Sports betting terms: a glossary of odds, markets and jargon

Betting terms are the words sportsbooks, bettors and operators use for odds, wager types and the bookmaker's margin. This sports betting glossary explains more than 80 sports betting terms in plain English, grouped by theme, with US odds examples and links to deeper AffHouse guides. It defines terms only and gives no betting advice.

Poker and horse racing jargon is out of scope. Casino vocabulary lives in our gambling terms glossary, and tracking and traffic vocabulary in the affiliate marketing glossary.

Core betting terms by theme

The sports betting terms below run from the price to the sportsbook's ledger and the affiliate deal.

• Odds formats and probability

• Core bet types

• Stakes, payouts and bet management

• Live and micro markets

• Sportsbook economics

• Slang and market jargon

• Venues and US market structure

• Operator and affiliate terms

Odds formats and probability

Odds show what a winning bet pays and what chance the price implies. US sportsbooks default to American odds.

American odds

American odds are written with a plus or minus sign against a $100 base. A minus number, such as −150, is what you must risk to win $100; a plus number, such as +150, is the profit on a $100 stake.

Decimal odds

Decimal odds show the total return per $1 staked, stake included. A price of 2.50 returns $2.50 on a $1 bet, which is $1.50 profit.

Fractional odds

Fractional odds show profit relative to stake, so 3/2 pays $3 profit for every $2 risked. They are common in UK and Irish coverage.

Implied probability

Implied probability is the chance of an outcome that a price represents. For minus odds it is risk ÷ (risk + 100), for plus odds 100 ÷ (odds + 100), and for decimal odds 1 ÷ decimal. At −110, that is 110 ÷ 210, or 52.38%.

Odds conversion

Odds conversion turns one format into another without changing the price. Four common lines:

Favorite

The favorite is the side the oddsmaker expects to win, priced with minus American odds or decimal odds below 2.00.

Underdog

The underdog is the side expected to lose, priced with plus odds. A winning underdog bet earns a profit larger than the amount staked.

Long shot

A long shot is an outcome with low implied probability. A phrase such as "+250 or longer" means plus odds of 250 or higher, which implies roughly a 28.6% chance or less.

Even money

Even money is a price that pays a profit equal to the stake: +100 in American odds, 2.00 decimal or 1/1 fractional, with a 50% implied probability.

Pick'em

Pick'em, or PK, is a game with no favorite, where the spread is zero and both sides carry similar odds.

Core bet types

Most US wagers are a moneyline, a spread or a total, alone or combined.

Moneyline

A moneyline bet is a wager on who wins the game outright, with no point margin involved. In football betting terms, Chiefs −180 / Raiders +155 is a moneyline.

Point spread

The point spread is a margin the favorite must cover. An NFL team at −6.5 must win by 7 or more; the +6.5 side wins if its team loses by 6 or fewer, or wins.

Against the spread (ATS)

Against the spread, or ATS, describes results measured with the spread applied, so a team can lose the game and still "cover."

Hook

The hook is the half-point in a line such as −3.5. Because no final score can land on a half-point, a hooked line cannot push.

Total (over/under)

A total, or over/under, is a bet on the combined score of both teams against a number set by the book. On a bet slip, over/under is often shortened to O/U, so O 47.5 wins if the teams score 48 or more combined.

Push

A push is a bet that lands exactly on the line, such as a −7 favorite winning by 7. The stake is returned, and in a parlay that leg usually drops out.

1X2 (three-way moneyline)

1X2 is the three-way moneyline used in soccer betting: 1 is a home win, X a draw and 2 an away win.

Draw no bet

Draw no bet is a soccer market that refunds the stake if the match ends level, leaving only the two win outcomes.

Handicap

A handicap is the soccer and international counterpart of the spread. Asian handicap lines set at a half goal rule out the draw, while quarter-goal lines split the stake across the two nearest lines.

