Sports Betting Terms Explained With Examples (2024) — Your Easy Betting Glossary

Regardless of whether you've just started dabbling in online gambling or are a seasoned punter, familiarising yourself with the most common sports betting terms can set you up for long-term success at your trade.

In this article, we've simplified betting jargon to help you bet more confidently on your favourite sports and matches.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘A’

Absent Hurt

This betting term refers to a player (part of the playing XI) who is injured and can no longer bat.

Accumulator

A bet that consists of two or more selections clubbed together to form a single wager is an accumulator bet. Here, all the selections (also referred to as “legs”) of the accumulator must win for the bet to be a winner. Even if one selection fails to win, you'll lose the accumulator bet.

A classic example of an accumulator would be “India to win against South Africa; Australia to win against England; and Rashid Khan to take more than 1.5 wickets”.

Acca Insurance

This insurance is offered by some of the leading international betting sites on accumulator bets. Should any one selection within the accumulator fail to win, the bookmaker will refund your bet amount either in free bets or cash.

Acca Boost

This is a betting promotion that lets you win significantly more on a successful accumulator bet if it contains a minimum number of selections (usually three or more).

Also Ran

Widely used in horse and greyhound racing, this term refers to an athlete or a horse who participates in a race but does not finish among the top positions.

Arbitrage

It means placing opposing wagers on the same event at two different betting sites, which means you will bet on both possible outcomes of a single event. Arbitrage is a strategy used to guarantee a profit regardless of the outcome of the match in question, although the profit margin will be narrow.

For example, you bet on India to win vs. South Africa with the first bookmaker and place another wager on South Africa to defeat India with another bookie.

Asian Handicap

Mostly commonly used in football, Asian Handicap is a betting market where one team is either afforded a head start or given a slight disadvantage before the match even begins to make it an evenly contested affair. Asian handicap removes the possibility of a draw, so you're only left with two outcomes to bet on.

Please remember that Asian Handicap is an advanced bet option, so we suggest you steer clear of it unless you're really confident of your grasp on this market.

All-Out

This cricket betting term refers to a team losing all 10 wickets, which brings their innings to a close.

Ante Post

This sports betting term applies to horse and greyhound racing. An ante-post bet is one that's placed prior to the opening of a particular race's betting market in the hope that the current odds will eventually turn out to be more favourable than the odds published when the course's betting market opens.

Usually, ante-post bets are placed a day prior to the race. However, there's always a risk involved with ante-post bets: should the horse or greyhound fail to run the race, your bet will be forfeited entirely rather than returned.

American Odds

A format of odds usually only used by American bookies to cater to punters based out of the United States. Also called moneyline odds, American odds are built around either winning or wagering $100 on a particular event, with the odds prefixed with a ‘plus' (+) or a ‘minus' (-) sign to indicate the underdogs and favourites, respectively.

For example, odds of +120 mean you can win $120 on a $100 bet on an underdog, while odds of -135 would mean that in order to win $100, you'd have to bet $135.

Average

This cricket betting term applies to both batsmen and bowlers. Batting average is calculated by a batsman's total runs scored divided by the number of times he's been dismissed. Bowling average, on the other hand, is the number of runs conceded by the bowler for every wicket taken.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘B’

Back a Bet

This is the traditional wager that you place on the outcome of a given market. For example, you bet on India to win a match. If the men in blue win, your bet will be a winner.

Banker

This is simply any bet that is almost certain to win. However, the standard health warning applies: sports and sports betting are both unpredictable, and anything can happen on matchday.

In cricket betting terms, a classic example of a banker would be betting on India to win against Nepal in an ODI.

Batting Strike Rate

For a batsman, strike rate is defined as the average runs scored per 100 balls faced. The batting strike rate is an indicator of how quickly a batsman can score runs in a game. While this is an important metric to assess a batter's ability to pile on quick runs, it is of secondary importance in Test cricket, where run-scoring needs to be grittier and more sustained over the five days.

