Betting Dictionary

This isn't a bet you can place with a sportsbook. Instead it is a cultural phenomenon form the US that has started to spread in Europe. It is a kind of proposition bet but often not for monetary gain. For example, you and a friend both bet on a match, one says Liverpool will win another says Man City will win. The loser then has to 'come over' and do something to complete the bet, whether that be dressed in a silly outfit or anything you can think of really.

A 147 in snooker is the highest possible break but they don't happen too often, akin to a hole-in-one in golf or a 9 dart finish in darts. It has become an attractive betting market that generally has high odds but it should be noted that those odds are generally quite poor compared to the probability of a 147 happening in any given match. Before you bet on a 147 break read about the actual chances of it happening.

170 is the highest checkout a darts player can score with three consecutive darts; treble 20 (60), treble 20 (60), Bull (50). As televised darts has grown and online gambling has offered more and more markets betting on a 170 checkout by a player or in a specific match has become popular. It is the glory shot but it doesn't happen that often so make sure to look for the best odds.

The 1X2 market is an old term for a three-way market for any sports where a home team can win (1), both teams can draw (X) or the away team can win (2). It is most commonly used for football but can be found in any markets where a draw is possible, e.g. you won't see it for tennis or US sports but will for things like rugby, ice hockey, etc. This is the match result market, it often offers the best value as it is the most competitive market between bookies. 1X2 markets can be combined into multiples too.

Accumulators or accas for short are bets that combine multiple different selections and will only pay out if all the outcomes you predict turn out to be true. They carry larger odds compared to placing individual singles and are attractive for small stakes bettors, especially for football. They have poor monetary value due to high margins but are still well liked by punters for their entertainment value.

If a selection is odds against (evens or higher) American odds are shown with a plus symbol (e.g. +600) this is the amount that if you bet 100 you will win. If it is odds on (evens or less) the American odds are shown with a minus sysmbol (e.g. -200), this is the amount you will need to bet to win 100. Converting American to fractional and decimal odds is easy. As you might have guessed they are called American odds because the format is popular in the United States.

Ante-post is a term that applies to bets placed a day or more in advance, most often on horse racing. The market is different to the early and board prices for racing you see on the day and ante-post bets are not covered by the same concessions such as best price guarantee or money back if the horse doesn't run. There are pros and cons to ante-post betting, the biggest pro being you can often get better prices, the biggest con being you can lose your stake if the horse doesn't take part.

Any to come bets are seen as a bit old fashioned these days but you can still place them, although, you will probably need to request the bet, you are unlikely to find it on a betting site. The basic premise is you place a bet on a selection and if that selection wins then any profit (i.e. any money that comes from it other than the stake) is placed on the second bet. If the second bet loses you still keep your initial stake, if the first bet loses the second bet isn't places as there isn't anything to come from it.

Arbing is short for arbitrage. It is when someone spots a difference in prices on the same market that allows them to bet on both outcomes and still end up with more money in their account than when they started. It's one of the most misunderstood areas of gambling, and while perfectly legal, it is against a bookmakers terms and conditions so they will limit the account of anyone suspected of doing it.

Asian handicaps obviously originate in Asia and they are similar to normal handicap bets except you can have more potential outcomes that can involve getting your stake refunded in some cases or having half wins when using quarter point lines. In effect it increases the number of possibilities from a given bet. It is naturally more complex but once understood can give you far more betting options.

The best price guarantee was created in the early 2010's as a way to entice people to bet on racing earlier rather than waiting to see how prices moved. The concession applies to bets placed on racing on the day in most cases (from around 9am), if the fixed price you were given ends up being lower than the price that the horse starts the race at (the starting price) then your odds will be upgraded. Not all bookies offer it but most of the big names do, it is one of the most valuable offers there are.

Bet Builders are modern bet packages that bookmakers offer to allow you to combine multiple selections within the same game. It allows you to combine related contingencies that cannot be selected together in a conventional accumulator. This allows you to make detailed predictions of match outcomes and you can get high odds but bookie margins are high and value is low.

A bore draw is a game that ends 0-0, i.e. a goalless draw. It is often termed a bore draw because generally games without goals are seen as more boring. Some betting sites offer bore draw insurance that can refund your stake if a game ends 0-0 for certain markets.

Points were not always a thing in boxing and back in history bouts simply went on until someone won. With fixed numbers of rounds in boxing now many fights are decided on points. You can bet on points markets for most major fights these days and if you do that it helps to understand a bit about how points work in boxing first.

