American betting terms are mostly US names for bets you already know. The moneyline is the head to head, the point spread is what Australian bookmakers call the line, and a parlay is a multi. A same game parlay is a same game multi, juice is the bookmaker's margin, and none of these changes how a bet settles.
What does change is the price format. US coverage quotes American odds built around $100, so +140 is $2.40 and -110 is $1.91 in the decimal odds Australian bookmakers use. The guide to US sports betting from Australia shows where each term turns up across the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.
US betting terms and their Australian names
| US term | Australian term | What the bet is | Explained in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Head to head | A team to win, with no start | Head to head betting |
| Point spread, spread | Line, also sold as a handicap or points start | One team gives a start in points and the other receives it | Line betting |
| Run line, puck line | Baseball's and ice hockey's version of the line | Team A -1.5 needs a win by two runs or two goals | MLB run line, puck line |
| Total, over/under, O/U | Total points, goals or runs | Both teams' combined score over or under a number | Over under betting |
| Parlay | Multi | Two or more legs on one ticket, every one of which must win | Multi bets |
| Same game parlay, SGP | Same game multi, SGM | Two or more legs drawn from the same game, priced as a single bet | Same game multis |
| Teaser | No settled Australian name | A multi of lines or totals, each moved in your favour for a lower price | Teaser bets |
| Props, prop bets | Player props, specials | A bet on something inside a game, such as a player's points | Player props |
| Juice, vig, vigorish | Margin, overround | The edge built into a bookmaker's prices | Bookmaker margin |
| Sportsbook, book | Bookmaker, bookie | A business that takes bets on sport | What a bookmaker is |
Moneyline: the US name for head to head
A moneyline bet asks only who wins. The favourite carries a minus number and the outsider a plus number.
With an illustrative game priced at Team A -250 and Team B +210:
- Team A: 100 / 250 + 1 = $1.40, an implied chance of 1 / 1.40 = 71.43%
- Team B: 210 / 100 + 1 = $3.10, an implied chance of 1 / 3.10 = 32.26%
The two chances add up to 103.69%, a 3.69% overround. A book balanced to pay out the same whoever wins keeps 1 - 1 / 1.0369 = 3.56% of the money staked, the measure that puts -110 at 4.5%. Where a game can end level, a three-way moneyline adds the draw as a third selection, which Australian bookmakers sell as a result or 1X2 market.
Point spread meaning: the line, the hook and covering
The point spread is the line. Team A -7.5 gives 7.5 points for the bet, so Team A has to win by 8 or more. Team B +7.5 receives the start and pays with a win or a loss by 7 or fewer.
US writers say the favourite is laying the points and the outsider is taking them, and a side that still leads once the start is applied has covered. A team's results counted this way make up its ATS record, short for against the spread.
The hook is the half point. A line of -7.5 is "seven and a hook", and the hook is what rules out a tie on the line. A 7-point win loses at -7.5, wins at -6.5 and lands exactly on -7, where the common rule type returns the stake as a push. The half-point line entry covers the default in NSW's rule book for sports bookmakers, a start on a half point (clause 5.1.3), and costs out what moving across one is worth.
Pick'em, written PK, is a line of 0, so each side needs its team to win outright, and the pick'em line entry explains how a tie settles.
Plus and minus odds in decimal
Plus odds tell you the profit a $100 stake makes, and minus odds tell you the stake that makes $100 profit. Both convert to decimal odds, the total return per $1 with the stake included:
- plus odds: decimal = plus number / 100 + 1
- minus odds: decimal = 100 / minus number without its sign + 1
With illustrative prices and a $20 stake:
| American | Working | Decimal | Implied chance | $20 returns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -180 | 100 / 180 + 1 = 1.5556 | $1.56 | 64.3% | $31.11 |
| -125 | 100 / 125 + 1 = 1.8000 | $1.80 | 55.6% | $36.00 |
| +105 | 105 / 100 + 1 = 2.0500 | $2.05 | 48.8% | $41.00 |
| +140 | 140 / 100 + 1 = 2.4000 | $2.40 | 41.7% | $48.00 |
| +330 | 330 / 100 + 1 = 4.3000 | $4.30 | 23.3% | $86.00 |
Each return is worked from the unrounded price, so -180 returns 20 x 1.5556 = $31.11. The odds converter runs both directions, and American odds explains the format at more length.
Juice and vig: what -110 really costs
Juice, vig and vigorish are US words for the bookmaker's margin. The standard US price on each side of a line or a total is -110, which converts to 100 / 110 + 1 = 1.909, shown as $1.91.
Some explainers describe the extra $10 you stake at -110 as the juice. That overstates it. Picture $55 staked on each side of one game: the bookmaker takes $110, returns $105 to the winner and keeps $5. That is 5 / 110 = 4.5% of the money staked, not 5 / 55 = 9.1%.
The prices give the same answer. Two sides at 1.9091 add up to 2 / 1.9091 = 104.76%, a 4.76% overround, and a balanced book keeps 1 - 1 / 1.0476 = 4.5%. An illustrative line at $1.88 a side adds up to 106.38% and keeps 6.0%, so each cent off both prices adds to the margin.
