Matched Betting Glossary
Matched Betting terms can sometimes be confusing if you haven't heard them before.
We've put together this jargon buster to help you understand what various terms/abbreviations mean - it'll get you nicely equipped for knowing what people in the Matched Betting community are talking about.
Don't worry about reading this from start to finish and committing everything to memory, that's not the intention!
Just get yourself familiar, and then come back here if there's something specific you see and don't understand.
Generic
AP - Advantage Play - Advantage play is an advanced technique in Matched Betting where you don't actually lay our bets but still have good value in the long run. In the case of casino offers, it's when you only get a bonus if you lose money. This can be used for particular sports offers, accumulator refund offers, virtual sports offers and also casino offers.
Arb - Arbitrage bet - When the back odds are higher than the lay odds. These bets make a profit even without a free bet being involved. You should be aware that you risk your account being restricted and/or banned from promotions should you frequently place arbitrage bets, so it's advised you avoid these bets where possible.
Boom - A boom is a celebratory response used on the forum to describe anything positive. A nice win can be described as a "boom".
"Bot Topping Up" - Someone may say this when there doesn't appear to be enough liquidity at the exchange to lay your bet, but a bot is continuously topping up the liquidity as lay bets are placed.
Chelts - Cheltenham Festival - A horse racing festival taking place in March. A Matched Bettors favourite due to the great offers.
EPC - Extra Place Catcher
EV - Expected Value or Estimated Value - The long term value of an offer or bet.
FB - Free Bet
KYC - Know Your Customer - Checks by bookmakers to verify your account such as asking for ID. This is completely standard and you can expect to do this occasionally.
LC - Live Chat - A bookmaker's service to contact them.
MB - Matched Betting
MBing - Matched Betting
Mug Bet - To place a bet when no promotion or bonus is involved.
OM - Oddsmatcher
OP - Opening Post - The first post of a forum thread.
OP - Outplayed
PA - Profit Accumulator - The previous name of Outplayed.
Palp - Palpable Error - If a bookie displays odds that are obviously incorrect, they can claim it is a palpable error and void any bets placed at that price. (E.G, they offer odds of 10 for England to win when every other bookie is offering odds of 1.5. It's clearly a mistake).
PB - PocketBet
PM - Perfect Match
Price Boost - Price boosts occur when bookmakers knowingly boost a market in an event for a short period of time. You can make money here by backing at the boosted higher odds and laying at lower lay odds for an instant profit using the calculator tool in "normal" mode.
QB - Qualifying bet - Your initial bet to qualify for an offer.
QL - Qualifying loss - The loss you make from placing your qualifying bet.
RF - Risk Free
Sharb (Sharbing) - The same as Arbitrage, but the back bet is placed using in a betting shop rather than online.
SOW - Source of Wealth - A request from a bookmaker to see how you're funding your account.
SNR - Stake Not Returned - This usually applies to free bets. It means the free bet stake is not included with the winnings. You use this setting in the calculator for any free bets that are SnR. It can also be used to lock-in a profit on bets where you only get a refund if your bet loses.
SR - Stake Restricted - When the amount you're allowed to bet with a bookmaker has been reduced.
SR - Stake Returned - This applies to normal bets, or certain bonus types. It means your initial stake is returned along with your bet winnings.
Football
2UP - A promotion ran by Bet365 and Paddy Power where you get paid out as a winner if your team goes 2 goals ahead in a match. 2UP will be commonly used to refer to any early payout style offer.
4MM - Four Means More - An old promotion from William Hill.
Acca - An accumulator bet (a bet of more than one selection in the same bet). More information on accumulators and how to lay them can be found here.
AGS - Anytime Goalscorer - A bet on a player to score at any time during a match.
BB - Bet Builder.
BTTS - Both teams to score - A betting market that involves betting on whether or not both teams will score a goal during any set match. For example, in the match Arsenal v Man City, if you bet on "Both Teams To Score - Yes", both teams would be required to score a goal at any point during the match in order for the bet to win. Alternatively, if you bet on "Both Teams To Score - No", you would require neither team or just one team to score a goal during the match in order for the bet to win.
CS - Correct score - A bet on the correct score of a match. Eg. 2-1 to Chelsea.
DD/HH - Double Delight/Hattrick Heaven - An offer ran by Betfred.
FGS - First Goalscorer - A bet on a player to score first.
FT - Full Time
FTA - Full turnaround - A term used for the 2UP offer when a team goes 2 goals up but fails to win the match.
HT - Half time
HT/FT - Half Time/Full Time - A betting market that involves betting on the result of each half of a football match. For example, in the match Arsenal vs Man City, you might bet on Arsenal / Arsenal, which would mean a bet that Arsenal would win the first half, and the full match. Or, you could bet on Man City / Draw, which would be a bet for Man City to win the first half, but for the game to end in a draw.
LGS - Last Goalscorer - A bet on a player to score the last goal of a match.
Over / Under - A betting market that involves betting on the number of goals in a football match. For example, you might bet on "Over 2.5 goals", which would be betting that there would be 3 or more goals. Be careful not to get mixed up between Over and Under when placing your lay, and also avoid getting mixed up between "Over 2.0" and "Over 2.5", as they are different bets.
PYP - Pick Your Punt - A special market from Betfred.
RAB - Request-A-Bet - A special market from Sky Bet.
WOP - What Odds Paddy - A special market from Paddy Power.
WWGI - Win, win, get in - An old promotion from Coral.
