Sports Betting Terms You Should Know

Updated: September 27, 2026

Action: Slang term for having a betting interest or wager on a game or contest.

ATS: Abbreviation for Against the Spread. This acronym is usually followed by a team's record of going against the oddsmakers' lines during a given time period.

Across the Board: A bet for horse racing placed on a horse to win, place, or show.

Agent: An intermediary who places bets with sportsbooks or local bookmakers for a commission. Agents also usually handle the payment of winnings or collection of losses.

Arbitrage: The practice of taking advantage of two different betting markets on the same event for a guaranteed profit. Also known as sure betting.

Added game: A game that is not generally part of the sportsbook's rotation. These are usually smaller schools, contests lower than Division IA, or other lower level leagues.

American Odds: Also known as Money Line Odds, these are expressed in terms of the amount that must be wagered to win $100. For example, 10% in moneyline odds would be $110 to win $100.

Back Door Cover: Points scored late in a contest that have no meaningful effect on the outcome of the game, except to cover the point spread.

Book: Abbreviation for sportsbook.

Bookie: Slang term for a bookmaker or sportsbook. Bookie generally refers to a local person who accepts sports bets, rather than an offshore or regulated market online sportsbook.

Bookmaker: Formal term for a bookmaker, usually used in the UK or European markets. It means a person or company that takes bets.

Buck: Slang term for a $100 wager.

Bankroll: Money set aside to gamble with on sports betting or other gambling games.

Beef: A dispute or claim a player has with a bookmaker or sportsbook.

Buyback: Money that comes in on an underdog after a favorite is heavily wagered to move the line.

Chalk: The favored team or athlete in a given contest or game.

Chalk Bettor: A player who bets a lot on favorites.

Circled Game: When a market's bets are limited due to uncertainty. Circled games occur when late-breaking news comes out regarding weather, injuries, or other unknown variables. Circled games usually have an orange or yellow line circling the market.

Cover: Beating the point spread and winning your bet. Bettors who win their bets might say, "I covered the spread.

Canadian Line: Another name for a puckline. This is a combination point spread and moneyline wager on hockey markets.

Dime: Slam term for a $1,000 wager.

Dime Line: A betting line with a 10 cent difference between the underdog and the favorite. This is most common in baseball. An example of a dime line would be a favorite at -120 and the underdog at +110.

Dog: Slang term for underdog, means a team not favored to win.

Dollar: Slang term for $100 wager.

Degenerate: A compulsive, generally losing sports bettor.

Exposure: A sportsbook's risk or amount of money on a particular game, market, or proposition. When a sportsbook is "highly exposed" to a market, it stands to win or lose a lot on the outcome.

Win: The hold percentage, also known as the total amount won by a sportsbook divided by the total amount wagered.

Even money: A bet that has no juice or vig. The odds would be +100 in moneyline or American odds.

Exotic: A bet or market that is not a straight bet, parlay, or teaser. This includes props, if-bets and reverses, propositions, and other types of bets.

Favorite: The team or player that is considered the most likely to win according to the oddsmakers.

Five Inning Line: A wager that is placed on only the first five innings of a baseball game.

First Half Bet: Similar to a five inning line, this bet only covers the first half of a basketball or football game.

Figure: The amount owed to a sportsbook from a player or vice versa.

Freeroll: A situation in betting where you can either push or win, but not lose your bet. You might say you are "freerolling" your bet.

Futures: Bets placed on an event that will occur sometime in the future. The most common future bet is the odds to win the NFL's Super Bowl.

Halftime bets: Similar to First Half bets, but these are posted at halftime and only cover the outcome of the second half of the game.

Handicapping: Researching sports and the bookmaker’s odds to make predictions about a specific game or event.

Handle: The amount of money, in dollar terms, which have been accepted on a game or specific market.

Hook: Slang term for a half-point.

Hedge: Placing a wager that goes against a previous bet to guarantee a profit or minimize risk.

Juice: The bookmaker's commission on each bet placed, also known as the juice. The standard juice on each bet is 10%.

Layoff: A wager made by a bookmaker or sportsbook with another bookmaker or sportsbook in order to balance action or reduce exposure.

Limit: The maximum amount that can be wagered on a specific market or event.

Line: Refers to the bookmaker’s odds on a particular event.

Listed Pitcher: A pitcher or pitchers listed by oddsmakers to start an MLB baseball game. A bet is often rated as no action when a pitcher is scratched.

Lock: Supposedly an easy winner, but the term is often misused.

Linesmaker: A person at a sportsbook that establishes the original betting lines.

Long Shot: A team that is unlikely to extremely unlikely to win according to the betting line.

Midway: A situation that allows a player to win both sides of the same betting market. For example, if a player takes a team at -2.5 and also manages to grab +3.5 after a line move, this would qualify as a Mid.

