The amount of money one is willing to risk as their gambling budget. This should not be more than you are willing and able to lose for fun.

A mathematical distribution curve that describes the probability or chance that a specified number of trials (i.e. bets in the gambling world) would be successful when there are only two possible outcomes (i.e. win or loss). This is especially useful for a gambler to be able to estimate if it is likely that her picks/bets are random or if she has some kind of edge. Typically a 95% confidence interval (within 2 standard deviations of the average) is used as the threshold for classifying results as either random or influenced. Fall within the 95% confidence interval and the results are most likely random; fall outside and a skill or edge may be present. A gambler would like to see her picks record lay outside of this confidence interval to feel good that positive results are most likely not just random luck.

An entity that accepts bets and sets the line on a given sporting event. Also known as a bookie.

The gambling line for the game right before it starts.

A cover occurs when a particular team wins against the spread. For example, if the Lions are 2.5 point favorites (a line of -2.5) against the Packers and they win the game 20-17, then the Lions have covered the spread. If the Lions had lost the game or only won by 1 or 2 points, then they would not have covered. In that instance, the Packers covered the spread by either winning or losing by less than 2.5 points.

Short-hand for underdog. The dog is the team who is not favored to win or less likely to win. Betting the point spread on a dog gives you points for the game allowing you the possibility of winning the bet even if the team does not win the game.

A bet where the odds are even. You bet $100 to win $100 on a game.

The favorite is the team more likely to win. If betting the point spread on a favorite, you not only need them to win but you need them to win by more than the point spread indicates to win your bet.

An abbreviation for Field Goal.

This is typically a season long bet that will be decided farther out in the future. Typical futures bets include season win totals, division winners, super bowl winners, etc.

A bet to lessen risk exposure and often times lock in a guaranteed smaller win. An example of this would be having a $100 bet on the Saints to win the Super Bowl at 7 to 1 odds, and the Saints end up making the Super Bowl against the Chargers. The current possible outcomes are that you will get $700 if the Saints win but $0 if the Saints lose. In order to guarantee a smaller win, you can choose to hedge by making a $350 bet on the Chargers to win the Super Bowl. If we assume even money odds for the Chargers bet (bet $350 to win $350) then you have guaranteed yourself to get $350 back regardless of the outcome of the game.

The advantage that the bookmaker (i.e. the house) has on a given bet. For a standard sports bet against the spread with odds of -110, the house edge is 4.5%. This is can be calculated by assuming the house took a $100 on each side of the game. The house keeps the loser’s $100 and the winner gets paid $90.91 (100/110 * $100). In this instance the house makes $9.09 ($100 from loser - $90.91 paid to winner) per pair of opposing bets. They make $9.09 per $200 of action which works out to a profit % or edge of 4.5% (9.09/200).

The juice is another word for the house advantage or edge on a given bet. See “House Edge” for an example of how to calculate the juice for a given bet. This can also be called the vig or vigorish.

This is a formula sometimes used in sports betting to help determine the optimal bet size expressed as a percentage of your bank roll. It is attributed to J.L. Kelly, Jr. when he worked as a researcher at Bell Labs in 1956. The formula optimizes overall returns when the winning percentage is accurately predicted. The second part of that sentence is the challenge for gamblers as most people have a tendency to overestimate their chances of winning. To avoid overestimation, it is common to decide to only bet a fraction of the kelly criterion suggested amount. We have included more details about this in the Bank Roll Management section, and how we have determined to utilize a half Kelly Criterion betting strategy.

If you are laying points when taking a bet that means that you are betting on the favorite. For example, if the Texans are favored by 3.5 points (-3.5) over the Browns, betting on the Texans would mean that you are laying the 3.5 points.

The line is the betting odds given for a specific game. The standard line when betting against the point spread on NFL games is -110. This seems like a good place to explain what the posted lines mean. The standard line of -110 means that you need to wager $110 to win $100. Lines may also be posted as a positive number such as +120. This means that you need to bet only $100 to win $120. It can be confusing at first but you’ll get the hang of it after seeing it a few times.

Instead of betting against the spread, a better can choose to bet on a team to win the game outright. The money line represents the odds you can get betting on the team to win regardless of the spread. For instance, if you thought an 6 point underdog would not only cover the point spread but also win outright, then betting the money line would be the way to go. Instead of getting the standard -110 odds on the bet, you would get something closer to +210.

The starting line for a game when the bookmaker begins taking bets on it.

To bet the over is to take the high side of an over/under bet. If the over/under win total for the 2019 Patriots season is 11.5, a bet on the over would win if the Patriots win 12 games or more.

This is a term for the line of a bet like season win totals or the total number of points in a game. For example, the over/under win total for the 2019 Patriots season is 11.5. If they win 12 games or more, the over bet wins. 11 wins or less and the under bets will pay out.

A bet suggestion or betting choice on an upcoming game.

A game where the point spread is zero and neither team is favored.

The point spread is the perceived difference in talent/skill between two teams playing against each other. The favorite is the team giving points to the underdog in order to make the game a more even bet. If the Giants are favored over the Jets by 1.5 points, the points spread for the game is 1.5.

A prop bet is an unconventional type of bet that is typically only available for big games like the Super Bowl. For example, you could bet on the over/under for how long it takes the singer to belt out the national anthem, whether the coin toss will be heads or tails, and what color the Gatorade is that the players pour on the winning coach at the end. These are all good examples of prop bets and there certainly are many more for the big game.

A push is when the bookmaker and bettor tie on a particular bet and the bettor gets back the original amount he wagered. An example of a push would be if the Jaguars were getting 3 points (+3) against the Buccs, and the final score of the game ended up being a 20-17 victory for the Buccs. In this case the final difference in the game equals the point spread indicating a push for all bets.

For the purposes of this website, we have defined a “Razor Sharp Bet” as a bet where our model predicts the point spread for a given football game to be off by 8 points or more. This was the corny name we came up with to go with the theme of the site. Please accept our apologies.

A professional sports bettor - what we want to become!

For the purposes of this website, we have defined a “Sharp Bet” as a bet where our model predicts the point spread for a given football game to be off by 4 to 8 points.

This is short for Point Spread. The spread is the perceived difference in talent/skill between two teams playing against each other. The favorite is the team giving points to the underdog in order to make the game a more even bet. If the Giants are favored over the Jets by 1.5 points, the spread for the game is 1.5.

An average Joe sports bettor - what we want to leave behind!

An abbreviation for Touchdown.

If you are taking the points when making a bet that means that you are betting on the underdog. For example, if the Texans are favored by 3.5 points (-3.5) over the Browns, betting on the Browns would mean that you are taking the 3.5 points.

The total is typically the expected wins in a season or points in a game on which over/under bets can be placed against.

To bet the under is to take the low side of an over/under bet. If the over/under win total for the 2019 Patriots season is 11.5, a bet on the under would win if the Patriots win 11 games or less.

The underdog is the team who is not favored to win or less likely to win. Betting the point spread on an underdog gives you points for the game allowing you the possibility of winning the bet even if the team does not win the game.

The vig or vigorish is another word for the house advantage or edge on a given bet. You can think of it as the price of doing business with the casinos. They have to tilt the scales somewhat in their favor to be able to make money. See “House Edge” for an example of how to calculate the vig for a given bet. This can also be called the juice as mentioned above.