Reviewed by Darren · Last checked: July 2026
Table of Contents
Every sport has its own jargon, and betting is no different — “each-way,” “handicap,” “BTTS,” “acca” get thrown around constantly, but nobody ever actually stops to explain them. This guide is that explanation. Every term below is written in plain English, with a real example, so you can place a bet knowing exactly what you’re getting into rather than guessing from context.
Bookmark this page — every guide on King of the Odds links back to it, so if you ever hit a term you don’t recognise, this is where to come.
Bet Types
Accumulator (Acca) / Multibet
An accumulator — sometimes called an “acca” or a multibet — is a single bet made up of multiple selections, all of which have to win for the bet to pay out. Instead of placing four separate €10 bets, you combine all four selections into one bet, and the winnings from each leg roll into the stake for the next.
Example: You pick four football teams to win at odds of 2/1, 3/1, 5/2, and 4/1. Combined into a four-fold accumulator, a €10 stake could return well over €1,000 if all four win — but if even one selection loses, the whole bet loses. That’s the trade-off: much bigger potential returns, much lower probability of winning. Full breakdown, including how to calculate returns: Accumulators Explained.
Each-Way Betting
An each-way bet is really two bets combined into one: a “win” part and a “place” part. If your selection wins, both parts pay out. If it finishes in the places but doesn’t win, only the place part pays out, usually at a fraction (commonly 1/4 or 1/5) of the win odds.
Example: You back a horse each-way at 20/1, with each-way terms of 1/4 odds for the first 3 places. If it wins, both parts pay at 20/1. If it finishes 2nd, the place part pays at 5/1 (a quarter of 20/1) and the win part loses. Full guide: Each-Way Betting Explained.
Handicap Betting
Handicap betting applies a virtual head-start or deficit to one side of a match before the result is settled, designed to level an uneven contest. The two most common types are Asian handicap (no draw outcome possible, since the handicap uses quarter or half goals) and European handicap (draw remains a possible outcome).
Example: A strong team is given a -1.5 handicap. For your bet to win, they need to win by 2 clear goals or more — winning by just 1 goal means the bet loses, since -1.5 is deducted from their final score. Full guide: Handicap Betting Explained.
Both Teams to Score (BTTS)
BTTS is a football market betting on whether both teams will score at least one goal each during the match, regardless of the final result. It doesn’t matter who wins, or by how much — only whether both teams get on the scoresheet.
Example: A 2-1 or a 1-1 result both settle a BTTS “Yes” bet as a winner, since both teams scored. A 3-0 result settles it as a loser, since only one team scored. BTTS is popular because it’s a genuinely independent market from the match result — you can back BTTS “Yes” regardless of which team you think will actually win.
Over/Under (Total Goals)
Over/Under betting — also called totals betting — is a bet on whether the combined number of goals (or points, depending on the sport) in a match will be over or under a number set by the bookmaker, most commonly 2.5 goals in football.
Example: If the line is set at “Over/Under 2.5 goals” and the final score is 2-1, that’s 3 total goals — an “Over” bet wins, an “Under” bet loses. The half-goal (2.5, not 2 or 3) exists specifically so there’s never a tied/void outcome.
Correct Score
A correct score bet requires you to predict the exact final score of a match. It offers some of the longest odds in football betting, since there are dozens of realistic scorelines for any given game, but the payout reflects that difficulty.
Example: Backing a 2-1 home win at 9/1 only pays out if the match finishes exactly 2-1 to the home side — a 3-1 or 2-0 result, despite also being a home win, would lose the bet.
Draw No Bet
Draw No Bet removes the draw outcome from a match result market entirely. If the match ends in a draw, your stake is simply refunded — the bet neither wins nor loses.
Example: You back a team Draw No Bet and the match finishes level — you get your stake back in full, no loss, no win. If they lose, the bet loses; if they win, the bet wins, typically at slightly shorter odds than a standard win market since the draw risk has been removed.
Bet Builder
A bet builder lets you combine multiple markets from a single match into one bet — for example, a specific player to score, over 2.5 goals, and both teams to score, all within the same game. All selections must be correct for the bet builder to pay out, similar in principle to an accumulator but confined to one match rather than spread across several.
