Acca - Accumulator: An accumulator is a cumulative bet that combines more than one selection into a single wager that only counts as a win when all parts win. We're able to back and lay these bets using OddsMonkey’s Acca Finder.
AP - Advantage Play: Typically, odds are stacked in the favour of bookmakers and casinos. This is known as the ‘house edge’. Advantage play aims to reduce this edge, shifting the favour away from the house or other players (in a casino game). Advantage play can also refer to the advantage you have over the long term, thanks to the terms of the offer/promotion. The important thing to note though is that advantage play doesn't cover cheating as that’s an unfair advantage.
Affiliate: An affiliate marketer is someone who makes money online in return for helping a business by promoting their product, service or site. OddsMonkey runs an Affiliate Programme which allows members to earn a percentage of the subscription fee of anyone that signs up to OddsMonkey Premium via their individual link. If you’re passionate about OddsMonkey and how we can help members earn a sustainable tax-free and risk-free income, you could be an affiliate. Click here to find out more.
Ante Post: This is where bookmakers release odds days (or weeks) ahead of the event. Commonly used in horse racing, it applies mainly to the bigger race meeting, where bets are placed before the overnight declaration stage (usually 10am on the day before the race).
Arb - Arbitrage Bet: A trading technique that uses the differences between bookmakers’ prices, odds or opinions on event outcomes to make an instant and guaranteed profit. When the back odds of a bet are higher than the lay odds without using a price boost, this would be known as an arb and we would advise our members against taking these bets. You may make a quick buck but you will likely find that your account is stake restricted and potentially banned from promotions fairly quickly.
Availability: This is the amount of money that is available to match a bet that is placed at the exchange, also referred to as liquidity. Please see our guide on availability, here.
Bankroll: The total amount of money available in your betting account.
BBH - Beaten by a head: This is an offer relating to horse racing, where your money is returned (as a free bet usually) if your horse is beaten by the distance of a head or less.
BBL - Beaten by a Length: This is an offer relating to horse racing, where your money is returned (as a free bet usually) if your horse is beaten by a length or less.
BBN - Beaten by a neck: This is an offer relating to horse racing, where your money is returned (as a free bet usually) if your horse is beaten by the distance of a neck or less.
BOG - Best Odds Guaranteed: If you back a horse at odds of 4.0 and the horse wins the race and the SP price was 6.0, you would be paid out on that horse at 6.0. This can lead to very nice wins when matched betting. You can find out more about BOG here.
Best Price: The price of a horse may vary throughout the day of the race. Best price is the price on the day that gives you the best return for your money. For example, if a horse was 10.0, but the price drifted to 12.0 before coming in at 9.0, the best price for that horse would have been 12.0.
Betslip: This is where you put your selections and enter your stake before confirming your bet, either online or in-shop.
Betting Exchange/Exchange: This is a site which enables people to bet against each other rather than against a bookmaker. A betting exchange is an essential part of matched betting as it allows you to place your lay bet (against your back bet). Exchanges usually charge a commission (between 0%-5%). Examples include Smarkets and Betfair.
Bookie(s) - Bookmaker: A bookmaker is a site that enables people to place a bet on the particular outcome of a sports event and which then pays out to the bettor if their prediction turns out to be true. The amount of money that is paid out to the winner is determined by odds. A bookmaker is an essential
part of matched betting as it allows you to place your back bet (against your lay bet).
Boom: You may see other members saying "Boom" about theirs or other people's profits - this is a celebratory response to describe something that may be considered a nice win.
Bot Topping Up: You may see this said when there doesn't appear to be enough liquidity at the exchange to lay your bet, but a bot is continuously topping up the liquidity as lay bets are placed.
BTTS - Both Teams To Score: Does what it says on the tin, this is a market you can bet on where you’re betting on both teams to score! The great thing about this market is that your bet isn’t over until the final whistle has been blown.
Bust Out: A term associated with casino offers where you are completing wagering and have run out of money.
Calculator: OddsMonkey has a number of specially-designed calculators including the odds calculator which allows you to check how big your profit or loss will be on a qualifying or free bet. You can find all of our calculators listed here.
Cash Out: This is an option offered by some bookmakers which allows you to settle your bet before the market/event you bet on has been completed. The bet will be settled at the cash out price, which is different to the original price you took. If you have a lay bet in place we DO NOT recommend cashing out your bet, please read more about this here.
CS - Correct score: This is a market where we'd bet on the correct score of a match. For example, 2-1 to England.
DD/HH - Double Delight/Hatrick Heaven: This is an offer from Betfred. You can find more about this offer here.
Dead Heat: A situation where two or more competitors finish at the same time/are tied. This is something usually seen in horse racing and is also very popular in golf.
Double: A bet consisting of two selections, both of which must win for the wager to be successful. A double is also a form of an accumulator.
Draw No Bet: A sports market similar to matched betting, where the stake is returned to you if neither team wins an event, essentially removing the ‘draw’ from the Win-Draw-Win market. This market isn't often used when matched betting.
