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If you're new to sports betting or you've been at it for years and want to make sure you actually know what every term means, this glossary covers you. Definitions are short, written in plain English, and linked to a deeper guide where we have it.
Jump to a letter: A · B · C · D · E · F · H · I · J · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W
Action - A bet or a wager. "Having action" on a game means you have money on it.
Against the spread (ATS) - The result of a bet on the point spread. A team favored by -5.5 must win by at least 6 to "cover" the spread. ATS records (e.g., "the Lions are 8-3 ATS this season") track how a team performs against the spread, not against the moneyline.
American odds - The most common odds format in the US. Negative numbers (-150) show how much you'd need to bet to win $100; positive numbers (+150) show how much you'd win on a $100 bet.
Arbitrage (Arb) - A betting strategy where you place bets on every possible outcome of a game across multiple sportsbooks at odds that guarantee a profit regardless of who wins. Real arbs are rare and short-lived because sportsbooks adjust quickly.
Backdoor cover - When a team covers the spread late in a game that's otherwise out of reach. Often a meaningless score in the final minutes flips a losing bet into a winner or vice versa.
Bad beat - A bet that looks like a sure winner until something unlikely happens at the end and turns it into a loss. The classic example: a covered spread blown up by a meaningless touchdown.
Bankroll - The amount of money you've set aside specifically for sports betting. Good bankroll management means sizing bets as a percentage of your bankroll rather than betting a fixed dollar amount.
Bet Builder - A sportsbook feature that lets you combine multiple selections from the same game into a single bet. Most US sportsbooks call this a same-game parlay; "Bet Builder" is bet365's term and the more common name internationally.
Bet tracker - A tool that records every bet you place. Includes the odds, wager, sport, market, sportsbook, result and analyzes your performance. A bet tracker shows you your real ROI, win rate, and CLV over time. Pikkit syncs to 30+ sportsbooks via BookSync, so tracking is automatic instead of manual.
Betting slang: Buck, Nickel, Dime, Dollar - Wager-size shorthand. A buck or dollar is $100, a nickel is $500, and a dime is $1,000. Mostly used by older bettors and in the industry.
Bonus bet - A wager funded by sportsbook credit rather than your own cash. If a bonus bet wins, you keep the winnings but not the stake. This is a very important distinction that some people don't understand. A $50 bonus bet at +200 returns $100 in profit, not $150. Bonus bets are most valuable on plus-money markets. See current offers on the sportsbook bonuses page.
Book / Bookmaker / Bookie - The business that takes bets and pays out winners. "Book" is the most common usage in the US; "bookie" historically referred to individual offshore or local operators.
BookSync - Pikkit's feature that syncs bets from your sportsbook accounts directly into your bet tracker. It pulls every bet you place at 30+ supported sportsbooks so you don't have to log them manually. Learn more about BookSync.
BTTS (Both Teams to Score) - A soccer betting market where you wager on whether both teams will score at least one goal. Yes/No outcomes only.
Buy points - Adjusting the spread or total in your favor in exchange for worse odds. Buying a half-point on a -3 favorite (down to -2.5) costs you something on the price but gives you a better number to land on.
Cash out - A sportsbook feature that lets you settle a bet before the game ends, usually for less than the full potential payout. Used to lock in profit on a winning ticket or cut losses on one going the wrong way.
Chalk - The favorite. "Betting chalk" means consistently backing favorites. A "chalky" slate is one where the favorites are heavily favored.
Closing line - The final odds on a market right before a game starts. The closing line is treated as the most efficient line of the day because it reflects all bets and information up to kickoff. Beating the closing line consistently is one of the strongest signals of sharp betting.
Closing Line Value (CLV) - The difference between the odds at which you placed a bet and the closing line. Positive CLV means you bet at a better number than the line closed at. A strong indicator of long-term profitability, even if individual bets lose. Pikkit Pro tracks CLV automatically.
Consensus - The percentage of public bets on each side of a game. A 75% consensus on the home team means three-quarters of the bets being placed are on the home side. Consensus is also called "public money."
Copy bet / Copy betting - Replicating another bettor's wager to your own betslip with one tap. On Pikkit, the Copy button takes any bet you see on the Discover page, including popular parlays, and populates it for you to then place on your connected book.
Cover - Beating the spread. If a team is -7 and they win by 10, they "covered" the spread.
Decimal odds - The odds format used in Europe and most international sportsbooks. The number shown (e.g., 2.50) is the total return per $1 wagered, including your stake. Decimal odds of 2.50 are equivalent to American +150.
Early cash out - A version of cash out that's available before the game even starts, useful when a line moves against you and you want to settle for a partial refund.
Early payout - A sportsbook promotion where your moneyline bet is paid out as a winner if your team builds a specific lead, even if they ultimately lose. Bet365 offers Early Payout if your NBA team goes up 20, your NHL team goes up 3 goals, or your MLB team goes up 5 runs.
Edge - A perceived advantage on a bet. Finding odds that imply a lower win probability than what you believe is actually true. Sustained edge over many bets is what separates winning bettors from losing ones.
