Reference · Glossary

Matched betting glossary.

43 terms in plain English. Each one links to the guide or tool that uses it.

A

Acca (accumulator): One bet on several selections. Every leg must win for the bet to pay, and the odds multiply together. Accumulator calculator.
Acca insurance: An offer that refunds an accumulator stake, usually as a free bet, if exactly one leg loses. Two or more losing legs get nothing. Acca insurance guide.
Arbitrage (arb): Backing at a bookmaker at higher odds than you can lay at the exchange, so you profit whatever happens without an offer. Bookmakers restrict accounts that do it often. Matched betting vs arbitrage.

Back bet: A normal bet that something will happen, for example that a team wins. You place back bets at the bookmaker. How matched betting works.
Back odds: The odds the bookmaker offers for your back bet. Higher back odds mean a bigger return if it wins.
Bankroll: The money you set aside for matched betting, split between bookmaker accounts and the exchange. Most of it sits at the exchange to cover liability. Bankroll management.
Bet club: A weekly reload offer: stake a set amount on qualifying bets and receive a free bet. Sky Bet Club is one example. Reload offers.
Betting exchange: A site where people bet against each other instead of against a bookmaker. You can lay a bet there, which is what makes matched betting possible. Betfair Exchange, Smarkets, Matchbook and Betdaq are UK examples. Betting exchanges explained.
BOG (best odds guaranteed): A horse racing concession: if the starting price is bigger than the odds you took, the bookmaker pays at the starting price. Horse racing matched betting.

Commission: The share of your net winnings that the exchange keeps on a market. It is usually 2% to 5%. The calculator includes it in every lay stake. Exchange commission compared.

Dutching: Backing several outcomes of one event, with stakes set so that each winning outcome returns the same. Matched bettors use it when no lay market is available. Advanced strategies.

Each-way bet: Two bets of equal stake: one for the selection to win, and one for it to place. A £5 each-way bet costs £10. Each-way calculator.
Early payout (2Up): An offer that settles your bet as a winner early, for example when your team goes two goals ahead, even if it does not go on to win. Ladbrokes 2 Up & Win guide.
Expected value (EV): The average result of a bet if you could repeat it many times. A bet with positive EV can still lose on any one occasion.
Extra place: A racing offer where the bookmaker pays more places than usual. If the exchange place market pays fewer, a horse in the extra place wins your place bet and both lays. Each-way calculator.

Free bet: A bet token from a bookmaker. You do not stake your own money. Most free bets are stake not returned (SNR). How to use free bets.

Gubbing: When a bookmaker restricts your account, for example by cutting your maximum stake or removing you from promotions. It is legal, and it is the main limit on matched betting. What is gubbing.

Implied probability: The chance that the odds suggest. For decimal odds it is 1 divided by the odds: 4.0 implies 25%. Odds converter.

Lay bet: A bet that something will not happen. You place it at a betting exchange, and you take the role of the bookmaker. Lay betting explained.
Lay odds: The odds at which you can lay at the exchange. The closer they are to the back odds, the smaller your qualifying loss.
Lay stake: The amount you enter at the exchange. It is the amount you win if your lay bet wins, before commission. Matched betting calculator.
Liability: What you lose if your lay bet loses: the lay stake times the lay odds minus one. The exchange holds this amount from your balance until the bet settles. Bankroll management.
Liquidity: How much money is waiting to be matched at a price on the exchange. A thin market may not match your full lay stake.

Match odds: The exchange name for the main result market. In football it is home, draw or away. In tennis it is who wins the match. Understanding odds.
Matched betting: Backing an outcome at a bookmaker and laying the same outcome at an exchange, so the result of the event does not matter. The profit comes from the bookmaker's free bets and offers. How matched betting works.
Mug bet: A normal bet that a recreational punter would place, made to make your account look less like a matched bettor's. What is mug betting.

Oddsmatcher: A tool that lists the closest back and lay odds across bookmakers and exchanges, so you can find bets with the smallest qualifying loss. What is an oddsmatcher.
Overlay: Laying more than the calculator's balanced stake, so you win more if the lay wins and less if the back bet wins.

Place terms: The number of places an each-way bet pays and the fraction of the win odds it pays at, for example 4 places at 1/4. Standard UK each-way terms.
Price boost: A bookmaker offer that raises the odds on a selection. Sometimes the boosted odds are higher than the lay odds, which gives a small profit. Reload offers.

Qualifying bet: The real-money bet you place to unlock an offer, usually a free bet. You lay it at the exchange to keep the cost small. Practise your first matched bet.
Qualifying loss: The small amount a qualifying bet and its lay cost together, because the lay odds and commission are slightly against you.

Reduction factor: The exchange's version of Rule 4. When a horse is withdrawn, the exchange reduces the odds of matched bets on the other runners.
Reload offer: Any offer for existing customers, such as a bet club, a price boost, acca insurance or money back. Reload offers.
Retention: The share of a free bet's face value you keep as cash after you lay it. A stake-not-returned free bet at odds around 5.0 usually keeps 75% to 80%. How to use free bets.
Rule 4: A deduction from bookmaker winnings on horse racing when a runner is withdrawn late. The size depends on the odds of the withdrawn horse.

Sign-up offer: A welcome offer for a new customer, usually a free bet after a first qualifying bet. Each one can be used only once. Offer guides.
SNR (stake not returned): A free bet that pays only the winnings, not the free bet stake. Use higher odds for SNR free bets, because more of the value is in the winnings. Matched betting calculator.
SR (stake returned): A free bet that pays the winnings and the free bet stake. It is rarer and worth more than SNR. Matched betting calculator.

Underlay: Laying less than the calculator's balanced stake, so you keep more if the back bet wins. The risk-free bet calculator underlays on purpose to share a refund across both outcomes. Risk-free bet calculator.
Unmatched bet: A lay bet, or part of one, that nobody has taken at your odds yet. It is not protecting you until it is matched. When a bet goes wrong.

Void bet: A bet cancelled and refunded, for example after a non-runner or an abandoned match. A bookmaker and an exchange can void under different rules.

Wagering requirement: The amount you must stake before you can withdraw a bonus, often stated as a multiple of the bonus. Common on casino offers. Casino offers.

New to all of this? Start with Guide 01: how matched betting works. It takes five minutes.