Introduction
The betting industry has been around for almost 100 years. During this time, it has developed a glossary of words and terms with very specific meanings. It’s a process that is inherent in all industries as a means of easier communication between those that become members of each trade. For the world of betting this vocabulary is used everywhere, especially in the best betting platforms where every sort of activity is compounded in a single screen and everything is right in front of the punter.
In one of our previous blog posts, we have already discussed the usual terms that every bettor uses when they want to place any sort of betting type. Those are words closely related to the actual betting action. In this article we will move to wider meanings and ways to identify the general betting activity that you will run into while venturing into the industry. Let’s begin.
- Fixed odds:
The term denotes all sort of betting where a wager is placed over preset odds with a payout that will not change. This is the practice of all Sportsbooks, while it is also available on Exchanges.
- Offered Odds::
This is the usual practice in Betting Exchanges. A player may not be satisfied with the fixed odds provided for a specific event. So, they are given the option of asking for their own set of odds. The bet is then accepted if there is another player that accepts the offer in an exactly opposite bet.
- Matched Bet::
This is a consequence of the offered odds option. It involves two equal and exactly opposite bets. If for example a player offers 100 Euros on a game between Liverpool and Real Madrid at odds 2.00 in favor of the Red’s victory, then the bet is matched when another bettor bets 100 Euros at odds 2.00 in favor of Real Madrid.
When the same player places 2 opposite bets (either in the same or in different bookmakers) taking advantage of the difference in odds offered, then they expect to make a profit from the difference between the bet that was lost and the bet that was won. This way they are assured of making a profit for every bet. Maybe not as much as they could by placing a single bet, however, they do not have the risk of losing their capital. This is another form of bankroll management. However, it does have some negative aspects which will be explored in another blog post.
- Parimutuel betting::
This is an event specific term. It denotes a sort of mutual betting offered in horse and greyhound racing mostly, along with other events of short duration where the athletes finish in a ranked order. All bets of the same type form a common pool. From the total amount, taxes and commissions are deducted while the remaining sum is divided equally to all winning bets based on odds calculated after the end of the event.
- Proposition Bets::
Most people know the term “event specific bets”. This is actually not the official term. It’s the bets that the bookmakers offer and are related to results of a statistical nature of a specific game. For example, in a game between Bayern Munich and PSG, the question of how many goals will Lewandowsky score is a proposition bet.
- Teasers::
When a punter places an accumulator they may be given the chance to make a profit at a lower payout if the bet is successful. We have already discussed about combining bets together to increase the profits.
This is a variation of a cumulative bet. At least two bets can be linked together with the implementation of an “if” condition. If the result of the first bet is successful based on the conditions set by the “if” clause, then proceed to the result of the second bet and so on.
- Total Bets::
All bets that refer to the total numbers at the end of the game are total bets. The final score is a total bet. The final number of corners is a total bet. All Over/Under or Odd/Even bets are total bets. However, in the category where bets have a limit, if the total number at the end is equal to the limit, then the bets are designated as push bets and are refunded by most bookmakers. For example, if the Over/Under limit is 3 and the game ends in 2-1, it will be called a push bet. Most bookmakers avoid the chance of push bets by setting the limit to an unreachable number (2,5 for example).
- Totalizators::
This is the process through which the bookmakers modify their odds according to the number of bets placed on a market and the total amounts wagered. The greater the number and the amount, the lower the odds become.
- Future Wagers::
The term applies to all bets placed under a long term condition. For example, if one bets that PSG will win the Championat for the next season at least one month before the season expires and the mathematics say that it is still possible for them to lose the title, then this a future wager.
In part II of the lesson we will discuss about more complicated terms like spread bets, edit my acca, bet cancellations and other definitions of situations that any bettor may run into while venturing into the world of betting. Of course, the prerequisite here is to open a betting account via agent so that you can use it while being fully informed of the intricacies involved.