Basics

Sports betting terms: a plain-English glossary

The vocabulary of sports betting, grouped by what it describes, with each term defined in a sentence or two and linked to the guide that goes deeper.

Updated September 27, 2026 · TrueEdge Academy

Sports betting has its own vocabulary, and most of it describes one of six things: prices, types of bet, how bets are settled, how markets move, how you measure results, and how accounts and strategies work. This glossary defines over fifty of the terms you'll meet most often, grouped that way so related words sit together. Each definition is short; where a term has a guide of its own, the link goes there.

Odds and prices

  1. 1American odds: the US format. A minus number is what you stake to win $100 and a plus number is what $100 wins. See how to read betting odds.
  2. 2Decimal odds: the total returned per $1 staked, stake included. 2.00 is even money.
  3. 3Fractional odds: profit over stake, such as 5/2. Common in the UK and in horse racing.
  4. 4Implied probability: the win rate a price needs to break even. −110 implies 52.38%. See implied probability.
  5. 5Favorite: the side expected to win, priced at minus odds.
  6. 6Underdog, or dog: the side expected to lose, priced at plus odds.
  7. 7Chalk: the favorite, or betting favorites. “The chalk won” means the favorites won.
  8. 8Even money: a price where a winning bet doubles your stake: +100, 2.00 or 1/1.
  9. 9Pick'em (PK): a game with no favorite. On a spread, it means a spread of zero.
  10. 10Juice, or vig (vigorish): the margin built into a price, the reason −110 costs $110 to win $100 rather than $100 to win $100.
  11. 11Hold: the book's margin measured across a whole market. On −110 / −110 the implied chances add up to 104.76%, and a book with balanced action keeps about 4.5 cents of every dollar bet. See hold and vig.
  12. 12Fair odds, or no-vig price: a price with the margin removed, the honest estimate every edge is measured against. See fair odds.
Juice and hold, in one market
Both sides at −110
stake $110 to win $100
Implied, each side
110 ÷ 210 = 52.38%
Both sides together
104.76%
$110 on each side, $220 taken
book pays $210 to the winner
Book keeps
$10, or 4.55% of the money bet

Types of bet

  1. 1Straight bet: a single bet on one outcome, as opposed to a parlay.
  2. 2Moneyline: a bet on who wins, with no spread. See moneyline bets.
  3. 3Point spread: a handicap the favorite must win by more than, and the underdog must lose by less than. See point spread betting.
  4. 4Run line and puck line: the baseball and hockey spreads, almost always 1.5.
  5. 5Total, or over/under: a bet on the combined score against a number. See over/under totals.
  6. 6Team total: an over/under on one team's score alone.
  7. 7Alternate line: a spread or total other than the main one, at its own price.
  8. 8Prop, or proposition bet: a bet on something other than the final result, usually a player's stats. See player props.
  9. 9Futures: a bet on something decided later in the season, such as a championship winner or a season win total.
  10. 10Parlay: several bets on one ticket, all of which must win; the odds multiply. See parlays explained.
  11. 11Same-game parlay (SGP): a parlay whose legs all come from one game, priced by the book's own model because the legs are linked.
  12. 12Teaser: a parlay in which every spread or total is moved in your favor by a set number of points, for a lower payout.
  13. 13Round robin: every smaller parlay that can be built from a list of picks, bet together.
  14. 14Live, or in-play, betting: betting on a game after it has started, with prices that change as it goes.

Results and settlement

  1. 1Cover: to win against the spread. A −6.5 favorite that wins by 7 covers.
  2. 2ATS (against the spread): results measured against the spread rather than wins and losses. A team can be 3–7 on the season and 7–3 ATS.
  3. 3Push: a result exactly on the number. The bet is refunded.
  4. 4Void: a bet cancelled by the book, usually under its house rules, with the stake returned. See house rules.
  5. 5Action: a bet that stands. “The bet has action” means it will be settled rather than voided.
  6. 6Hook: the half point on a spread or total, such as the .5 in −6.5. It rules out a push.
  7. 7Key numbers: the margins games finish on most often. In the NFL, 3 and 7.
  8. 8Settlement, or grading: the book marking a bet won, lost, pushed or void after the result is official.
  9. 9Bad beat: losing a bet that looked won until the very end.

