The arber's glossary

Grouped by theme: match results, handicaps, totals, exchange terms, and the arber's own slang. When a bookmaker's label differs from the standard one, the standard is listed and the guide for that market explains the variants.

Match result markets #

• 1X2: the classic three-way market. 1 = home win, X = draw, 2 = away win, settled on 90 minutes plus stoppage time.
• 1X / X2 / 12 (double chance): one bet covering two of the three outcomes; X2 wins on a draw or an away win.
• DNB (draw no bet): your team to win; a draw returns the stake. Identical to AH 0.
• To qualify: the team advancing to the next round, INCLUDING extra time and penalties. Not a 90-minute market.
• Moneyline: two-way winner market in sports without a draw; in football usually means DNB.
• BTTS (both teams to score): yes/no market on both sides scoring at least once.

Handicaps #

• AH (Asian handicap): a goal head start making the match two-way; whole lines can push (stake back), quarter lines split the stake across neighboring lines.
• EH (European handicap): whole-goal head start with the draw kept as a third outcome on the adjusted score. No refunds.
• Push: the handicap-adjusted result lands exactly level on a whole AH line; the stake is returned.
• Half win / half loss: quarter-line settlement where one half of the split stake wins or loses and the other pushes.
• Level ball: bookmaker slang for AH 0.

Totals #

• O/U (Over/Under): a bet on total goals above or below a line (2.5, 3, 3.25...). Whole and quarter lines push and split exactly like AH.
• Goal line: another name for the Over/Under line, especially in Asian books.
• Team totals: Over/Under on ONE team's goals; do not pair against match totals, coverage differs.
• Corners / cards markets: totals on corners or bookings; settle on different data feeds per bookmaker, so verify rules before arbing them.

Exchange terms #

• Back: the normal bet, that something WILL happen.
• Lay: the opposite position, that it will NOT happen; you play the bookmaker and pay out if it does.
• Liability: the amount a lay bet can lose (lay stake x (odds - 1)); the exchange locks it from your balance.
• Liquidity: the money actually waiting at a price on the exchange; a price is only real up to its liquidity.

Arber's slang #

• Arb / surebet: a set of bets covering every outcome at combined odds guaranteeing profit; arber: the person placing them.
• Leg: one bet inside an arb. Every arb has two or more legs at different bookmakers.
• Middle: an arb whose legs leave a gap where both win; Polish middle: the inverse, both legs win everywhere EXCEPT the gap.
• Palp (palpable error): an obviously wrong price; bookmaker terms allow voiding bets taken on it. The reason 10 percent arbs are traps.
• Soft / sharp bookmaker: recreational-focused books with slow lines and limits for winners, versus low-margin books (Pinnacle, exchanges) that welcome winners and move lines first.
• Limitation (gubbing): a bookmaker cutting your maximum stakes or banning promotions because your betting looks professional.
• Odds history ('seen' / 'change'): OddStorm's per-leg record of when a price was last confirmed and how it moved; the arber's lie detector.

Where to go next #

Terms make sense fastest in context: the what-is-arbitrage guide uses most of this page in three minutes of reading.