Sports betting glossary

What the numbers on a betting slip actually mean, in plain English. Where a term is something you can see working on this site, there is a link to it — the definitions are more useful next to the thing they describe.

Moneyline — also 1X2 in soccer: A bet on who wins, with no handicap. The price carries the difference in strength: a strong favourite pays little, an underdog pays more. In soccer the same market has three outcomes because a draw is possible, which is why it is called 1X2 there.
Point spread — also handicap, line: A margin applied to the result so that both sides are roughly a coin flip. A team at -6.5 must win by seven or more for the bet to win; the other side at +6.5 wins if they win outright or lose by six or fewer. Half-points exist to remove ties.
Total — also over/under: A bet on the combined score rather than on who wins. The book posts a number and you take over or under it. In baseball a total of 8.5 means nine or more runs is an over.
American odds: A price written as a positive or negative number. -150 means you stake 150 to win 100. +150 means you stake 100 to win 150. Negative is the favourite, positive the underdog. Even money is +100.
Decimal odds: The same price written as a multiplier on the total return, stake included. 2.50 returns 2.50 for every 1 staked, so it is the same as +150. Common outside the United States.
-110: The standard price on a spread or total: stake 110 to win 100. Both sides priced at -110 is how a book charges for an otherwise even proposition — the extra 10 is the vig.
Vig — also juice, margin, overround: The book's cut, built into the prices rather than charged separately. It is why the implied probabilities of both sides add up to more than 100%: at -110 each side implies 52.4%, and the surplus 4.8 points is the house edge.
Implied probability: The chance a price corresponds to, before removing the vig. Convert American odds by taking 100 divided by (odds + 100) for a positive price, or |odds| divided by (|odds| + 100) for a negative one. -150 implies 60%.
Expected value — also EV: What a bet returns on average if you could make it many times. It is positive when your estimate of the probability is higher than the price implies, and that gap — not a hunch about the game — is the entire reason to take a bet. See how our positive-EV picks have actually done →
Favourite and underdog: The side the market makes more likely, and the side it does not. Decided by the price, not by reputation or record — and favourites do not win as often as most people assume. How often favourites actually win, season by season →
Cover: To beat the spread. A favourite at -6.5 covers by winning by seven or more; an underdog covers by losing by six or fewer, or by winning.
Push: A tie against the line, when the result lands exactly on a whole-number spread or total. The stake is returned and the bet counts as neither a win nor a loss.
Line movement: The change in a price or handicap between the moment a market opens and kick-off. Books move on news, on weather, and on where the money is going. Where today's lines opened and where they are now →
Closing line: The final price before a game starts, and the market's most accurate estimate — it has had the most information and the most money applied to it. Beating it consistently is the usual test of whether an edge is real.
Closing line value — also CLV: The difference between the price you took and the closing price. Positive CLV means the market moved towards your side after you bet, which is evidence you were early rather than lucky.
Unit: A fixed stake used to describe results without revealing bankroll. A record of +12 units at one unit a bet means twelve stakes of profit, whatever a stake is for you. Every figure on our record page is flat one-unit staking. Our record, in units →
ROI: Profit divided by total staked. More useful than a win rate, because a run of short-priced winners can post a high hit rate and still lose money.
Prop bet: A bet on something other than the result — a player's hits, yards, or whether they score. Settled on the box score, so a prop can win in a game your team loses. Today's stand-out player projections →
First five innings — also F5: A baseball bet that settles on the score after five innings rather than at the end. It is a bet on the starting pitchers with the bullpens taken out of it. First-five-innings projections for today →
First half — also 1H: A bet that settles at half time. Unlike a full game a half can finish level, so the first-half moneyline is usually a three-way market. First-half projections →
Parlay — also accumulator: Several bets combined into one, where every leg must win. The odds multiply, and so does the vig on each leg — which is why parlays are the most profitable product a sportsbook sells.
Steam move: A sharp, simultaneous move on the same side across many books, usually driven by respected money rather than news. Chasing one after it has happened generally means taking the worse price.