Hold is the share a bookmaker actually keeps, which also depends on how the bets fall. The bookmaker margin guide sets overround, vig, juice and hold side by side.
At $1.91 you need to win 1 / 1.9091 = 52.4% of your bets to break even.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A smaller margin lowers what each bet costs on average, but line bets at $1.91 still need 52.4% winners to break even, and long losing runs happen. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Parlays, same game parlays and teasers
A parlay is a multi: two or more legs on one ticket, every leg has to win, and for legs from different games the prices multiply. Using three of the converted prices:
1.80 x 2.05 x 1.5556 = 5.74, so a $20 parlay returns 20 x 5.74 = $114.80
US coverage writes that price as +474: (5.74 - 1) x 100. The margins multiply too. If each leg returned 95.5c per $1 at fair chances (an illustrative figure), three legs would return 0.955 x 0.955 x 0.955 = 0.871 per $1. That is a cost of about 12.9c in the dollar, against 4.5c for one leg.
A same game parlay is a same game multi. Its legs come from one game and often move together, so the bookmaker prices the ticket as one bet instead of multiplying the legs. NBA same game multis works through a correlated pair. A teaser is a multi of line or total legs, each moved several points your way for a lower combined price, and not every bookmaker offers one.
Chalk, backdoor covers and other US slang
| US slang | What it means | Australian word or explainer |
|---|---|---|
| Chalk | The favourite; a chalky round is one where most favourites win | Favourite |
| Dog, underdog | The team not favoured | Outsider, or a roughie at a long price |
| Backdoor cover | A late score that changes the line result but not the winner | No common term |
| Steam | A fast price move across most bookmakers at once, on news or a weight of money | A steam move, or a plunge in racing |
| Sharp, square | A punter whose bets tend to move prices, and a recreational one | Sharp money |
| Handle | The total amount bet on a game or market | Turnover |
| No action | The bet is void and the stake comes back | Void bet |
| Middle | Two bets on different lines or totals that both win only if the result lands between them; on most results one of the two loses | Middle betting |
| Buying points | Moving a line your way for a shorter price | Pick your own line |
| NRFI, YRFI | No run, or at least one run, in a baseball game's first inning | NRFI betting |
| F5 | A baseball bet settled on the score after five innings | First five innings |
| PRA | A player's points, rebounds and assists added into one number | PRA props |
| Triple-double | 10 or more in three of points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in one game | Triple-double bets |
| B2B | A team's games on consecutive days | Back-to-back |
Example: Illustrative prices and scores. Team A is -7.5 and Team B +7.5, both at $1.91. Team A leads 110-96 with a minute left, then Team B outscores Team A 9-2 and the game finishes 112-105. Team A won by 7, so a $30 bet on Team B +7.5 covers (105 + 7.5 = 112.5 beats 112) and returns 30 x 1.91 = $57.30. The winner never changed, only the line result: that is a backdoor cover.
Sportsbook meaning, and why a US licence does not count here
Sportsbook is American English for a bookmaker that takes bets on sport, and US writers shorten it to "the book". Australian punters say bookmaker or bookie, and call the large online brands corporate bookmakers.
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, a provider needs a licence under an Australian state or territory law to offer online sports betting to people in Australia. Offering it without one is an offence (s 15AA), so a US state licence is no help.
ACMA's public register of licensed wagering providers lists each trading name and its licensing authority. Customers of an operator with no Australian licence lose Australian protections, as the guide to offshore betting sites explains.
US coverage also talks about live betting once a game is under way. Here, a service taking bets on a sporting event after it has started is what the Act defines as an in-play betting service (s 10B). Online betting on a sporting event is an excluded wagering service only when it is not in-play (s 8A(3)). In practice, an Australian bookmaker's online markets on a US game shut when it starts.
Translation mistakes and what they cost
| Mistake | What it costs (illustrative) | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Reading -140 as $1.40 | You take a bookmaker's $1.65 as longer than the US quote, when -140 is $1.71, so you misjudge which way the market sits | Convert first: 100 / 140 + 1 = $1.71 |
| Hearing laying the points as a lay bet | You place the opposite bet: laying the points backs the favourite on the line, while a lay bet here bets against a selection on an exchange | Translate the phrase before you bet |
| Counting the $10 at -110 as the juice on every bet | You put the juice at 9.1% when a balanced book keeps 4.5% | Work the margin from both prices |
| Comparing -7.5 and -7 on price alone | A 7-point win loses one bet and refunds the other | Match the number, then compare the price |
Comparing the translated markets across Australian bookmakers
Once the terms are translated, the markets compare across Australian bookmakers in decimal odds. On B337's Terminal, the sports board groups games by league and sets the bookmakers side by side on head to head, line and total markets, with player props where bookmakers offer them. It covers AFL, NRL, NBA, soccer, tennis and more whenever bookmakers have markets up, with 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports behind it, though not every one prices every game.
The board reads prices on a repeating cycle rather than tick by tick, so treat any price on screen as one to confirm at the bookmaker. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Translating a term or converting a price tells you what a bet is and what it pays, never whether it will win. See responsible gambling for limits and support.