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Over-Rounds

Betting Glossary

Basic Terminology:

Also-ran – A selection that does not win or place in an event.

Backing – A bettor bets on a selection to win. All bets were backing (by regular customers) until the advent of exchanges (see laying)

Banker – A strong selection that a bettor may use as a corner stone of more complicated multiple selection bets.

Bar – In early shows of odds, any selections not quoted in the field will have odds equaling to or greater than the longest quoted selection. Literally ‘bar’ the others.

Bet – A wager with a bookmaker. A bettor places money on a selection in an event at odds provided by the bookmaker.

Bettor – Somebody who places a bet (a punter).

Book – List of selections for an event with relevant odds. Mathematically calculated to ensure balanced wagering and returns for the bookmaker.

Bookmaker – One who operates under a license to offer odds on events and create ‘books’.

Exchanges – Online exchanges are operating systems that allow bettors to back or lay selections. Bettors can effectively act as bookmakers by offering their own desired odds.

Favourite – The selection with the shortest odds to win the event. If there is more than one selection with the same shortest odds, they are referred to as co-favourites.

Form – The selections’ event history which give an indication to the chances of winning.

Laying – A bettor backs a selection not to win, i.e. acts as a bookmaker. This has only really been viable since the launch of exchanges.

Nap – A selection that has the strongest chance of winning, according to whoever gave the nap.

Non-runner – A selection that is withdrawn from an event or does not start an event.

Odds on/odds against – Any odds shorter than evens (e.g. 4/5, 4/7 etc) are odds one and any odds longer than evens are odds against.

Outsider/Underdog – The selection(s) that has long odds to win an event, normally the longest odds of the entire field.

Payout – The amount the bet actually pays (can differ to returns, especially with full cover bets, each-way bets etc)

Returns – The amount the bet will pay if completely successful.

Shorten/Lengthen – Refers to whether the odds are providing less returns (shorter) or more returns (longer), i.e. a selection going from 16/1 to 20/1 would be lengthening (also known as drifting).

Starting Price (SP) – In a non fixed odds market, the SP is the odds of a selection at the time the event starts.

Take a Price – In a non-fixed odds market, a bettor can ‘take a price’, which means they keep the odds that the selection was at the time of placing the bet. If the odds shorten, it was a good decision, if the odds lengthen, it was not.

The Field – The entire list of runners/selections for an event.

Total Stake – The amount in money that the entire bet costs.

Unit Stake – The amount that a constituent part of a bet costs. E.g. A full cover bet of 26 possible combinations (and therefore 26 separate bets) with a unit stake of £1, would have a total stake of £26.

More Advanced Terminology:

Dead Heat – If upon a result, more than one selection is deemed to have finished in a certain position, a dead heat is called. Dead heats are quite common in horse and dog racing, but also prevalent in mass participation tournaments such as golf. For first place dead heats, the stake is divided by the amount of runners for the winning position and then applied to the odds, i.e. half of the stake is used if two selections are in a dead heat.

Dutching – A betting strategy that involves choosing a number of selections to cover an event, all at odds that cover the total stake, to try and create a larger chance of winning. E.g. if a bettor thinks a football match will be close, they may ‘dutch’ 1-0, 0-1 and 1-1 (choose all 3 selections) and still make a profit if any of the selections wins. Usually the stakes are placed such that the returns are the same regardless of the initial odds.

Hedging – A system whereby a bookmaker or bettor will have a running bet but will make a supplementary bet on another competitor. This can minimise losses should the original selection lose or can even guarantee profit, should the odds have changed sufficiently in the meantime.

Tote – The Horseracing Totalisator Board. A system of pool-betting whereby returns are calculated according to the amount of money placed on that selection.

Some slang for odds:

Evens – odds of 1/1. Also known as scotch, levels.

Bottle – odds of 2/1

Burlington Bertie – odds of 100/30. Also known as scruffy and dirty.

Carpet – odds of 3/1. Also known as tres, gimmel.

