Betting terms – A complete guide

  • Betting odds - The price offered by a bookmaker on a particular selection. Odds are calculated based on the likelihood of the prediction being accurate. 
  • Betting strategy - A system used in order to maximise your chances of making a profit when placing bets.
  • Banker - A pick that is heavily favoured to win. 
  • Booking points football - With selected bookies, you can bet on the number of cards shown by a referee in a football match. One yellow card often equals 10 points, with a red card totalling 25 points. 
  • Gambler's fallacy - A belief that if an outcome occurs more often than normal in the past, it will happen less often in the future. 
  • Hedging bets - A system that involves betting on the opposite outcome to your previous bet, in order to guarantee a small profit. 
  • Lay betting - Available on betting exchanges, a lay bet involves wagering on a particular event not occurring. You effectively take on the role of a bookmaker. 
  • Lucky 15 - Commonly associated with horse racing, a Lucky 15 bet features four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one 4-fold accumulator. 
  • Parimutuel betting - Also known as Pools, this form of betting involves wagering against other punters, rather than a bookie. 
  • Up and down bet - A bet that consists of two individual sections. With the “Up” bet, you are betting on your selection to win. The “Down” bet refers to the same pick placing.
  • 1x2 - A bet type only available when a draw is a potential result. The name refers to the three possible outcomes, home win, draw or away win. 1x2 bets are most commonly linked to football. 
  • BTTS - Available on selected sports, including football and ice hockey. Based on whether both teams will score a goal, you simply bet on “Yes” or “No”. 
  • Cash out betting - Cash out is a feature offered by online bookmakers that allows punters to settle bets before their completion. An amount of money is offered by the bookie, based on the current in-play odds. 
  • Corner match bet - Specific to football, this bet simply involves selecting which team will earn the most number of corners during the match. 
  • Draw no bet - A market where your stake will be refunded in the event of the event ending in a draw. 
  • Each way betting - A bet type available on horse racing and other sports where there is a winner and other participants finishing in placed positions. While being a single bet, there are two wagers, a “win bet” and “place bet”. 
  • SP in betting - The starting price given to a competitor at the start of an event, generally in horse racing.  
  • Bet builder - A feature offered by selected bookies that allows punters to build accumulator bets within a single event. 
  • Betting exchange - A platform where members bet against each other, rather than a bookmaker. 
  • Canadian bet - A multiple bet that involves punters selecting five selections from different sports, in order to make 26 individual parts. 
  • Double bet - A single bet that involves two selections. Odds for both picks are combined, with both needing to win in order for your bet to be successful. 
  • Heinz bet -  multiple bet that comprises 57 bets in total, across six selections. 
  • Patent bet - A multiple bet involving seven bets of equal value, on three different selections. Three singles, three doubles and one treble are placed. 
  • Placepot bet - A bet the equivalent of placing one 6-fold accumulator. 
  • Single bet - Often described as the simplest bet type. It is a bet placed on a single outcome of a specific event. 
  • Super heinz bet - A multiple bet that features seven selections and totals 120 separate wagers. 
  • Tote bet - A bet where your stake goes into a pool, from which winnings are paid from. 
  • Treble bet - A multiple bet that consists of three separate wagers, on three different events. All picks must be accurate in order for your bet to win. 
  • Tricast bet - A bet where you must pick the first three finishers, in the correct order. 
  • Yankee bet - This wager is made up of 11 individual bets, from four selections.
  • Acca bet - Also known as an accumulator, an acca features multiple selections. All picks must be successful for your bet to be settled as a win.
  • Ante post betting - Associated with horse racing and greyhounds, an ante post bet is one that is placed before the market has actually opened. 
  • Arbitrage betting - A betting strategy where you bet on all possible outcomes of an event in order to guarantee that a profit is made. 
  • EV betting - In betting terms, EV stands for expected value. So, it is not about what you believe will happen, rather the advantage you hold because of your expert knowledge. 
  • Handicap betting - Where a team or player is given a surplus or deficit, when there is a clear favourite and outsider. 
  • Liability in betting - The amount of money required in order to cover the result of a bet. 
  • Undercard - Used in the world of boxing and other combat sports, the undercard is the list of fights that precede the main event. 
  • RTP - Known as “Return to Player”, RTP refers to the average amount of money that a casino game will pay out over time. 
  • Betting slip - A receipt that features your selections, odds, stake and potential returns. 
  • Underdog - A sports team or player that is expected to lose. 
  • Over-under bet - A bet placed on whether a particular in-game statistic will be higher or lower than a particular number. 
  • Parlay - Another name for an acca, a parlay is a single bet that features multiple selections. 
  • Spread bet - A form of betting where you wager on the movement of markets, rather than specific outcomes. 
  • Evens bet - A bet that will return double your stake. Odds are written as EVS, 1/1 or 2.00. 
  • Outright bet - A bet placed on an entire tournament or league, as opposed to a specific event. For example, the winner of the football World Cup. 
  • Void bet - Your stake is returned due to an unforeseen circumstance occurring. For example, a tennis player retiring from a match due to injury.