Brought down, or BD on a race card, refers to a horse that is pulled to the floor due to interference from another horse. Usually this is because another horse falls in its path, most commonly in jump racing. Bets are lost on that horse unless you have faller or fail to finish insurance or unless the horse that falls brings down all the runners in the race, in which case all bets are void.

The letters BTTS on a bookies website simply stand for 'Both Teams to Score'. It will come as no surprise then that the bet pays out if both teams find the net at some point during the match. It's a useful bet when you think the overall result or the exact score is too tough to call but you think it will be an exciting game with lots of action at both ends of the field.

A Canadian, or Super Yankee, is a pre-packaged full cover bet that covers five independent selections. It involves 26 separate bets that consist of a 5-fold accumulator, five four-folds, ten trebles and ten doubles. If two or more selections win you get a return, although it could be less than you staked if only 2 or 3 win depending on the odds. It is similar to a Lucky 31 but a Lucky 31 also includes the 5 singles.

Cash Out was originally invented by Betfair and pretty much every sportsbook now offers the feature. It lets you settle a bet early by offering you a payout that you can take there and then rather than waiting for the final result. Variations have also been created such as auto cash out (cashes in the bet automatically once a set threshold is reach, that you set) and partial cash out (cashing in part of the bet and letting the rest ride).

Century breaks are a currency by which players measure success in snooker. A 147 is the pinnacle but a maximum break rarely happens and it is centuries that often define the outcomes of matches. Betting on century breaks has become very common in snooker since online betting, both betting on a century in a given frame and betting on the number of centuries in a match. Here we look at what the chances of century breaks are to help you decide if you are getting value or not.

The phrase 'clean sheet' comes from the days when football results were recorded on paper, a blank in the score column meant no goals were scored by that team, ergo a clean sheet. It is most commonly used in football but applies to other sports where teams concede no goals or points. There are many different betting markets that incorporate a clean sheet, some like no goalscorer are more valuable because own goals don't count in these.

A tricast bet, which you can read about here too, asks you to predict the 1-2-3 finishing order of a race or event - this is one single bet. A combination tricast allows you to pick who will finish in the first three but covers every possible order. A combination tricast with 3 selections is made up of six individual bets, i.e. 6x unit stake. You can add more than three selections but this increases the number of bets. A 6 selection combination tricast, for example, will have 120 separate bets and 120 x unit stake.

Come from behind bets are exactly what they sound like, you are betting on a team to concede and then come from behind to either win or draw (or both). It is a market available pre-match and is useful if you are betting on a favourite that you think will win but may start slow and could concede fist. Most commonly used in play once a team has already gone behind, then betting on them to come from behind to win or draw.

A straight forecast is a bet where you predict the first and second place in an event, most often horse racing but this can be any sport or event with a finishing order. The computer side of it comes in due to the algorithm of how the odds for this are calculated. This is because the chances of two competitors finishing first or second are influences by a lot of factors, such as how many runner there are in a race.

Concessions are similar to offers but the main difference is they are always on. Offers tend to be specific to certain bets or scenarios but a concession is something you will always get as long as certain terms are met. Things like best price guarantees, non-runner no bet, early payouts, money back if second, etc. As long as it applies to an entire market rather than just specific bets it can be classed as a concession. Concessions can actually cost bookies more than offers do and can be highly valuable.

Conditional bets have conditions attached to them, which is logical. There are several varieties but they all basically work on the idea that one or more selections within the bet have conditions attached to them. For example, £1 on selection A – if it wins, put the £1 stake money on selection B and £1 on selection B – if it wins, put the £1 stake money on selection A. If A wins we then have two bets on B, and vice versa, the wager can be 2, 3 or 4 wagers.

There are now loads of different cricket formats compared to the past. There is still the much loved test cricket, usually played over up to 5 days, there are 50 over one day internationals, fast paced 20 over cricket that can be played in around 4 hours and inventive formats such as The Hundred. Betting on cricket has taken off since online betting came in but you should understand the differences between the formats before you bet, for example, the chances of scoring 100 in a test or ODI is very different to the chances in a T20.

A dead heat is a scenario where a winner cannot be determined, most commonly used in racing, particularly horse racing, where runners can cross the line at the same time - or at least so close that they can't be separated even by a photo finish. In this scenario the odds are divided by the number of runners in the dead heat. If you had odds of 10/1 and your horse won in a dead heat you would be paid out at 5/1. More than two selections can be involved in a dead heat, this is common in gold 'to place' markets.