Drift: This is where the price of one selection increases because of a lack of interest from bettors. When the odds on a competitor “lengthen”, they are said to have “drifted” or be “on the drift”.
Dutching/Dutch Betting: This more advanced method allows bettors to divide stakes over a number of selections in an event, so that the same amount is won regardless of which selection wins. The technique is useful when there are two or more outcomes you wish to back and have a specific amount to stake. Dutching is a betting term for backing all of the outcomes in an event and can be used as an alternative to laying, meaning that you don’t have to pay commission on your lay bet as you won’t have used a betting exchange. If you’d like to find out more about Dutching, we’ve written a handy guide for you.
Each Way Arbing: This is where the exchange place market is skewed and an arb
takes place on the place market only. For example, a horse showing at 8 / 8.5 for
the win but 3.0 / 2.44 for the place is known as a place arb.
Enhanced Odds: Enhanced odds are a variation of free bet sign up offers, where
bookmakers offer a significant price (or odds) boost on a sporting event to new
customers. These generous giveaways are a marketing tool often offered by
the bookie as a quick way to encourage new sign-ups - fast.
EP - Extra Place: This type of promotion is offered on horse races, and is where a bookmaker will increase the number of places they pay out on. This is an advanced reload offer, you can read more about this here.
EV - Expected Value/Estimated Value: Expected Value is often shortened to EV, so look out for either term across the website. EV is the amount of money you can mathematically expect to return from an offer over time. When an offer, or promotion, has been analysed it will provide us either a positive expected value (+EV) where we are expected to make money or a negative expected value (-EV) where we’re expected to lose money.
EW - Each Way Bet: An each way bet is essentially two separate bets: one bet is put on the horse to win and the other on the horse to be placed. (For a horse to be placed, it needs to finish in the top 1-4 runners, based on the number of horses in the race). If 16 horses run in a race, usually 4 places are paid. However, this can change depending on the number of horses in a race (2-4 runners: 1st only, 5-7 runners: 1st and 2nd, 8+ runners 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 16+ runner handicaps 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th). To place an each way bet, you will need to check a box on your betslip. Doing this means that half of your total stake is put on your selection to win the race and the other half on your selection to place.
FB - Free Bet: This is one of the most important things to a matched bettor, as it’s where the profits are extracted from. Free bets are offered to both new and existing customers.
FGS - First Goalscorer: A bet on a player to score the first goal in a match.
FPTP - First Past the Post: All horse racing bets are paid out on the official result at the time of the “weigh in”. However, some of the prominent bookmakers also pay out on bets if your horse was First Past the Post. What this means is that if your horse crosses the finishing line first but isn’t awarded the win - for whatever reason - you will still receive your winnings.
FS - Free Spins: Associated with online casinos, free spins are where you receive an offer to play a casino game without having to use money from your real cash balance.
FT - Full Time: Most commonly referred to for football matches. Full time in a football match is generally 90 minutes, but this can run over due to stoppage time within the match.
Gub/Gubbed/Gubbing: If you’ve been gubbed by a bookmaker, it means you are banned from taking part in their promotions - you will most likely have received an email saying that you will no longer be able to take part in any offers. The decision to gub a customer is usually made by traders and is often non-reversible. If your account is gubbed (but not stake restricted), you can still use it for extra
places, each way bets, quite often price boosts and casino offers too.
HT - Half Time: This is the midpoint in a match. In a football half time is generally after 45 minutes of play, however, half time can sometimes be delayed slightly due to stoppage time.
HT/FT - Half Time/Full Time: A betting market that involves betting on the result of each half of a football match. For example, in the match Arsenal vs Man City, you might bet on Arsenal / Arsenal, which would mean a bet that Arsenal would win the first half, and the full match. Or, you could bet on Man City / Draw, which would be a bet for Man City to win the first half, but for the game to end in a draw. HT/FT is often confused with the win both halves market - these markets do not match up so do not back one and lay the other, or vice versa.
KO - Kick Off: Usually football - the start of the match.
KO - Knockout: This can either refer to the act of knocking someone out in a boxing match or a tournament in which the loser of each round is eliminated.
KYC - Know Your Customer: KYC is a standard procedure used by financial institutions and gambling platforms to ensure the identity of their customers and prevent fraud and money laundering. You can find out more about KYC here.
Lay Bet (also known as Laying): A lay bet is one you place on a specific outcome not to happen. For example, “I bet England will NOT win” is a lay bet. Therefore, in normal gambling (not matched betting) if England lose or draw, you win the bet and take the winnings. However, if England win the match, you
will lose your liability on the exchange. You can only place a lay bet on a betting exchange.
LC - Live Chat: A way to contact the bookmakers or us.
LGS - Last Goalscorer: A bet on a player to score the last goal in a match.
Liability: Liability is the amount we need in our exchange in order to place our lay bet, essentially it is the amount that you stand to lose in the exchange if your lay bet loses. Remember, this is only lost from the exchange, your lay bet losing means that your back bet has won leaving you with only a small qualifying loss. You can find out more about liability here.