Example: In one match, you combine “Home team to win,” “Over 2.5 goals,” and “Player X to score anytime” into a single bet builder — all three need to happen for the bet to win, but the combined odds are typically much bigger than any one selection alone.
System Bets: Trixie, Yankee & Lucky 15
Unlike a standard accumulator, where every selection has to win, system bets pay out even if some selections lose, as long as enough of them win. A Trixie covers 3 selections across 4 bets (three doubles and a treble). A Yankee covers 4 selections across 11 bets. A Lucky 15 covers 4 selections across 15 bets, and often includes bonus payouts even if only one selection wins.
Example: In a Trixie with 3 selections, if only 2 of your 3 picks win, you still get paid out on the double formed by those two winning selections — the whole bet doesn’t need to succeed, unlike a straight treble accumulator.
Ante-Post Betting
Ante-post betting means placing a bet well in advance of an event — days, weeks, or even months before it happens — usually at better odds than you’d get closer to the day. The trade-off: ante-post bets are typically “no returns” if your selection doesn’t take part at all (for example, injury withdrawal), unlike day-of-race betting where a non-runner gets refunded automatically.
Example: Backing a horse for the Cheltenham Gold Cup two months out at 20/1, rather than waiting until race day when it might have shortened to 8/1 — but if that horse is later withdrawn, the ante-post bet is typically settled as a loser with no refund.
Spread Betting
Spread betting differs from fixed-odds betting entirely — instead of betting on a specific outcome for a fixed return, you bet on whether a number (like total corners, total goals, or a player’s total runs) will be higher or lower than a spread set by the bookmaker, and your winnings or losses scale with how right or wrong you were.
Example: If a spread is set at “22-24 corners” and you buy at 24 (betting over), and the match finishes with 30 corners, you win for every corner above 24. But if it finishes with only 15 corners, you lose for every corner below 24 — spread betting can lose more than your initial stake, which makes it fundamentally different (and riskier) than standard fixed-odds betting.
Tote Betting
Tote betting (short for totalisator) is a pool betting system used mainly in horse racing, where all stakes on a race are pooled together and the payout is calculated based on that pool, rather than fixed odds agreed at the time of the bet. Tote bets include Win, Place, Exacta, and the Placepot, among others.
Example: Unlike a fixed-odds bet where you lock in 10/1 the moment you place it, a Tote bet’s final payout isn’t known until after the race, once the pool is divided among winning tickets.
Virtual Sports Betting
Virtual sports are computer-generated events — virtual horse racing, virtual football, virtual greyhounds — that run on a fixed schedule (often every few minutes) using random number generation rather than real athletes or animals. They’re entirely separate from real-event betting and settle almost instantly.
Example: A virtual horse race might run every 3-5 minutes with a full field and betting markets, letting you bet continuously without waiting for a real race card.
How Betting Works
Odds Explained: Fractional, Decimal & American
Odds tell you two things: how likely a bookmaker thinks an outcome is, and how much you’ll win if you’re right. In Ireland and the UK, fractional odds (e.g. 5/1) are most common, but most sites let you switch to decimal odds (e.g. 6.00) or American odds (e.g. +500).
Example: 5/1 fractional means you win €5 for every €1 staked, plus your stake back — so a €10 bet returns €60 total. The decimal equivalent, 6.00, means the same thing calculated differently: stake × decimal odds = total return (€10 × 6.00 = €60). Full breakdown: How Do Betting Odds Work?.
Betting Exchanges
A betting exchange lets you bet directly against other users rather than against a bookmaker — you can “back” an outcome to happen (like a traditional bet) or “lay” an outcome to not happen, effectively acting as the bookmaker yourself. Odds on exchanges are set by supply and demand between users, not by a bookmaker’s margin, which often means better prices.
Example: Instead of backing a horse to win at odds set by a bookmaker, on an exchange you could instead “lay” that same horse — betting that it won’t win — and profit if it loses or finishes anywhere other than first.
