Anybody can place a sports bet, but the jargon can be intimidating for first-timers. What’s a point spread? Why does the word “prop” pop up so much? What is the difference between all these types of odds?
Even if you know all the terminology, you might need clarification about what makes a bet, a good bet, or a bad bet.
If that sounds like you, use this glossary to brush up on your sports betting fundamentals before making your next wager. And remember the most important rule of gambling, never bet money you can't afford to lose!
Sports Betting 101: Most Important Sports betting Terms & Strategies
If you've logged onto an online sportsbook but are new to gambling, it might be like trying to read hieroglyphics. There will be symbols (like +/-) and numbers that you recognize but need help to decipher.
These symbols and numbers represent the most fundamental data all sports bettors must consider: the odds! Before you place any bet, it's crucial to consider the odds (or probability) of that bet winning versus the potential payout.
What are odds?
Odds represent the probability of an outcome according to the sportsbook, and different sports books may have different odds, so it is worth researching which sportsbook has the best odds; that’s why it makes sense to have an account with all the major sports books. Odds are the most critical factor to consider when placing a bet.
What are the different types of odds?
Fractional odds, sometimes known as 'traditional odds' or 'British odds’
Decimal odds, sometimes known as 'European odds'
American odds, sometimes known as 'moneyline odds.'
No matter what format odds are listed, the implied probabilities will be equal. You won’t get better odds using moneyline odds vs. British odds.
What are fractional odds?
Sportsbooks express fractional odds in either a fraction or ratio, such as 2-to-1 or 2/1. The numerator represents the payout, and the denominator represents the bet size. The total payout for a winning bet is the numerator plus the denominator.
To convert fractional to decimal odds, solve the fraction and add one. To transform fractional odds to American odds, solve the fraction and if the answer is greater than or equal to one, multiply it by 100; otherwise, divide -100 by the solved fraction.
What are decimal odds?
Sportsbooks express decimal odds as decimal numbers such as 5.50 or 3.00. These numbers represent the amount won for every dollar that is bet. To convert decimal odds to fractional odds, subtract one and convert that number into a fraction. To convert decimal odds to American odds for numbers greater than two, subtract one and multiply by 100; otherwise, divide -100 by the decimal odd minus one.
What are American odds?
American odds are whole numbers preceded by a plus or minus sign. If the odds have a plus sign in front of it, you are betting on the underdog, and the number listed is the amount you win if you bet $100. If a money line odd has a minus sign in front of it, you are betting on the favorite, and the number listed is the amount you have to bet to win $100.
In either scenario, the total payout is your initial wager (the stake) plus the money line number. To convert moneyline odds to decimal odds for positive moneylines, divide the money line by 100 and add one; otherwise, divide -100 by the moneyline odd and add one. To convert moneyline odds to fractional odds for positive moneylines, divide the moneyline by 100; otherwise, divide -100 by the moneyline.
Why do betting odds change?
Sportsbooks constantly adjust odds when teams release new information to the public; for example, if a player is considered healthy and is now injured, then the odds for that event will change. However, if a bettor places a bet and the odds change after the bet is made, the bet is valid at whatever the odds were when the bettor placed the bet.
Odds can also change if bettors wager too much money on one side of the bet. Sportsbooks like to limit their exposure to anything they can’t control, such as the outcome of an event, so if the betting public is putting a lot of money on Team A, the sportsbook might make team A’s odds worse so that more people bet on team B.
In a sportsbook's ideal world, they have equal exposure on both sides of a bet, making money no matter who wins. This is because sportsbooks' primary way to make money is by charging a commission for every wager they accept, also called the vig or juice.
What are implied odds?
Implied odds refer to the probability of an event occurring based on the given odds listed by the sportsbook. Bettors can calculate implied odds by dividing the bet amount by the total payout; for example, if the odds of Team A winning are 2-to-1, then the implied odds are: (1/(2+1)) = 33%, meaning the sportsbook believes there is a 33% chance that Team A wins.
Understanding implied odds is crucial to success as a sports bettor because a bet is only worth making if the bettor believes the implied odds are worse than the true odds. For example, if they believe the odds that Team A wins are 75%, they should bet because they will have a positive expected value for this bet.
What is expected value in sports betting?
