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Sports Gambling: Sports Betting Glossary
| The following is a list of terms and phrases that are commonly heard in the sports gambling industry. The list is displayed in alphabetical order. This list is an especially good tool for those of you new to the sports betting realm. | |
| Action | A bet or wager. |
| Back Door | A cover in the waning moments of a game. |
| Bad Beat | A wager lost by unusual circumstances. |
| Book | A betting establishment that sets odds and accepts wagers on the outcome of sporting events. |
| Chalk | A favorite. |
| Circled Game | A game in which the sports book reduces its normal betting limit, usually because of an injury or weather condition. |
| Cover | A point spread win. |
| Dime | $1,000 |
| Dime Line | A money line in which the vigorish or "juice" amounts to ten percent. |
| Dog | The underdog or the team getting points. |
| Dollar | $100 |
| Exotic Wager | Any wager other than a straight bet or parlay (also referred to as a proposition or prop). |
| Exposure | The maximum amount of money a sports book stands to lose on a game. |
| Figure | Amount owed to or by a bookmaker. |
| Future Bet | Bets accepted well in advance. Example: Betting on which team will win the World Series before the MLB season even starts. |
| Get Down | Place a bet. |
| Handicapper | A person who studies factors such as statistics, injuries and weather to predict the outcome of games against the betting line. |
| Handle | Total amount of money wagered. |
| Hedge | To reduce amount of action by wagering on the opposite side of a previous bet. |
| Hook | A half point. |
| Juice | Amount of commission kept by the book (also referred to as vigorish or vig). |
| Line | The odds or point spread on a game. |
| Lock | Term used by dishonest handicappers meaning a pick cannot lose (there really is no such thing). |
| Matador | A cover that occurs in the waning moments of a game (also referred to as a back door cover). |
| Middle | Betting both sides of a game at different prices with the hope of winning both wagers. Example: A bettor played Dallas - 4 & Detroit + 6 and Dallas won by 5. The bettor won both wagers. Also known as trying to "catch a middle". |
| Money Line | Odds expressed in terms of money. Example: Flyers - $140; Devils + $130. Flyers bettors would lay $140 to win $100, while Devils bettors would get $130 for every $100 they bet if the Devils won. |
| Nickel | $500 |
| Odds-on Favorite | A horse, team or individual so favored by the public that the odds are less than even. |
| Off the Board | A game on which bookmakers are not accepting wagers (generally because of injuries). |
| Overlay | A situation in which the odds on a game favor the bettors rather than the books. |
| Over & Under | A bet in which you wager if the total score by both teams will be more or less than the total posted by the sports book. |
| Parimutuel | Betting pools in which the odds are determined by the proportionate amounts bet on the individual entries. |
| Parlay | A combination wager in which the person has to wager on at least two or more bets and collects higher odds (all bets must win). |
| Pick'em | The game is rated even with no favorite. |
| Point Spread | The predicted scoring differential between two opponents listed by a sports book. |
| Proposition (Prop) Bet | A wager offered by the sports book on a particular aspect of the game, such as how many touchdown passes Peyton Manning will throw. |
| Push | A point spread tie (no money is won or lost). |
| Round Robin | A method of parlaying two or more teams in all possible two-team parlay combinations. |
| Sharp | A sophisticated or professional sports bettor. |
| Square | A novice sports bettor. |
| Steam | Heavy action on one side of a game. |
| Straight Bet | One wager (as opposed to a parlay). |
| Sucker Bet | Any bet that bookmakers use to entice squares to bet more (Parlays, teasers or exotics). |
| Teaser | A sucker bet that allows bettors to add and subtract points from posted odds. |
| Tout Service | A company that sells selections on games (most are dishonest). |
| Underlay | A situation in which the odds on a game favor the books rather than the bettors. |
| Vigorish (Vig) | Amount of commission kept by the book (also referred to as juice). |
| Wager | Bet. |
| Wise Guy | A professional sports bettor. |
| Dwayne's Message |
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| Dwayne's Best Bet Record |
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Since switching to the daily free picks/weekly Best Bet format, Dwayne's documented Best Bet record is:
6-2
75% Winners! See Dwayne's blog for these Best Bets and their analysis. Dwayne posts the Best Bets to his blog just 10 minutes after the games start (check the time stamps with each post), so everyone can monitor his Best Bet record.
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