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Sports betting uses certain terms across the available markets. For those new to this pastime, it can be confusing when first starting to get to grips with the terminology. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the most common terms and what they mean when you wager.
Odds, Stakes and Returns
The odds are there to show the price on offer for a selection. The stake is the amount that you wager. Let’s say there were odds of 2.50, and you placed a $10 wager. A win would return $25, including the original stake, meaning $15 of profit. You can see the potential return on the bet slip before you confirm the wager.
To calculate the returns yourself, you simply multiply the stake by the decimal odds. For example, $5 at 4.00 produces a total return of $1–20 if successful. The profit would be $15 after deducting the stake.
Markets, Selections and 1X2
A market identifies a prediction while a selection is the chosen outcome. If you look at the match-result market in football, it is often referred to as 1X2. The 1 means a home win, the X a draw, and 2 an away win. Total-goals markets look at the combined score between the teams.
Over 2.5 goals wins if a match has three or more goals, regardless of which team scores them. Under 2.5 wins with zero, one or two goals. Half-goal lines avoid a tie with the stated total, which makes settlement straightforward.
Favourites, Underdogs and Overround
The favourite in any fixture comes with the shortest odds. An underdog will be offered at a longer price. If you look at odds of 4.00, this implies that there’s a 25% probability before taking into account the bookmaker’s margin.
The bookmaker’s margin is called the overround. If both outcomes in a two-way market are priced at 1.80, each implies approximately 55.6%, making a combined 111.1%. The amount above 100% reflects the margin built into those prices.
Singles, Doubles and Accumulators
A single bet, as the name suggests, has just one selection. A double has two, and a treble has three. An accumulator bet has selections called legs. For an accumulator to be successful, each leg needs to win.
Two selections at decimal odds of 2.00 each produce combined odds of 4.00. A winning $10 double would return $40 in total. Someone browsing online sports betting BiggerZ markets can see the combined price and potential return on the betting slip before placing a multiple.
Double Chance and Draw No Bet
Double chance gives the opportunity to cover two out of three outcomes in a football match result market. The options presented are 1X for a home win or draw, X2 for an away win or draw, and 12 for either team to win.
Draw no bet is a separate market with a different settlement rule. A bet on the home team wins if they win and loses if the visitors win, but a draw returns the stake. Their prices reflect different settlement rules. In both cases, the standard football market usually concerns ninety minutes, including stoppage time.
Handicaps and Asian Lines
A handicap adjusts a team’s score for the purpose of settling a bet. In a European minus-one handicap, a team winning 2–1 produces an adjusted score of 1–1, so the handicap draw wins. European handicaps offer three adjusted outcomes.
Asian handicaps also include quarter-goal lines, which divide a stake across two neighbouring handicaps. A minus-0.25 selection splits the stake between a level-ball line and minus 0.5. If the match finishes level, half the stake is returned, and the other half is lost.
In-Play, Cash Out and Void
In-play betting allows you to place a wager once an event has got underway. This sees odds adjust in real time based on what’s happening at that moment.
Cash out is an offer to settle an eligible bet before the event ends. A void selection is cancelled for settlement purposes, normally resulting in a returned stake on a single.
Match Duration and Settlement
Not all football markets cover the same period. A standard 90-minute result will include any stoppage time, but not any extra time or penalties. A qualification market is about which team progresses, regardless of how.
When checking football betting BiggerZ markets, the description identifies whether a selection covers the first half, ninety minutes or qualification. Player markets may also specify what happens if someone does not start or if a match is abandoned. These details determine how the bet is settled.
Reading a Betting Slip
Check the market, selection, odds and stake. For multiples, review each leg and the combined return rather than looking only at the final price. Once those terms are familiar, it becomes easier to recognise what a bet actually covers and how its result will be decided.