A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Here you will find an outline of terms and concepts for a better understanding of the sports that MaximBet is offering.
A▲
Action : A sports wager of any kind; a bet.
Added Game : A game not part of the typical menu of wagering offerings, often posted as an accommodation to patrons.
Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW): Wagering where you must have funds in your account to cover the cost of the wager before the wager can be placed. This is how FanDuel, and most wagering services operate.
AET: Soccer abbreviation for ‘After Extra Time’, the additional time played if the game ends in a tie.
Ante-post: Early market offered in advance of the definitive list of participants.
B▲
Bad Bet: A wager that loses unexpectedly.
Bet: Risk money on the outcome of an event with the return proportionate to the perceived likelihood as measured by odds.
Binary betting: A combination of spread and fixed-odds betting with only two outcomes 0 or 100, with the bet struck against a bid or offer somewhere between the two, for an agreed unit stake.
Board price: The price available to players from bookmakers who operate trackside at horse or greyhound racing.
Bookmaker: Also known as Bookie, is an individual/establishment offering odds on the outcome of events, usually but not exclusively sports, for the purpose of accepting bets
Bonus: A conditional incentive given by bookmakers to entice new or existing account holders to betting activity.
Buck: A $100 sports wager, also called a Dollar.
Buy (Points): A player pays an additional price (lays more money) to receive a half-point or more in his favor on a point spread game.
C▲
Canadian Line: A hockey wager. A combination point spread and money line.
Chalk: Also known as Favourite/Jolly is an option wherein any given betting market
considered most likely to win as measured by the implied probability of the odds.
Circled Game: A game where the limits are lowered, or betting options are restricted, often due to injuries.
Cover: Winning by more than the point spread.
Closing odds: The last available odds offered before a market closes. Players who "beat the closing odds" have placed a bet offering a superior return to the final odds offered; consistently beating the closing odds is a sign of a successful bettor.
D▲
Decimal odds: An odds expression (sometimes referred to as European odds) where the odds
are shown in decimal format. Example: 1.10
Dime: A $1,000 sports wager.
Dime Line: A line where the juice is 10 percent.
Dog: Abbreviation of the underdog; the selection perceived by the market as least likely to win.
Dog Player: A bettor who generally only plays the underdog.
Double bet: Where a bettor plays twice the amount of a usual bet, normally in reaction to a
perceived ‘good thing’. Also known as "double pop" or "doubling up".
Double result: A conditional bet that combines the result at half-time with the result at full-time.
Draw: When the contest ends with no winner or loser.
E▲
Each-way: A bet that comprises two independent bets, one for the selection winning and one
for the selection placing e.g., 2nd or 3rd. Place conditions vary in relation to the number of
participants. Mostly commonly, but not exclusively, used in horse and greyhound racing.
Edge: Betting advantage, either gained by consistently exploiting a bookmaker’s margins or
derived from proprietary knowledge.
Even money: A bet which returns exactly what is staked, represented as odds of 1/1, 2.0 or +100.
F▲
Favourite: Also known as Chalk/Jolly is the selection that the markets see as the most probable winner of a given event. The quoted odds reflect the extent to which the choice is favoured.
Fifty Cents: A $50 sports wager. Also called Half-a-Dollar.
Final Four: The remaining four teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.
First half bet: A bet on the outcome of the first half of a game only.
Fixed-odds betting: The type of betting offered by traditional bookmakers with odds fixed at the time the bet is struck, as opposed to other formats where odds/return is fluid.
Fractional odds: Odds expression (used mostly in the UK) which presents odds in
a fractional format. Example: ¼
Futures/Future Bet: A future bet is a wager placed on an event typically far in the future, such as which team will win next year's Super Bowl or which horse will win the next Kentucky Derby.
Future Odds: Odds for the winner of a specific future event often posted far in advance of it occurring.
Examples include the EPL winner, Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, or the NBA Championship this is called a Future bet.
G▲
Grand Salami: Betting on the grand total of goals scored in all the listed games of the day
within a specific league
H▲
Half time bet: A bet on the result of the first half of a game only.
