To be a confident and successful sports better it is good to have a solid knowledge of the sports betting and bookies terminology being used. In the long run you are going to make more profit if you understand the lingo that is being used at the local bookmakers, or when you are sports betting online. The good thing is that it is easy to learn and will quickly all make sense. In no time you are going to be using sports terminology like a pro and reaping the financial rewards that having a deeper understanding of the industry brings with it. If you are ever unsure of something, use this guide as a starting point and you will be sports betting like a wise guy in no time.

Parlay (Accumulator)

Parlay is also known as an accumulator or even a combo bet. A parlay is one bet that combines multiple individual bets together, and each of these individual bets must win for the overall parlay to pay out. Obviously it is harder to win a parlay than with an individual bet, so the odds are higher and the pay offs are therefore much more lucrative.

Over/Under

This is a popular fixed odds option in sports betting. It is common in football but can be found in a wide variety of sports. Basically punters bet on the total amount of points that are scored in a game. For example, the bookmakers may have offered a line of 2.5 in a football game. This means that if a total of 3 goals are scored in the game (no matter which team scored them, or who won), then punters that bet over 2.5 win on the bet, while those that bet under 2.5 lose this time.

Round Robin

A Round Robin is a way of conveniently combining multiple parlays into one single bet. Despite round robins being widely available at bookmakers and sports betting online, they are not an overly popular option within sports betting. An example of a round robin bet is a wager with three selections consisting of ten bets – 1 treble, 3 up and down SSA pairs, and 3 doubles. Online calculators are available to help work out odds and picks for a round robin.

Underdog

Also known as the dog, the underdog is the team or participant that the odds makers have marked down as the most likely to lose in an event. As such they will have the highest odds to make betting on them more attractive. The underdog does sometimes come in and the pay-outs can be fantastic. As such there are punters who consistently bet on the underdogs and are sometimes known in sports terminology as the dog player. The opposite of the underdog is the favourite – also known among other things as the chalk. The favourite is the participant that the book makers think is the most likely to win, and who will attract the smallest odds. You may hear a punter who always bets on the favourite called the chalk player.

Odds

There are a few betting terms to be aware of when it comes to odds. First the key term, odds is the amount that a bookmaker will pay out to a punter if their bet was the correct one. Evens is a common term, and is a bet with odds of 1/1. This means that if a punter bets a pound and wins then they win a pound back, this is also called even money. Odds on is a bet that is below evens. This means that if a punter wins their bet, the pay-out will be less than what they wagered. Odds against is the opposite of odds on, this means that the odds are better than evens.

Underdog, round robin, and other sports bet terminologies you need to know!