Football is one of the most popular and exciting sports to bet on, but some of the betting terms and bet types can be a little complicated if you’re new to them. That’s why we’ve put together this clear and easy guide to football betting terms. Here you’ll find straightforward explanations of all the most common football bet types and football betting terms you’ll come across online.
What Are the Different Football Betting Terms?
Whether you’re new to football betting or you’re a veteran looking to brush up on your knowledge, here we explain the most used terms in our football betting terms glossary.
Game Title
The name of the match being played, shown as the two teams competing, like Manchester United vs Manchester City. The date and the time of the game are also displayed.
Accumulator
An accumulator bet, sometimes called an ‘acca’, combines several bets into one.
Accumulators usually combine four or more bets together (two bets combined are called a ‘double’, three bets combined form a ‘treble’). In football, that could be a bet on Arsenal to win, on Bukayo Saka to score in the first half, a bet on the final score, and a total goals over/under.
Each individual bet in an accumulator is called a ‘leg’. To win an accumulator bet, you need to win each leg of the bet.
Accumulator bets can offer long odds but substantial winnings, as the odds of each individual bet are multiplied together. If you place an accumulator with four legs, each at 10/1, your overall accumulator odds will be 10,000/1.
Asian Handicap
Asian handicaps – a type of betting that originated in, you guessed it, Asia – are a form of bet where a handicap is applied to the outcome you’re betting on.
In Asian handicap football bets, the stronger team is typically given a goals handicap and must win by more than the handicap. For example, if you bet on Liverpool to beat Millwall in the FA Cup with a -1.5 goals Asian handicap, Liverpool will need to win by two clear goals. If they win by only one goal, you won’t win the bet, as Liverpool wouldn’t have cleared their -1.5 goal handicap.
Bankroll
Your bankroll is the total amount of money you’ve set aside to bet. A sensible bettor sets a bankroll and stops betting once they’ve spent it.
Correct Score
A bet on the correct score of a match is placed by the end of ‘normal play’ – which includes the full 90 minutes plus injury time, but usually excludes extra time and penalties.
Double Chance
In double chance betting, you bet on two outcomes occurring from the same match together.
In football betting, double chance bets are usually placed on the result of a match. For example, if Newcastle are playing Brighton, one half of the bet can be for Newcastle to win or draw, and the second half of the bet can be for Brighton to win or draw.
Double chances are relatively safe bets, as you can bet on two opposing outcomes, like both teams to win. However, your odds will be lower than most other football bets, as you’re covering two outcomes, not one.
Draw No Bet
With a football ‘draw no bet’, you bet on one team to win the match. However, if the match ends in a draw, your stake is refunded. If your chosen team loses, you lose the bet.
‘Draw no bet’ selections are safer than ‘to win’ bets, but they do offer lower odds. This is because they provide a level of insurance for your bet.
Handicap
Football handicap bets apply a handicap to the outcome you’re betting on.
Most often in football, the favourite team in a match is given a goals handicap. For instance, if Brazil is playing Poland, Brazil might be given a goals handicap of -1. If you bet on Brazil to win or draw, then they’ll need to clear their -1 handicap by winning by at least 2 goals or by winning by 1 goal to achieve the draw. If Brazil were given a -2 handicap, they’d need to win by 3 goals to win or by 2 goals to draw.
The larger the handicap you place on a bet, the harder you make it to win, but the higher the odds you’ll be given.
Asian handicaps are a type of football handicap bets. However, whereas standard handicap bets allow you to bet on both winning and drawing, Asian handicap bets usually just allow you to bet to win, but not a draw.
In-Play Betting
In-Play betting, also called ‘live betting’, refers to bets you make during a match, rather than before it.
In-Play bets allow you to bet in response to the form and events in a match. For instance, if Tottenham is leading in a match against Wolves but then has a player sent off, you might predict a shift in momentum and place an In-Play bet on Wolves to score next.
Grosvenor Sport offers a wide range of In-Play football bets with continuously updated odds. These include betting on the team to win, the next player to score, the next team to earn a corner, or the next yellow card.
Moneyline
Moneyline is an American betting term commonly seen in football betting. Moneyline bets are straightforward ‘to win’ bets. In a matchup between two teams, you bet on the team you think is going to win.
Moneyline bets are usually stated in the American style, as opposed to the odds format commonly used in the UK. For instance, if Real Betis are +1.5 to beat Barcelona, then a successful £10 bet would return £15, while a winning £100 bet would return £150.
Over/Under
With over/under betting, sometimes called O/U betting, you bet on a specific outcome happening either over or under a certain total.
In football, the most common over/under bet is placed on goals. If two teams are playing, you can place a bet on the total number of goals scored being either over or under a certain total. For instance, if you think it’s going to be a high-scoring match, you might bet on there being over 2.5 goals. Alternatively, if you think it’ll be a low-scoring slog, you could bet on there being under 1.5 goals.
You can place a wide range of over/under bets in football, like the total number of goals, corners, throw-ins, yellow cards, or red cards.
Parlay
A parlay bet is another name for an accumulator bet (see above), where two or more bets are combined into one bet.
Stake
Your stake is the amount of money you place on a bet.
Teaser
Teaser bets are a kind of accumulator bet where multiple bets are combined (usually multiple over/under bets), but where the bettor can choose to add or subtract a certain number of goals from the accumulator.
For example, you might place a 3.5 goal teaser on two matches, where you can alter the over/under value on each match by 2 goals, in each direction.
As with all accumulator bets, you have to win every leg of the bet to win the teaser bet.
Value Bet
Unlike the other football betting terms mentioned here, a value bet isn’t an official type of bet offered by a bookmaker. Instead, a value bet is a bet where you think the bookmaker has the odds wrong, and where you think the outcome is more likely than they’ve estimated. These are known as value bets as they offer more value to bettors than the bookmaker intends.
For example, a common value bet in football is when you think that an underdog in a match has a better chance of winning than the bookmakers do, or when you think that a certain player has a better chance of scoring than the experts predict.
Void Bet
A void bet is a bet that is cancelled (made void). If a bet is made void, you can no longer win the bet, but you won’t lose your stake either. It will be returned to you.
Football bets can be made void when a match is postponed, or in other situations when the circumstances behind a match have changed.
Once you’ve read our guide to football betting terms, take a look at our football betting markets and use our bet calculator to see the odds on all the football bets you’re planning.