Expected value (EV) is the amount of money a bet expects to win or lose over a large sample size. Bettors can calculate EV by multiplying the probability of winning by the amount won per bet and then subtracting the probability of losing times the amount lost per bet. For example, flipping a fair coin and betting one dollar on tails each time with even odds has an expected value of 0 because there is a 50%-50% chance of winning, and a potential win is equal to a possible loss. Now say we have a magic coin where that lands on tails 60% of the time, but we are still getting even odds (which imply a 50% chance of winning), then the expected value will be 0.2 because there is a (0.6)(1) payout when we win and a (0.4)(1) payout when we lose and 0.6-0.4 = 0.2. Therefore, a bettor should only bet when the expected value of their bet is greater than 0.
Most popular types of sports bets
Let's say you want to make a bet that your favorite team will win their next game; sounds easy. So you log on to your favorite sportsbook, and you see something like this:
Suddenly, not so easy, what do you choose? Spread? Total? Money? Sportsbooks offer many types of bets, and it's crucial to understand what you're betting on before you wager.
What is a moneyline bet?
A moneyline bet differs from money line odds; it is a straightforward bet on which team will win the game. Each team will usually have different odds depending on their perceived likelihood of winning the game.
What is a point spread?
A point spread is similar to a golf handicap; a spread is the number of points by which sportsbooks expect the favorite to defeat the underdog. Point spreads are most commonly used in basketball and football because most other sports aren’t high scoring enough to use them.
Sportsbooks create spreads using mathematical models to encourage equal action on both teams. The point spread can change anytime before the game starts, either because of new information like an unexpected injury or because the book gets too much action on one side.
A bettor can choose the winning team but still lose the bet if that team fails to ‘cover’ the spread. For example, if Team A is a seven point favorite and they only win by three points, they have been unable to ‘cover’ the spread, and a bet on them will lose.
Conversely, if Team C is ten point underdog and they only lose by five, they will have covered the spread, and the bettor will win. To calculate if a bet is a winner or loser with the spread, add or subtract the point spread from the final score.
What is a total or over/under bet?
An over/under (O/U) bet always involves a 'key number' and a specific statistic. Bettors attempt to predict if a player, team, or teams will have more (over) than the key number or less (under) than the key number.
For example, the over/under in football often refers to the combined point total for both teams, so if the Steelers-Falcons game has an O/U equal to 42, a bettor is betting on whether or not those teams will score more or less than 42 points combined.
What is a parlay bet?
A parlay bet is multiple bets combined on one ticket to form one bet. Each bet in a parlay is known as a leg, so a five-leg parlay refers to a parlay with five individual bets, while a two-leg parlay refers to a parlay with two individual bets. Parlays are high-risk, high-reward bets because to win a parlay a bettor needs to win each leg of the parlay; even one loss renders the whole ticket a loss.
Parlays typically have enticing payouts and offer the opportunity to turn pocket change into big money. For example, it is possible to create a parlay that turns $5 into $1,000, but it is vital to remember that most parlays are losers. Parlays are available in any large sportsbook, but we recommend bettors stay away from parlays until a bettor is consistently winning their straight bets.
To calculate parlay odds, start with each bet’s decimal odds and multiply them all together, then multiply the result by the bet amount and subtract the bet amount.
What is a Same-Game Parlay/One Game Parlay?
A Same-Game Parlay (also known as a One-Game Parlay on BetMGM) is a parlay where all the legs are from the same game. Same-Game Parlays offer bettors a unique opportunity to synergize their bets. For example, suppose the Eagles are playing the 49ers, and a bettor thinks the Eagles will win. In that case, it stands to reason that they believe Jalen Hurts (the Eagles' quarterback) and Miles Sanders (the Eagles running back) will score touchdowns, so they can bet on all three outcomes with the chance of an impressive payout.
What are prop bets?
A proposition (prop) bet is a bet on an event that doesn’t concern itself with the game's final score. For example, betting on the coin flip of the super bowl or betting on an individual player's performance, or betting on how many points a team will score without reference to whether they win or lose. In general, there are three types of prop bets - player props, game props, and novelty props. All prop bets are available on the major sports books.
What is a player prop bet?
Player prop bets are bets whose outcomes depend on a player's performance. Most player props involve a key number and an over/under in which the bettor wagers whether or not the player will record more or less than the critical number of a particular stat. For example, if sportsbooks list Gerrit Cole at 8.5 strikeouts, over bettors win if he has nine or more strikeouts in the game, and under-betters win if he has eight or fewer strikeouts. Other standard player props include home runs, touchdowns, yardage totals, goals, rebounds, etc.
What is a game prop bet?