Decimal odds are more common in Europe but are becoming commonplace in the UK too. They are actually easier to understand than the more traditional fractional odds in many ways. Decimal odds show you the return for every £1 bet including the stake, so odds of 5.5 would return £5.50 on a £1 bet, £4.50 of which would be winnings.

The deposit protection scheme is regulated by the UKGC. As a minimum betting companies must hold customer money in accounts separate to the business accounts. This doesn't however give protection to funds if the company goes bust and so it is classed as 'no protection'. You only have protection if the betting company has medium (insurance) or high (customer money in an independent account) protection. The majority of brands have 'no protection'.

Double chance bets describe what they are, they give you double the chance to win. Commonly applied to 3-way markets, such as win-draw-win in football, it allows you to pick to possible outcomes in one bet. For example you bet on the home team to win or draw in the double chance market, the only way this bet can lose is if the away team wins. Naturally odds are a lot lower compared to standard match prices.

This bet is similar to a single stakes about bet except here, as the name suggests, you double the stakes. It is an older type bet and not offered by default at sportsbooks but you can create them yourself. For example, you bet £10 on selection A with a rule that if that selection wins you double the stake for selection B. It consists of two bets where you double the stakes if the first bet wins.

The draw no bet is a type of insurance market. Here you are still backing a team to win but unlike in a 3-way market (win-draw-win) you will get your stake back if the game ends as a draw. This reduces the overall risk but at the same time the odds for a team to win in the draw no bet market will be lower than a standard win bet.

Enhanced odds are exactly what they sound like, odds that have been artificially enhanced to attract customers. There are enhanced odds for new customers, these tend to be crazy boosts, like 40/1 England to bet Albania - the idea is the expected to win and give you promo funds to try a site out with. Then there are enhanced odds for existing customers, these can sometimes increase odds up to 100% and are generally loss leaders to garner customer engagement. They can be good value but only if you think that bet will win, otherwise they are not, as with any bet you should only place it if you believe it will win.

Evens is a term for odds provided by bookmakers that implies a 50% chance of an outcome happening, in reality the true chances will be under 50% when you factor in the bookmakers profit margin but it roughly reflects a market where an outcome will occur around half of the time. If you place an bet at evens (1/1 or 2.0) you will win an equal amount to your stake plus your stake back.

The expected value is a term used to express how much you might expect to win or lose, on average, in the long run placing certain bets. It comes from finance circles where it is important for people to work out their likely return on investment. It is a simple calculation that takes the implied probability of winning (i.e. the odds given to you) and the amount you could win with the implied probability of losing and the amount you could lose. This can help you place better value bets in the long term.

A faller in a horse race is a horse that has fallen, most commonly from hitting a fence or hurdle in jump racing. It specifically refers to horses that fall without interference from other runners as opposed to being brought down by another horse. Bets on fallers will lose unless covered by faller insurance. A horse that has fallen is shown with a 'F' on the race card.

Faller insurance gives you your money back, usually as a free bet up to a set stake amount, on win bets if your horse falls in a national hunt jumps race. It also includes if the horse is brought down or unseats the rider. Fail to finish insurance is more comprehensive and covers the horse for any reason it might not finish, including being pulled up by the jockey.

This is a rule that some online sportsbooks incorporate where they pay out on the first horse to cross the finish line even if it is later disqualified or downgraded. In some instances bookies payout using a double result rule where the horse first past the post horse is paid as a winner and also any other horse who is later declared the winner following an inquiry. There are some instances where it may not apply, however.

Flag and Super Flag bets are similar to full cover bets like Lucky 15's. A flag applies to four different selections and a super flag to five different selections. It is a package of bets that includes all possible doubles, trebles, accumulators but also includes all possible single stakes about bets, which is what makes this bet a bit different to usual. You won't find it as an option with all sportsbooks you may need to ask directly if you want to place a bet like this.

A forecast does exactly what it says, it is a bet that allows you to forecast the outcome by selecting who will finish first and who will finish second. Most commonly used in races or any event where there a finishing order. This increases the odds vs betting on selections individually. A reverse forecast is made up of two bets allowing each selection to finish either first or second, however, only one of those bets will ultimately pay out.

Fractional odds are the most common form in the UK as it comes from the old imperial system that the UK still uses for some things (think of miles instead of km). Working them out is straight forward, multiply your stake by the first number then divide by the second, this gives you your potential winnings. Then add the stake value back in for the full return. E.g. £10 on a 9/2 bet is (10x9)/2 = 45 + 10 stake = 55 overall return.