Century – odds of 100/1

Cockle – odds of 10/1

Double Carpet – odds of 33/1

Double Net – odds of 20/1

Double Tops – odds of 15/8

Ear’ole – odds of 6/4

Elef – odds of 11/1

Elef a Vier – odds of 11/4

Enin – odds of 9/1

Exes – odds of 6/1

Face – odds of 5/2

Hand – odds of 5/1

Macaroni – odds of 20/1

Net and Bice – odds of 12/1

Net and Ex – odds of 16/1

Net and Rouf – odds of 14/1

Neves – odds of 7/1

On the Shoulders – odds of 9/2

Pony – odds of 25/1

Rouf – odds of 4/1

Shoulder – odds of 7/4

Tips – odds of 11/10

Up the Arm – odds of 11/8

Wrist – odds of 5/4

Single:
Win Single – money placed (staked) on an individual selection to win a race, event or competition. This selection may be a horse, a football team to win (or draw), a player to win a tennis match, a racing driver to win an F1 season or a multitude of things. The money is staked on one single selection to win. The stake is applied to the odds to determine payout.
A non-runner will refund the stake.

Place Single – With some sports, especially horse racing, a single can be for the selection just to place within the parameters and rules of the event. This is also common in motor sports. All the money is staked on the selection placing and the payout is calculated according to the place rules, even if the selection should win.
A non-runner will refund the stake.

Special Single – Bookmakers will often give odds for special events, such as a team ‘not to be relegated’ or a tennis player to reach ‘at least the semi finals’. This sort of ‘special’ bet has existed for many years but Paddy Power in particular made it more popular and the advent of online betting and betting exchanges has made ‘specials’ prevalent in almost every sport. The premise is still the same, even if the bet taken is not for a selection to win an event, the selection must still fulfill the parameters of the bet for a payout and it is still a single.
A non-runner will refund the stake.

Each-way Single – an each-way single is a bet placed on a selection to win or to place. The stake is doubled to incorporate both parts of the bet. So a £10 each-way (e/w) single would actually cost £20, £10 win bet plus a £10 place bet. So if the selection won, you would get paid out on the win and the place. The payout is calculated using the rules specific to the event.
The e/w bet is probably most common in horse racing and the payout differs as follows; Handicaps, Nursery and Rated Stakes Handicap races of 16 or more runners pay 1/4 odds for the first four places. Handicaps, Nursery and Rated Stakes Handicap races of 12 to 15 runners pay 1/4 odds for the first three places. All other races of 8 or more runners pay 1/5 odds for the first three places. All races of 5, 6 and 7 runners pay 1/4 odds for the first two places and races with less than 5 runners pay only on the win. These are general rules, however. Occasionally bookmakers will compete for business by stating that they will pay 1/4 odds instead of 1/5 odds etc.
E.g.) £10 e/w winner at 8/1 (place pays quarter odds). The win part of the bet would pay £90 and the place part of the bet would pay £30, totaling £120.
Each-way betting is used for many sports and markets but the each-way rules are generally specified for each event. For example, a first goalscorer market in a football match may have an each-way market where-by the selection can score any of the first 3 goals at reduced odds.
A non-runner will refund the stake.

Win-Place Single – Not common in the UK, but very common in New Zealand and Australia is the win-place bet. This is basically an each-way single bet but instead of having the same steak for win and for place, the bettor nominates differing stakes, e.g. £3 over £7, this would mean £3 on the win part of the bet and £7 on the place part of the bet. It simply offers the bettor to adjust his confidence in the selection. For example if he/she thinks that a 25/1 shot does not deserve equal stakes about win and place but that he/she thinks that maybe a small part of the bet should be on the win, then they can place a win-place single and adjust the amounts accordingly.
A non-runner will refund the stake.

Double:

Win Double – A bet placed on two different selections whereby both selections must win for the bet to be successful. The selections must be in mutually exclusive events to avoid ‘related contingency’ issues. This means that the result of one selection directly affects the odds of the other selection. For example, a double of 1) Liverpool to beat Chelsea in a game and 2) Manchester City to beat Fulham in a game would be fine, but if the double was 1) Liverpool to beat Chelsea and 2) Liverpool to win the league, this would not be allowed. This is because the odds of winning the league are potentially altered by the results of the game, i.e. related contingency. The payout of a double is calculated by working out the returns from the odds of one of the selections and putting all of said returns into the next selection’s odds.
E.g. you have a double of a 4/1 winner and a 3/1 winner with a stake of £1. £1 into 4/1 is £5 return (including stake) and those £5 winnings into 3/1 are £20 return, including stake.
A quick way to work out returns for a double for any stake is to treat the odds as fractions. Firstly add 1 to the chance of something not happening, i.e. the first part of the odds (remembering if the odds are not ‘to 1’, you must add whatever the denominator is) for both selections, multiply the odds together and then subtract 1 (1 being whatever the denominator is). This gives you the odds the double will pay and you can put any stake into it. That may sound quite complicated, but in practice is simple enough;
E.g. 1) 6/1 and 2/1 winners becomes; 7/1 x 3/1 = 21/1, minus 1 = 20/1 double. If you do it the long way (calculating the winnings from one and putting that into the second set of odds) you come up with exactly the same answer.
E.g. 2) 7/4 and 13/5 winners becomes; 11/4 (7 + denominator of 4) x 18/5 = 198/20, minus 1 = 178/20, more easily expressed as an 89/10 double. Any stake can be put into this to calculate a collect.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the single selection that is still ‘running’.

Place Double – Exactly the same principle as a win double, but both selections have been backed to place only and payout is at the place rules that apply to the event.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the single selection that is still ‘running’.

Each-way Double – An e/w double actually has two doubles running side by side, a win part and a place part. Should either selection not even place, the entire bet is down. However, if both selections win, a win double and a place double need to be calculated. If one selection should only place and one should win, the win part of the bet has lost because it is effectively a win double, but the bettor still gets paid for the place double (even if the selection won, the place odds must be used).
E.g. 1) £1 e/w double; 4/1 winner (place pays quarter odds) and 10/1 winner (place pays fifth odds). Using the principles explained above, the win part of the bet would be 5/1 x 11/1 = 55/1, -1 = 54/1 win double, equates to a £55 collect. For the place part of the double, the odds have to be adjusted to the payout rules before doing the calculations, 2/1 x 3/1 = 6/1, -1 = 5/1 place double, equates to a £6 collect. Add the two together for a £61 total collect.
E.g. 2) £1 e/w double, 4/1 placed (place pays quarter odds) and 16/1 winner (place pays quarter odds). In this example, unfortunately for the bettor the win part of the double is a loser but the place double would pay 2/1 x 5/1 = 10/1, -1 = 9/1 place double, equates to a £10 collect.
E.g. 3) £1 e/w double, 3/1 loser and 10/1 placed (place pays quarter odds). The entire bet is a loser due to selection one not even placing.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the single selection that is still ‘running’ as an each-way single.

Treble:

Win Treble – A bet placed on three differing selections, whereby all selections must win for the bet to be successful. Exactly the same principles apply to the treble that apply to the double, i.e. no related contingency, all bets must win etc.
Payout is calculated in exactly the same fashion for a win treble as it is for a win double.
E.g. 1) 4/1, 5/1 and 7/1 winners becomes 5/1 x 6/1 x 8/1 = 240/1, -1 = 239/1 treble.
E.g. 2) 7/4, 4/6 and 12/5 winners becomes 11/4 x 10/6 x 17/5 = 1870/120, -1 = 1750/120 treble, more easily written as 175/12.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the two selections that are still ‘running’ as a double. Two non-runner means the whole stake becomes a single.

Place Treble – The same as a place double, but with three selections. Payout is calculated using place rules that apply for the selected events.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the two selections that are still ‘running’ as a double. Two non-runner means the whole stake becomes a single.
Each-way Treble – The same rules as an e/w double. If one selection should fail to win, the entire win part of the bet is a loser, even if the other two selections win. If just one selection should fail to even place, the entire bet has lost.
E.g. 1) £1 e/w treble, 6/4 winner (place pays quarter odds), 12/1 winner (place pays fifth odds) and 5/1 winner (place pays quarter odds). The win part of the bet would be 10/4 x 13/1 x 6/1 = 780/4, -1 = 776/4, which is a 194/1 treble, which equates to a £195 collect. The place part of the bet is 22/16 x 17/5 x 9/4 = 3366/320, -1 = 3046/320, which is also 1523/160, giving a £10.52 collect. The total collect is £205.52.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the two selections that are still ‘running’ as a double. Two non-runner means the whole stake becomes an each-way single.

