Terms

Player : Participant in event. One who bets.

Line: Odds, pointspread or potential payout for any given event.

Favorite : Team/participant thought to have the best chance to win the game outright.

Chalk : Favorite.
Underdog/Dog : Opposite of favorite; Majority of the public thinks this team will lose outright.

Handicapper :

A person who studies sporting events and attempts to predict their outcomes.

Pointspread/spread : Points added or subtracted to teams to create an even match.

Straight Bet :

Single wager on a side or total. (For example, a parlay or teaser would not be a straight bet)

Moneyline : Amount you must risk to win one-hundred dollars or to win 1 dollar. For example, -200 means you would have to lay 200 or 2 dollars to win 100 or 1 dollar. The moneyline is the price for the team to win outright. It takes the place of any spread.

Cover : To win against the spread; IE. You have Bulls -6 and they win the game by 7.

Future Bet: Wager made where the outcome will be decided in the future. Betting on a team to win the NBA championship before the season has begun would be an example of a future bet.

Wise Guy : Successful sports bettor. These days the sportsbook may label any player not betting purely for entertainment a wise guy.

Sharp : Wise guy

Beard : A person who makes plays for someone else

Runner: beard

Backdoor Cover: The scoring of meaningless points to cover the spread at the end of the game.

Square : Easy player for the book to manage. One who bets purely for entertainment. A square likely will bet on games because they are on television and pay whatever price his only book is offering him.

Exposure : Portion of bankroll the casino or player has pending on events at the same time.

to Get Down : to make a bet

Bad Beat : A bet lost in rare fashion. A bet lost due to unlikely ending. Tough Loss

Vigorish/Vig : Bookmaker's commission, it is most common for the house to charge 5 to 10 cents on the dollar per wager. Vig on opposing teams can be uneven to promote equal wagering or to make one side more appealing.

Juice : vig

Reduced Juice : Less vig charged than the common 11 to 10 price or -110.

Pick: An event the house deems (or wants you to believe it thinks) is an even match up without adding and subtracting points.

Push : When the score or total lands exactly on the pointspread, or the total points line.

Side : To side a game is to take both teams or total options within the same event at different lines AND push or tie one wager and win the other. The bettor receives a nice profit since he won a bet and the house kept nothing. It is especially nice for the player since he risked only the cost of the vig.

Middle: To win both sides of the same event because the player was able to get diverse lines. The same as side except the player wins both instead of pushing one side.

Side Bet : A wager on a team to win the event. A total bet is not a side bet as it is not one of the two sides competing against one another.

Off The Board : A scheduled event that is not offered by the sportsbook that normally would be. A common reason to see an event come off the board is unknown player injury status.

Circled: Term used to describe lower limits offered for specific wagers. This is to limit a sportsbook's chances of taking large wagers on events where uncertainties are present.

Hedge : To buy back action you took on an original play by betting on the opposing outcome.

Steam : Fast line movement in one direction.

Tout : Brazen salesman. One who aggressively attempts to sell his opinions of how an event will be decided.

to have Action : To have a personal stake in the outcome of an event. Any bet.

Dime : One-thousand dollars.

Nickel : Five-hundred dollars.

Run Line : Term used in Baseball for line offered based on runs. It is common for the line to be 1.5 to 2 runs. A bettor will also find diverse prices with these run lines since baseball is a low scoring game. This also pertains to the puck line.

Draw : Term used for tie.

Even Money : To risk the amount you stand to gain if wager is won.

Hook : A half point in regards to the spread.

Spread : Points a team is favored to win/lose by. -7 Represents a 7 point favorite. +7 Represents a 7 point underdog.

House : Casino, dealer, sportsbook or entity offering the odds.

Agent : Person that places customers into a book for a commission.

Total : The line offered on an event representing the combined number of points scored by the two participants. The total is also the result of the 2 team's scores added together.

Over/Under : A bet on whether the combined total of the points/goals scored by the two teams will exceed or be less the number offered by the house.

Straight wager : Single wager on any single sport event (i.e. Wager on a total, side or money line)

Parlay : A bet where two or more outcomes are required to be predicted correctly. Greater payouts reflect the lesser chance of winning.

Teaser : Same as parlay except the better is given points to apply to their wagers instead of a much greater payout. For example, Cowboys -3 can become Cowboys +7 when the bettor receives 10 points.

Cent Line : The price difference between what a bettor would lay with the favorite and also get with the underdog. If opposing teams were offered at 7 cents on the dollar or -107, it would be a 14 cent line.

Price : Often meaning moneyline on a team. If someone asked you the price of the Chicago Bulls they would be asking how much they would lay to win 1 dollar. See moneyline.The price can also be referring to cost of other odds. “What is the price on the 1.5 runline?”

Scalp : A bet on both sides of the same event where the underdog payout is above the cost to bet on the favorite. This is a guaranteed profit if one is able to find these odds.

Soft Line : A betting line that is about to be moved, or when the book desires to change the line/odds but the player has the opportunity to grab it before it is changed. It could also be a line a book overlooked but should have moved. Definitions by the house vary from book to book. A player can be shown the door for betting many of these lines if the house does not welcome wiseguys.

Lock : perceived guaranteed win against the spread or moneyline.

Grand Salami : The over/under total for the combined score or predicted combined score of all the hockey events on the schedule for that day in the same league.

Hoops : Basketball

Foots : football.

Pucks : hockey