Alternate line

An alternate line is a spread or total moved away from the main number, with the odds adjusted to match.

Prop bet

A prop bet, short for proposition, is a wager on something other than the final result, such as a quarterback's passing yards or the first team to score. Props tied to one athlete's stats are called player props.

Futures

A futures bet is a wager on an outcome settled weeks or months later, such as a championship winner or a season win total.

Parlay

A parlay combines two or more bets into one ticket that pays only if every leg wins. The odds multiply: two −110 legs pay about +264, so $100 returns roughly $364.

Same-game parlay

A same-game parlay (SGP) combines legs from one event, such as a team to win and its quarterback to throw two touchdowns. The legs are correlated, so books price SGPs with their own models rather than multiplying the odds.

Teaser

A teaser is a parlay in which the bettor moves every spread or total by a set number of points in exchange for a lower payout.

Round robin

A round robin splits a list of picks into every possible smaller parlay, such as all two-team combinations of three picks, each staked separately.

Stakes, payouts and bet management

These terms appear on bet slips and in house rules.

Stake

The stake is the amount a bettor puts at risk on a wager.

Payout

The payout, or return, is what a winning bet pays back, stake included.

Unit

A unit is a standard stake size used to report results.

Bankroll

A bankroll is the money a person sets aside for betting.

Cash out

Cash out is a sportsbook offer to settle an open bet early for a set amount, priced by the book from the live odds and including its margin.

Hedge

A hedge is a bet on the opposite side of an existing position, placed to reduce the range of possible results.

Void bet

A void bet is a wager canceled under house rules, for example when a player prop's athlete does not play or a match is abandoned. The stake is returned.

Graded bet

A graded bet, also called a settled bet, is one the book has marked as won, lost, pushed or void.

Odds boost

An odds boost is a promotion that raises the payout on a chosen bet above the book's normal price, usually with a low maximum stake.

Bonus bet

A bonus bet, often called a free bet, is site credit for placing wagers. Usually only the winnings are paid out, not the bonus stake itself.

Playthrough

Playthrough, or rollover, is the amount a bettor must wager before bonus funds or related winnings can be withdrawn.

Max bet

The max bet is the largest stake a sportsbook will accept on a market.

Live and micro markets

Live markets reprice during play.

Live betting (in-play)

Live betting, or in-play betting, is wagering after an event has started, with odds updated as play unfolds.

Microbetting

Microbetting is live wagering on the next small event in a game, such as the next pitch or play, usually settled within seconds or minutes.

Suspended market

A suspended market is temporarily closed to new bets, typically during a score or a review, while the book updates its price.

Latency

Latency is the delay between a real-world event and the moment a data feed or broadcast shows it; books add bet-acceptance delays to cover it.

Official data

Official data is a live feed licensed from a league or its appointed data partner, as opposed to one gathered independently by scouts or scrapers.

Sportsbook economics

These terms describe how a sportsbook makes money. Vig, overround and hold are related but not the same number.

Vig (juice)

Vig, short for vigorish and also called juice, is the margin built into a sportsbook's prices. At −110 on both sides of a spread, the bettor risks $110 to win $100; the $10 above an even-money price is where the vig sits.

Overround

The overround is how far a market's implied probabilities add up above 100%. Two sides at −110 each imply 52.38%, so the market totals 104.76%, an overround of 4.76%.

Hold

Hold is the share of money wagered that a sportsbook keeps after paying winners. If the book takes $110 on each side of a −110 market, it collects $220 and pays the winner $210, so it holds $10, or 4.55%. Real hold swings with results: Nevada Gaming Control Board figures put Super Bowl hold anywhere from 0.7% (2018) to a record 14.6% (2025, $22.1 million won on $151.6 million wagered, unaudited).

Handle

Handle is the total amount wagered over a period or on an event. State regulators typically publish it monthly alongside revenue, and hold is calculated against it.

Liability

Liability is the amount a sportsbook would pay out if a given outcome wins.