Gambling licenses have been required since the UKGC was set up in 2005 and this means all companies that offer gambling services to UK customers, online or offline, need to have a license to do so. The license stipulates how an operator should behave and ensures customers gamble in a safe and responsible way. While it is illegal to offer these services without a license many unlicensed sites are based abroad and it is difficult to stop them. The onus is on the customer to ensure they gamble with sites that are licensed.

A Goliath is a huge bet, you would expect that from the name of it. It is a full cover multiple bet covering eight selections. It is 'full cover' because it includes all possible bets except singles (28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four folds, 56 five folds, 28 six-folds, 8 seven-folds, 1 eight-fold) and consists of 247 separate lines. A £1 stake per line would cost £247. You get a return if just two selections win but this may be less than your stake, depending on the odds of the winners.

Half-Time betting is betting on the result at half-time, rather than at the end of a match. It applies to all sports that are split into two halves such as football and rugby. The most common bet is for the result at half-time, however, almost all markets that apply at full time also apply for HT betting, such as; correct score, over/under goals, btts, etc.

Handicap bets are simple when you understand them. They are fictional lines that 'handicap' a given outcome. For example, you have favourite in a football match you can select them to have a -1, -2, -3, etc., goal handicap before the game which increase the odds. Conversely for underdogs you could have a +1, +2, +3, etc., goal handicap that decreases the odds. You can also bet on a tie with a 3-way handicap. Handicap bets are available in many sports.

A handicap is a means used in most horse races to try to equalise the field. The idea is better horses carry more weight and worse or less proven horses carry lower weights. The idea is it should even out the field, which it never actually does otherwise there wouldn't be favourites but it does a good job of making the racing more competitive than without it.

A Heinz bet covers every possible multiple for a bet with 6 different selections. This makes 57 bets total consisting of 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four folds, 6 five folds and 1 six fold. It is called a Heinz because the company Heinz famously has 57 varieties and this package consists of 57 bets. The equivalent bet including singles too is a Lucky 63.

HT/FT refers to half-time / full-time and it is effectively a bet that splits the game into two. It is one bet making two predictions, the result at half time combined with the result at full-time. The full-time bet will only count if the half-time bet wins. This market gives better odds compared with WDW lines because you need to make a more accurate prediction.

Betting companies are required by law to know who it is that is betting with them. That means they are legally obliged to check your ID to confirm you are who you say you are and that you are over 18. You also need a residential address and you must prove this using a bank statement or other official letter. It is not done to frustrate you as a customer it is something that companies have to do to protect against things like money laundering and unsafe gambling.

Implied Odds are exactly that, implied, meaning they are the odds that bookmakers give you. They are different to the true odds, which is the probability of something actually happening. Taking all possible outcomes together true odds add up to 100% but implied odds will be above 100% and the amount higher than 100 is the margin the bookmaker has on a market. The trick is to find instances where implied odds are equal to or better than the true odds, although that in itself is difficult as it is hard to ever know the true odds exactly for sports.

In-play or live betting is the act of betting on an event that has already started. While we take it for granted these days before online betting there was no such thing as in-play, now nearly half of bets on football alone are placed this way. There are many markets available in-play that are not available pre-match, odds shift quickly this presents different challenges and opportunities compared to pre-event markets.

In boxing a knockout is exactly what it sounds like, a boxer is knocked down and cannot continue the fight as a result. A technical knockout is when a fighter is knocked down or hurt and the referee deems the fight cannot safely continue. Either way the fight stops at the point of a KO or TKO. In betting KO & TKO are often combined but there are opportunities to bet on them separately.

Since the advent of the exchange at the turn of the millennium punters are no longer restricted to just backing markets with bookmakers at the price they set. Instead, using an exchange, you can back markets as you would with a normal bookie but you can also lay bets to other people - in effect becoming your own bookmaker. Here you are betting on the selection to lose, if it does you keep the backers stake, if not you pay them out at the agreed odds.

Betting companies are private businesses and although they can't discriminate they can close, suspend or limit the accounts of any customers they wish to. This might be for winning too much or too often, abusing promotions, breaking the T&C's, matched betting, arbing, etc. Limited accounts are highly restricted, this is deliberate to try to get you to stop betting with them. Limited accounts are rarely overturned.

