Glossary of Betting Terms

• Some of bettings most used terms explained

• The difference between a Non-Runner and a Void bet

• Is my top tip a banker or a nap? Find out here

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If you're new to sports betting then some of the terminology used can be quite alien, and you may be left thinking, "what the hell does that mean?" But you'll soon get to grips with it, and before long you'll be placing an ante-post acca or backing your Grand National selection on the nose.

But if you do want to know what those terms mean then look no further. Listed below are some of the most common terms used in the betting industry with a full explanation as to what they mean.

Accumulator (Acca)

In simple terms an accumulator is a bet consisting of at least two selections (legs) where all parts of the bet must be successful to secure a payout.

However, a bet containing just two selections is referred to as a double, while three selections is called a treble, so the term Accumulator or Acca usually refers to a bet that contains at least four selections.

Accumulators can offer bigger odds which of course means bigger winnings, but the crucial aspect to remember is that all legs of the acca must be successful; should just one selection fail to win then the bet is deemed a loser.

Ante Post

Ante Post refers to a betting market that appears well in advance of an event's scheduled start time, often meaning you can get bigger odds about your selection. Football tournaments and major horse races will have ante post markets, and in some cases years before the actual start time, but the key aspect to remember is that should your ante post selection not participate in the event then your bet will be deemed a loser.

Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting or 'arbing' is a process through which gamblers aim to make a profit by betting on all possible outcomes of an event, at different odds. Arbitrage betting involves taking advantage of the variation in odds offered by different bookmakers, and calculating an appropriate stake level that will ensure any losses are covered by winnings in all potential outcomes.

Asian Handicap

Asian handicap betting offers the possibility of split handicaps, allowing you to bet on selections that are handicapped (in order to even the field) by both whole numbers and half numbers.

Bar

If you see the word 'Bar' at the bottom of a betting market, or hear someone on TV say, "It's 10/1 Bar the rest" then 'Bar' just refers to the remaining selections in that market that haven't been quoted.

You will often see 'Bar' used on televised horse racing when the betting market is shown, simply because they can't fit all the runners on one screen. So they will show the first 10 horses in the betting, and if the 11th horse in the betting is 16/117.00, then it will say 16/117.00 Bar.

Banker

A banker is the terminology used for a very strong selection, or the leg of an accumulator that is highly likely to win. A typical example is a four-fold acca consisting of three 2/13.00 shots and a 2/71.29 chance. In this case the 2/71.29 selection is the leg that is the most fancied and - as the odds-on price suggests - very likely to win, therefore the 'banker'.

Best Odds Guaranteed

Best Odds Guaranteed means that when you take a price about a selections winning in a BOG market, should your selection win at bigger odds then your bet will be settled at the bigger odds, hece you're getting the best odds that were available.

Bet Builder

A Bet Builder is a type of bet that has become extremely popular in recent years, especially in football, and it is a form of betting that allows the customer to pick two or more selections from the same event in order to build their own bet. A team to win, a player to score anytime, and a player to be carded for example are all selections that you can add to a Bet Builder from the same football match, and all three must win for your bet to be successful.

Betting Exchange

A platform through which gamblers can bet directly against each other on a peer-to-peer betting network, rather than a bookmaker. Betting exchanges like the Betfair Betting Exchange allow lay bets to be made, as well as win and place bets, meaning that gamblers can bet on selections to lose.

Bookmaker

A bookmaker is the organisation that provides odds on the outcome of events in order to accept bets based on predictions by customers.

BTTS

BTTS stands for Both Teams To Score and is an extremely popular betting market in football matches, where you simply bet on YES (both teams in a match will score a goal) or NO (either one or both the teams in a match fails to score).

Cash Out

The Cash Out option has become very popular in online betting. It provides the customer with the option to settle a bet before it has finished, such as cashing out a five-fold accumulator when the first four legs have already won and you no longer wish to risk the fifth one winning. The Cash Out value will naturally be smaller than the amount you would get should all your selections win.

Clean Sheet

Clean Sheet is another popular term used in football betting and simply means one team preventing the opposing team from scoring a goal, hence keeping a 'clean sheet'.

Correct Score

Correct Score is a market where you have to predict what the exact score will be at the conclusion of an event. It is very popular in football betting where you can back Team A to beat Team B by a correct score of 2-0 for example, but is also popular in other sports. It is a good way of increasing potential winnings if you fancy a team or player to win easily, but would rather enhance the odds by backing the Correct Score; a tennis player to win 3-0 in sets, or a snooker player to win 5-2 in frames for example.

Double

Two single selections placed as one bet, with the odds being combined to give the bettor higher winnings. However, both selections in the bet need to come true for a payout to occur.

Double Chance

Double Chance is a way of betting that one of two possible outcomes will come true, therefore offering you a 'double chance' to win. It is very popular in football betting where instead of backing Team A, Team B or the Draw you back two of those options. For example, if you really don't fancy Team B to win the game, but can't decide whether to back Team A or the Draw, then you can back both Team A and the Draw in the Double Chance market.

Draw No Bet

Draw No Bet is when you back a team to win a football match, but if the game ends in a draw then you get your stake back. Because you get the coverage of the Draw you will sacrifice slightly better odds for the team tha you're backing to win the match.

Dutching

Dutching is the process of splitting your total stake to back a number of selections for a particular event, in order to ensure the same amount of profit if any of your selections win.

Each-way Bet

An each-way bet is available in events that feature a winner and a number of other options finishing in a sequence of places.

The bet involves a single selection but is comprised of two bets: a 'win bet' and a 'place bet'. The same selection is thereby backed to win the event at set odds, and backed to finish within a range of places at different odds. The each-way bet will provide a payout if either part of the bet proves successful.

