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Sports Betting Term Glossary

October 18, 2023 By Shafeeq

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If you’re starting to pick up an interest in sporting online betting, regardless of what sport you’re most engaged in you will most likely agree on the fact that it can add a whole lot of excitement to an already exciting game or fixture. 

But at the same time, online betting is something that can be confusing and hard to grasp when you’re just getting started. In this text we’re going to provide some common phrases and expressions that are common on gambling websites. This should however not be considered an online betting guide, something that you instead can find by clicking on the provided link. 

Odds 

The odds are a calculation of how likely an event is to occur, while also informing the player on how much they will receive if they place a winning bet. If the odds are 5.0, that means that the bookmaker in question is expecting this outcome to happen once every five times. It also means that the player will receive 5x what they wager. This is one of the most common ways for odds to be set up, but any time that you read or hear the word “odds” it means how likely something is to occur. One thing to keep in mind is that unless specified, bets are always concluded at the end of regular time. 

Parlays (combination bets) 

This is something that can have a different name depending on what bookmaker you’re using, but they refer to the same thing. A parlay, or combination bet as it’s sometimes called, is a form of betting where the player can put together a combination of different things that can happen during a game to then increase their odds. This is something that is more tailored towards experienced bettors, or those looking to add a bit more complexity to their gambling.

An example of a parlay can be as follows: Manchester United wins against Aston Villa, there are at least 3 goals scored in the game, Christiano Ronaldo has at least two shots on goal, and there are less than 6 corners awarded to Aston Villa. Even though all of these things are relatively likely to occur, all of them happening in one game is much less likely, and the player therefore receives higher odds and the chance to win more money. 

Over/Under 

This is a form of betting that is very popular in America but is starting to get more and more traction in other parts of the world as well. Over/Under bets are a form of wagering where the player decides whether something will happen or not. 

An over/under bet can look something like this: The Lions will score 6 touchdowns against the Dolphins. By taking the Over you think that they will score more than 6 touchdowns, while taking the under implies that you believe they will score less than 6 touchdowns. Taking the over means that you think something will happen, while taking the under means the opposite, and many bettors use this in everyday conversations.