Moneyline: Odds for a team or athlete to win outright, regardless of the point spread.

Money Management: Also known as bankroll management. A strategy used by sports bettors to manage their wagering funds.

MMA: Mixed-martial arts.

MVP: Most Valuable Player. Futures markets use the abbreviation for betting on the MVP for a specific season or game, such as Super Bowl MVP betting odds.

Nickel: Slang term for a $500 wager.

Nickel Line: A betting line with a 5 cent difference between the favorite and the underdog. These are much less common than dime lines. An example of a nickel line would be the favorite listed at -120 and the underdog listed at +115.

No Action: A bet where no money is lost or won.

Odds: the likelihood of a certain outcome as pegged by the sportsbooks.

Out: A bookie or sportsbook.

Offshore: The organized sports betting industry that operates outside the United States.

Off the board: A game that bookmakers have removed from their betting lineup and are not currently taking action on.

Oddsmaker: Same as a linesmaker, someone who established and controls the movements of betting lines.

One Dollar: Slang term for a $100 wager.

Over/Under: Another term for a total. A bet on the number of points scored in a game or by a team. Bettors can bet "over" or "under" the oddsmaker's total.

Overlay: A situation in betting where the odds are higher than they should be in a particular market. This is usually due to public action and can be advantageous to sharp bettors.

Parlay: A wager that consists of multiple bets or legs, all of which must win in order to have a winning ticket. These offer higher payouts than individual wagers. In the event of a push on one of the bets, the parlay would revert to a smaller number of teams. For example, if you push one leg of a 4-team parlay, the parlay would revert to a 3-team parlay.

Pick or Pick'em: Abbreviated as pk by sportsbooks, this means that there is no favorite or underdog in a current game. You might say "the game is a pick" when there is no favorite in the mind of the sportsbook. A game listed as a PK still has odds associated with it, usually starting at -110.

Point Spread: The oddsmakers’ handicap or projected margin of victory between two teams or opponents.

Push: A larger than normal bet made by a player. If a player has been down a lot recently and bets big on a later game, you might say the player is "pressuring" to try to make up for his earlier losses.

Price: The point spread, total, or moneyline odds.

Proposition Bet: Props, for short. A bet that does not depend on the final outcome of the game. Player and team props are extremely common. They can be based on just about anything, such as which team will score first, how many points a player will score, etc.

Public: Describes the sports betting masses as a whole. The public describes the average sports bettor, who is generally a loser. When someone says the "public" is heavy on a game, they are referring to the everyday, unsophisticated sports bettor.

Puck Line: Same as the Canadian Line listed above. A hockey betting market that is a combination of a point spread and a money line.

Push: When, from a betting perspective, a game or contest ends without a winner or loser. In such a case, bettors on both sides are refunded their bets.

Quarter Line: A bet placed on a specific quarter in a football or basketball game. These markets are abbreviated as 1Q, 2Q, etc.

Rotation: The official list of games on the board by a sportsbook.

Risk: The amount bet on a game or wager.

Round-Robin: An easy way to bet multiple parlays at the same time.

Runner: Someone who places sports bets for another person.

Runline: Similar to a puckline but used in baseball. Basically, a combination point spread and moneyline.

Run Down: All the lines for the day or specified time frame.

Sharp: A sophisticated or highly informed sports bettor, the opposite of the general public. If sharps bet a lot on a game, you might say "there's a lot of sharp money coming in...".

Side: One of the two teams playing in a sporting event.

Spread: Shortened term for point spread.

Square: Similar to the public. A square is an unsophisticated or casual sports bettor.

Sportsbook: An organization or company that accepts sports wagers.

Standard Line: The -110 or 10% commission that is the standard vig or juice at a sportsbook.

Steam: One-sided action that results in a line movement on a market.

Straight Bet: A wager placed on a single market or game.

Stake: The amount of a wager placed.

Takeback: Slang term for betting the price of an underdog on the moneyline wager.

Teaser: Similar to a parlay, but with the line adjusted in favor of the bettor. These can be used in both basketball and football. Like a parlay, all selections must win for the bet to pay.

Total: The total number of points scored in a game by both teams or by a single team. Also called the Over/Under.

Tout: Also known as a service. A tout is a person or organization that sells sports betting picks.

Ticket: A record of your sports betting wager.

Underdog: The team picked to lose in the minds of the oddsmakers, called the “dog” for short.

Value: The best odds or line available in a given market. If you get the best price, you could say that you "got value" in the current market.

Vigorous: The commission charged by a bookmaker. "Vig" for short and also called "juice". The standard vig is -110 or 10%.

Wise Guy: A person who has a lot of handicapping knowledge and wins a lot betting sports.