Accumulator:

An accumulator, sometimes referred to as a roll-up, is a bet with multiple selections. It works in exactly the same way as the double or the treble (win, place or each-way) but is a term generally used when more than three selections are involved. Technically doubles and trebles are also accumulators but the term accumulator largely refers to any bet with four or more selections. More specifically, an accumulator with four selections is referred to as a 4-timer (or 4-fold, differing terminology with exactly the same meaning). Five selections would be a 5-timer, six selections would be a 6-timer and so on.
Accumulators are very popular because the payouts can be massive for a very low initial stake. This, however, simply reflects the unlikely nature of landing a successful accumulator. Accumulators (or ‘accas’) are common for horse racing and especially football, where the outright outcomes of many matches are chosen, amongst others.
E.g.) A quick example of how the odds of accas can quickly spiral; 6 timer - 6/4, 7/4, 2/1, 4/6, 9/4 and 11/4. The odds for each selection are very attainable as win singles but, as a 6-timer, represent 10/4 x 11/4 x 3/1 x 10/6 x 13/4 x 15/4 = 643500/1536, -1 = 641964/1536, which is 53497/128. A £1 6-timer at these fairly innocuous odds would pay out £418.95.
A non-runner on one selection means the entire stake goes onto the remaining selections that are still ‘running’, i.e. a 7-timer becomes a 6-timer, a 4-timer becomes a treble etc.

Forecast and Tricast betting:

Forecast betting predominantly features (but not exclusively) in horse racing and greyhound racing. The idea is to predict first and second place in the race with the stake being applied to the forecast payout. This payout is determined by the Computer Forecast Returns within the betting industry (horse racing and greyhound racing) or occasionally, as is with sports forecasts, by the bookmakers themselves.
The payout is not like the double in the fact that the two sets of odds pre-race are used to determine payout. The general premise to the payout is how likely the winner was to win (i.e. the odds given) and how likely second place was to come second. So if the favourite for the race wins, the odds for anything else coming second will shorten, because a selection has been removed from the pool. If a strong selection wins (but not the favourite), then the odds of the favourite to come second will shorten even further. There are myriad of different circumstances that determine the forecast dividend.
A tricast works in a very similar fashion, but the first three selections must be chosen in order to win the bet. The payout is more complicated still.
Horse racing tricast bets are available on all 'Handicap', 'Nursery' and 'Rated Stakes Handicap' races provided six or more horses are declared to run and 4 or more actually run. Greyhound tricast bets are available on all races provided five or more greyhounds run.
The following are some forecast and tricast bet types.

Straight Forecast – A bet that predicts first and second in the race in the correct order. The nominated selections must finish in the stated order. The stake is multiplied by the forecast dividend to determine payout.
If the bettor has the winner and a non-runner, the bet is generally paid out as a win single. If no forecast dividend is declared, the bet is void. If only one horse crosses the line, the bet is paid out as a win single (the last three rules are a general guide, some bookmakers may differ)

Reverse Forecast – A bet that states two selections to finish first and second either way around. There is a total of two bets here, selection 1 to beat selection 2 and selection 2 to beat selection 1. Double the unit stake is paid for this and the same rules apply as they do for a straight forecast, i.e. £10 reverse forecast is £20 altogether. The payout dividend is just the same as a straight forecast.

Combination Forecast – This bet features more than two selections but is still attempting to predict first and second place in the correct order. Every possible combination of first and second is derived from however many selections there are and the bettor must pay for each combination. To calculate the number of combinations for a forecast, one must multiply the number of selections by the number of selections minus one. E.g. for three selections, three multiplied by two (number of selections minus one) is six possible combinations. So a £1 ‘combi’ forecast of three selections would cost a total of £6. If there were five selections, the total number of combinations would be 5 x 4 = 20.

Straight Tricast – A bet that predicts first, second and third in the correct order. The payouts for a tricast are always more than a forecast and can range from around £20 to many thousands of pounds.
Rules differ from company to company but generally if there is a non-runner, the straight tricast becomes a straight forecast and if there a two non-runners, the bet is void.

Combination Tricast – A tricast bet that has more than three selections that can finish in any order for the bet to win. The bettor must pay for every combination that is possible when placing this bet. For example, 3 selections in a combination tricast (as opposed to just a straight forecast) would involve six combinations and therefore six times the unit stake. Four selections would provide twenty-four possible combinations for first, second and third and five selections would be sixty possible combinations.

