Short Glossary of Main Betting Terms and Slang Words

Betting has its own laws and rules and uses its own terminologythat is difficult to understand for a beginner. Read the information from the insider and get the most of it!

*** The material is solely of informative nature.

Arbitrage – a term taken from the field of exchange trade. It describes a situation where a certain product has different prices at different exchanges at the same period of time, which allows making money on the difference in price when you buy and sell.

American odds – a format of odds used at betting offices of the USA. The format is designated by signs “+” or “-”.

Analyst – expert that makes forecasts for sports events basing on news, statistics data, general information about the team and participants.

Bettor – a person that bets real money at a betting office. A bettor can act as an analyst at the same time.

British (UK) odds – a format of odds accepted in the United Kingdom and written in the form of the fractional number (for example 13/10).

Betting fork – a strategy when a person places bets on different outcomes (usually, opposite) in order to make a profit in any scenario.

Refund bet – a case when a bettor can return the initial amount of the placed bet without losses and profits.

Sure bet – a slang word among punters meaning a bet that will bring a profit for sure.

Heart-stopping match – a situation where a bettor initially thinks that the match outcome is obvious, but everything changes in the process of the game and the outcome is difficult to forecast until its end. For example, teams compete with one point difference, play neck and neck, and defining the winner is almost unreal.

Handicap – nominal advantage of a certain team, a special condition, thanks to which the opponent team will lose (or win for sure). The notion originates from Asian betting offices; roughly speaking, a handicap means a head start. Asian handicap betting can offer whole and decimal numbers.

Deposit – the sum that a player credits to the personal account at the betting office.

Safe bet – a slang word among bettors meaning dead certainty about your bet despite forecasts of analysts.

Bankroll – the sum al located by the bettor for placing bets on sports. Not the same thing as a deposit. A bankroll can be divided between several betting offices (comprising several deposits).

Insider – the person that holds unofficial and very important information about the match, teams, players.

Comeback – a term that denotes an unexpected unpredictable victory of the team that takes place despite the bad start.

Ludomania – unhealthy, pathologic addiction to gambling.

Live bets – bets placed on sports directly during the game (match). Live games are preferable for experienced bettors that can correctly calculate how odds change in the process of the game.

Margin – a term from the finance field meaning the difference between the prime cost and the price of goods for personal use. In betting, margin is the commission that a tote gets in any outcome of the game.

Minimum deposit and withdrawal – the minimal sum that a player can add to the account and cash out respectively.

Profit – a term that denotes net profit in sports betting. The profit comprises the difference between the winnings and the bet amount. Usually considered the main indicator of the bettor’s success.

Bracket – a conventional scheme of playoffs or elimination tournaments used in different sports.

Skip – means that the player skips the bet, because the situation is difficult or ambiguous for making clear conclusions.

Trend – a certain regularity related to the tournament, team, standalone player, or even sport in general.