Batting strike rate = Number of runs scored/balls faced x 100

Bowling Strike Rate

It is defined as the average number of legal deliveries bowled for every wicket taken by the bowler. The lower the bowling strike rate, the better the bowler is at picking wickets quickly.

For instance, if a bowler's strike rate is 15, that would mean he gets a wicket every 15 balls bowled on average.

Bad Beat

It is a bet that would have won if not for a last-minute event that didn't go in your favour, thereby leading to your bet losing.

Bankroll & Bankroll Management

Bankroll is the money that you set aside for online betting. Bankroll management is a strategy to monitor your betting funds to maximise profits and minimise losses.

Bet

The act of placing a wager (putting your money) on the outcome of an event with a bookmaker.

Bet Builder

In sports betting terms, a bet builder is a promotion offered by bookies that lets you combine multiple wagers on a single event into one bet. As an example, in an India vs. Australia match, a bet builder helps you combine the following wagers: bet on India to win; Virat Kohli to score more than 22.5 runs; and Jasprit Bumrah to take more than 1.5 wickets.

Bet Calculator

A simple online tool that shows your potential winnings based on the money you stake and the odds of the event.

Bet Slip

This is like a bill where you can check out all the bets you placed along with other details such as date, time, betting event, betting stake, and potential winnings.

Betting Exchange

A betting exchange site is an online platform that allows peer-to-peer gambling. Here, you can ‘back' a particular outcome to happen or even ‘lay' that outcome (bet on it not happening). A betting exchange allows you to go up against fellow punters instead of a traditional bookmaker.

Betting Strategy

An approach where a detailed analysis is performed by taking into consideration all the stats, recent form, and the likely outcomes of the match before placing a bet on any event.

Bookmaker

Also abbreviated as ‘bookie', bookmaker is the betting site that accepts your bets on events and pays out the amount when you win.

Betting Markets

These refer to the several betting options available to you for betting on cricket online. Each betting market is centered around probable outcomes in a match, which the bookmaker decides based on the teams and players' performances.

Bowled

One of the most common betting terms in cricket, ‘bowled' refers to the dismissal of a batsman when the ball hits the stumps.

Big Bash League

The Big Bash League (BBL) is the top-flight franchise-based T20 cricket league played in Australia annually. This professional T20 competition was developed by Cricket Australia in 2011.

Bangladesh Premier League

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is a professional T20 cricket competition held annually in Bangladesh.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘C’

Cash-Out

Cash-out is a feature that allows you to end your bet early on the outcome of an event and get a sum of money determined by the current odds, regardless of the final outcome of the event in question.

Cashback

Cashbacks refer to a percentage of the wagered amount that a bookie refunds when you lose a bet or a series of bets.

Century

A term used when a batsman scores 100 or more runs in a single innings.

Caribbean Premier League

The Caribbean Premier League is a professional T20 cricket competition held annually in the Caribbean. It is the West Indies’ leading domestic T20 league established in 2013, replacing the former Caribbean Twnety20.

Chalk

Simply another term tht refers to the favourites to win a match or a race.

Closing Line

This refers to the final odds offered on a betting market before an event starts. Closing line is also called pre-match odds. But do you know how bookmakers calculate betting odds for events?

Commission

A small fee a betting exchange charges for winning bets.

Correct Score

A betting market where you must accurately predict the exact final score of a match. The correct score market almost only applies to football.

Cricket Analysis

Cricket analysis refers to probing into the multiple data points and cricket stats, including teams and players' past performances, player form, H2H stats, and playing conditions, to gain insights for predicting the outcomes of betting markets.

Cricket Session Betting

Session betting refers to betting on outcomes of cricketing events that are limited by time period or any other condition. For example, “India to score over 45 runs in the first six overs” can be a good example of a cricket session bet.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘D’

Decimal Odds

A format for displaying betting odds, expressed in decimal. This format is widely followed in India among all the INR betting sites that cater to the country's punters. With decimal odds, the total potential returns can be arrived at by simply multiplying the odds by the stake.

