Posted by | Alikat | in Sports Betting 101

As I was sitting here catching up on some replays of the pre-season games played last night on the NFL Network, I thought to myself I better put together a quick lowdown of the terms you’ll need to know if you’re going to get down and win some money this fall. I know some of you are very experienced in sports betting, but some of you may be trying it for the first time and since the first time for anything is a little scary, I wanted to give you some definitions of the words your sportsbook or bookie will be using.

1. THE LINE: The current odds or point spread on a game

2. POINTSPREAD: The amount of points the favorite team is giving to the underdog for betting purposes. For example: Patriots -7 vs Raiders means that the Patriots are favored by 7 points. This means that if you bet on the Patriots, they would have to win by 7 or more points for you to win the bet. If you bet on the Raiders, you could lose by 7 points or less and win your bet.

3. PUSH: Neither side wins and all money is returned to the bettors. In the above example, Patriots -7 vs Raiders, if the Patriots win by exactly 7 points this game would be considered a PUSH. If you bet on the Pats, you would get your money back and the same would go if you bet on the Raiders. The only amount you would lose is the JUICE or the VIG, which would be paid to the sportsbook or bookie. This brings me to number 4…

4. JUICE or VIG: The commission paid to the sportsbook or bookie for taking your bet. Usually it’s 10%. Using the same example above, if you bet $110 to win $100 (11-10 odds remember) on the Patriots and they won the game by exactly 7 points, you would receive $100 back. The $110 you bet minus the sportsbook/bookie commission of $10. If however they won the game by 8 points or more you would get your $110 that you bet plus the $100 that you won for a total of $210. If you lose you of course pay the sportsbook or bookie $110.

5. REDUCED JUICE: A 5% commission to the sportsbook or bookie for taking your bet. Most bookies do not give reduced juice lines, but you can find reduced juice lines and programs at various sportsbooks. BetOnline.com has a very good program for this kind of sports betting. Finding these programs are excellent for more serious and wealthy types of bettors.

6. BOOKIE: A guy or girl who takes a client’s bet.

7. FAVORITE: The team that is expected to win the game. In the Patriots -7 vs. Raiders example, the Patriots are the favorite by 7 points.

8. UNDERDOG (DOG): The team that is expected to lose the game. In the Patriots -7 vs. Raiders example, the Raiders are 7 point dogs.

9. COVER THE SPREAD: The amount of points the favorite team has to win by to cover the bet. In the above example, the Patriots would have to win by 8 points to cover, which means if you bet $110 to win $100 on the Pats at -7 and they won by 8, you would collect your $110 you wagered plus the $100 you won for a total of $210.

10. TOTAL AND OVER/UNDER: The total amount of points expected to be scored between the two teams. Beating our dead horse of an example, if the Patriots -7 vs Raiders has OVER/UNDER of 42 points, this means that these two teams are expected to score a total of 42 points in this game. If you best the OVER, you are betting that the total score will be more than 42 points and if you bet the UNDER, you are betting that the TOTAL will be less than 42 points. Of course if the game ends up at exactly 42 points, this game would be considered a PUSH.
So there you go boys and girls, Sports Betting Terminology, Chapter 1. Stay tuned for Chapter 2 coming in the next few days.