Oddsmaker

An oddsmaker, or trader, sets and adjusts the lines.

Opening line

The opening line is the first price a sportsbook posts on a market.

Closing line

The closing line is the last price before the event starts or the market closes.

Closing line value (CLV)

Closing line value is the difference between the price a bettor took and the closing price. Books and analysts treat steadily beating the closing number as one of the clearest signs of a skilled bettor.

Line movement

Line movement is any change in a price or spread after it opens, driven by news, weather or betting volume.

Limits and stake factor

Limits are the maximum stakes a sportsbook allows, and books can lower them for individual accounts. At a September 2024 Massachusetts Gaming Commission meeting, one operator described setting patron limits through individual "stake factors" and said advantage-player limits rest on betting patterns, not on results alone.

Slang and market jargon

Betting slang terms describe who is betting and how prices react.

Sharp

A sharp is a skilled bettor whose wagers books treat as informed, and a "sharp book" is a sportsbook known for efficient prices. Sharp money is volume that books respect enough to move a line.

Square

A square is a recreational bettor, typically one who leans toward favorites, popular teams and overs and rarely compares prices.

Public money

Public money is the combined volume of recreational bets, usually concentrated on favorites and popular teams.

Chalk

Chalk is the favorite. A "chalky" slate is one where the favorites mostly won.

Fade

To fade is to bet against a team, a bettor or public sentiment.

Steam

Steam is a sudden, sharp line move across many sportsbooks at once, caused by a wave of money on one side.

Reverse line movement

Reverse line movement is a line that moves against the side drawing most of the bets, a sign that larger or sharper wagers sit on the other side.

Line shopping

Line shopping is comparing the same market across several sportsbooks to find the best available price.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage, or an arb, is backing every outcome of a market at different books whose prices together imply less than 100%, locking in a small margin whatever happens. It is not the traffic arbitrage of media buying.

Middle

A middle is a pair of bets on both sides of a line at different numbers, such as Team A −2.5 and Team B +4.5, where a result inside the gap wins both.

Venues and US market structure

Where a bet is placed decides who sets the price and which rules apply. Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in Murphy v. NCAA in May 2018, each state decides whether to allow sports betting.

Sportsbook

A sportsbook is a licensed operator that sets prices and takes the other side of every bet. It earns through the vig and its trading results.

Retail vs online sportsbook

A retail sportsbook is a physical counter or kiosk, usually at a casino or stadium; an online sportsbook takes bets through an app or website.

Betting exchange

A betting exchange matches bettors against each other and charges a commission on winnings instead of setting prices itself. It is a close relative of the prediction market.

Prediction market

A prediction market is an exchange that trades event contracts paying $1 if an outcome happens. In the US, the main platforms are CFTC-registered contract markets that list sports contracts by self-certification. Several states treat those sports contracts as unlicensed betting and have pursued them through cease-and-desist orders and lawsuits, and court rulings have gone both ways.

Sweepstakes sportsbook

A sweepstakes sportsbook uses the dual-currency sweepstakes model, with one free-play coin and one redeemable for prizes, for sports picks. Each state decides whether the model is legal, and several have moved against sweepstakes gaming.

DFS pick'em

DFS pick'em is a daily fantasy sports contest in which players pick whether athletes will go over or under projected stat lines, with a fixed payout multiple if the picks hit. Whether it counts as fantasy or sports betting is decided state by state.

Offshore book

An offshore book is a sportsbook licensed abroad, or not at all, that takes US customers without a license from any US state. The American Gaming Association counts these sites as illegal operators; see where online gambling is legal in the US.

State market

A state market is one US state's legal sports betting regime, with its own licenses, tax rate, age limit and ad rules. Some states are mobile-only, with no retail counters.

Self-exclusion

Self-exclusion is a voluntary ban a person places on their own betting. New Jersey's program, for example, covers casino, internet gaming and sports wagering, with one-year, five-year or lifetime terms; lifetime requires in-person or video enrollment.