For example, if you bet ₹100 on odds of 2.40, your returns will be ₹240. Which means your net profit = ₹140 (₹240 – ₹100 stake).

Dog

Also referred to as underdogs, these are bets (on teams or players) that are not expected to win a match (or any other event) and thus carry high odds.

Double-Header

When two games are scheduled consecutively on the same day.

Draw

This refers to any match or contest that ends without a clear winner being declared.

Double Chance

Usually relevant only in football betting, a double chance bet allows you to wager on any of the three following combinations: Team A to win or draw; Team A or Team B to win; Team B to win or draw. As the name suggests, this kind of bet doubles your chances of winning, which is why double chance bet odds are always lower than the traditional 1X2 market.

Draw No Bet

A draw no bet eliminates the possibility of a draw from a betting market, so you're left only with two options: betting on Team A to win or Team B to win. If the match ends in a draw, your stake is refunded.

Drift

When the odds on an event are said to be drifting, it means that the particular event or selection's winning probability is increasingly perceived to be lower by bookmakers.

DRS

Probably one of the most commonly used cricket betting terms, DRS (or Decision Review System) is used to challenge the on-field umpires' decisions.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘E’

Each-Way

A bet that covers two possibilities within a single wager: either the backed team wins or gets a placed position, resulting in a win for your bet.

Edge

This refers to the advantage a punter has, either through thorough cricket analysis or access to insights not available to the general public, over the bookmaker before placing the bet.

Even Money

When you place a bet and, in return, get returns equal to the amount you wagered. So, if you bet ₹100 and win ₹200, it will be considered an even-money bet.

Exotic Bet

These are bets on extremely specific and often complex outcomes in a match or event. Calling exotic bets correctly can be difficult, which is why they have very high odds.

Exposure

The probability or potential financial loss a bookmaker or bettor faces on a particular event or wager. For a punter, exposure refers to the amount staked, whereas for an operator, it is the total amount of money they might lose on that particular betting market.

Enhanced Odds

Also called boosted odds, this is a betting promotion that bookies offer whereby odds on an event go up significantly higher than the actual odds offered initially.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘F’

Favourite

A team that has the highest chance of winning a match.

Futures Bet

This refers to a bet that you place on the outcome of future matches and events. These can be match outcomes, player props, or tournament winners.

Free Bet

Offered as a promotion by leading sportsbooks, a free bet is a wager with zero risk, with the major difference from a traditional bet is that here you only take home the returns from your bet, but not the stake. Free bets come with terms and conditions, which you should go through in detail before signing up for such an offer. Once your betting wallet is credited with free bets, you'll have to use them within a specific time period on select events.

Fixed Odds

These refer to betting odds that do not change after the bet is placed, which means that fixed odds are not subject to potential fluctuations in the future.

Fractional odds

Also called British odds, fractional odds, such as 2/1 or 3/1, display the potential profit relative to the stake. A wager of £100 on fractional odds of 3/1 will yield a profit of £300 plus your initial stake of £100.

First Ball Dot or Not

This is a betting market where you will have to accurately predict whether the first ball of a match or an innings will be a dot (no runs) or not.

First Innings 50

This is a betting market where you will have to accurately predict whether a batsman will score 50 runs in his or her first innings.

First Over Total Runs

A bet on the total runs scored in the first over of a match or an innings.

First Wicket/Dismissal Method

A fan favourite that requires you to bet on how the first dismissal of the match will be affected: bowled, stumped, run-out, or being trapped LBW (leg before wicket). Although this market mostly depends on luck, it helps to analyse the batsman and bowler's playing style.

Also important is knowing the match format. For example, in an ODI, chances are the first wicket will never come by stumping, as the bowling team's captain will likely always go for pacers to open the bowling.

Similarly, if you have a left-arm fast bowling outswingers in an ODI, the chances of the first wicket falling through a catch taken by the wicketkeeper increase dramatically.

Follow-on

A vital part of cricket betting terminology, a follow-on is a situation where a team that batted second in a Test match and scored massively less than the team batting first is forced to bat their second innings immediately after the first.

Fold

This is a very common sports betting term that refers to the number of selections (or legs) within an accumulator bet.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘G’

Game Total Bet

A bet on the combined score of both teams or the total aggregate score of the match.

Googly

A variation of spin that leg-spinners bowl, where the ball turns in the opposite direction—the ball comes in for right-handers and moves out for left-handers.

Goliath Bet

This kind of bet comprises a total of 247 bets spanning across eight selections. This large bet includes the following: 28 double bets, 56 treble bets, 70 four-fold accas, 56 five-fold accas, 28 six-fold accas, eight seven-fold accas, and one eight-fold acca.

The Goliath bet is as expensive as it is complex, considering it contains as many as 247 bets across eight selections. You should therefore only ever think about this bet if you're a seasoned punter with deep expertise and even deeper pockets.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘H’

Half-Time Bet

This is a market where you will have to accurately predict the outcome of a match at halftime. A half-time bet applies to football and hockey, and solely focuses on the result after the first half (not the final result).

Handicap & Handicapper

This refers to a virtual disadvantage (or handicap) assigned by a bookmaker to a team (or player) to make the contest even. For example, the favourites to win a game will have points removed (also called a negative handicap) from the final score, while the weaker team will have points added to their tally.

A handicapper is the one who sets handicaps for events.

High Roller

A very important part of the everyday betting glossary, a high roller simply refers to a punter with deep pockets who consistently stakes big money in the hope of earning even bigger rewards. While this concept is popular in sports betting, we at Cricket Betting Advice suggest taking it slow and only betting what you can afford to lose.

Being a high roller comes with its fair share of risks, the primary being the high possibility of losing big-money stakes on wagers that don't end up winning.

Hedge

This betting strategy is aimed at risk mitigation and requires you to place opposing wagers on the same market to reduce your exposure and limit losses. Arbitrage betting is a fine example of how to hedge your bets.

Home Advantage

A regular feature in sports betting terminology, this simply refers to the advantage that a particular team enjoys when playing at home due to them knowing the ground, playing conditions, supporters, and nature of the wicket like the back of their hands.

Heinz Bet

This kind of bet comprises 57 wagers spanning six selections. The 57 bets that make up the Heinz are: 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-fold accas, six five-fold accas, and one six-fold acca.

Naturally, a Heinz is a very expensive and complex betting option, and you should only go for it if you're absolutely confident of the sport or the market in question. Since it consists of 57 bets, even a ₹100 unit stake will total to ₹5,700, which is big money.

Highest Total First 6 Overs

This is a betting market where you bet on which team can score the most runs in the first six overs.

Highest Opening Partnership

This is a betting market where you have to predict which team's opening pair will put up the most runs on the board.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘I’

In-Play Betting

Also known as live betting, here you bet on live action while the match is still underway. This variation of the standard pre-match bet is much more exciting and immersive, where the betting odds are dynamic in response to changing match situations in the middle.

Innings

A fixed period of play in a game where one team attempts to score runs while the other team aims to bowl out their opponents.

Indian Premier League

Arguably the world's most popular cricket league, the Indian Premier League (commonly known as the IPL), is the country's top-of-the-shelf T20 cricket competition played annually. This franchise-based league's maiden season was played in 2008 and has since enjoyed unparalleled popularity in terms of viewership and commercial success.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘J’

Joint Favourite

Two or more teams who have the same probability of winning a match or an event.

Juice

The commission earned by a bookmaker on a bet. It is the difference between the actual odds of an event and the odds offered by the bookmaker.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘L’

Laying a Bet

An intrinsic part of the betting glossary, laying a bet means backing a particular outcome to not happen. For example, in an India vs. Australia match, if you lay Australia, that would mean you're betting on Australia to not win the match. Remember that the provision to lay a bet is only available at betting exchanges and not at conventional bookmakers.

Line

One of the most commonly used betting terms, line refers to the odds offered on a particular betting market for a match or an event within the match. However, ‘line' is mostly used in the United States and not so much in India.

Livestreaming

The act of watching live action online. Some leading offshore bookmakers offer livestreaming on their website, where you can bet on your favourite matches (or players) while streaming live action simultaneously.

Loyalty Programme

A very important part of sports betting terminology, loyalty programmes (also called VIP programmes) are essentially extra benefits and perks that bookies provide to their most regular and loyal clients for playing consistently on the platform.

These VIP/loyalty programmes can come in various shapes and sizes, such as exclusive casino or sportsbook bonus offers, tailored promotions like free bets and more frequent boosted odds, free spins, special birthday bonuses, dedicated 24×7 account managers, and the like.

Leg Bye

This refers to runs awarded to the batting team when the ball hits the pads or any part of the body and the batsmen take a run. Leg byes count as ‘extras' in cricket, with these extra runs added to the team's total and not the batsman's individual score.

LBW

It's a mode of dismissal in cricket when a batter is adjudged ‘out' when the ball hits the pads (within a permissible height limit set by the umpire), and the overruling perception is that the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps if it wasn't intercepted by the batman's legs (or any other part of his body).

Low Minimum Deposit

One of the most common betting terms you'll ever come across, this refers to the minimum deposit (that you must put down before you start placing bets with any bookmaker) being low or relatively affordable. This low minimum deposit limit amount varies from one bookmaker to the next.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘M’

Man of the Match

One of the most common markets in cricket, man of the match is a recognition given to a player who is considered to have made the maximum impact — be it with the bat, ball, or on the field — in a game.

Minimum Bet

This betting lingo refers to the lowest stake that is allowed to be wagered on any given market across betting sites. Minimum bet varies from one operator to the next.

Multiple Bet

Also known as system bets across some bookmakers. A multiple bet is basically a variation of accumulator bets where you combine several selections into a single wager and potentially benefit from the increased overall odds compared to if you had bet on individual events separately.

However, the difference with a standard accumulator is that in the latter, all the selections contained within need to win for your accumulator bet to pay out.

There are different types of multiple bets:

Major League Cricket

Major League Cricket is the United States' first-ever professional franchise-based T20 cricket competition. Last year in 2023, the maiden season of the league was held in the US, and in 2024, we saw the second edition with six teams gunning for the championship.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘N’

No-Deposit Bonus

This is a form of bonus that bookmakers offer to new customers upon creating accounts with their online betting platforms. No minimum deposit is needed to avail of such a bonus. That said, these offers are relatively rare and come by only during top cricket leagues.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘O’

Odds

Odds indicate a bookmaker's position on how a particular match or event will play out, expressed numerically. Odds basically indicate the potential returns you will get on your wager should the bet win.

For example, a betting site offers a market: Virat Kohli to score over 22.5 runs at odds of 2.40. This means that for every ₹100 you bet on this market, you will get a payout of ₹240 (₹100 stake + ₹140 profit) if Kohli does score more than that in the game.

Over/Under

This is a betting market where you can wager on whether the total runs of a team or player will be over or under a certain limit set by the bookmaker.

ODI Cricket

The abbreviation of One Day International, ODI cricket is a format of the sport where every innings lasts for a maximum of 50 overs. This means any team can bat for a maximum of 50 overs before the other side gets into bat.

ODI World Cup

The ICC ODI World Cup is the premier competition for ODIs (One-Day International cricket). It is a quadrennial tournament, which means it is played once every four years. There's a rigorous qualification process that eventually culminates in the main tournament featuring the world's top-ranked teams.

Outright Betting

This refers to betting on a team to win any tournament. For example, a bet on India to win the ODI World Cup is an outright market.

Off the Board

A betting market that is no longer active for a particular event.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘P’

Payout

The winnings the betting site pays out should your wager win.

Pakistan Super League

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is Pakistan's premier professional T20 cricket league, first played in 2015. The competition features six city franchises.

Powerplay

The phase of a game in limited-overs cricket where only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Promo Code

An integral part of the everyday betting glossary, a promo code is essentially a code (usually an alphanumeric one) that some betting sites provide to affiliate sites and/or customers to be used to activate a particular promotion.

Promotions

A part of regular sports betting terminology, promotions refer to incentives that bookmakers provide that have the potential to significantly increase your bankroll.

Punter

This would be you if you're wagering on any event or match. Punters, bettors — they're used interchangeably.

Prop Bets

Usually, prop (or proposition) bets are used to describe betting markets on a match that have nothing to do with the final outcome. So, markets like ‘a batsman to score a century', or ‘a bowler to take more than 1.5 wickets' are examples of prop bets.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘R’

Request a Bet

This bet feature allows you to create and place custom bets that are not available as part of the sportsbook.

Returns

The total amount you will get back on a winning bet, including the stake.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘S’

Skipper

The captain of a cricket team is called a skipper.

Stake

The amount that you wager on a single ticket.

Sportsbook

A platform that accepts bets on sports events and pays out. Therefore, betting site, bookmaker, bookie, sportsbook, operator — these betting terms are used interchangeably. In India, we usually use only ‘betting site' and ‘bookmaker'.

Sharp

This refers to a punter with deep expertise and knowledge in sports betting with the ability to predict match/event outcomes accurately.

Series Winner

One of the most commonly used cricket betting terms, ‘series winner' is a market that lets you wager on the outcome of the series as a whole.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘T’

Team To Score Most Fours/Sixes

This is a cricket betting market that lets you wager on which team will be hitting the maximum boundaries or sixes in a match or an innings.

Total Fours/Sixes

Yet another cricket betting market, which lets you wager on the total number of boundaries or sixes to be hit in a match or an innings.

Test Matches

The classical format of the sport, Test cricket is what the real deal is all about (opinion alert). This is the longest format, where each match lasts for a maximum of five days, and both teams will play two innings each. A day is broken down into three sessions: morning (before lunch), afternoon (post-lunch), and evening (post-tea).

T20I

This is the youngest format of the sport and arguably the most exciting (look out for Test cricket loyalists sniggering at this statement). In T20s, each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs before the other team gets into bat.

Tie

A crucial part of cricket betting terminology, a tie is a match situation where the scores of both teams are level at the end of a game.

Top Batter

This cricket betting market lets you wager on the batsman you think will score the most runs for his team or in the overall match.

Top Bowler

This market requires you to bet on the bowler you think will take the most wickets for his team or in the overall match.

To Score a Half-Century/Century

A betting market where you wager on a batsman you think will score a 50 or a 100 in an innings or a match.

T20 Blast

This is England and Wales' domestic T20 competition, established way back in 2003. The T20 Blast is, in that way, the oldest T20 league in the world. A total of 18 teams, split into Groups A and B, take part in the T20 Blast for the coveted trophy.

Tip

A prediction or recommendation about the outcome of a match or event.

Tipster

A person or company that provides tips or predictions on the outcome of a match or event.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘V’

Vig

Short for vigorish, it is the commission that any bookmaker earns on a bet. Vig is the difference between the actual odds of any event and the price offered by the betting site.

Value Bet

In cricket betting terms, you're said to have found value if your selection’s probability of occurring (reflected by the bookmaker's odds on that selection) is less than what it is in real life. For instance, if you think India has an 80% chance of winning a game against Bangladesh, but the odds offered by the bookmaker imply the men in blue only have a 60% chance.

Sports Betting Terms Starting With ‘W’

Welcome Bonus

No betting glossary can be complete without a brief explanation of this point. A welcome bonus (also called a sign-up bonus) is an introductory reward that bookmakers offer customers upon signing up.

Wagering Requirements

These refer to the conditions that must be met before you can claim and avail of a bonus amount.

CricketBettingAdvice Final Say

Over the years, punters and bookmakers alike have developed their own betting jargon, which you may or may not already be familiar with. If you're in the second category, we hope this betting glossary will come in handy and help you hone your online gambling skills.

Check out our other cricket betting guides for more information on all the essentials for gambling on the sport.