Sportsbook Glossary

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Here at Sportsbook Gurus we have created a page to go over some of the words and terms you will encounter when deciding on an online sportsbook provider to deposit money with and begin wagering on, a Sportsbook Glossary. It is important to review some of, if not all of these terms before making wagers on sporting events and using betting methods that are unfamiliar. USA Sports and Sportsbook Gurus have combined forces to establish the basic rules and principles of different betting options and methods found on online sportsbook websites. Scroll down and review these terms, then check out our list of Online Sportsbooks and pick a new online sportsbook to join today.

Action - Action simply means to have a bet in progress.

Chalk - The favorite team, Horse, or Athlete in a wager.

Across the Board - A method of wagering on a horse to win, place, or show.

ATS (Against The Spread) - The action of Taking points rather than "laying points" on an individual game.

Bad Beat - An unexpected loss of a wager.

Bookmaker, Sportsbook, Bookie - an establishment that excepts forms of betting options.

Chalk Player - A player that always plays the favorite to win, and rarely selects the underdog.

Cover - To beat the point spread given in a certain wager.

Dime Line - A bet that the juice is set at 10%.

Dog Player - A sports better that almost always takes the underdog.

Exotic - Any wager other than a straight up bet or point spread line.

Favorite - The team favored to win an event.

Underdog - The Team favored to lose an event.

Handicapper - One that studies and rates different sporting events.

Juice - The percentage of winnings an sportsbook earns.

Lines - Another term for Odds.

Hot Game - A game that is receiving lots of attention from know sports gamblers.

Nickel Line - A sports bet line in which the Juice is 5%.

Pick'em - A game where neither team is favored to win the game.

Push - When a contest ties, usually indicating the wager is now void.

Square - A novice in the sports betting world.

Ticket - A sports betting wager.

Value - Getting the best odds possible on a single wager.

Over and Under - An Over and Under bet is another type of betting method commonly used by players at Online Sportsbooks. This standard type of betting method is available for all sporting events. An online sportsbook will provide a total number of runs, points, goals, scored in a game. The player than has the option to select whether the total combined number of runs, points, goals by both teams will be under or over the provided sportsbook total.

Round Robin - Round Robin bets are another form of multi-team bets that involve from 3 to 10 teams in one wager. The number of teams selected are than combined to make as many 2 team parlays as possible. In this form of bet the amount you bet is the amount you bet on each two team parlay. For instance if you are betting $200 on 4 teams the total amount wagered is $800. If one team happens to lose than all parlays involving that bet lose. The risk on all two team parlays are the same as Parlay Bets (2.6/1).

Reverse Bets - A reverse bet simply switches the favorite to the underdog and the underdog to the favorite. If a team you want to select to win a game is considered the underdog and is receiving points on the game line. A reverse bet allows the player to select that underdog team as a favorite to win and will have the game lines reversed making the odds increase, and the underdog now has to cover a point spread instead of receiving points to win. This form of betting is designed to increase odds and allow the player to decide which team should be the underdog or the favorite to win.

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