A to D
- Acca (accumulator): one bet on several selections; all must win.
- Acca bonus: extra winnings paid on a winning acca, usually a percentage of the profit.
- Arbitrage (surebet): backing every outcome at different bookmakers so that a profit is locked in.
- Back: to bet on something to happen.
- Bankroll: money set aside for betting only.
- Book: the sum of the implied chances of all outcomes in a market.
- Cash out: the bookmaker's offer to settle your bet before the event ends.
- Commission: the exchange's cut of your net winnings.
- Decimal odds: the return per unit staked, stake included.
- Double: an acca with two selections.
- Dutching: spreading a stake across several picks so each returns the same.
E to L
- Edge: how much a bet pays above its fair value, as a percentage.
- Evens: odds of 2.00 or 1/1.
- Expected value (EV): the average result of a bet over many tries.
- Fractional odds: profit per unit staked, written like 5/2.
- Free bet: a bet token from a bookmaker; usually the stake is not returned.
- Full-cover bet: every multiple from a set of selections, like a Yankee or a Heinz.
- Hedge: a bet against your original bet to reduce risk or lock a profit.
- Implied probability: the chance suggested by the odds, 1 ÷ decimal odds.
- Kelly criterion: a formula for stake size based on your edge.
- Lay: to bet against something happening, on an exchange.
- Liability: what you must pay if a selection you laid wins.
M to R
- Margin (overround): the bookmaker's built-in edge in a market.
- Matched betting: backing and laying the same selection to turn offers into cash.
- Odds-on: a price below 2.00; you win less than you stake.
- Push: a result where the stake is returned, for example on a whole Asian handicap line.
- Qualifying bet: a bet you must place to unlock an offer.
- Return: everything paid back on a winning bet, stake included.
- Rollover: how much you must stake before bonus money can be withdrawn.
S to Z
- Selection (leg): one pick on a bet slip.
- SNR: stake not returned, the usual free bet type.
- SR: stake returned.
- System bet: every combination of a chosen size from your selections, such as 2/3 or 3/5.
- Treble: an acca with three selections.
- Unit: a standard stake, usually 1 to 2% of a bankroll.
- Value bet: a bet with positive expected value.
- Void: a cancelled selection, usually counted at odds of 1.00.