Sports betting glossary

Having a bet on a game. If you have action on a matchup, you have money riding on it.

An alternate spread, total, or player prop offered at a different number and price than the main line.

A late score that has no effect on who wins the game but flips the point spread.

A bet that loses in an unlikely or brutal way after looking won.

The total money you have set aside for betting, separate from everything else.

A pool where teams are auctioned to the highest bidder and the pot pays out on how far each advances.

The favorite. Betting chalk means backing the side expected to win.

The final price a market trades at before the event starts.

The gap between the price you took and the price the market closed at.

Beating the point spread, as opposed to simply winning the game.

A promo where a book adds bonus funds matching a percentage of what you deposit.

A $1,000 bet.

The average result of a bet if you could make it many times over. A positive EV bet is profitable long term.

To bet against something: a team, a trend, or another bettor's pick.

The side the market expects to win, shown with a minus sign.

A bet on an outcome decided later in a season, like a championship winner.

The end of a decided game, when the result is settled but the spread is not.

The total amount of money bet on an event, market or sportsbook.

The share of all money wagered that a sportsbook keeps.

The half point on a spread or total.

The sportsbook's built-in margin on a bet. Also called vig or vigorish.

The margins football games land on most often, above all 3 and 7.

The most a book will accept on a bet or market.

A change in the price or number on a market between opening and close.

How much money is available to bet against at a given price.

A book or trader that posts the original prices others follow.

Betting both sides at different numbers so both can win if the result lands between them.

A bet on who wins outright, with no spread involved.

When one player scores a touchdown and then also scores the two-point conversion, eight points on one drive.

A game with no betting available, usually because of uncertainty.

One bet combining multiple legs, where every leg must win.

A game with no spread, where you simply choose the winner.

The signs that mark the two sides of a price: minus is the favorite, plus is the underdog.

A handicap that levels two unequal teams by adding or removing points.

A bet on something inside a game rather than on the result.

Bets from casual bettors, usually concentrated on favorites and overs.

A tie against the number, where your stake is returned.

A line moving against the side most bets are on.

Return on investment: your profit divided by the total you have staked, as a percentage.

A set of smaller parlays built automatically from a list of picks.

A winning, professional bettor, or the money they bet.

A casual or inexperienced bettor. The opposite of a sharp.

A fast, sharp line move across many books at once.

A multi-leg bet where every spread moves in your favor for a shorter price.

Starting from the market price and looking for where it is wrong, rather than handicapping a game from scratch.

A bet on the combined score of both teams, over or under a number.

The side expected to lose, shown with a plus sign.

A standard bet size, used so results can be compared regardless of bankroll.

The margin a sportsbook builds into its prices. Also called juice.