Handicap: A numerical figure set by the bookmaker to counter the perceived bias in abilities
of opponents - this provides more balanced odds.
Half-ball handicap: A Handicap which is 0.5 of a goal or point.
Handicapper: Someone who uses math-based rating systems to forecast outcomes on
sporting events and place bets accordingly.
Handicapping: Forecasting the outcome of sporting events using math-based rating systems
and placing bets accordingly.
Handle: The total volume of bets on an event taken by a bookmaker.
Hedging Bets: Betting on both sides of a market, or several selections within a market, to exploit
the advantage of price discrepancies, or limit losses.
High Roller: A high-stakes gambler.
Hook: A half-point.
Hot Game: A game that is drawing a lot of action on one side from knowledgeable handicappers.
I▲
If bet: Multiple bets which are conditional on a sequence of outcomes.
J▲
Joint favourite: One of two selections priced as a favourite.
Jolly: The selection that the markets see as the most probable winner of a given event. The quoted odds reflect the extent to which the choice is favoured.
Juice: The bookmaker’s commission, most commonly the 11 to 10 bettors lay on straight point spread wagers; also known as “vigorish.”
K▲
Kelly Criterion: Popular staking method which suggests that stake should be proportional to
the perceived edge.
L▲
Laying the Points: Betting the favourite by giving up points.
Laying the Price: Betting the favourite by laying money odds.
Layoff: Where a bookmaker reduces liability by covering a bet at another bookmaker; or where an individual bettor reduces risk, limits losses or locks in a profit by backing both sides of a market, or several selections within a market.
Limit: Maximum bet amount allowed.
Line: Another word for odds Linemaker is also known as Oddsmaker, is the person responsible for setting the lines/odds at a bookmaker.
Listed Pitchers: A baseball bet placed only if both pitchers scheduled to start a game
start. If they don’t, the bet is deemed “No Action” and refunded.
Live betting: Live betting is an option which allows you to bet on a sporting event that already has started.
You will find the In-Play game just by clicking in the button `Live Betting´ on the top left. Regular betting markets close once the event starts; in-betting odds reflect the progress of the event in real time.
Lock: An exceptionally strong favourite.
Longshot: A team perceived to be unlikely to win.
M▲
Match bet: A bet that focuses on the performance of two variables against each other within
an event (e.g., which of two horses will finish first).
Middle: A situation where you win on both sides of the same bet by exploiting odds/points
movements/discrepancies over time.
Money Line: The money line represents the odds of a team winning the game outright
without the use of the point spread. The money line is expressed as a 3-digit number. For
example -150 means a player must bet $150 for every $100 they wish to win, $15 for every
$10 and multiples thereof. Or, a +140 means a player will win $140 for every $100 they bet.
MVP: Bets placed on an individual player to be the Most Valuable Player over a season or
series throughout a competition (typically basketball and the NBA).
N▲
Nickel: A $500 sports wager.
No Action: A wager in which no money is lost or won, and the original bet amount is refunded
Novelty bet: Also known as Special, is a bet on an event which cannot be easily assessed in
common handicapping terms, and is offered for its novelty value (e.g., Winner of a reality TV
show).
O▲
Odds: Also known as price or line, is a representation of the perceived frequency of an
event derived from the underlying probability which enables betting.
Oddsmaker: Also known as Linemaker, is the person responsible for setting the lines/odds
at a bookmaker.
Off the board: A game on which the bookmaker will not accept bets.
Opening Line: The earliest line posted for an event. Called the "Morning Line" in horse racing.
Outlaw Line: The earliest line in sports betting. This is an overnight line that only a handful of players can bet.
Outright betting: Placing a bet on the winner of an entire competition, instead of a single match.
Over: A sports bet in which the player wagers that the combined point total of two teams will be more than a specified total.
Over broke: Term to describe when the betting percentage of a market is less than 100% and
therefore, providing an advantage to the bettor and the opposite to the bookmaker.
Overround: Term to describe when the betting percentage of a market is above 100% and
therefore, providing an advantage to the bookmaker and the opposite to the bettor.