Straight Forecast/Tricast Double – This type of bet incorporates the rules of a win double and a straight forecast/tricast. The payout of one forecast/tricast will act as the stake for the second forecast/tricast and the potential winnings can be very large.

Reverse Forecast Double – A bet incorporating the rules of a double bet and reverse forecast bets. Staking for such doubles can soon get very expensive. A reverse forecast double over two races involving only one reverse forecast in each race would be four separate bets. Two reverse forecasts in each of two races would be sixteen bets.

Combination Forecast Double – Bets that incorporate the rules of a double with the rules of a combi forecast or tricast. The potential payouts are large but the staking also has the potential to get very expensive. One, three selection, combi forecast in each of two races will equate to thirty-six separate bets.

Sports Forecast – Occasionally, bookmakers offer forecasts on other sports other than horse and greyhound racing. They act in a similar fashion in that one event must occur before the other but they are fixed odds betting and a price is offered before event occurs. There is a bit of a grey area as to whether these bets are doubles or forecasts. The most popular sport forecast is the ‘scorecast’ in football. This bet involves predicting the first goalscorer and the correct score of the football match. An exact score must be picked because if a player is nominated to score and then simply whether a team will win, draw or lose, this classifies as related contingency, because a player scoring will drastically affect those odds.

Full Cover Bets:

On regular occasions, the bettor will want to place a bet that has multiple selections from various events. However, they might not always want to have just an accumulator, or a treble, or a 5-timer where every selection must win to provide a return but cover all the selections with all the bets available. For example, three selections would immediately imply a treble, but there are also three available doubles and three available singles. Whilst there are more combinations and therefore more bets to pay for, a collect can still be possible even if the bet should contain some losers. Sometimes, with many selections and permutations of bets, even if losers are present on the bet, a decent profit can be made. Sometimes, however, the permutations create a fall back and minimise losses, instead of making a profit.

Trixie – A bet of 3 selections, consisting of 4 bets - 3 doubles and 1 treble.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

Patent – A bet of 3 selections, consisting of 7 bets - 3 singles, 3 doubles and 1 treble.
One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Yankee – A bet of 4 selections, consisting of 11 bets - 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a four-fold accumulator.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

Lucky 15 – A bet of 4 selections, consisting of 15 separate bets - 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a four-fold accumulator. This is equivalent to a Yankee plus 4 singles.
One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Canadian (or Super Yankee) – A bet of 5 selections, consisting of 26 separate bets - 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and a five-fold accumulator.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

Lucky 31 – A bet of 5 selections, consisting of 31 separate bets - 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and a five-fold accumulator. This is equivalent to a Canadian (Super Yankee) plus 5 singles.
One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Heinz – A bet of 6 selections, consisting of 57 separate bets - 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, 6 five-folds and a six-fold accumulator. So named due to the 57 combinations, the same number as the Heinz varieties.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

Lucky 63 – A bet of 6 selections, consisting of 63 separate bets - 6 singles, 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, 6 five-folds and a six-fold accumulator. This is equivalent to a Heinz plus 6 singles. One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Super Heinz – A bet of 7 selections, consisting of 120 separate bets - 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four-folds, 21 five-folds, 7 six-folds and a seven-fold accumulator.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

Goliath – A bet of 8 selections, consisting of 247 separate bets - 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 28 six-folds, 8 seven-folds and an eight-fold accumulator.
A minimum of two selections must win to gain a return.

A Goliath is the largest recognised full cover bet but larger may be taken as long as the bettor can correctly calculate the number of combinations for the number of selections.
Flexibility can also be exercised with this type of betting. For example, if you picked 8 selections but did not want the Goliath bet, the bettor could nominated to just take six-folds, seven-folds and the eight-fold accumulator. This would reduce the number of bets from 247 to 37. Any such combinations may be taken for many differing reasons.
The 'Lucky' part of the ‘Lucky 15’ (and others) bets comes from the bookmaker's practice of offering bonuses for one or more winners; usually including 'double the odds' for only one winning selection and percentage bonuses on multiple winners. The bonuses offered differ between bookmakers.