Edit Bet - A sportsbook feature that lets you add, swap, or remove selections from an unsettled bet without canceling and rebuilding it. Bet365 is the main US sportsbook offering this.
Even money - A wager that pays 1-to-1. Bet $100, win $100. In American odds, even money is shown as +100.
Expected Value (EV) - The average outcome of a bet if you placed it an infinite number of times. A positive-EV bet is one where the price you're getting is better than the true probability of winning. Sharp bettors hunt for +EV bets relentlessly. See hedging and expected value for how EV interacts with hedging decisions.
Fade - Betting against a person, team, or trend. "Fade the public" means taking the opposite side of where most bets are landing.
Favorite - The team expected to win. In point-spread markets, the favorite is shown with a minus sign (e.g., -7) and has to win by more than that number to cover.
Fractional odds - The odds format common in the UK. Shown as a ratio (e.g., 5/2), where the first number is your profit per the second number wagered. Fractional 5/2 is equivalent to American +250.
Futures (Future bets) - Bets on outcomes that won't be settled until later in a season. For example; championships, division winners, season-long awards, regular-season win totals. Futures often offer plus-money prices but tie up your bankroll for months.
Handle - The total amount of money wagered. "Michigan's monthly handle was $500M" means $500M was bet across all sportsbooks in the state that month.
Handicapping - The work of analyzing a game to predict the outcome. A "handicapper" is someone whose job, paid or hobby, is producing picks.
Hedge / Hedging - Betting both sides of an outcome to lock in profit or reduce loss. A common scenario: you have one leg left in a long parlay and bet the opposite side of that leg with another sportsbook to guarantee a return either way.
Hook - The half-point on a spread, total, or prop. "Losing by the hook" means losing by exactly half a point. The hook is why sportsbooks use half-point spread. They eliminate the possibility of a push.
Hot streak / Cold streak - A run of wins or losses over a small sample. Streaks are mostly variance. A hot streak doesn't prove your strategy works, and a cold streak doesn't prove it's broken. You need a large sample (hundreds of bets) before drawing conclusions.
In-game betting (Live betting) - Wagering on a game as it's happening. Lines update in real time based on what's happening on the field. Most users today search "live betting" which the two terms mean the same thing.
Juice - The cut a sportsbook keeps on every bet. When a line is -110, the book is taking 10% in juice on the losing side. Juice is sometimes called vig or vigorish.
Limit - The maximum amount a sportsbook will accept on a single bet. Limits vary by sport, market, and individual account. Sharp bettors often see their limits reduced.
Line shopping - Checking the price on the same bet across multiple sportsbooks before placing it, and choosing the best one. Even a half-point or 5-cent difference adds up to meaningful ROI over hundreds of bets.
Lock - A bet the bettor believes is guaranteed to win. Locks are a marketing tool more than a real category. No bet is ever guaranteed.
Long shot - A bet with a low probability of winning and a correspondingly large potential payout. Heavy underdogs and high-leg parlays are long shots.
Moneyline - A bet on which team or side will win the game outright, with no spread involved. Moneylines are quoted in American odds: the favorite has a minus number, the underdog has a plus number.
No action - A bet that's voided and refunded by the sportsbook. Common no-action triggers: a starting pitcher gets scratched in MLB, a game is postponed, or a player you bet a prop on doesn't enter the game.
Oddsmaker / Linemaker - The person or team at a sportsbook responsible for setting the opening line. Modern sportsbooks rely heavily on automated models, but oddsmakers still set the openers and adjust based on action.
Off the board - When a sportsbook removes a market from its lines and won't accept bets on it. Usually happens around late-breaking injury news.
Over - A bet that an event will produce more than the stat line set by the sportsbook. Used most often for totals.
Parlay - A single bet that combines two or more outcomes ("legs"). All legs have to win for the parlay to cash and the combined odds multiply. This makes the payout higher than betting each leg individually, but the risk is higher as well. Parlays are the highest-margin product for sportsbooks. Track yours through Pikkit's parlay tracker.
Pick'em (PK) - A game with no spread because the sportsbook views the teams as evenly matched. You're just picking the winner.
Player prop - A bet on an individual player's performance; yards, points, rebounds, strikeouts, etc. Player props are now the fastest-growing category in US sports betting.
Point spread - The number of points a favorite has to win by (or an underdog can lose by) to cover the bet. The Lions at -7 means they need to win by 8+ points; the underdog at +7 means they can lose by 6 or fewer (or win) and still cover.
Popular parlay - On Pikkit, a parlay that ranks high in the Discover feed because many users have placed the exact same combination of legs. The feed is ranked strictly by placement count, not engagement.
Popular players - On Pikkit, a player that ranks high in the Discover feed because many users have placed bets on that player. The feed is ranked strictly by pick amount, not engagement.
Profit boost — A sportsbook promotion that increases the payout of a qualifying bet by a set percentage. A 30% profit boost on a +400 parlay would pay out as if the parlay were +520.
Proposition (Prop) bet - A bet that isn't tied directly to the outcome of the game. Includes player props but also game-level props (first team to score, first scoring play type) and novelty props (the coin toss, the color of the Gatorade at the Super Bowl).