How markets move

  1. 1Line: the number on a spread or total, and loosely the whole price.
  2. 2Opening line: the first price a book posts on a market.
  3. 3Closing line: the last price before the game starts, when the market has absorbed the most information.
  4. 4Line movement: a change in a line or price, usually because of money bet, injury news or weather.
  5. 5Steam: a fast, market-wide move, typically when respected bettors hit several books at once and the rest follow.
  6. 6Handle: the total amount bet, on a game, a sport or across a whole book or state.
  7. 7Sharp: a bettor who consistently gets better prices than the closing line, or a book that takes big bets and moves its prices on them.
  8. 8Square, or recreational bettor: someone betting for fun without a long-run edge; most customers.
  9. 9Soft book: a sportsbook that prices mostly by following others and manages risk by limiting winners. Most big US apps work this way.
  10. 10Market maker: a book that sets its own prices, takes large bets and moves on them, so its prices tend to be the most accurate. See sharp sportsbooks.

Measuring results

  1. 1Expected value (EV): the average result of a bet if you could place it many times. +EV means the price pays more than the true chance deserves. See positive EV.
  2. 2Closing line value (CLV): how much better your price was than the closing line. The fastest honest sign of whether you are betting well. See CLV.
  3. 3Unit: a standard bet size, often 1% of your bankroll, so results can be compared without dollar amounts.
  4. 4Bankroll: the money set aside only for betting, which should never include money you need for anything else. See bankroll.
  5. 5ROI (return on investment): profit divided by the total amount staked, as a percentage.
  6. 6Variance: the natural swing of results around what you should expect. Good bettors have losing months.

Accounts and strategy

  1. 1Line shopping: checking several books and taking the best price for the bet you want.
  2. 2Limits: the maximum a book lets you bet. Being limited means a book has cut yours, often to a few dollars, usually because you win. See limits.
  3. 3Max bet: the largest stake a book will accept on a particular market, which is usually lower on props and small leagues.
  4. 4Bonus bet: promotional credit that pays winnings but not the stake. See what is a bonus bet.
  5. 5Profit boost: a promotion that increases the winnings on one bet by a percentage.
  6. 6Hedge: a bet on the other side of a position you hold, to reduce risk or lock in a result. See hedging.
  7. 7Arbitrage (arb): bets on every outcome at different books whose prices combine to a profit whatever happens. See arbitrage.
  8. 8Middle: two bets on different lines of the same market that can both win if the result lands between them. See middles.
  9. 9Exchange: a venue where bettors bet against each other and the venue charges a commission instead of setting prices. See exchanges.

Where these terms show up on TrueEdge

The Odds Board uses most of this vocabulary in its column headers: Best is the result of line shopping, Avg against Fair shows the hold on a market, and the edge in each cell's tooltip is EV against fair. The Odds Board walkthrough defines every column, and the rest of the Academy, starting with bonus bets and promotions, builds on the words above.

Frequently asked questions

What does juice mean in sports betting?
Juice, also called vig, is the margin built into a price. It is why you stake $110 to win $100 at −110 instead of $100 to win $100.
What does ATS mean?
Against the spread: a team's or bettor's record measured against the point spread rather than by straight wins and losses.
What is the difference between handle and hold?
Handle is the total amount bet. Hold is the share of it the book keeps, either as a price margin on a market or as a result over a period.
What is a sharp bettor?
Someone whose bets consistently beat the closing line, which means they are regularly getting better prices than the market ends up at.
What does chalk mean in betting?
The favorite. Betting chalk means backing favorites, and a chalky day is one where most favorites won.