Glossary

Sports betting terms

A plain-English glossary for common betting terms, because sportsbooks have spent years building a vocabulary that occasionally sounds like it was designed to haze new people.

Common terms

Moneyline: a bet on which side wins the game.
Spread: a handicap applied to even out the matchup price.
Total: a bet on combined points, runs, or goals going over or under a number.
Juice / Vig: the sportsbook's built-in cut.
Implied probability: the win probability suggested by the odds.
CLV: closing line value, or how your bet price compares with the market close.
Hold: the sportsbook's expected margin across a market.
Arbitrage: using different prices across books to lock in a small edge.
Push: a tie against the betting number, where the stake is usually refunded.
Unit: a standardized bet size used for bankroll tracking.

Why this matters

If you do not understand the language, it is easier to misunderstand the bet, the price, and the risk. That tends to be an expensive way to get an education.

Sports betting terms

Common terms

Why this matters

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