Odds data glossary
Plain definitions of the terms you meet when you buy odds data or build on it, each with the feed fields it lives in.
Odds data & APIs
- Odds APIAn odds API delivers bookmaker and exchange prices as structured data your software can read, so you never collect them from each bookmaker yourself.
- Odds feedAn odds feed is the ongoing supply of bookmaker and exchange prices as structured data, which a product polls to keep its own pages current.
- Odds dataOdds data is bookmaker and exchange prices with the event, market and selection each one belongs to. Comparison sites, oddsmatchers and matched-betting tools are built on it.
- Normalised oddsNormalised odds are prices mapped to consistent selections, markets and formats across books, so they can be compared like for like.
- Odds comparisonOdds comparison shows every bookmaker's price for the same selection side by side, with the best one highlighted.
- In-play oddsIn-play (live) odds are prices offered after an event has started, and they move with every goal or point.
- Odds API costWhat an odds API costs depends on how many bookmakers and markets it covers, how fresh the prices are, whether they arrive matched, and the support behind it.
Matched betting
- Matched feedA matched feed delivers bookmaker back prices already paired against exchange lay prices, so a product skips building its own matcher.
- OddsmatcherAn oddsmatcher pairs bookmaker back prices with exchange lay prices and rates them, so a matched bettor can find the lowest-risk qualifying bets.
- Matched bettingMatched betting pairs a bookmaker back bet with an exchange lay on the same outcome, so the result is covered either way and free bets carry little risk.
- Qualifying lossQualifying loss is the small amount a matched back-and-lay bet costs whichever way the result goes, usually paid to earn a bookmaker free bet.
- 2Up2Up is a bookmaker early-payout offer on football: if the team you backed goes two goals ahead, the bet is settled as a winner even if the lead is lost.
- Best odds guaranteed (BOG)Best odds guaranteed is a racing concession that pays the larger of your taken price and the starting price if it drifts in your favour.
- Extra placeAn extra-place offer is a bookmaker paying each-way place terms on more finishing positions than usual, such as four places where three is standard.
- Each-way betAn each-way bet is two bets in one, a win part and a place part. It is common in racing and in large-field golf.
- DutchingDutching splits a stake across several selections in the same market so the return is the same whichever of them wins, covering a position with back bets alone.
- Free betA free bet is a bookmaker token that places a bet without your own stake. It usually pays the winnings but not the stake.
- Starting price (SP)The starting price is the official odds of a horse or greyhound at the off, used to settle bets without a taken price and central to best odds guaranteed (BOG).
Exchanges & laying
- Lay oddsLay odds are the prices at which you can bet against an outcome on a betting exchange. Matched betting uses them to cover a bookmaker bet.
- Back betA back bet is the conventional bet that an outcome will happen, the opposite of laying it on an exchange.
- Betting exchangeA betting exchange is a peer-to-peer market where users back and lay outcomes against each other, rather than against a bookmaker.
- Exchange commissionExchange commission is the percentage a betting exchange charges on net winnings, in place of building a margin into its odds.
- LiquidityLiquidity is how much money is available to match at a given price on an exchange. Thin liquidity means a large lay may not be matched at that price.
Markets & pricing
- Implied probabilityImplied probability turns a price into the percentage chance it implies. For decimal odds, it is one divided by the price.
- Overround (margin)The overround is the bookmaker's built-in margin: the amount by which the implied probabilities of all outcomes exceed 100%.
- Handicap bettingHandicap betting gives one side a virtual start in goals, points or games, turning a lopsided match into a near-even market.
- Asian handicapAn Asian handicap gives one side a head start of a half, whole or quarter goal, removing the draw so the market has two outcomes.
- Accumulator (acca)An accumulator, or acca, combines several selections into one bet where all must win for it to pay out, multiplying the odds together.
- Odds formats (decimal, fractional, American)Odds come in decimal (2.50), fractional (6/4) and American (+150) formats. All three express the same price, and decimal is the easiest to calculate with.
Arbitrage & value betting
- ArbitrageArbitrage is a set of prices on every outcome of a market whose implied probabilities add up to under 100%, usually from different bookmakers or an exchange.
- Sure bet (surebet)A sure bet, or surebet, is another name for an arbitrage: prices on every outcome of a market whose implied probabilities add up to less than 100%.
- Value bettingValue betting means backing a price that is higher than a fair price for the same outcome, where the fair price comes from a reference the tool chooses.
- Expected value (EV)Expected value (EV) is the average result a bet would have if it were repeated many times, worked out from its price and the chance of each outcome.
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