Game prop bets are bets whose outcomes depend on the teams' performance but not on the result of a game. Game props can involve a target number and over/under like player props, but they can also be moneyline bets or yes/no bets. Standard game props include the first team to score, no runs first inning (NRFI), total combined yardage, whether there will be a shutout etc.
What is a team prop bet?
Team prop bets are game props whose outcome is determined by how one team performs independently of the game’s outcome such as total points, bases, strikeouts, corners etc. For example, betting on the total number of home runs the Yankees hit is a team prop but betting on how many home runs are hit by both teams in the Yankees game is a game prop.
What are novelty props?
Novelty prop bets are bets on events unrelated to the outcome of the game, a player's performance, or a team's performance. For example, betting on which NFL team will win the coin toss to start the game is a novelty prop. The most popular novelty props take place during the Super Bowl, for example, how long will it take to sing the National Anthem or what color Gatorade will they pour on the winning coach. Typically novelty props have lower betting limits than other types of bets meaning sportsbooks will not allow large wagers on them.
What is a futures bet?
A futures bet is a bet on something that will happen in the distant future—for example betting on a Super Bowl winner before the season starts. Typically, future bets are high-risk and high-reward; the bettor has a slight chance to win, but if they do, the payout is significant.
Examples of common futures bets include Most Valuable Player (MVP), Rookie of the Year (ROY), World Series (MLB) winner, NBA Finals (NBA) champion, Stanley Cup (NHL) champion, NBA Sixth Man of the Year, NFL player with the most Touchdowns/Yards, etc. Odds for future bets are constantly changing as the event draws closer.
What is a live bet?
A live bet is a wager on a game already in progress, except now the odds and key numbers will change rapidly. For example, if the Bears are 14-point underdogs against the Packers but return the opening kickoff for a touchdown, it is now more likely that they will cover the spread, and therefore the odds will change, or since they now have seven points, the spread will certainly change. The live betting market is excellent for sharps who can identify a mispriced bet.
In the example above, it may be a good bet to take the Packers if you feel they are still the better team with the whole game still left to play, as you’ll get a better number on the spread than pre-game.
Sometimes, a sportsbook will disable live betting momentarily while a play unfolds or if a critical injury happens during the game. When a live bet is temporarily unavailable, it doesn’t affect previous bets but will make it impossible to wager until the sportsbook opens it back up on the board. It’s generally best to wait for breaks in the action (timeouts, injuries, quarter/period breaks etc.) to place live bets to have the best chance of getting the number you want.
What is a teaser bet?
A teaser bet is a type of parlay where the bettor changes the point spread or total to make a bet easier to win in exchange for a diminished payout. Teasers are most common in basketball and football. In a standard basketball teaser bet, the bettor can shift the spread or total by four points; in a standard teaser bet for football, the bettor can change the spread or total by six points.
There are a few best practices when betting teasers, with the main one being to never tease a point spread through zero (ex. teasing the Browns from -2 to +4). In a teaser bet, you are essentially paying for more points through reduced odds. Because NFL games rarely end in ties, and no other major sports league games end in ties, you are teasing through an outcome that is highly unlikely to happen.
What is a run line/puck line in sports betting?
A run/puck line is baseball’s/hockey’s equivalent of a point spread. Since baseball/hockey games are low scoring, the run/puck line is almost always - 1.5 for the favorite and +1.5 for the underdog.
The odds associated with the run/puck line will be different depending on the quality of the teams; for example, if Team A is even with Team B, then Team A might be +125 as a favorite (-1.5) on the run line, and if Team C is much better than Team D they might be -150 as an underdog (+1.5) on the run line.
Similar to the point spread, a bettor only wins if their team covers the run/puck line. If a team changes its starting pitcher after a bettor places a run-line bet, it will be voided and refunded to the bettor.
There are several alternative run/puck lines that a bettor can take, such as the five-inning run line, the alternate run/puck line, and the reverse run/puck line.
What are alternate lines in sports betting?
An alternate line is a modified spread or point total at different odds than the ‘default’ spread listed by the Sportsbook. For example, if the spread on the Eagles vs. San Francisco game is 49ers +2.5 at -105 odds, but you have a crystal ball that tells you the 49ers will win by eight, then you can take the alternate line 49ers +7.5 at +350 odds and make more money than you would have won on the default spread. Alternate lines are usually available for point spreads (including sport-specific spreads like run line or puck line) and point totals.
What sports betting terminology do I need to know?