Other Special Full Cover Bets:

Union Jack – A bet of 9 selections. The bets are placed on a 3 x 3 grid (shown below), with the position of each bet being important to the outcome and returns. The bet consists of 8 trebles – 123, 456, 789, 147, 258, 369, 159 and 357. It is possible to have five winners and no return (1,2,5,6 and 7) and selection 5 is the most important as it is in four trebles.

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

Any To Come (ATC) bets:

An ‘any to come’ (or ‘if cash’) bet is a wager that involves conditions relating to other selections on the same bet regarding stakes. Basically, the initial stake is placed on a selection and subsequent stakes about selections are pre-determined by the bettor should there be returns on the original bet.
A simple example would be £10 win on selection at 4/1, if cash £30 win on selection at 2/1. This bet has a stake of only £10 and predetermines the stake on the following bets, all of which are reliant on previous returns. Should both bets win in this example, the bettor would collect £110.
If an original selection fails, which generates the ‘cash’, the bet is a loser. If a selection fails that is generating ‘cash’ but is part way through a bet, there may still be enough ‘cash’ remaining to place subsequent if cash bets.
Selections cannot be ante-post. For returns from selections that generate the ‘cash’, said returns cannot be used for the same race.

Up-and-Down – An ATC bet of 2 selections, consisting of 2 bets. If one selection wins then the original stake is placed as another single bet on the second selection. If both selections should win, each original stake is placed as a single on the other selection, in effect giving twice the winnings for just two stake units.
Up-and-Down bets can be played for with single stakes about (stakes identical to the original are used for winners) or double stakes about (double the original stake is used for winners). With double stakes about, an odds-on winner will not provide enough return to ensure double stakes so the whole amount available is used.

Round Robin – A bet of 3 selections, consisting of 10 separate bets - 3 doubles, 1 treble and 3 up-and-down bets (each of 2 separate bets). This bet is basically a Trixie to which 3 up-and-down bets have been added. One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Flag – A bet of 4 selections, consisting of 23 separate bets - 6 doubles, 4 trebles, 1 four-fold and 6 up-and-down bets. This bet is basically a Yankee to which 6 up-and-down bets have been added.
One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Super Flag - A bet of 5 selections, consisting of 46 separate bets - 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds, 1 five-fold and 10 up-and-down bets. This bet is basically a Canadian to which 10 up-and-down bets have been added.
One winning selection will guarantee a return.

Sports Betting Specials:

Sports betting markets offer further specials due to the flexibility of the outcomes. Due to this flexibility, there are myriad of markets and not all can be listed because unique markets can be created, tailoring to a particular event.

Ante-Post – Not limited to sports betting, ante post bets are long term bets such as tournament winners, season campaign winners etc. Ante-post is popular in horse racing but the amount of sports and amount of events within each sport that are ante-post, warrants a special mention.

Handicap – A bet that subtracts or adds a margin to a selection to create different odds. For example, in a rugby match, a heavy favourite may have a handicap of –19.5 points applied to it to create much more tempting odds to back. Oppositely, the outsider may have a positive handicap applied (+11.5 for example). Positive and negative handicaps can be applied to both the favourite and the outsider, but if you were to apply a negative handicap to an outsider, this would push the odds even further out.
One distinct advantage of handicap betting is that, if you feel a selection will lose but could come close to the opponent, the handicap offered may well be better odds than simply backing the favourite.

Asian Handicap – A bet largely used in football due to the high number of draw results (comparatively to many sports). The bet is designed to adjust the odds of the teams by applying small handicaps to both and thus create a winner, even if the match is a draw. Occasionally the handicaps do allow for a draw result but stakes are refunded.
For example, two teams are playing and the handicap offered is 0:1. This means that team A receives no handicap adjustment but team B has a 1goal head start. If team B should lose by 1 goal, the game is a draw after the handicap is applied and therefore stakes are refunded.
Usually with the Asian handicap, the handicaps are in increments of halves or quarters, thus eliminating the draw result. So if the handicap is 0:0.5, team A receives no handicap and team B has a 0.5 point adjustment. Therefore in the case of a drawn game, team B always wins, however if team A should win, the handicap is not large enough to alter the result.
If the handicap is in an increment of one quarter or three quarters, the stake is effectively split between the handicap one half increment above and one half increment below. For example, a handicap of 1.25 with a stake of £1000 could also be viewed as £500 on a handicap of 1 and £500 on a handicap of 1.5. With the quarter handicaps, therefore, it is possible to lose only half of your stake and get half refunded for the draw. It is also possible to have only half of the stake applied if you win a bet, with the other half being refunded.

