PlayUp Sportsbook Betting Terminology

The team you bet on has to ‘cover the spread’ (i.e. beat the margin) in order to win your bet. Example: ‘Broncos -6 vs. Giants’. A spread bet on ‘Broncos -6’ is a winner if the Broncos win by 7 or more points, and a spread bet on ‘Giants +6’ is a winner if the Giants win the game outright or lose by 5 points or fewer. The spread bet on either side is a ‘push’ if the Broncos win the game by exactly 6 points, meaning all spread bets are refunded. 

Bet ‘over’ or ‘under’ a certain amount of points scored in the game, including overtime(s). Example: If a game total is 42.5, an ‘over’ bet is a winner if 43 or more points are scored and an ‘under’ bet is a winner if 42 or fewer points are scored. 

Wagering on a team to win the game outright, meaning no point spread is involved in such bets. A moneyline includes a favorite that is denoted with a “-” and an underdog that’s denoted with a “+”. Example: Broncos -160 vs. Giants +140. Risk $160 to win (profit) $100 on the Broncos, or bet $100 to win (profit) $140 on the Giants. 

A bet containing 2 or more legs, all of which must be successful for the wager to be a winner. Parlays pay off at high odds and are therefore attractive to many recreational bettors. Example: With a ‘2-team parlay” of Broncos -6/Jets +4.5, the Broncos and Jets must both cover the spread for the bet to pay at +265 odds. A “3-teamer” pays out at about 6/1, a “4-teamer” at about 12/1. Moneyline parlays are also available, where a spread is not involved and the payout is a factor of the winning teams’ odds. 

Bet a moneyline, spread or total for the first half of the game.

Bet a team to win a division, conference, or championship. Example: A bet on the Jets to win the Super Bowl at +10000, or 100/1 odds, would pay $100 for every $1 risked. 

A group of 2 or more bets combined into one wager where the odds of each individual leg are shifted in the bettor’s favor by the number of points stated in the teaser. Example: The Colts are 8-point favorites against the Jaguars and the Bears are 3-point underdogs against the Packers. A bettor decides to play a 2-team, 6-point teaser on the Colts and the Bears at -115 odds, wagering $115 to win $100. The teaser allows the bettor to “buy” 6 points with each team. In this case, the bettor is buying the Colts down to -2 and the Bears up to +9. Each team has to cover its respective leg of the teaser in order for the bet to win. In this example, the Colts must win by 3 points or more and the Bears must win outright or lose by 8 points or fewer. Unless noted otherwise, a tie on one leg of a teaser reduces the potential payout. 

Popular props markets include betting on a team’s margin of victory or on specific events within a contest, such as the total number of field goals made in a game, total number of sacks, whether the first score will be a touchdown or a field goal, or whether there will be a safety.  

Many NFL bets traditionally offered pregame are also offered in-game, or after the game has started.  The point spread, total and moneyline, for example, will change based on the score of the game, how much time is left in the game, how the teams are performing, whether key players have been injured, etc. 

The popularity of this market has increased rapidly in recent years. One common way to wager on the draft is betting ‘over’ or ‘under’ a specific player’s draft position. Example: Player X’s draft position over/under is set at 14.5. An ‘under’ bet wins if Player X is drafted before or on the 14th pick, while an ‘over’ bet wins if Player X is drafted 15th or later (or not drafted at all). Other popular bets are which player will be selected first, second, third, etc overall.