There are so many terms used in the betting world that we decided to dedicate some of our time to writing a Betting Terms Explained article. This is by no means a conclusive list to start with, but as we go along, and run across new betting terms that haven’t been fully explained or are commonly misunderstood, we’ll add them to this ever expanding article on Betting Terms Explained.
If you are new to betting or a seasoned pro that has found a new piece of terminology, you can check out our Betting Glossary where Betting Terms are Explained.
- Accumulator: A Cumulative Bet where the bettor designates a selection in several races or events and bets on the first one; if he wins, the winnings become his bet on the next; and so on
- Action: A bet or wager of any kind is deemed Action if valid. Different rules apply in different sports in determining if a bet is action or no action
- Also Ran: Any selection not finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a race or event
- Arbitrage: Where a variation in odds available allows a punter to back both sides and guarantee a win
- Betting Exchange: A betting exchange is a form of bookmaking in which the operator offsets its risk perfectly through technology, such that the effect to the customer is that customers are seen to bet between themselves. Coined because of its apparent similarities to a stock exchange – it is often defined as “a stock exchange for bets”
- Bookmaker: A person or company who accepts bets from the public, usually on racing or sports events (also known as a “bookie”)
- BSP: The Betfair SP, this is the price returned by Betfair who allow you to place bets at BSP, if your horse is favourite or short odds then BSP might not be better after commission, but if your horse is higher in the betting you will likely make more by betting at BSP
- Double: A bet consisting of two selections, both of which must win for the wager to be successful
- Dutching: When a punter places more than one selection in a race, or any fixed odds betting medium, to glean the same amount of profit from any winner
- Each-Way: A bet which consists of two wagers. The first is for the selection to win and the second is for the selection to place (2nd 3rd or 4th depending on the race), at a proportional price
- Evens: Odds of 1 to 1
- Favourite: The competitor considered most likely to win and therefore has the shortest or lowest odds
- Forecast: A wager that involves correctly predicting the 1st and 2nd for a particular event, note: this bet can be reversed
- Form: Past performances used to give an indication of the competitor’s chances
- Lay Bet: A bet that is placed predicting the team or horse will lose instead of win
- Nap: The selection that racing correspondents and tipsters nominate as their strongest selection of the day or meeting
- Odds: Odds are the bookmaker’s view of the chance of a competitor winning
- Picks: The selections chosen by an expert to bet on
- Reverse Forecast: 2 bets where you are backing the 2 horses to finish 1st and 2nd in any order
- Spread Betting: A bet is won or lost according to whether you correctly predict the result of an event (also known as “action line” or “money line”). Returns or losses are calculated in proportion to how right or wrong the bettor is, and can lead to huge returns or losses
- Starting Price: In betting, unless a better requests otherwise, all wagers are settled at starting price (SP). The SP is arrived at by taking the average available in the betting ring on the racecourse, shortly before the “off”
- Tipster: A person who gives or sells to betters his estimate of likely winners of a race, game or event
Get Involved – Add Your Betting Term
If you find a betting term that is not in the above list but want to get it added, please add a comment with the name of the Betting Term to be added and it’s explanation or definition. Those that get involved in adding new Betting Terms to the above list will be mentioned at the bottom of this article in a ‘thank you’. We will also link your name, in the ‘thank you’ mention, so that it goes back to your URL. This will be our way of thanking you for getting involved and helping to make the list grow.
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Betting Terms Explained Acknowledgements
- Our first big thank you of acknowledgement goes out to Bet Fanatic’s #1 fan, who we’ve taken on board as an author of articles. He helped put this list of Betting Terms Explained together for Bet Fanatic. Thank You Jon!
- The Betting Term BSP was submitted by Darren Power from Betting School, where betting software, systems and strategies are tested and reviewed. Thank You Darren!
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BSP – The Betfair SP, this is the price returned by Betfair who allow you to place bets at BSP, if your horse is favourite or short odds then BSP might not be better after commission, but if your horse is higher in the betting you will likely make more by betting at BSP
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