Horse Racing
Matched Betting Related and General Horse Information:
2C - 2 Clear - An old promotion with William Hill.
H5 - An old promotion with William Hill.
AP - Ante-Post - This is a horse racing market that appears long before a race is due to start. Ante-post markets usually disappear 1-2 days before the race. You should avoid betting on these markets, as if your horse is withdrawn before the race, your bet will be settled as a loss.
AW - All Weather - Ground surface.
BBH - Beaten by a head - When your horse is beaten by a distance of a head.
BBL - Beaten by a length - When your horse is beaten by a distance of a length.
BBN - Beaten by a neck - When your horse is beaten by a distance of a neck.
BF - Beaten Favourite (last time out)
BOG - Best Odds Guaranteed - A promotion that is offered by various bookmakers, usually on Horse Racing and Greyhound Racing. If the odds that you place your bet at are lower then the SP (Starting Price), then your bet will be settled at the SP odds.
C - Course
CD - Course and Distance (horse won at this course and distance)
D - Distance
EW - Each Way - A bet that is offered by bookmakers consisting of two separate bets: a win bet and a place bet. For the win part of the bet to give a return, the selection must win, or finish first, in the event. For the place part of the bet to give a return, the selection must either win or finish in one of the predetermined places for the event, such as first place or second place.
EWNL - Each Way No Lay - Doing extra place offers without laying your bets. A more risky and high variance approach.
Extra Place - Bookmakers will sometimes pay out for more places in a horse race than the exchange. These additional places being offered are known as extra places.
FPTP - First Past The Post
IO - Implied Odds. A metric often used to determine the value of an Extra Place bet.
JF/CF - Joint Favourite/Co-Favourite
LATL - Lead at the last
LTO - Last Time Out - Refers to the horse's last race.
LTO - Lengthen the Odds - Betting on a horse to win by a certain distance, and you get a larger price for your bet.
NR - Non-Runner - When a horse has been withdrawn from a race.
NRNB - Non-Runner No Bet - Bookmakers sometimes offer NRNB on ante-post markets. Ordinarily you would lose your bet if your horse didn't race, however with NRNB your bet will be void in this scenario instead.
OR - Official Rating
Rule 4 - This occurs when another horse is withdrawn from a race. The odds of your bet may be lowered to reflect the reduced competition. Your back bet odds may be reduced, and your lay liability will also be reduced in proportion. This won't usually leave you in a losing position, as typically the lay liability is reduced more than the back odds.
SP - Starting Price - The odds that a horse actually starts the race at rather than the price you bet at.
Horse Racing Distances (in order):
L - Length
NSE - Nose
SHD - Short Head
HD - Head
NK - Neck
Form on a Race Card:
B - Brought Down
C - Carried Out
D - Disqualified
F - Fell
HR - Hit Rails
P - Pulled Up
PU - Pulled Up
R - Refused (to Race)
RTR - Refused to Race
RO - Ran Out (off the course, or missed a fence)
U - Unseated Rider
UR - Unseated Rider
V - Void
Coverage and TV Channels:
ATR - At The Races
CH4 - Channel 4
RUK - Racing UK
RTE - Irish coverage
ITV - ITV Racing on main ITV channel
ITV4 - ITV Racing on ITV4
Bookmakers (To Name A Few)
365 - Bet365
888 - 888Sport
BF - Betfair
BFEX - Betfair Exchange
BFSB - Betfair Sportsbook
BV - BetVictor
HILLS - William Hill
LADS - Ladbrokes
MB - Matchbook
PB - PocketBet
PP - Paddy Power
SN - SportNation
SM - Smarkets
SS - Star Sports
WH - William Hill
Casino
BOOB - Bust out of bonus
Bust Rate - Chances of losing full deposit on an offer (usually high-risk)
Chips - A stake not returned casino bonus.
FS - Free spins: Used on casino slots.
RTP - Return To Player - Every casino game will have an RTP (Return to Player) which is displayed as a percentage. It is the theoretical percentage of wagered money that will be paid back out to the player over time. For example, you have a slot with an RTP of 95%. This means that in the long run, for every £100 that you play through the game, you will receive £95 back (95% of £100 is £95).
Sim/Simulator - The Outplayed simulator tool works out the value of certain types of casino offer:
Variance/Volatility - For slots and casino games, it's a word used to describe how much the payout from each spin can vary. Low variance = When a game gives you small wins frequently. High variance = When a game gives you large wins but relatively infrequently.
WR - Wagering Requirement: Some bonuses have wagering requirements attached. For example, a £10 casino bonus might have a 5x wagering requirement. This would mean you need to play through a total of £50 worth of bets before the bonus itself can be withdrawn. Note, this does not necessarily mean you need to deposit or risk £50 to do this, as you would use any winnings to continue the wagering.
Slots/Games (To Name A Few)
BBB - Big Bass Bonanza
BBW - Big Bad Wolf
BJ - Blackjack
GNR - Guns N Roses
GT - Golden Tour
HF - Halloween Fortune
IR - Immortal Romance
JH - Jack Hammer
LR - Lucha Rumble
MC - Money Cart
ST - Steam Tower
Updated: 12 Dec 2024
The Author
Ollie has been working for Outplayed for over 7 years and Matched Betting for many years before that. He provides a wealth of insights into every asset of this amazing side hustle, from the very basics to the most advanced and profitable bookmaker promotions. If you’re interested in the maths behind Matched Betting, Ollie is your guy!