P▲
Parlay: A parlay is a bet on two or more teams or selections. You can combine different sports, point spreads and money lines. In a parlay your original stake and winnings are re-invested on the next game and all selections must be correct - one loss and your parlay loses. In the event of a push (tie), game cancellation or a pitcher that you have specified not starting, the parlay reduces to the next lower number, e.g., a four-team parlay becomes a three-team parlay. A winning parlay wager will pay many times more than the initial wager.
Pay-out: The return on a winning bet.
Pick or Pick‘em: A game in which neither team is favoured.
Points Spread: The measure of perceived difference in the abilities of participants in each event as illustrated in the Handicap/Spread market. The favourite is always indicated by a minus sign (e.g., -8.5pts) and the underdog by a plus sign (e.g.,+8.5pts). For betting purposes, the outcome of the game is determined by taking the actual game score and finding the difference between the scores of the two teams playing (called the points spread or just the "spread").
Price: Is another term for odds, line or points spread.
Propositions: Proposition bets, or "prop" bets, focus on the outcome of events within a given event. An example of a prop bet is "Which team will score the first point?" Also called an Exotic bet.
Puck Line: In hockey, a spread used instead of the money line.
Push: When the contest ends with no winner or loser for wagering purposes, a tie for wagering purposes.
Q▲
Quarter bet: A bet on the outcome of one specific quarter of a game only.
R▲
Reload bonus: A bonus that re-applies when account holders deposit fresh funds
Round Robin: Round Robin is an easy way to create multiple parlays at once. The more selections you choose, the more parlay combinations are created. The advantage to this type of wager is you can make your money back by hitting only one winning combination. For example, let's look at an NFL round robin bet. Let's say you choose:
Atlanta Falcons -5
Denver Broncos +3
Pittsburgh Steelers -7
Instead of making a three-team parlay, you can place a round robin and create all possible two-team parlays from the selections above.
First Parlay:
Atlanta Falcons -5
Denver Broncos +3
$10 to win 26 (+260 odds)
Second Parlay:
Atlanta Falcons -5
Pittsburgh Steelers -7
$10 to win 26 (+260 odds)
Third Parlay
Denver Broncos +3
Pittsburgh Steelers -7
$10 to win 26 (+260 odds)
The risk amount would be on each parlay individually.
Run Down: All the lines for a specific date, sport, time, etc.
Run Line: In baseball, a spread used instead of the money line.
S▲
Second half bet: A bet on the outcome of the second half of a game only.
Scouts: Person(s) who waits for what they think is an unusually strong wager. Also known as a "sports player."
Sides: The two teams playing; the underdog and the favourite.
Sharp: A sophisticated or professional gambler.
Sports Book: A physical location that accepts sports bets.
Square: A novice when it comes to sports betting.
Steam: When a line starts to move rapidly. Most "steam games" are games that draw a mass
of bettors for some reason.
Store: A bookie or sports betting establishment.
Straight Bet: An individual wager on a game or event that will be determined by a point spread, money line or total.
Straight-up: Winning the game without any regard to the point spread; a money line bet.
T▲
Taking the Points: Betting the underdog and its advantage in the point spread.
Taking the Price: Betting the underdog and accepting money odds.
Teaser: A type of parlay in which the point spread, or total of each individual play is adjusted. The price of moving the point spread (teasing) is lower payoff odds on winning wagers.
Ticket: A wager.
Tie: A wager in which no money is lost or won because the teams’ scores were equal to the number of points in the given point spread or total.
Total: The combined number of runs, points or goals scored by both teams during the game, including
overtime.
Totals Bet: A proposition bet in which the bettor speculates that the total score by both teams in a game will be more or less than the line posted by the sportsbook.
Tout: Someone who sells their expertise on sports wagering.
U▲
Under: The player bets that the total points scored by two teams will be less than a certain figure.
Underdog: The team perceived to be most likely to lose. Also known as the “dog.”
V▲
Value: Getting the best odds on a wagering proposition; the highest possible edge.
Vigorish/Vig: The bookmaker's commission; also known as the "juice."
W▲
Wise guy: A well-informed or knowledgeable handicapper or bettor.