Live streaming gives you the ability to watch live sports through betting sites. Sometimes this requires you to bet on the event or at least have placed a bet in a certain time or have a funded account. They are largely free, though, and are available for most sports from various sites. They are not completely live, they run 30s to one minute behind the action so that bookies have time to adjust markets. They are mostly used to enhance entertainment but they do cost money for the licenses which is why only the bigger brands have streaming outside of horse racing.

A Lucky 15 is a pre-packaged multiple bet on four different selections. It is known as a full cover bet as it covers all potential winning combinations. It was invented by Fred Done, the founder of Betfred, and often has added bonuses if all four selections win, hence the name Lucky. It consists of 4 single bets, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and one 4-fold acca, each bet requires a separate stake so if you bet £2 per line the whole bet will cost £30. You can get a return if just one selection wins with increasing returns the more successful predictions you make.

Lucky 31 bets are pre-packaged full cover wagers that were invented by Fred Done of Betfred in the 1970's. It is called a full cover bet as it covers all possible winning outcomes from a bet. The Lucky 31 is used for 5 selections and consists of 31 different bets, one five-fold accumulator, five four-folds, ten trebles, ten doubles and five singles. Only one selection needs to win to get any return, the more selections that win the more individual bets win and the higher the overall return.

Lucky 63 bets are full cover bets, i.e. covering every possible winning outcome, on six selections. The wager is actually a package of 63 individual bets that consists of one six-fold accumulator, six five-folds, six singles, fifteen four-folds, fifteen doubles and twenty trebles. Only one selection needs to win to get anything back, the more picks that win the more individual bets that win and the higher the overall return.

The money line is a term that is most commonly used in American sports. It is in effect betting on the match winner without any handicap or spread involved. It is different to a conventional match result market, or regulation line, in that a draw is not possible. You are betting on the match winner by whatever means, including overtime.

A net deposit it the total amount you have deposited with the total amount you have withdrawn subtracted. This can be over any period of time and can be a positive number (if you have deposited more than you have withdrawn) or a negative number (if you have withdrawn more than you deposited). Often net deposits are calculated separately for different payment methods.

A net withdrawal is simply the amount you have withdrawn minus the amount you have deposited over a period of time. If that number is positive then you have won overall, if it is negative you have lost overall. Net withdrawals can be calculated over any period, many bigger sites display this information for you. Often net withdrawals are shown per payment method.

A horse that is listed to race, but is withdrawn for any reason and at any time before it comes under starters orders, is known as a non runner. Sometimes owners or trainers will want a horse taken out of the race because of an injury, a change in weather that makes the ground unsuitable for the horse, or even if the horse isn't playing ball on the day.

Non-runner no bet or non-runner money back does what it says on the tin. It gives you your stake back in cash if you back a horse in a race and it doesn't run. This, however, normally only applies to UK & Irish racing and bets placed on the day of the race by default. Ante-post bets usually do not qualify for NRNB, apart from some of the largest festivals - meaning you won't get your stake back if the horse doesn't run. Most UK licensed bookies will offer NRMB for bets placed on the day of the race.

Odds against is the term used for any market where the odds are greater than evens. In this case you if your bet wins you will win more than your stake amount back in winnings plus your stake. Odds against wagers are generally always going to have less than a 50% chance of winning, although not always as you can sometimes find overpriced selections that are odds on (e.g. a horse that is 9/1 who's real chances are 7/1).

Odds boosts, price boosts, power prices, whatever you call them they are the same thing. They are select lines that bookies choose to boost the odds on that they then push to customers. Sometimes these are loss-leaders to engage customers other times they are used to balance books if they want to attract more bets to a certain market. Some bookies allow you to even boost your own odds. While valuable and worth looking for these offers are only worth taking if you actually believe the winning scenario will occur, as with any bet.

Odds on is a term applied to any price offered by a bookmaker where you stand to win less than your stake amount. The phrase is also used colloquially to refer to anything that is seen as a probable result. Odds on means something is more likely to win that not but the odds offered will always factor in a margin so the real chances of winning are likely to be lower even if still over 50%.

The official result is what bookmakers use to settle bets. It is based on independent information they receive from sports data companies (e.g. Opta) and official resources (e.g. UEFA). Once an official result is decided and a bet is settled that is usually final even if for some reason the result is later changed due to errors or disqualification.

An outright bet is one made on the outcome of an entire league or competition. This could be a bet on the eventual winner of the Champions League, or the player who walks away with the US Open. An outright bet can be placed sometimes 12 months in advance, but it is also possible to place an outright bet once a competition is underway. For example, you could still bet on Tottenham to win the league 25 weeks in if it was looking like a good punt, but the odds will obviously change as things develop.