Public money - The volume of bets coming from casual bettors. Sharp money runs the other direction. Reverse line movement (the line moving opposite to where the public is betting) is one of the clearest signals that sharp money is on the other side.
Puck line - The hockey version of a point spread. Puck lines are almost always set at -1.5/+1.5 because hockey is low-scoring.
Push - A bet that ties. Neither wins nor loses. If the spread is -7 and the team wins by exactly 7, your bet pushes and your stake is refunded.
Reverse line movement - When a line moves in the opposite direction of where the majority of bets are landing. Usually a sign that sharp money is on the less-popular side, since sportsbooks move lines based on weight of money rather than ticket count.
ROI (Return on Investment) - Profit divided by total amount wagered. ROI is the cleanest way to measure betting performance because it adjusts for stake size. A +5% ROI bettor is making money on every dollar they wager, regardless of whether they bet $10 or $1,000 per game.
Round robin - A bet that breaks a group of selections into multiple smaller parlays automatically. A 4-team round robin in 2-team parlays creates six 2-leg parlays so you can lose one or two of your picks and still cash a payout.
Run line - The baseball version of a point spread. Run lines are almost always -1.5/+1.5 since baseball games are typically low-scoring and decided by 1-2 runs.
Same-game parlay (SGP) - A parlay built entirely from selections within a single game (e.g., the Lions to win + Jared Goff over 250 passing yards + total over 47.5). SGPs involve correlated outcomes, which sportsbooks price differently than standard multi-game parlays. Same-game parlays are the fastest-growing parlay product in US sports betting.
SGP+ (Cross-game SGP) - A feature that lets you combine multiple same-game parlays from different games into a single multi-leg bet. Almost all US sportsbooks offer this including Bet365, Caesars, Hard Rock, Draftkings, Fanduel and more.
Sharp - An experienced, profitable bettor. Sharp bettors generally focus on closing line value and +EV opportunities rather than picks. Their bets often move the line.
Soft line - A line that's slow to adjust or out of step with the rest of the market. Typically because that sportsbook hasn't received much sharp action yet. Sharp bettors hunt soft lines for +EV opportunities.
Sportsbook - A business that takes bets on sporting events. The US has dozens of legal sportsbooks across the country including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365, theScore, and Fanatics. Pikkit's sportsbook bonuses page tracks current welcome offers across them.
Square - The opposite of a sharp. A square bettor is casual, generally picks favorites, bets parlays heavily, and pays more attention to who they think will win than to the price they're getting.
Stake - The amount of money you're risking on a bet. A $50 stake on +200 wins $100 in profit, returning $150 total ($50 stake + $100 profit).
Steam - A line moving sharply across virtually every sportsbook at the same time. Steam usually means a major piece of news (an injury, a lineup change, or a known sharp group hitting the market) has just hit.
Taking the points - Betting the underdog with the spread. If the Bears are +7, "taking the 7" means betting on Chicago to either win or lose by less than 7.
Teaser - A type of multi-leg bet where you adjust the spread or total in your favor on every leg in exchange for lower combined odds. A standard 6-point football teaser turns -7.5 spreads into -1.5 spreads, but at much shorter odds than a normal parlay. Teasers feel safer than parlays but carry their own juice.
Total (Over/Under) - A bet on the combined score of both teams. The sportsbook sets a number (the "total"), and you bet whether the actual combined score will be over or under it.
Under - A bet that an event will produce fewer points, goals, or runs than the line set by the sportsbook. The opposite of over. Used most often for totals.
Underdog (Dog) - The team expected to lose. Shown with a plus sign on both the moneyline (e.g., +180) and the spread (e.g., +7).
Unit - A standardized bet size based on a percentage of your bankroll, usually 1-2%. Sizing in units instead of dollars keeps your risk consistent as your bankroll grows or shrinks. A bettor with a $5,000 bankroll and a 1% unit size is wagering $50 per "unit."
Variance - The natural fluctuation in betting outcomes over a sample. Even a +EV bettor will go through losing streaks; even a -EV bettor will go through winning streaks. Variance is why you need hundreds of bets, not dozens, to evaluate whether your strategy is actually working.
Vig (Vigorish) - The fee a sportsbook builds into the odds on every market. At a standard -110 spread, the vig is about 4.5% per side. Vig is the reason "winning 50% of your bets" doesn't break even. You have to win closer to 53% to overcome it. Sometimes called juice.
Wager - Another word for "bet." A $50 wager and a $50 bet mean exactly the same thing.
Knowing the terminology is step one. Knowing your own betting performance is what actually moves the needle. Track your real ROI, your win rate by sport, and your CLV trend over time. Pikkit's bet tracker connects to 30+ sportsbooks via BookSync and logs every bet you place automatically. No spreadsheets, no manual entry, no missing the parlays you'd rather forget.
Download Pikkit to start tracking your bets.
This glossary is updated regularly as new betting terms enter the mainstream. If you spot a term that's missing or a definition that needs cleaning up, let us know.