Responsible gambling tools

Responsible gambling tools are account controls such as deposit limits, time limits and cool-off periods that regulated US books offer. The National Problem Gambling Helpline, run by the National Council on Problem Gambling, takes calls and texts at 1-800-MY-RESET.

Operator and affiliate terms

These are the deal terms most often seen in sportsbook affiliate programs.

CPA

CPA, or cost per acquisition, is a one-time fee per referred player who completes a qualifying action, usually a first deposit. See CPA vs RevShare vs hybrid for how the models compare.

FTD

FTD stands for first-time deposit, the event most CPA deals pay on. The operator reports it to the affiliate's tracker, usually through a postback.

Baseline

The baseline is the qualifying threshold for a CPA: the deposit amount, and in some deals a wagering amount, a referred player has to hit before the affiliate is paid. Programs differ on whether deposits accumulate toward it.

RevShare

RevShare, or revenue share, pays the affiliate a percentage of the net revenue its referred players generate for as long as the deal runs.

Hybrid deal

A hybrid deal combines a smaller CPA with a smaller RevShare on the same player.

GGR

GGR, or gross gaming revenue, is what a sportsbook keeps from settled bets: handle minus the winnings it pays out.

NGR

NGR, or net gaming revenue, is the figure most RevShare deals pay on: GGR minus whatever the program's terms list, commonly promotional credits, gaming tax, payment costs and sometimes an admin fee. Because each program writes its own formula, equal RevShare rates can pay differently.

Handle-based revshare

Handle-based revshare is a sportsbook deal that pays a small percentage of the handle referred players wager instead of a share of NGR. It pays even in months when bettors win, which an NGR-based deal does not.

EPC

EPC, or earnings per click, is total commission divided by clicks sent. For example, $500 earned from 1,000 clicks is a $0.50 EPC; see EPC and affiliate metrics.

Geo tier

A geo tier groups countries by expected player value and payout levels, with Tier 1 the highest; see Tier 1, 2 and 3 countries. In the US, affiliate licensing and deal rules also vary by state.

FAQ

What are sports betting terms?

Sports betting terms are the vocabulary of wagering on sports: how odds are written, which bet types exist and how a sportsbook prices, settles and profits from bets. Knowing betting terms and their meaning helps bettors read a bet slip and affiliates read a revenue report.

What does +/- mean in betting?

The plus and minus signs in betting mark American odds. A minus price, such as −150, is the amount risked to win $100 and marks the favorite. A plus price, such as +150, is the profit on a $100 stake and marks the underdog.

What is vig, or juice, in sports betting?

Vig, also called juice, is the margin a sportsbook builds into its prices. When both sides of a game are priced at −110, bettors risk $110 to win $100. If the book takes equal money on each side, it keeps about 4.55% of the amount wagered.

What is the difference between a sportsbook, an exchange and a prediction market?

A sportsbook sets the odds and takes the other side of every bet. A betting exchange matches bettors with each other and charges commission. A prediction market trades $1 event contracts and, in the US, operates under federal commodities rules, though several states dispute that for sports contracts. Our guide to how prediction markets work covers the differences.

What are some slang terms used in betting?

Common betting slang terms include sharp, for a skilled bettor; square, for a recreational one; chalk, for the favorite; juice, for the book's margin; steam, for a fast line move; fade, for betting against someone; and hook, for the half-point in a spread.

Sources

• Supreme Court of the United States, Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 584 U.S. 453 (2018)

• Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC Staff Letter No. 25-36, advisory on sports-related event contracts (September 30, 2025)

• Nevada Gaming Control Board, Super Bowl wagering figures, press release of February 11, 2025

• Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Minutes of the public meeting on wager limitations, September 11, 2024

• New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Self-Exclusion Program

• American Gaming Association, Illegal Gambling

• National Council on Problem Gambling, Help and Treatment