This market is simple to understand and is often backed when punters suspect games will be low scoring. Under 1.5 goals will win if the score is 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1 only, as there needs to be one or less goals in the game. Over 1.5 goals will win with any other score than those three listed. The main market is for the match as a whole in 90 minutes covering both teams. You can also bet on over/under 1.5 goals for teams individually or you can bet over /under in each half.

The Over/Under 2.5 goals market is popular for football. It is the main market you see because the average number of goals per game is close to 2.5 and so most odds are close to evens. The reason it is 2.5 is so there can be no draw or tie, you can only either win or lose this bet. Other alternatives are available from over/under 0.5 up to any number in theory.

Over 3.5 goals means four goals or more must be scored to win, under 3.5 goals means three or less goals must be scored to win. You can bet on this in 90 minutes on the match as a whole or on individual teams, if you wish you can also bet on over / under 3.5 goals in a specific half. It is not as popular as over / under 2.5 goals but is often used in matches where lots of goals are expected.

Betting on over 4.5 goals means there has to be at least 5 goals in a match, which isn't hugely common. Punters like the market for games they think will be high scoring but where they are unsure who will win. Betting on under 4.5 goals is less common as the odds are low as most matches have less than 3 goals on average. There are instances, however, when there are heavy favourites when the market can have good odds if you think there will be less than 5 goals in a game.

A palpable error is another term for an obvious error. It is a word you will find in the terms and conditions of betting sites to cover them if they make a clear error. This is most commonly seen when odds are given that are far higher than they should be. People who back that market will likely find their bet void based on palpable error terms.

A parlay is effectively an American term for an accumulator, a bet where several selections need to win for the overall bet to win. This may be a conventional acca or the more modern same-game parlays (bet builders) that allow you to combine outcomes within a single game. Just like accumulators these bets are hard to win but are often liked as many have long odds and require small stakes. You will most commonly find the term associated with US sports like the NFL.

Most people know you can bet on a horse, team or player to win something outright or you can bet in it each-way, which is two bets packaged together - one on it to win and one on it to place. You can, however, also just bet on a selection to place without having to also bet on it to win. This is most common in horse racing but can be used in any sports with a finishing order. If, for example, you back a horse that you don't think will win but has a good chance of placing then a place bet will save money compared to betting each-way.

This is one single bet on 6 horses from 6 different races all to finish in the places. Bettors can back more than one horse in each leg but this will effectively create a second betslip so the stake will increase for each extra horse that is backed. Tote winnings are paid from the pot rather than at fixed odds, meaning that the amount available to win depends on how many other punters bet, how much any other winners bet compared to your stake, and which horses you backed.

If you see P or PU on a race card or results page it means the horse has been pulled up. This means the jockey decided to stop the horse during the race and it didn't finish as a result. Most horses are pulled up because they are a long way out of the race or for health reasons where they jockey is protecting a horse from injury. It is most common in longer jump races, especially big field handicap races like the Grand National.

If you've been online betting for a while and you see a pop up window asking if you want to continue playing these are reality checks. They are required as part of the legislation on responsible gambling to help identify people who may have a gambling problem. If you get one of these it does not mean that you have a problem it is just a notification to say you have been playing for a certain period of time. The period between checks can generally be altered at the users discretion but they often cannot be turned off due to the nature of their purpose.

A related contingency is the industry term when two betting markets are related, i.e. the outcome of one can affect the other. This is common when you want to bet on multiple elements within the same game or for the same team. E.g. you can't place a double bet on the first goalscorer and the correct score because this is related so you have to place a scorecast. Bet Builders are all related contingencies.

Punters have always requested bets from bookies via shops and over the phone but the internet and social media has opened this side of sports betting up like never before. Through social media you an request bets from pretty much all major bookies these days. This means punters can make their own unique predictions and bet on them. Beware, though, these markets often offer poor value.

In Boxing and Martial Arts one of the most popular betting markets, second after the fight winner market, is round betting. You can bet on the exact round a fight will finish or even bet on groups of rounds, e.g. fight to finish between rounds 4-6. The market also has over/under options to bet on, e.g. over / under 9.5 rounds.

Rule 4 is called rule 4 because it is one of 12 rules of the Tattersalls rules of racing. It pertains to how odds and payouts are managed when horses are withdrawn after final declarations are made. Depending on the odds of the horse withdrawn the other selections in the race receive a reduction from 5p in the pound to 90p.

