Sports Betting Terminology
Side Bet: This is a bet where you are taking the line (or spread) into account. In the example to the right, New Orleans is a 3 point favorite over Chicago at the BetOnline sportsbook. To win the bet, New Orleans would have to win by four points or more.
Juice: This is the sportsbook’s commission. Again using the New Orleans example, at -3, the juice is -125. This means that you’d have to bet $125 to win $100. When there is a positive number, then that is how much you would win if you placed a $100 bet.
Money Line: A bet where you are simply trying to pick the winner of the game. There is no spread involved in this bet.
Over/Under: This is a type of bet where you are trying to bet if the points scored in a game will be “over” or “under” a certain number.
Odds Comparison
It’s always advisable to use multiple sportsbooks because there are always slight differences in the lines from sportsbook to sportsbook. The odds comparison widget can be a little bit confusing to beginners so we thought that we would give a slight lesson to help you understand how to use it. Below is a sample of the Odds Comparison screen which is showing the odds for Super Bowl LII.
Looking at the data, note the following definitions:
- Opener: This was the opening line at the sportsbook that is listed first one the widget.
- %: This is the percentage of bets that are going toward each team.
- Shaded columns: Those are lines that have moved in the past 30, 60, or 90 seconds. This is usually driven by a significant amount of money be bet on a specific side.