Contents - Index

Terminology

11-10:  The traditional bet with a bookmaker in which the gambler puts up $11 to win $10.
Accumulator:  Parlay bet (Making simultaneous selections on 2 or more games.All selections must win for you to win the accumulator)
Action:  A bet or betting
Action Points:  This is a wager where the winnings or losses are determined by how many points a team does or doesn't cover the point spread by.
Ante Post:  Futures bet (bet placed in advance predicting the outcome of an event to be held later)
B.R.:  Bankroll 
Bad Beat:  Tough loss 
Bagman:  An intermediary who picks up and delivers money.
Bank:  The financial backer of a gambling operation.
Bankroll:  A player's total available betting money
Beard:  A proxy bettor, a front man.
Beef:  A dispute with a bookmaker regarding the accuracy of a wager
Betting Exchange:  2 persons can bet on anything they wish at whatever odds they decide on.  The winner pays a commission to the sports book.
Betting Line:  The posted list of upcoming games and their point spreads.
Black Book:  The list of undesirable people who are forbidden to enter any casino in Nevada.
Blue Box:  A device used by some bookmakers to make illegal long distance calls.
Board:  List of bets available with a sports book
Bonus Hustler:  A person who is just out to collect the bonus and has no intention of gambling.
Bookie:  The person or organization that sets the betting lines and accepts sports bets.  Used in slang and more often than not has a note of illegality about it.
Bookmaker:  A broker who accepts wagers from gamblers, usually taking a commission on losing bets booked.
Bottom Sheet:  A bookmaker's accounting of gambling debts.
Buck:  $100 
Chalk Eater:  Favorite bettor 
Chalk:  Favorite 
Churn:  The effect of betting and rebetting money 
Circle Game:  A contest in which only limited action is accepted due to uncertainties about weather, injuries, etc.
Circled:  A game is said to be circled when the maximum bet on that game is lower than normal.
Closing Line:  The final list of point spreads offered before game time.
Cover:  Winning by more than the point spread
Covering the Spread:  Beating the posted point spread.
Degenerate:  Compulsive gambler 
Dime:  $1000 
Dog:  The Underdog in the sports bet
Dollar:  $100 
Double Bet:  Betting with twice the normal wager
Earn:  Practical hold percentage 
Edge:  An advantage that one believes might improve one's ability to predict the outcome of a game.
Even Money:  Bets where the odds are 1-1
Exotic Bet:  A bet or action other than a straight bet or parlay
Fall Guy:  A guilty or innocent person who accepts the full blame for a crime in order to protect others.
Favorite:  The team that is most likely to win.
Figure:  Amount owed by or to a bookmaker 
Fixed Game:  A game in which one or more participants willfully manipulate the final outcome of a game.
Flip:  To turn state's evidence.
Form:  What performance is to be expected according to how a team or horse looks on paper 
Front Man:  One who has a facade of legitimacy but secretly represents the interests of his underworld backers.
Future Bet/Futures:  A bet accepted well in advance of the sports event
Get Down:  Make a bet 
Grease:  A bribe.
Gross Win:  Win before expenses 
Hack:  A sportswriter who provides extraordinary loyalty to a particular team or sport in order to maintain his access and sources.
Handicapper:  One who determines the conditions and sets the odds that will equalize two teams in an upcoming game.
Handle:  Total amount of bets taken 
Hedge:  Bet the opposite of your original wager in order to reduce the amount of action you have on a game 
Hedging:  Placing a bet opposite to the original bet so as to reduce the action a bettor has on a sports event
High Roller:  A high-stakes gambler.
Home Field Advantage:  The advantage or edge that a home team might have on account of familiarity with the field and on account of fan support
Home Team:  The team on whose field the game is played
Hook:  Half point in point spreads, as in ""lost by the hook"" "
Hot Game:  A game that has significant betting action on 1 side by handicappers and odds makers
Hot Tip:  Information the bookmaker is not yet privy to 
House:  The operator of any gambling business.
If Bet:  This kind of bet links 2 or more individual wagers.It instructs the sports book to place a second bet 'if' the first bet wins
Injury Report:  A description of the status of an injured player, which is frequently used as a variable in betting equations.
Inside Information:  The data obtained on a particular team or its players and/or staff that may impact upon the final outcome of a game.
Juice Collector:  One who collects the juice.
Juice:  Bookmaker's commission (Vigorish).  The money owed to a bookmaker or a loan shark.  Bookmaker's commission, most often refers to the 11 to 10 football bettors lay on straight wagers.
Lay a Price:  Bet a favorite, lay the points 
Lay:  To bet.
Layoff:  A bookmaker's bet with another bookmaker made in order to help equalize the excess action he has accepted from his customers.
Limit:  Maximum bet accepted by the house before the price will be changed 
Line:  The betting proposition on a game and/or payoff odds on the bet 
Lines Maker:  Originator of the betting line
Loan Shark:  One, usually mob-connected, who loans money at a high weekly interest rate.
Lock:  A sure winner.
Longshot:  Large underdog 
Man-to-Man Betting:  Gambling without either party taking a commission for the bet made.
Marker:  An IOU.