Betting in Running – Sporting events are usually held over a large amount of time, compared to horse races and dog races. This allows for betting in running, which is simply the ability to bet on selections and outcomes, whilst the event is actually running. This form of betting is hugely popular as it allows the bettor to formulate an opinion based on what is actually happening in the event. The odds shift accordingly to reflect this however.
One major advance of betting in running has come with the advent betting exchanges. Now that the general public can back and lay selections, this means they can ‘trade’ a bet during an event and make a profit before it has even finished. For example, a bettor backs a massive outsider in a football match but is of the opinion that the team may play well. The first ten minutes of the game prove the bettor to be correct as the outsider starts very strongly so the bettor lays off their bet at much lower odds and locks in a profit. They can also go on to make more bets.
NB betting exchanges has also made betting in running possible in horse races.

Half time/Full time – A double bet that allows the bettor to predict the result of a game at half time and full time. The possibilities for both half time and full time are team A winning, draw and team B winning. The bettor simply selects one of these options for both half time and full time and the bookmaker supplies a set of fixed odds. The second half is not exclusive of the first, the match is treated as one continuos event. Usually, the home team to be winning at half time and the away team to win at full time offers the longest odds.

Over/Under – This type of bet relates to the total amount of points in a game. Over/under markets are very popular in football but can also be found in many other sports, including basketball, cricket etc.
The basic premise is that the bookmaker provides odds either side of a predetermined points total. One set of odds reflects the total amount of points scored being under the predetermined total and one set off odds reflects the total points scored being over the predetermined total. The most common example is a football match with a over/under market of 2.5. Odds are provided for the total amount of goals being under or over 2.5. The 0.5 ensures there are only two outcomes and no draws are possible. Usually 1.5 and 3.5 goals markets are offered as well.

First/Last Scorer – A bet that predicts who will score the first goal/try/any scoring play nominated in an event. Unless stipulated, the odds are the same for first scorer as they are for last scorer for a particular selection. If the selection does not start and does not feature in the game, he/she is treated as a non-runner. Rules differ between bookmakers, but usually if a player does not start and comes into the game after the first scorer market has been decided, this is also a non-runner. Each-way terms are occasionally offered and the bookmaker designates the each-way terms.

Correct Score/Correct Half Time Score – A bet that predicts the exact correct final score of the game or the exact half time score. Full time and half time exact scores are separate bets. In a bookmaker, the largest odds offered are usually 100/1, but online firms tend to offer higher. These bets are very popular in football, tennis, baseball, ice hockey and are available on most sports.

Correct Winning Margin – A bet that predicts the correct winning team and their winning margin in an event. E.g. a bettor predicts that a team will win by exactly seven points in a rugby game. This means the bettor will win regardless of the final scoreline, as long as the correct team wins and by the exact scoreline predicted.

Next Score – A bet predicting which team will score the next goal/try/nominated scoring play. A simple head to head bet.

Next scoring play – A bet predicting what the next scoring play will be. This is more common for rugby because of the multiple ways points can be obtained but is also present in other sports. Sometimes the market includes both teams and simply requires what the scoring play will be, and sometimes the market requires the bettor to nominate the team and the scoring play.

Clean sheet – A bet predicting whether a team will keep a clean sheet, i.e. not concede a point. More common in football and ice hockey, but available on other sports.

Bookings Index – A market that nominates a numerical value to a disciplinary offence in an event, then offers a range of odds for a range of numerical totals at full time. For example, in football, a yellow card may carry ten points, a red card twenty. Then a market is created offering over/under a certain total of points for the game or differing ranges of points totals and odds are applied accordingly.

2/3 Ball Betting – A golf market in which a group of players are selected and odds are offered on who will obtain the lowest score over 18 holes of golf.

Sport is so varied that individual markets can be created to tailor every sport and even individual events. It is impossible to list all bet types but they all generally fall into the rules set out above.