Now that you know how to bet and what you're betting on, it's time to learn the language of sports betting. You will hear these words and phrases if you consume sports betting media or start a conversation with someone at your local bar while watching the game.
What is the vig or the juice?
Vigorish or ‘vig,’ and juice are synonyms; they are the fees sports books take for accepting bets. For example, if the Knicks are playing the Pacers with a point spread of +0 and the odds are Knicks -110 and Pacers -110, and a bettor decides they want to bet on both teams, then they wager $220 to win at most $210, the difference between the money wagered and the money won is the vig. The vig is the primary way a sports book makes money; that’s why sports books do their best to set fair odds so that all bets are equal on each side.
What is the handle in sports betting?
The handle is the amount of money wagered on a contest by all bettors. For example, if the Yankees are playing the Red Sox and Vinny Boombatz places a $10,000 bet on the Yankees while Chuck Sullivan puts $500 on the Red Sox, then the handle for the game is $10,500, assuming no one else bets on the game.
What is a bad beat?
A bad beat is when a heavy favorite loses a bet. For example, if the Chargers are up 27-0 against the Jaguars in the second quarter and a bettor wagers $1.4M at -12500 odds, but the Jaguars end up winning the game 31-30, that is a bad beat.
What are even odds?
‘Even’ odds, also known as even money, is equivalent to +100, 1.00, or 1-to-1; the payout is equal to the bet size.
What is a pick ‘em game?
A pick ‘em is a game with no favorite or underdog. The point spread is ‘even’ in a pick ‘em, and the money line odds are usually -110/-110 because the sports book still needs to make money on the vig.
What is a sharp bettor or square bettor?
A sharp bettor is another way of saying a professional sports bettor—somebody who makes money long-term by sports betting and holds an edge against the sportsbook. The opposite of a sharp bettor is a square bettor. Square bettors are people who bet for entertainment and don’t hold any significant edge against the house.
What is a hedge?
A hedge is a way sports bettors can protect themselves against loss by taking the opposite side of their original bet, ensuring a win no matter the outcome (and limiting their upside). For example, if a pre-season bettor put $100 on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl at +2080 and then the Bengals, Eagles (+240), 49ers (+350), and Chiefs (+275) were the final four teams remaining, they could put $300 on each of the Eagles, 49ers, and Chiefs and lock in at worst a $20 profit ($1,000 wagered returns $1,020 if the Eagles win).
What is an underdog?
An underdog is a team that the sportsbooks expect to lose. For example, if the point spread in the Packers-49ers game is Packers -2.5, the 49ers are the underdog because the sportsbook thinks the Packers will win.
What is a favorite?
The favorite is the team that sportsbooks expect to win. For example, if the point spread in the Packers-Eagles game is Eagles -2.5, the Eagles are the favorite because the sportsbook thinks the Packers will win by four points.
What is a straight bet?
A straight bet is an individual bet on one event. For example, if someone bets $1,000 on the Yankees to beat the Orioles with no parlay involved, that is a straight bet.
What is action?
Action is short for betting action or bet. For example, if someone says they have action on the Mariners game, they’ve placed a bet on or against the Mariners.
What is a cover?
‘Covering’ the spread means winning a points spread bet. For example, if the Packers are playing the Vikings and the point spread is Packers -3.0, but the Packers win by 21, they have covered the spread. On the other hand, if the Packers only win by two, they have not covered the spread.
What is a push?
A push is a tie. So, for example, if the Giants are six-point underdogs against the Eagles and they lose by six points, then the bet is a push, and the sportsbook refunds the wager.
Our takeaway: sports betting is fun, but please bet responsibly.
The best part of sports betting is watching the games you bet on! Sit down with your friends or family, put on the final match of your five-leg parlay (the last game you need to win before a hefty payout), and suddenly a field goal to cover the spread has the same dramatic tension as the final drive of the Super Bowl.
But sports betting is only fun when done in moderation, so never bet money you can't afford to lose, and always consider the expected value and implied odds of your bets. Happy wagering!
Lucas Babits-Feinerman
Lucas Babits-Feinerman is a writer, investor, and sports betting expert based in New York City. He has a Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics, which he uses to blend statistical analysis with traditional scouting when making bets. Currently, he is learning how to code in Python to create statistical models for the next baseball season. He lives with his partner and their two cats in Washington Heights, New York, and when he’s not writing, he loves spending time with his friends, acting, and doing stand-up comedy.