A weekly bet held on Saturday whereby the punter must correctly predict the winning horse of 6 races from different meetings. The bet costs £2 per line, and all of the races will be televised, so it's the most widely played Tote bet of them all meaning the prize pot tends to be the biggest too. The Scoop6 is very hard to win, and pots rollover too, so if several weeks go by without a winner the prize money can be huge.

A scorecast bet is a package of two bets within a single game, usually football but can be for any sport with goalscorers and correct score options. It is known as a related contingency (as the outcome of one bet affects the other) and is typically first goalscorer and correct score combined but can be anytime or last goalscorer too. Both bets must win to be paid out.

A settled bet is a bet where the sportsbook has determined the result of an event and deemed whether that wager was a winner or a loser. This usually occurs shortly after the result is known but can take longer in some instances. Settled bets are usually final and are paid out on the result at the time the market is closed, even if it changes later.

A shot on target is a shot that results in a goal or where the goalkeeper or last man saves the ball that would have otherwise gone into the net. It is actually complicated in some scenarios as to what constitutes a shot on target but in general if a player hits the ball and it goes in or would have gone in except for the last man it is a shot on target. Penalties that are scored or saved are also shots on target.

This is an old fashioned bet type and you will often need to request it direct from a bookie these days but it still does have value and it is an interesting wager. Effectively you place two single bets but with a condition that if either bet wins you place an additional stake on the other bet. This can have the effect of turning one bet into four bets if both selections are winners.

Licensed betting companies are obliged by law to ensure the industry is not used for proceeds of crime. That is the primary reason for source of funds (SoF) checks. You may find if you deposit an unusually high amount or at an unusual frequency you are asked to provide proof of those funds. The betting company is simply following their legal requirements. SoF checks are also now being used to make sure people can afford to gamble even if crime is not suspected as part of responsible gambling legislation.

Spread betting is called 'betting' but it is a very different animal and is regulated by the FCA not the UKGC. The idea is you choose a market range (the spread), such as the number of goals in a game or the number of runs in a cricket match, and the more accurate you are in your prediction the more you can stand to win. Conversely the less accurate you are the more you stand to lose and you can lose more than your stake or more than you have in your wallet. It is a risky form of betting and you should research those risks before taking part.

The amount you choose to bet on the selection you have made is your stake. It's the amount you decide to wager. If someone bet £10 that on a horse to win a race, then their stake would be £10. It always refers to the amount on the betslip, however the bet is designed. An each way bet of £5 would be made up of two £5 stakes, to create a total stake of £10.

The starting price is an industry standard used to define the odds of a horse at the start of a race. It is used to the record the final odds of the horses and the winner but is also important in offers such as best odds guarantee. You can choose to take a fixed-price when you bet or take the SP, you will only know the SP odds once the race starts.

The Heinz bet comes from the fact there are 6 selections and 57 possible multiple bets, hence drawing on the name due to 57 varieties. The Super Heinz is the same but has one more selection, seven, and this makes 120 possible multiple bets. This has nothing to do with Heinz the brand but is simply a bigger bet than a standard heinz. In total there are 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four folds, 21 five folds, 7 six folds and 1 seven fold.

Suspicious betting activity is more easily detected these days online because every bet and stake amount can be tracked in real time. There is an agency called the International Betting Integrity Association that also monitors betting activity across different companies to create an overall picture to see if a market might bet suspicious. Ultimately it can lead to bets being cancelled, account suspension and possibly criminal charges, although, of course, innocent people can get picked up by this if they happen to bet on markets that are then flagged as suspicious.

In the UK operators pay tax directly at the 'point of consumption' and so you do pay tax just not directly, it is manifested in poorer odds ultimately. This means you don't pay tax on gambling winnings but conversely you can claim back losses against tax either. That is not the case everywhere, in the US, for example, gambling winnings are taxable and therefore you can also use losses against tax.

You will often see in betting markets for boxing the line 'to win by decision or technical decision'. If you don't know what a technical decision is it is when the judges have to call a fight before it ends due to a cut or injury sustained from a method other than a punch, most commonly a headbutt. A fight will only go to a TD if the fighter is unable to continue but has not been disqualified, knockout or technical knockout.

Regular season American Football games can end in a tie but since overtime was introduced in 1974 it has become a very rare event indeed. Frankly most US sports fans don't care for draws but they can still happen. They can't happen in play-off games or in the Super Bowl where a winner must be found. Most American football markets are designed to exclude tied results but you can bet on a game to end in a draw, either after four quarters, after overtime or using a handicap market.