Evens Bet

Evens is the betting term used for a 50/50 shot in an event, in that it realistically should have a 50% chance of winning and a 50% chance of losing. A successful evens bet will return double the stake placed on the bet. Odds will be displayed as 1/12.00 (fractional) or 2.001/1 (decimal).

First Goalscorer

First Goalscorer is a bet placed on a player to score the first goal in an event and is very popular in football. It is the same bet as a First Tryscorer in rugby or First Touchdown in NFL.

Fixed-odds Betting

By securing a bet at fixed odds, you guarantee that your potential returns from that bet will not change, regardless of whether or not the odds on that market fluctuate after your bet is placed.

Handicap

Handicap betting is a sytem used that allows punters to back a selection to cover a given handicap, therefore meaning you'll get better odds than you would by backing a selection just to win. In a football match for example, you could back a football team just to win the game at odds of 5/42.25, but you might want to back that team to win on the -1 Goal Handicap at 3/14.00, meaning that team has to win by at least two clear goals, hence covering the 'handicap'.

In-play Betting

In-play betting is a form of betting that has become hugely popular through online betting sites, and involves placing a bet on a particular outcome after the event has started but before the event is concluded, hence betting In-Play. It is also sometimes known as betting In-Running.

Lay Bet

To lay a bet is a general term used when a bookmaker accepts your bet, however the term 'Lay Bet' has become more popular since the creation of the Betfair Exchange. On that platform a customer can play a lay bet, which effectively means that you're backing a selection NOT to win. Laying a horse to win a race for example means that you're betting that it doesn't win the race and therefore every other horse in the race is on your side. Think of a lay bet as the exact opposite to when you back something to win; a lay bet means you're backing something not to win.

Multiples

Multiple is another words for Accumulator or Acca and simply means to put two or more selections in a bet where all selections need to win for your bet to be successful.

Nap

A 'Nap' is often used by tipsters and simply means what is in their opinion, their strongest fancy if they have put up two or more selections. The nap generally means the selection that a tipster is most confident about being successful.

Non-Runner

Non-Runner means that a participant that was originally due to take part in an event is no longer going to take part, hence being a non-runner. It is a term you will find regularly in horse racing, but it can be used in other sports too, such as when a golfer pulls out of a golf tournament then that person will be deemed a non-runner. In most cases - the day of a horse race for example - you will get your stake back if your selection becomes a non-runner.

Non-Runner Money-Back

Non-Runner Money-Back (NRMB), also known as Non-Runner No-Bet (NRNB), is a concession that bookmakers will offer on some ante-post markets and simply means that should you back a selection that doesn't take part in the event, then you will get your stake back. Bookmakers do not have to give you your stake back should a selection you back in an ante-post market become a non runner, so the NRMB concession is definitely something to look out for when punting on ante-post markets.

Odds

Also referred to as the price. Odds are the returns a bookmaker offers for a selection to win.

Odds-On

Odds-on refers to a price where the odds are less than 1/12.00 (fractional) or 2.001/1 (decimal), e.g, 2/51.40 or 1/41.25.

Odds-Against

Odds-against refers to a price where the odds are more than 1/12.00 (fractional) or 2.001/1 (decimal), e.g, 11/26.50 or 6/52.20.

On The Nose

On the nose means to back a selection to win without giving any consideration to backing it each-way. The term is more commonly used in horse racing, and it is derived from the fact that to determine the winner of a horse race, the first body part of a horse used when crossing the winning line is the nose.

Outright Bet

Generally, an outright bet simply means backing a selection to win an event, such as a horse to win a horse race, but it is often used when there are multiple betting opportunities for an event but you prefer just back the outright winner. A good example would be a football tournament. You can back a team to reach the last four, or you can back that team to win various matches within the tournament, but if you want to back that team just to win the tournament then that is an outright bet.

Outsider

The outsider in an event in literal terms means the complete opposite to the favourite, it is the least fancied participant in an event, hence the complete outsider. However, outsider can also be used when referring to a selection that doesn't have an obvious chance of winning and is among the bigger price participants to win an event.

Place Bet

A place bet involves backing a selection to finish in a particular place, or within a range of places, in an event.

Punter

A punter is the individual or customer who places a bet.

Single

A single is the simplest of all bets and means to back just one selection, whether to win or each-way, in a particular event. A football team to win a match, a horse to win a horse race, if you were just backing any of those on its own then that is called a single bet.

Spread Betting

A bet placed on the predicted movement of a market, rather than the outcome of an event. Spread betting takes place in financial markets as well as sports and politics.

Tip

The word 'Tip' can be used two-fold. In it's strongest sense it describes a selection in horse racing given out by someone with inside knowledge, someone who might have information about a horse that others don't have. Tip is also a term used more loosely by pundits and betting professional who publish their selections for casual punters to follow.

Treble

A treble bet is any combination of three selections that a bookmaker offers combined odds on. A treble works in exactly the same way as a double or accumulator in that all selections (three in the case of a treble) must win for your bet to be settled as a winner.

Underdog

The underdog refers to a team or individual that is expected to lose. It is a term that is usually given to a football team when a lower league side is playing a bigger team in a cup competition, or in individual sports when a lowly ranked player is playing one of the top-ranked players.

Void Bet

A void bet is when an event that you bet on doesn't go ahead, therefore your selection didn't have a chance to win because the event didn't take place. This may be when a race meeting is cancelled due to bad weather, or a football match called off because of a frozen pitch. Your bet is voided and your full stake is returned.

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