Betscorum.com is here, giving us all the opportunity to become bettors. For those in the community who are new to the world of betting, here is a short guide detailing some of the most common terms associated with sports betting and what they mean.

  • +EV

.+EV is a term commonly used in gambling and poker that means "positive expected value." If you have positive expected value (+EV), then a bet is perceived to be more than worth the risk.

For example, let's say someone offers you $20 to flip heads on a standard coin and you'll only lose $10 if you flip tails. Since you have a 50% chance of winning but stand to win more than you would lose, this bet is +EV.

On Betscorum.com, there are times when you can find bets with much better odds than what is found on other main betting markets like BetFair.com. In these instances, you have +EV. This does not mean that you will win the bet; it means that the odds are slightly in your favor. Making enough of these types of bets over time should result in winnings (key word: should).

  • Spread

Screenshot of Sportsbook.ag on 1/2/2019

You can't dive too deep into the betting world without hearing the team "spread." A spread refers to the amount of points/goals a bookmaker believes a team should win/lose by. For example, let's say that the New England Patriots are facing the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The Patriots are -7.5. The current spread would be 7.5 points. If you bet on the Patriots -7.5, they would need to beat the Cowboys by more than 7 points to win. If the final score in Patriots 30, Cowboys 23, with the -7.5 points, the Patriots finish with a final score of 22.5 and fail to cover the spread, meaning you lose the bet. The Cowboys would be +7.5 as the heavy underdog, and would win the bet in the above example.

Note: In soccer, this is often referred to as the "Asian handicap." A team may be -0.5 or +0.5 goals. If the team you bet on still wins after adding or subtracting this number to their final score, you win the bet.

  • Bookie

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A bookie, or bookmaker, is simply someone or a company that accepts wagers. They often make set their own odds/spreads as well. Most bookies rely on the odds set in Las Vegas by trusted casino sportsbooks.

  • Odds

Odds refers to the probability that something will happen. The odds on a coin flip being heads or tails should be 1/1. If you're betting on an underdog in soccer horse racing, you may get odds of 10/1, 20/1 or even greater, meaning a $10 bet at 20/1 would return a profit of $200.

  • Over/Under

"Do you think this is going to go over or under?"

A very popular bet and one that is widely available on betscorum.com, over/under means that you're betting on the number of goals or points scored in a match. If you bet on over 2.5 goals, if three or more goals are scored between the two teams that are playing, you win the bet.

  • “Lay”

A "lay," which is essentially what you do when you create your own bet on betscorum.com, is when you bet against something happening. So if you want to place a bet on Chelsea to win against Manchester United, you are "laying" Manchester United to win AND the draw.

  • Favorite

A favorite is simply the most likely winner of a bet according to oddsmakers. This season, Liverpool is the favorite to win the EPL, meaning this bet would be given at lesser odds than say Chelsea to win the Premier League.

  • Money Line

The money line is very common in American betting, and shows you either what you would win with a $100 bet, or how much you would need to bet to win $100 if betting on a favorite.

Example: Detroit Lions (+320) vs. New England Patriots (-450)

If you bet $100 on the Detroit Lions at +320, you would receive $320 back. If betting on the New England Patriots, you would need to risk $450 in order to win $100. Of course, you would receive your $450 back as well, but your profit would be $100.

  • BTTS

Common in football (not American football), BTTS simply means "both teams to score."

  • Backdoor Cover

A backdoor cover is when a spread is covered unexpectedly in the final moments of a game. Looking back at the spread example (Dallas Cowboys +7.5 against the New England Patriots), let's say that Dallas was down 25-10 with just 25 seconds left to go in the game. The Patriots had the ball and were going to kneel down to end the game, but Tom Brady slipped, fumbled, and the Cowboys returned the fumble for a touchdown and completed a two-point conversion to end the game at 25-18. While the winner of the game didn't change, the winner of bets based on the spread did, and this would be a backdoor cover.

  • Parlay

Not yet available on betscorum.com, parlays are when you can combine multiple outcomes in a single bet. You could bet on Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool to all win their matches. This type of bet allows you to get better odds, but you need to win each of the bets that are included in this single wager. Parlays are very risky, but exciting. I once missed a 12-team parlay in the very last game. Otherwise, I would've won $12,000 for a $1 bet.

Are there any terms you've heard of that you aren't quite sure what they mean? Please post below in the comment section.

There are hundreds if not thousands of betting terms that it would be helpful to know if you plan on diving into the world of betting. Learn more by looking through this glossary of betting terms by ESPN.

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Thanks to @btb for his help with this article.