Sports betting terminology: Responsible wagering starts with education

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Know the terms of your wagers.

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Legalized sports betting and the rise of sports betting apps make it easier than ever to bet on your favorite athletes and teams. But before you make any uninformed or regrettable wagers in this type of entertainment (yes; sports betting is a form of entertainment, not investing), you’ll want to understand the key terminology of sports betting.

Unless you’re one of the few truly gifted professional bettors, it’s hard to come out on top. In other words, sports betting is hard enough for people who know their way around the sportsbook. So if you plan to participate, learn the lingo so you don’t make any regrettable mistakes.

Here are 17 terms every sports bettor should know before they click that big green BET button. Note: Many of these terms and concepts have approximate equivalents in the world of trading and investing. But gambling is not investing, and although all investments carry some degree of risk, a prudent, long-term investing strategy puts the odds in your favor, not the house’s.

Your stake in sports betting simply refers to the amount of money that you wager (bet) on a specific game or event. Your stake represents the financial risk that you’re taking. Understanding how to set appropriate stakes is crucial to successful and prudent betting.

Good traders set and adhere to strict position sizing formulas, and they set pain thresholds called stop-loss orders in order to minimize and mitigate big losses.

Odds in sports betting represent the probability of an event occurring and the potential payout if it does. Odds may be listed in three different formats:

Bookmakers set odds based on team and individual statistics, recent team performance, and public opinion. Modern systems use sophisticated algorithms and analyze vast amounts of data to establish odds that give the bookmaker a slight advantage on every bet. It’s like the market makers in the securities markets, who provide liquidity to the markets but make a slight edge from the bid-ask spread.

The favorite is simply the team or individual expected to win an event. Sportsbook makers designate favorites based on many of the same factors used to determine odds. Betting on the favorite typically yields a lower payout because of the favorite’s perceived higher likelihood of winning.

Opposite the favorite, the underdog or dog is the individual or team that is perceived as more likely to lose an event. Betting on underdogs typically skews the value of the potential payout—this time in the bettor’s favor.

Professional sports bettors, who typically have vast knowledge, use sophisticated strategies, and wager large amounts, are sometimes called sharps. Sportsbook managers may closely monitor sharps because their large bets may influence the betting markets.

If you’re an inexperienced or casual bettor who typically places wagers based on intuition, emotions, or what your friends think, then you may be considered a square in sports betting industry parlance. Beginners—squares—are more likely to bet on personal favorites, their home teams, and high-profile events like the World Series or Super Bowl.

The handle in sports betting is the total amount of money wagered on a specific game or event, or over a set period, across all bettors. Sportsbook makers track handles to assess varying levels of interest in different sports and events, using that information to adjust odds accordingly.

Juice—also known as vigorish, or vig—is essentially a commission that sportsbook operators collect on every bet. Combined with the practice of setting favorable odds for sportsbook makers, this fee ensures that bookmakers earn at least some income on every bet.

What’s the total amount of money that you’re willing to wager? That’s known as your bankroll in sports betting. When managed carefully, your bankroll may dictate the size and frequency of your bets. Bankroll management is crucial because it can help to ensure that your sports betting activity stays within the budget that you’ve (hopefully!) set.

The over/under is the sum of points scored by both teams during a sporting event. Bettors commonly place over/under bets, also known as totals bets, to wager on whether a total score will be over or under an amount set by the sportsbook maker.

A spread in sports betting is a margin of victory between two competitors that’s designated by the sportsbook. The spread denotes the minimum number of points by which the victor must win a game for bettors on the victor to win.

Bettors on the game’s underdog win if the underdog wins outright or loses by less than the spread. Spread bets are widely popular in sports betting. If the victor wins by more than the spread, the team is said to have “covered the spread.”

When a wager has a potential payout equal to the amount of the original bet, that’s called even money. The odds are typically represented as 1:1. Even money bets are commonly placed on straightforward outcomes that have roughly equal chances of occurring, such as the likelihood of a team winning a game with no point spread.

In oddsmaking, even money is often referred to as “pick ’em.” Whatever you bet is what you stand to win (or lose).

A push happens when a game or match ends right on the betting line, or with a total score that matches the over/under set by the sportsbook maker. As there is no winner or loser, all bets are refunded—and the bookmaker doesn’t collect any juice.

A hook is a half point that’s added by bookmakers to the spread—for example, a team might be expected to win by 3.5 points. The half point is added to avoid a push, ensuring that every bet has winners and losers. Hooks guarantee that a game or match outcome never lands exactly on the betting line.

Moneyline bets are straightforward wagers on who will win a game or event, with no regard for the point spread. The odds for moneyline bets are represented by positive and negative numbers—negative for the favorites and positive for the underdogs. The simplicity and flexibility of moneyline bets makes them attractive to many amateur bettors.

Parlay bets, also known as multi-leg parlay bets, combine multiple bets into a single wager. For you to receive any payout from a parlay bet, you must wager correctly for every individual bet. Parlay betting can be highly customized, mixing various types of bets across different games and sporting events. Parlay betting is risky but popular, because a small stake can potentially generate a lucrative payout (but it’s highly unlikely to pay off, because so many things have to be right in order for you to win).

A multi-leg parlay is the lottery of the sports betting world.

Short for proposition bet, a prop bet is a wager that a specific outcome or event within a game will occur. For example, you might bet on how many touchdowns a player will score or how many strikes a pitcher will throw. Prop betting creates a wide range of betting options that can add excitement to watching a sports game—but because the bookmaker earns a bit of juice and/or odds advantage (“edge”) on each prop bet, you have more opportunities to lose.

Sports betting can be fun and perhaps profitable (sometimes)—and it’s easier to navigate once you understand the lingo. Just remember that sports betting is entertainment, and like most entertainment, it costs money to play. It’s okay to be a square in sports betting, especially if you create and stick with a responsible budget.

This article is intended for educational purposes only and not as an endorsement of a particular financial strategy, company, or fund. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice.