Glossary

A

American odds Odds

A price written as +150 (profit on a 100 stake) or -200 (stake needed to win 100). +150 and -200 are decimal 2.50 and 1.50.

Ante-post Markets

A market on an event weeks or months away, such as a big race or a tournament winner. Money is locked up until it settles.

Arbitrage Trading

Backing and laying the same selection at prices that guarantee a profit whatever happens. Rare, short-lived and usually small after commission.

B

Back Basics

To bet that a selection will win. You risk your stake to win stake x (odds - 1). Shown in the blue column. Lesson

Bankroll Money

Money set aside for betting and already written off as the cost of a hobby, kept apart from everything else. Lesson

Betting exchange Basics

A marketplace that matches people who want to back a selection with people who want to lay it, and charges commission on net winnings. The exchange itself takes no side. Lesson

Book percentage Odds

The sum of the implied chances of a set of selections. Under 100% the set can be dutched for a profit; over 100% it cannot. Lesson

C

Cash out Trading

Closing a position before the result by placing the opposite bet at the current price, sized so that the outcome no longer matters. A site's cash-out button does this for you, sometimes with a margin. Lesson

Chasing Money

Betting more to recover a loss. The most common way a small loss becomes a large one.

Commission Money

The percentage of net winnings on a market that the exchange keeps. Charged only when you win, on profit not on return, and after netting all your bets in that market. Lesson

Correct score Markets

A football market on the exact final score, with many selections and usually thin liquidity on most.

D

Dead heat Markets

A tie between selections for a position. Stakes are divided according to the number of selections that tied. Lesson

Decimal odds Odds

A price such as 2.50 that, multiplied by the stake, gives the total return including the stake. Exchange prices are decimal. Lesson

Deposit limit Money

A tool offered by many operators that caps how much you can add to an account over a day, week or month.

Drift Trading

A price getting longer (higher), meaning the market thinks the selection less likely.

Dutching Trading

Backing several selections in one market with stakes sized so that each returns the same amount if it wins. Lesson

E

Effective odds Odds

What a price is worth after commission: 1 + (odds - 1) x (1 - commission rate).

Exchange SP Odds

A starting price the exchange works out from the money in its own market at the off, as opposed to the bookmakers' starting price.

Exposure Money

The total you could lose across all your open bets in a market or across the exchange.

F

Fair price Odds

The price at which the implied chances of all selections add up to exactly 100%. On an exchange it sits between the best back and best lay prices.

Fractional odds Odds

A price written as profit to stake, such as 3/2. Equal to decimal odds minus one.

G

Green up Trading

To hedge a position so that every outcome shows the same profit (green figures on the screen). Lesson

H

Handicap Markets

A market in which one side is given a start (goals or points) so that the two sides are priced near evens.

Hedge Trading

An opposite bet placed to reduce or remove the risk of an existing one.

I

Implied chance Odds

The probability a price suggests: 1 divided by the decimal odds. A price of 4.0 implies a 25% chance. Lesson

In play Markets

A market that stays open while the event is happening. Prices move with the action and bets carry a delay. Lesson

In-play delay Markets

The seconds an exchange waits before matching a bet placed during a live event, so nobody can bet on something already known. Lesson

L

Ladder Markets

A view of one selection showing every price from short to long with the money waiting to back and to lay at each. The price steps on it are the ticks. Lesson

Lay Basics

To bet that a selection will not win. You win the backer's stake if it loses and pay their profit (your liability) if it wins. Shown in the pink column. Lesson

Liability Money

The most you can lose on a bet. For a back bet it is the stake; for a lay bet it is the backer's stake x (odds - 1). It is set aside when the bet is matched. Lesson

Liquidity Markets

How much money is matched and waiting in a market. High liquidity means bets are matched quickly at the price shown. Lesson

M

Market Markets

A single question that bets are placed on, such as who wins the match. An event has many markets, each settled on its own rules.

Match Odds Markets

The main market on who wins a match. Two selections in most sports, three (including the draw) in football and in Test cricket.

Matched Markets

A bet that has been paired with an opposite bet and now exists. It cannot be cancelled and will be settled. Lesson

Matched amount Markets

The total money already bet in a market, shown on the market screen. A quick measure of liquidity.

N

Net winnings Money

Your total profit in a market after all your bets in it are added up. Commission is charged on this figure.

Non-runner Markets

A horse or dog withdrawn before a race. Bets on it are void and the other runners' matched prices are reduced.

O

Outright Markets

A market on the winner of a whole competition rather than one match.

Over/Under Markets

A market on whether a total (goals, runs, points, games) will be above or below a line such as 2.5.

Overround Odds

The amount by which the implied chances of all selections in a market add up to more than 100%. Small on a liquid exchange market, large on a thin one or a bookmaker's board. Lesson

P

Partially matched Markets

A bet of which only part has been matched at the requested price; the rest waits unmatched or is matched at other prices.

Position Trading

Your combined bets in a market and what they would win or lose on each outcome.

Q

Queue Markets

The order in which unmatched money at one price is matched: first in, first matched.

R

Red out Trading

To hedge a position so that every outcome shows the same, smaller loss, rather than risking a larger one.

Reduction factor Markets

The published percentage by which matched bets on the remaining runners are reduced when a non-runner is declared.

Retirement rule Markets

An exchange's rule on how tennis bets settle when a player retires injured. It differs between exchanges.

S

Scalping Trading

Trading for one or two ticks at a time, many times, usually before an event starts. Lesson

Selection Basics

One of the possible results in a market, for example a team, a player, a horse, the draw or 'over 2.5 goals'.

Self-exclusion Money

Asking an operator, or a scheme covering several, to block your account for a long period.

Settlement Markets

The exchange deciding the result of a market according to its rules and moving the money. Lesson

Shorten Trading

A price getting shorter (lower), meaning the market thinks the selection more likely. Also 'steam' when it happens fast.

Sportsbook Basics

A bookmaker product in which the operator sets the prices and is the other side of every bet. Only back bets are possible. Lesson

Spread Markets

The gap between the best back price and the best lay price. One tick on a busy market; several on a thin one. Lesson

Stake Money

The amount a backer puts on a bet. On a lay bet, the figure you type is the backer's stake; your own risk is the liability.

Staking plan Money

A rule for how much to risk on each bet, best expressed as a small fixed share of the bankroll of liability. Lesson

Suspended Markets

A market temporarily closed to new bets, usually for a few seconds after an event that changes the price, or at the start of play. Lesson

Swing trading Trading

Holding a position for a larger price move over minutes or hours.

T

Thin market Markets

A market with little money in it: wide spread, large overround, prices that may be a single person's offer.

Tick Odds

The smallest step a price can move. Ticks are 0.01 at short prices and grow larger at longer prices, following the exchange's ladder. Lesson

Trading Trading

Opening a bet and closing it with the opposite bet after the price has moved, taking the difference, without waiting for the result. Lesson

U

Unmatched Markets

An offer waiting in the market for someone to take the other side. It can be cancelled at any time and carries no risk until matched. Lesson

V

Void Markets

A cancelled bet: stakes and liabilities returned, no commission, as if it never happened. Lesson

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