lose.
Conclusion
There are hundreds of different terms you might come across, and that’s before you consider terms that are specific to each of the sports. Fortunately, reputable bookmakers will be able to explain each of the markets and lay out their own terms and conditions about how the bets are settled. Anything you’re not sure of, make sure you look it up and understand the bet type. A glossary of terms is very helpful for this.
