10 Sports Betting Terms Every Bettor Should Know

If asked how they started betting, most bettors will have varying responses. Some may respond by suggesting that they just got on with it when they discovered the beauty of putting your money where your mouth is.

Others will be more specific by recounting how they “practically stumbled” their way through “the process.” To put the icing on the cake, they’ll talk about how there were no special learning classes, tutorials or anything related to being schooled about what each term means, which sports team – or sportsman – to back and how to go about betting generally.

If you’re a bettor, you most likely can find your way around a bet shop or your favorite sports betting platform without help. But you most likely had the same “newbie” experience too, right? We all did! Now before you disregard this post because of its title and how much you think you know, think again.

No one really knows it all. There’s a chance you will learn something new while reading this. No doubt.

For those new to betting, feel free to read – and re-read – this article whose kind you’ll very rarely find anywhere else. No kidding. And while you’re at it, you may want to start thinking of opening your own account to try your new-found knowledge.

When it comes to betting, you should know that there are several different markets made available to you the customer by a sports betting platform. These markets give you the flexibility that comes with having a wide range of choices.

These markets can be identified by some specific terms used in the betting industry. While some of these terms are self-explanatory, some others aren’t exactly so. And that’s where we come in.

In this article, we’ll be describing some select terms which, from several years of betting experience, we feel every bettor should know.

1. Accumulator

Betting involves making a lot of choices or exploring different available markets. You may however find more than one event you’d like to back. With an accumulator or an accumulator bet, you can combine two or more wagers (games/markets) in one bet slip. With this, you can take advantage of the combined odds which potentially means bigger winnings instead of staking on individual games.

2. Double and Treble Bets

These are variations of an accumulator bet but it involves combining any two, three or more selections that a bookmaker offers. It means while you stake on games individually, these games are also combined in one bet slip, with your stake spread across the number of selections made.

3. In-Play Betting

This describes a market wherein you can place bets on games as they’re being played. You don’t necessarily have to forget about a game if it has already kicked off. With in-play betting, you can still place a wager on such game.

4. Place Bets

When you’ve made a selection of games, especially if you’re playing online, you’ll see an icon indicating that you should place bet. This means that you need to enter the amount you’re willing to stake on such selection and then “place your bet.” Of course your account has to be funded before you can do this.

5. Outrights

You know how you can place bets on a single game? With outrights, it’s different: you can place a wager on a whole tournament, instead of an individual game in the tourney. You predict the winner of, let’s say, a Grand Slam tournament, a golf tourney or even the FIFA World Cup before the competition gets started.

And what if the tournament is already under way? You can still predict who the eventual winner will be with outrights.

6. Handicap

This is a market associated with sports such as football, rugby, basketball. While you can find different variations of handicap – one being Asian Handicap – it simply means giving a virtual advantage or disadvantage to one team, one group of competitors or the others.

For example, you can give a football team a two-goal lead – or a two-goal deficit. It is available before the game starts and also in-play betting.

7. Virtual Sports

If you’re looking to make some quick money instead of waiting for the whole duration of a game, then this is for you. Made possible by computer simulations, virtual sports gives you the opportunity place a wager on a game or an event – whether football or dog racing – and get the outcome within 2-3 minutes.

8. Total Goals/Match Points

Depending on the sport, this term refers to a market which gives you the chance to place a wager on the total points/goals that will be scored in a game. There are usually varying lines – Over/Under 2.5 Goals, Over /Under 1.5 – but they all mean the same thing: more or less goals than the number indicated.

9. Half-Time/Full Time

This means that you can simultaneously place a wager on what the results of both halves of an event will turn out to be. It applies to sports like football, basketball and rugby.

When separated, (1^st Half or 2^nd Half) it means you can choose which half you want to place your wager on. You may decide to predict the outcome of events in the third quarter of a basketball game or put your money on the events in the first half of a game.

10. 1 X 2

Simply put, this is what you’ll see when trying to predict the winner of a game. 1 signifies the home team, X signifies a draw and 2 signifies the away side. Then there’s Double Chance which means that you can err on the side of caution.

You can find Double Chance on sports betting platforms in this format: 1X which means a Home Team Win/Draw, X2 which means Away Team Win/Draw, and 12 which means Home Team Win/Away Team Win.

There you go. 10 betting terms you now know more about. No need to be confused again when you stumble on these terms on any sports betting platform.

P.S.: This is not an exhaustive list. It just touches on some of the betting terms available out there. Just in case you come across anything you’re not familiar with, please reach out to us by leaving a comment on this post.

You can be sure that we will help you out in whatever way we can. That’s how much we care about you and your betting business 🙂

Tags: sports betting terms