Betting Terms Glossary for Bookies and Players

How to use this glossary

These are the terms that come up most when you run a book or bet into one. Definitions are kept short and plain. If you are new, the ones worth learning first are juice, handle, hold, limit, sharp, and square, because they explain how the money and the risk actually work.

A to C

• Action. Any bet, or betting activity in general. “He has action on the late game” means he has a bet on it.
• Agent. An independent bookie who runs their own book of players, usually on pay per head software. See what is a bookie.
• Bankroll. The money a bettor sets aside for betting, or the money a bookie holds to cover action.
• Book. Short for sportsbook. Also used as a verb: to “book” a bet is to accept it.
• Chalk. The favorite. “Betting the chalk” means backing the team expected to win.
• Circled game. A game with lowered limits, usually because of injury news or uncertainty, so the book takes less action on it.
• Closing line. The final odds on a game right before it starts. Sharp bettors are often measured by how they beat the closing line.
• Cover. To beat the point spread. A favorite of -7 covers by winning by 8 or more.

D to H

• Dog. The underdog, the team expected to lose. A “live dog” is an underdog with a real chance.
• Even money. Odds where you win the same amount you risk, written as +100 or -100.
• Exposure. How much a book stands to lose on a given game or outcome. Managing exposure is the core of risk management.
• Favorite. The team expected to win, shown with a minus sign on the spread or moneyline.
• Futures. A bet on a result decided later in the season, like a champion or a season win total.
• Handle. The total amount of money wagered over a period. A book’s handle is the sum of all bets it takes, before any payouts.
• Hedge. Placing a second bet on the other side to lock in a profit or cut a loss on the first.
• Hold. The share of the handle a book keeps after paying out. If a book takes $100,000 and keeps $5,000, the hold is 5%.
• Hook. A half point on a spread, as in “-7 and a hook” for -7.5. The hook exists so games cannot land exactly on the number.

I to P

• Juice. The built-in margin a book charges, also called vig or vigorish. A standard -110 line means you risk $110 to win $100, and that extra $10 is the juice.
• Limit. The most a player is allowed to bet on a given market. Setting limits by player and by sport is how a bookie controls risk. See player limits and risk management.
• Line. The odds or point spread a book offers on a game.
• Lock. A bet someone claims is a sure thing. Nothing is actually a lock, and the word is worth treating as a warning sign.
• Longshot. A bet with long odds and a large payout, unlikely to win.
• Middle. When a line moves and a bettor bets both sides at different numbers, hoping the result lands between them so both bets win. Doing this on purpose is called middling.
• Moneyline. A bet on who wins outright, with no point spread. Odds are shown as plus for the dog and minus for the favorite.
• Off the board. A game a book is not taking bets on, often because of injury or news.
• Over/under. A bet on whether the combined score is above or below a set number, also called the total.
• Parlay. A single bet that combines two or more picks. All of them must win, and the payout is larger because it is harder.
• Pay per head. A model where an agent pays a flat weekly fee per active player to run their book on a provider’s software. See what is pay per head.
• Pick ‘em. A game with no favorite, where the spread is zero and you just pick the winner.
• Point spread. The margin a favorite must win by for a bet on them to cover, and the cushion a dog gets.
• Prop. A proposition bet on something other than the final result, like a player’s yardage or the first team to score.
• Public. Casual bettors as a group, also called squares. “Public money” is action from the general betting crowd.
• Push. A tie against the spread or total, where the result lands exactly on the number and bets are refunded.

R to Z

• Racebook. The horse racing section of a betting platform. Racing odds are pari-mutuel, set by the track’s betting pool rather than the book.
• Reduced juice. A promotion that lowers the standard vig, for example -105 instead of -110, to attract bettors.
• Runner. A person who places bets on behalf of someone else.
• Sharp. A skilled, winning bettor whose action a book watches closely. Sharp money often moves lines.
• Square. A casual or recreational bettor, the opposite of sharp.
• Steam. A fast, heavy line move across the market as money floods one side. “Chasing steam” is betting a move after it starts.
• Straight bet. A single bet on one outcome, the most common kind.
• Teaser. A parlay where you adjust the spreads in your favor across all picks in exchange for a smaller payout.
• Total. The combined score line for over/under betting.
• Unit. A standard bet size a bettor uses to track results, so wins and losses are measured in units rather than dollars.
• Vig (vigorish). Another name for the juice, the book’s built-in margin. See the entry for juice.
• Wager. Another word for a bet.

If a term here made you want the bigger picture, read what is a bookie or what is pay per head. If you are ready to run a book on a real platform, start your free month.