Many big sets and indeed matches in tennis are decided with the tie-break system these days. It only came in in 1965 and it took some tournaments a while to adopt it but now it is a mainstay of tennis. Of course you can bet on whether matches or sets will end in a tie-break, you can bet on the number of points, the winning score, etc. Before you do that, though, make sure you know how tie-breaks work.

A timecast bet is a combination of two markets on an individual match, goalscorer (usually 1st goalscorer) and the time of the goal (a window of time, variable between bookies). You cannot place a conventional double as it is a related contingency, therefore, it is a pre-packaged bet with a similar to a scorecast. It gives better odds compared to goalscorer bets in 90 minutes but less chance of winning as a result.

A collective term used for both tote betting as a whole, and for all of the different types of tote bet that are available such as toteplace, totewin, etc. Tote betting is where instead of taking fixed odds, the punters money goes into a pot with everyone else's, and then winnings are paid out in the form of dividends with the amount varying depending on how many people are sharing the pot and what their individual stakes were.

A tricast bet is similar to a straight forecast bet but goes one further. Instead of just predicting the winner and the second place we are also predicting who will finish third too. Naturally this inflates the odds a lot and is one reason why the bet type is attractive. You place one single bet and only win if you get the 1-2-3 order correctly. Most commonly used for horse and dog racing but can be used on any sport with a defined finishing order (e.g. golf and football tournaments).

True odds are the real odds, i.e. the real chances of something happening. They are different to the implied odds, which are what bookmakers off you. Bookmaker odds factor in margins and so if you add all of the odds up for all possible outcomes it will be above 100%, the amount about that figure being their margin. True odds can only ever add up to 100%. Working out how implied odds relate to true odds can help in finding value from betting.

UFC is a relatively modern fighting sport but betting on it has become a new phenomenon. Where boxing seems to have fallen with conflicting bodies and a failure to put on big fights UFC have stepped in and capitalised. The sport is a mixed martial art and works differently to boxing. Before you have a wager on it make sure you know what it is about.

It is not uncommon for a horse to throw a jockey off its back, especially in jump races that are longer and incorporate hurdles and fences. This is known as unseating a rider and it can occur anytime from before the race starts to the finish line. Jockeys cannot remount a horse in the UK since 2009 unless the race has not started. If you bet without 'faller insurance' and a rider is unseated your bet will lose and you will not get your stake back.

An up and down bet is a conditional bet with two selections. It is conditional because your first selection has to win to then wager an additional stake on the second selection. If both bets win you can in effect double the bet on both pick and potentially receive twice the winnings (compared to placing two singles) but if one selection loses you lose both stakes.

A VPN in effect masks your IP address and can allow you to set your IP address to show you as being in a location you are not. VPN's are not illegal and many people use them for security reasons. Most betting sites do not allow their use in their terms because they are only allowed to accept bets from certain places and VPNs can be used to subvert their systems allowing you to bet from places you shouldn't. If you are caught using a VPN in this way it could lead to forfeiting bets and account closure.

Bets are made void for all sorts of reasons; if the selection fails to actually run or play, if an event is cancelled or postponed, if suspicious betting is detected on the market, if rules or competitors are changed or if the bookie makes an obvious error. Void bets should always result in a stake being returned. As a punter you can often do little about it but you can argue your case if you think a bet has been voided incorrectly or indeed has settled and should have been voided.

Voided or void is the term you will see on a bet slip if a market has been cancelled for some reason, such as your selection not playing. A voided bet results in your stake being returned or if part of a multiple the bet will continue but that selection will be discounted and the odds will lower.

Wagering is, quite simply, betting. You can wager that something will happen in the same way that you can bet on something happening, or have a punt on something happening. This should not be confused with the term 'wagering requirements' which are often seen with online casino promotions, and sometimes simply described as 'wagering'.

To win both halves is a bet placed on team sports with two halves, usually football, that requires the team you back to win both the first and second half independently of each other. This requires a minimum of two goals, one in each half, assuming the other team doesn't score. It is different to half-time / full-time betting. The benefits are the market comes with much better odds than typical match result markets.

Wincast bets are related doubles that combine the a goalscorer market (first, last or anytime) with the match result. It is a related contingency, meaning the outcome of one bet affects the other and so odds are lower than a typical double. Own goals count for the match result but not the goalscorer markets. These bets have higher margins than comparable singles.