MB - Matched Betting: A betting technique used to profit from the free bets and incentives offered by bookmakers. Matched betting is practically risk-free, as it’s based on the application of a mathematical equation, rather than chance.
Mug Betting (also known as Mug Punting): Some matched bettors believe that there are ways to prevent account restrictions which imitate the betting styles of mug punters or ‘normal’ bettors. Strategies include: frequently betting on the same team (to make it look like it’s your team), betting on popular events, heading into the casino and placing accumulator bets. Because this is matched betting, you’re only wanting to look like a regular punter and so you’ll still need to lay off any bets you place.
National Football League (NFL) (also known as American Football): A sport that can be bet on.
Neteller: An online payment provider (e-wallet) that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Neteller is accepted by most of the main online bookmakers but be aware that depositing via this method may result in you not being eligible for certain promotions. Check the terms and conditions first.
NR - Non-Runner: When a horse is no longer running in the race it is declared a NR.
OM - OddsMonkey: An awesome matched betting website which provides fantastic tools, exceptional expertise and first-rate customer service and support. May also refer to our Oddsmatcher.
Over/Under (also known as Total Goals Betting): A commonly available over/ under bet in football is over/under 2.5 goals. By introducing a decimal, this removes the possibility of a draw, leaving only two possible outcomes. Sometimes extra outcomes are added, but this depends on the bookmaker.
Palp - Palpable Error: Refers to an obvious mistake made by the bookmaker when setting the odds for a particular event or market. This mistake is generally easy to recognise. When a palp is identified by the bookmaker, they have the right to void any bets placed on the affected market or event. This means that any bets made on the palpable error will be cancelled, and the stakes will be refunded to the bettors.
Price Boost: Price boosts are when a bookie boosts the odds of a bet for a short period of time. We're able to make money by backing the boosted odds and laying at lower lay odds for an instant profit using the calculator in normal mode.
PYP - Pick Your Punt: An innovative market from Betfred where the customer decides what they want to bet on in a match. Offered by a few bookmakers, you can also choose to accumulate goals, cards or corners into one single bet.
QB - Qualifying bet: The bet placed to qualify for an offer.
QL - Qualifying loss: The loss made from placing a qualifying bet.
Restricted (see Gub/Gubbed/Gubbing): From time-to-time, you may find that you are only limited to the amount that you can stake when betting or are no longer able to take part in promotions. This will be a decision made by the bookmaker and is usually their final word on the subject. Try to look after your
accounts - they’re probably your most valuable assets as a matched bettor.
RTP - Return to Player: All online casino games use a system called Return to Player. This payment strategy refers to the average percentage that the machine will pay out to a player over time. RTP amounts differ and depend on the category of the individual machine. Most Return to Player percentages (RTP%) are 85% - 95%. If the RTP was 95%, you shouldn’t expect to win an average of 95 pence for every £1 you stake during a playing session, that’s an average return over many games.
Rule 4: Rule 4 happens when a horse or horses are withdrawn from a race. Your odds are reduced at the bookies and exchange. You can find out more about rule 4 reductions here.
SNR - Stake Not Returned: Commonly used for free bets, SNR is when the original stake isn’t returned when the bet wins. For example, a bet of £5 at odds of 5.0 will return only £20. 5 x £5 equals £25, remove the stake, and you’re left with £20.
SR - Stake Restricted: When a bookmaker limits the stake that you can bet.
SR - Stake Returned: The opposite of SNR, this is where you will also receive your original stake back if your bet wins. For example, a bet of £5 at odds of 5.0 will return £25 (the £20 win plus the £5 stake).
SP - Starting Price: In horse racing, the starting price refers to the odds given on a particular horse at the time a race begins. The starting price is usually set by consensus by an appointed panel, who observes the fluctuation in prices at the racetrack before the race.
Variance (see RTP): This is a term used to describe how payouts are spread on casino games. For example, two different slot machines may have the same RTP but one may have a low variance, paying small wins frequently, whereas the other may have a high variance, paying larger wins, but less frequently.
WR - Wagering Requirement: Specific instructions that must be followed in order to unlock a free bet or withdraw bonus funds from a bookmaker. These may include restrictions on markets, types of bets that may be placed and the maximum value of individual bets.
WOP - What Odds Paddy: An innovative market from Paddy Power where the customer decides what they want to bet on in a match. Offered by a few bookmakers, you can also choose to accumulate goals, cards or corners into one single bet.
X: This is usually taken to mean ‘draw’ in football betting.
BOOKMAKERS
365 - Bet365
888 - 888Sport
BF - Betfair
BFEX - Betfair Exchange
BFSB - Betfair Sportsbook
BV - BetVictor
HILLS - William Hill
LADS - Ladbrokes
LSB - LiveScore Bet
MB - Matchbook
PP - Paddy Power
SM - Smarkets
SLOTS
BBW - Big Bad Wolf
BJ - Blackjack
GNR - Guns N Roses
HF - Halloween Fortune
JH - Jack Hammer
JH2 - Jack Hammer 2
WUAJ - Wish Upon A Jackpot