Moneyline — also 1X2 in soccer

A bet on who wins, with no handicap. The price carries the difference in strength: a strong favourite pays little, an underdog pays more. In soccer the same market has three outcomes because a draw is possible, which is why it is called 1X2 there.

Point spread — also handicap, line

A margin applied to the result so that both sides are roughly a coin flip. A team at -6.5 must win by seven or more for the bet to win; the other side at +6.5 wins if they win outright or lose by six or fewer. Half-points exist to remove ties.

Total — also over/under

A bet on the combined score rather than on who wins. The book posts a number and you take over or under it. In baseball a total of 8.5 means nine or more runs is an over.

American odds

A price written as a positive or negative number. -150 means you stake 150 to win 100. +150 means you stake 100 to win 150. Negative is the favourite, positive the underdog. Even money is +100.

Decimal odds

The same price written as a multiplier on the total return, stake included. 2.50 returns 2.50 for every 1 staked, so it is the same as +150. Common outside the United States.

-110

The standard price on a spread or total: stake 110 to win 100. Both sides priced at -110 is how a book charges for an otherwise even proposition — the extra 10 is the vig.

Vig — also juice, margin, overround

The book's cut, built into the prices rather than charged separately. It is why the implied probabilities of both sides add up to more than 100%: at -110 each side implies 52.4%, and the surplus 4.8 points is the house edge.

Implied probability

The chance a price corresponds to, before removing the vig. Convert American odds by taking 100 divided by (odds + 100) for a positive price, or |odds| divided by (|odds| + 100) for a negative one. -150 implies 60%.

Expected value — also EV

What a bet returns on average if you could make it many times. It is positive when your estimate of the probability is higher than the price implies, and that gap — not a hunch about the game — is the entire reason to take a bet. See how our positive-EV picks have actually done →

Favourite and underdog

The side the market makes more likely, and the side it does not. Decided by the price, not by reputation or record — and favourites do not win as often as most people assume. How often favourites actually win, season by season →

Cover

To beat the spread. A favourite at -6.5 covers by winning by seven or more; an underdog covers by losing by six or fewer, or by winning.

Push

A tie against the line, when the result lands exactly on a whole-number spread or total. The stake is returned and the bet counts as neither a win nor a loss.

Line movement

The change in a price or handicap between the moment a market opens and kick-off. Books move on news, on weather, and on where the money is going. Where today's lines opened and where they are now →

Closing line

The final price before a game starts, and the market's most accurate estimate — it has had the most information and the most money applied to it. Beating it consistently is the usual test of whether an edge is real.

Closing line value — also CLV

The difference between the price you took and the closing price. Positive CLV means the market moved towards your side after you bet, which is evidence you were early rather than lucky.

Unit

A fixed stake used to describe results without revealing bankroll. A record of +12 units at one unit a bet means twelve stakes of profit, whatever a stake is for you. Every figure on our record page is flat one-unit staking. Our record, in units →

ROI

Profit divided by total staked. More useful than a win rate, because a run of short-priced winners can post a high hit rate and still lose money.

Prop bet

A bet on something other than the result — a player's hits, yards, or whether they score. Settled on the box score, so a prop can win in a game your team loses. Today's stand-out player projections →

First five innings — also F5

A baseball bet that settles on the score after five innings rather than at the end. It is a bet on the starting pitchers with the bullpens taken out of it. First-five-innings projections for today →

First half — also 1H

A bet that settles at half time. Unlike a full game a half can finish level, so the first-half moneyline is usually a three-way market. First-half projections →

Parlay — also accumulator

Several bets combined into one, where every leg must win. The odds multiply, and so does the vig on each leg — which is why parlays are the most profitable product a sportsbook sells.

Steam move

A sharp, simultaneous move on the same side across many books, usually driven by respected money rather than news. Chasing one after it has happened generally means taking the worse price.