Middle:  To win both sides of a game.  For example, if you bet the underdog +3 1/2 and the favorite: 2 1/2 and the favorite wins by 3, you've Middled the book.  The book has Been Middled.
Middling:  Betting on both teams in a game at different point spreads, in the hope that the final score comes in between so that both bets can be won.
Minus Pool:  In pari-mutual wagering, when after the take is extracted, there is not enough money left to pay winning patrons the minimum bet.The track must then make up the difference.
Money Line:  The odds expressed in money terms
Moving the Line:  Making alterations in the line based on the volume of betting or other factors, such as injuries.
Multi-Play Wager:  A wager in which there is more than one proposition involved.  Examples are Parlays, Teasers, and Pleasers
Mutual:  Price paid on a winning pari-mutual wager 
Neutral Site:  Arena, court, or field where neither side has a home field advantage 
Newbie:  A rookie or novice to the big bad world of gambling
Nickel:  $500 
Odds Maker:  Lines maker
Odds:  The ratio of money that may be won versus the amount of money bet.
Off the Board:  Game where no bets are being accepted or have stopped being accepted.
Opening Line:  The initial list of point spreads for upcoming games.
Out:  Bookmaker, usually refers to an illegal bookmaker 
Outlaw Line:  The early, private line set by professional gamblers, which is financed, distributed, and enforced by the organized crime syndicate.
Over/Under the Total:  Betting that the combined score of two teams in a particular game will be over/under a predicted number.
Overlay:  When the odds of a given proposition are more in favor of the bettor than the house.
Pari-Mutual:  A betting system in which the amount of money paid out to winners is based upon the total pool of bets.
Parlay:  A bet with two or more teams where all the teams must win for the bettor to be successful 
Past Post:  To make a bet after an event has started 
Pen Register:  A device attached to a telephone line that maintains a record of each number dialed.
Pick or Pick'Em:  A game where neither team is favored 
Pick:  A bet recommended by a handicapper
Pigeon:  An uneducated, naive, or unsophisticated gambler.
Player:  Bettor, gambler 
Pleaser:  A single bet with multiple wagers linked together.  The point spread for each wager is adjusted against you with an increasing payout.
Point Buying:  Method of allowing the bettor to improve the point spread of a football contest by actually "buying points" for the team he/she wants to wager, side or total.
Point Spread:  A form of handicapping in which odds makers predict how many points one team needs against another in order to even out the public betting on a particular game.
Power Rating:  The numbers assigned by handicappers to a team that indicates how likely it is that the team will beat the opponent and the margin of win.
Practical Hold Percentage:  The amount won be a bookmaker divided by the total amount booked 
Press:  To bet a larger amount than usual 
Price:  Line 
Pricemaker:  An oddsmaker.
Puppy:  Underdog 
Push:  Tie 
Round Robin:  A series of parlays.  A three team round robin consists of three two-team parlays.
Rundown:  Line update 
Runner:  A messenger.
Scalper:  One who attempts to profit from the differences in odds from book to book by betting both sides of the same game at different prices 
Score:  To win a lot of money 
Scratch:  Withdraw; cancel 
Sharp:  Wise guy 
Shaving Points:  The act of one or more participants in a contest manipulating the outcome of a game so that the final score does not cover the spread.
Skim:  The cash siphoned off from an operation before it is reported.
Sports Book:  A legal sports bookmaking business.
Spread Betting:  Here, your wins and losses can be large.The bet depends on how right or wrong your prediction of the result of an event will be.
Square:  Unsophisticated gambler 
Stake:  The amount of money that is bet
Stand Off a Bet:  To tie or push.
Steam:  Heavy action on one side 
Straight Bet:  A bet on 1 team
Straw-Man:  A front man.
Sucker Bet:  Bet with a large house edge 
Take a Price:  Bet the underdog, take the points 
Taking a Lead:  An early bet with a favorable price in anticipation of a subsequent movement in the line.
Tapped Out:  Broke, busted, common result of pressing 
Teaser:  A single bet with multiple wagers linked together.  The point spread for each wager can be adjusted in your favor.
Thrown Game:  A game lost intentionally by a participant.
Toss Up:  Game where the line is close to pick-em 
Total:  The number set by a sports book as the total points to be scored by both teams during a match.
Tote Betting:  Combining all bets for a given event into a pool.The pool is then divided among winning bettors after deducting the house fees.
Tote Board:  A device that posts teams, contests, and either the odds or the line.
Tout Service:  A business that sells opinions on sporting events 
Tout:  An individual of questionable credentials who sells his predictions of the outcomes of games.
Underdog:  The team that is not favored to win.
Underlay:  When the odds on a proposition are in favor of the house 
Unnatural Money:  Large wagers that suddenly appear against the conventional wisdom of the oddsmakers and handicappers.
Value:  Best available odds on a betting proposition
Value:  An overlay 
Vigorish:  Bookmaker's commission (Juice).  The money owed to a bookmaker or a loan shark.  Bookmaker's commission, most often refers to the 11 to 10 football bettors lay on straight wagers.
Wagering Stamp:  A federal occupational tax for gamblers.
Welch:  To refuse to pay off a bet already made and lost.
Wise Guy:  Established and successful sports bettor.