Live / In-Play Betting
Live betting (also called in-play betting) lets you place bets after an event has already started, with odds updating continuously to reflect what’s actually happening — a goal, a wicket, a service break.
Example: A team trailing 1-0 at half-time might be priced much bigger to win than they were pre-match, since the market has adjusted to reflect the current state of the game — live betting is about reacting to that shift in real time rather than predicting it beforehand.
Cash Out
Cash Out lets you settle a bet before the event finishes, taking a guaranteed return (either a profit or a reduced loss) rather than waiting for the final result. The amount offered moves in real time based on how likely your bet is to win at that moment.
Example: You back a team pre-match at 5/1 and they’re winning 2-0 with 20 minutes left — Cash Out might offer you a guaranteed profit there and then, rather than risking a late equaliser costing you the whole bet.
Free Bets
A free bet is a promotional bet credited by a bookmaker, usually as part of a welcome offer or ongoing promotion, that lets you place a bet without staking your own money. Free bet returns typically exclude the stake itself — so a €10 free bet at 5/1 usually returns €50 profit, not €60, since your “stake” was never really yours.
Example: Sign up, deposit €10, place a qualifying bet, and receive a €10 free bet in return — always check the specific terms, since free bet rules (minimum odds, expiry, stake-not-returned) vary significantly by bookmaker.
Matched Betting
Matched betting is a technique that uses bookmaker free bets and promotions against a betting exchange to lock in guaranteed profit regardless of the outcome, by “backing” a bet with the bookmaker and “laying” the same outcome on an exchange. Done correctly, it removes gambling risk entirely, since you’re profiting from the promotion’s value rather than genuinely predicting a result.
Example: You use a €20 free bet to back a team at a bookmaker, and simultaneously lay that same team on an exchange with your own money — however the match finishes, your bookmaker and exchange results roughly cancel out, but the free bet’s value converts into real, withdrawable cash. Full guide: Matched Betting for Beginners.
Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG)
Best Odds Guaranteed is a promise some bookmakers make, mainly on horse and greyhound racing, that if you take a price early and the horse’s odds later shorten before the race (known as the starting price), you’ll automatically be paid out at the bigger of the two prices instead.
Example: You back a horse at 10/1 the night before a race. By race time, it’s shortened to 4/1 starting price. With BOG, you’re paid out at 10/1 — the better price — even though the odds moved against you.
Favourites & Underdogs
The favourite is whichever selection the market considers most likely to win, reflected in shorter odds. The underdog is priced longer, reflecting a lower perceived chance of winning — but a lower chance isn’t the same as no chance, and underdogs winning outright is exactly what makes betting worth paying attention to rather than just backing the shortest price every time.
Example: In a two-horse match-up, a horse at 1/2 is the strong favourite; the other at 6/4 is the underdog — the market thinks the favourite is meaningfully more likely to win, but “more likely” still leaves real room for an upset.
What to Read Next
Now that you’ve got the core terms down, put them into practice:
- Golf Betting Guide — see each-way betting applied to golf’s large fields
- Horse Racing Betting Guide — tote betting, ante-post, and each-way in action
- Football Betting Guide — BTTS, handicaps, correct score, and bet builders explained in a match context
- Accumulators Explained — full deep-dive with worked return calculations
- Matched Betting for Beginners — a complete step-by-step walkthrough
FAQs
An accumulator needs every selection to win to pay out at all. A system bet (like a Trixie or Yankee) pays out on winning combinations even if not every selection wins, in exchange for a smaller overall return per winning line.
It’s two bets in one — a bet on your selection to win, and a separate bet on it to finish in the top few places, which pays out at reduced odds if it places but doesn’t win.
Yes — matched betting uses bookmaker promotions exactly as intended, combined with an exchange bet to lock in the value. It’s a legitimate technique, though bookmakers can restrict accounts that use it heavily.
A single bet on a straightforward match result or BTTS market is the simplest starting point — accumulators, system bets, and bet builders are worth understanding fully before you add multiple selections into one bet.
Mostly yes for core terms like each-way and handicap, but specific rules — like each-way place terms, or BOG eligibility — vary by bookmaker and by event, so always check the specific terms before betting.
