Soccer betting glossary

All terms

• 1X2 (match result): 1X2 is the standard three-way soccer market: 1 is a home win, X is a draw and 2 is an away win. You pick one of the three outcomes for the match result.
• American odds: American odds, also called moneyline odds, use plus and minus numbers. A plus number such as +150 shows the profit on a $100 stake; a minus number such as -150 shows how much you must stake to win $100 profit.
• Asian handicap: Asian handicap is a soccer bet that gives one team a goal head start or deficit, using whole, half or quarter lines, to remove the draw and leave two outcomes. You win if your team covers the handicap once it is applied to the final score.
• Bankroll: A bankroll is the money you set aside only for betting, kept separate from bills, savings and everyday spending. Managing it well means betting small, steady portions so a losing run does not wipe you out.
• Bookmaker margin (vig or juice): Bookmaker margin, also called the vig or juice, is the built-in edge a sportsbook adds to its odds. It shows up as a total implied probability above 100% across all outcomes in a market.
• Both teams to score (BTTS): Both teams to score (BTTS) is a bet on whether each team scores at least one goal in the match. You pick Yes if you expect both sides to score, or No if you expect at least one team to be held scoreless.
• Cards market: Cards markets are bets on yellow and red cards in a match, often using booking points where a yellow counts as 10 and a red as 25. You can bet on total cards, team cards or whether a specific player is booked.
• Clean sheet: A clean sheet means a team concedes no goals in a match. In betting, a clean sheet market asks whether a named team will keep a clean sheet, and win to nil adds the condition that it also wins.
• Closing line value (CLV): Closing line value (CLV) measures whether the odds you took were better than the final odds just before kickoff. Getting a higher price than the closing line is widely seen as a sign of good betting judgment.
• Corners market: Corners markets are bets on the number of corner kicks in a match, such as total corners over or under 9.5, team corners, or which team wins the most corners.
• Correct score: Correct score is a bet on the exact final score of a match, such as 2-1 to the home team. It pays high odds because there are many possible scorelines and only one can win.
• Decimal odds: Decimal odds show the total return for every $1 staked, including the stake. Odds of 2.50 mean a $10 bet returns $25 if it wins, which is $15 profit.
• Double chance: Double chance is a bet that covers two of the three possible match results at once: home or draw (1X), away or draw (X2), or home or away (12). It wins if either of your two chosen outcomes happens.
• Draw no bet (DNB): Draw no bet (DNB) is a bet on one team to win, with your stake refunded if the match ends in a draw. You lose only if the other team wins.
• European handicap: European handicap adds a whole-goal head start or deficit to one team's score and keeps three outcomes: home win, draw and away win on the adjusted score. Unlike Asian handicap, there is no refund when the margin matches the line.
• Expected goals (xG): Expected goals (xG) is a stat that rates the quality of each scoring chance by how often similar shots are scored. A team's xG for a match is the sum of its chances and estimates how many goals it would usually score from them.
• Form: Form is a team's recent run of results and performances, often shown as a string such as WWDLW for the last five matches. Bettors use it to judge whether a team is playing above or below its usual level.
• Fractional odds: Fractional odds, common in the UK and Ireland, show profit relative to stake. Odds of 5/2 mean you win $5 profit for every $2 staked, plus your stake back.
• Head-to-head (H2H): Head-to-head (H2H) refers to past results between two specific teams. Bettors use H2H records to spot patterns, such as frequent draws or high-scoring meetings, though recent form usually matters more.
• Implied probability: Implied probability is the chance of an outcome suggested by its odds. For decimal odds it equals 1 divided by the odds, so 2.00 implies 50% and 4.00 implies 25%.
• Moneyline: Moneyline is the US term for a bet on which team wins a game. In soccer the moneyline is usually a three-way market with home, draw and away, though some sportsbooks also offer two-way versions that exclude or refund the draw.
• Over/under goals: Over/under goals is a bet on whether the total number of goals in a match will be above or below a line set by the sportsbook, such as 2.5. Over 2.5 wins with three or more goals; under 2.5 wins with two or fewer.
• Parlay (accumulator): A parlay, called an accumulator or acca outside the US, combines two or more selections into one bet. Every leg must win for the parlay to pay, and the odds of the legs are multiplied together.
• Push: A push is a bet that lands exactly on the line, so it neither wins nor loses and the stake is returned. In soccer, pushes happen on whole-number lines, such as over/under 2.0 or Asian handicap -1.
• Regular time: Regular time is the 90 minutes of a soccer match plus any stoppage time added by the referee. Most soccer bets are settled on the regular-time score, so extra time and penalty shootouts usually do not count.
• Stake: The stake is the amount of money you place on a bet. Your potential return is the stake multiplied by the decimal odds, and the stake is what you lose if the bet loses.
• Total goals: Total goals is the combined number of goals both teams score in a match. It is the base for over/under markets, and some sportsbooks also offer exact total or goal range bets, such as 2-3 goals.
• Unit: A unit is a standard bet size used to track and compare betting results. Many bettors set one unit at 1% to 2% of their bankroll, so results are measured in units rather than dollars.
• Value bet: A value bet is a bet where the odds offered are higher than the true chance of the outcome would justify. In other words, your estimated probability is greater than the implied probability of the price.
• Void bet: A void bet is a bet the sportsbook cancels, returning the stake as if it was never placed. Common reasons include postponed or abandoned matches, obvious pricing errors and players who do not take part in player markets.