The Bankroller glossary
Betting terms, explained straight
The terms serious bettors actually use, explained the way we'd explain them to a mate: plainly, with the bits that matter and the mistakes we've made ourselves.
Term of the day
Getting limited
When a book cuts your stakes or closes your account because you win too consistently. A backhanded compliment with real consequences.
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>14/14
Pricing & markets
01Closing Line Value · CLVWhether you consistently beat the odds the market settles on. The single best predictor of long-term profit.→07Vig / JuiceThe bookmaker's built-in margin. The reason a coin flip pays less than even money on both sides.→08OverroundThe total implied probability of a market once you add every outcome up. Anything over 100% is the book's margin.→09Expected Value · EVWhat a bet is worth on average if you could place it a thousand times. Positive EV is the whole point.→
Staking & bankroll
02UnitsBetting in fixed slices of your bankroll instead of cash, so stakes scale with you and your records stay comparable.→04Yield vs ROITwo ways to measure profit. Yield is per unit staked; ROI gets used more loosely. Knowing which one someone quotes you matters.→05Kelly CriterionA staking formula that sizes each bet by your edge to maximise long-term growth without going broke.→06VarianceThe swings around your true expectation. Why a winning strategy can lose for months, and a bad one can look brilliant for a while.→
Bet types
03Asian HandicapA goal handicap that removes the draw and can split your stake across two lines, giving half-win and half-loss outcomes.→10Quarter-ball linesAsian lines ending in .25 or .75 that split your stake across two outcomes, giving half wins and half losses.→111X2The classic three-way market: home win, draw, or away win. Simple to read, which is exactly why the draw is where value hides.→
Sharp life
12Steam moveA sudden, market-wide odds move as serious money hits. Following it late is usually a trap.→13Getting limitedWhen a book cuts your stakes or closes your account because you win too consistently. A backhanded compliment with real consequences.→14Arbing vs value bettingTwo different games: arbing locks in a guaranteed small profit across books; value betting takes priced-in edges and rides the variance.→