Betting terms and meanings: a glossary for Nigerian punters

• 1X2: the match result market. 1 is a home win, X a draw, 2 an away win.
• Double chance (1X, X2, 12): two of the three results on one bet.
• DNB (draw no bet): a win bet that returns the stake on a draw.
• GG / NG: both teams to score, or not.
• Over / under: a bet on the number of goals, such as over 2.5.
• Handicap: a goal start given to one team before kick-off.
• HT/FT: the half-time result and the full-time result together.
• Correct score: the exact final score. Long odds, low chance.
• Anytime goalscorer: a named player scores at any point in the match.
• Odd / even: whether the total number of goals is odd or even. A 0-0 counts as even.
• Win either half: a team scores more goals than its opponent in at least one of the two halves.

• Stake: the money you put on a bet.
• Odds: the price of a selection. Stake times decimal odds is the total return, as how betting odds work explains.
• Return and profit: the return is what a winning bet pays back, stake included; the profit is the return minus the stake.
• Single: a bet on one selection.
• Acca (accumulator, multi-bet): several selections on one slip; all must win.
• Leg: one selection in an acca.
• Cut one: an acca that lost by a single leg.
• Banker: the selection a punter trusts most and builds a slip around. The word describes confidence, not certainty.
• System bet: several smaller accas of the same size made from one set of selections, so the slip can pay even if a leg loses.
• Booking code: a code that saves a bet slip so it can be loaded again.
• Bet ID: the reference number of a bet you have placed.
• Void: a bet or leg that is cancelled; the stake is returned, and in an acca the leg counts as odds of 1.00.
• Cash out: settling a bet early at the bookmaker’s price.

• Favourite and underdog: the selection with the lowest odds, and the one with the highest.
• Short odds and long odds: low prices for likely outcomes, high prices for unlikely ones.
• Evens: odds of 2.00, which double the stake.
• Implied probability: the chance a price stands for: 100 divided by the decimal odds.
• Overround: the amount by which the implied chances of all outcomes pass 100%. It is the bookmaker’s margin.
• Value: a price that is higher than the true chance deserves, in the punter’s own judgement.
• In-play (live): betting after the match has started, at odds that move with the game.
• Suspended: a market that is closed for a moment, after a goal, a penalty or a red card.

• Welcome bonus: an offer on a first deposit, compared in the welcome bonus list.
• Wagering requirement (rollover): the total you must bet before bonus money can be withdrawn, written as a multiple such as 5x.
• Minimum odds: the lowest price at which a bet counts towards a bonus.
• Free bet: a stake the bookmaker gives you. A stake-not-returned free bet pays only the profit when it wins.
• Acca boost and acca insurance: extra winnings on an acca that lands, or a refund when it cuts one. The acca boosts list has the offers.
• Promo code: a code entered at registration or on a deposit to claim an offer; the promo codes list prints them.
• Cashback: part of your losses or losing stakes returned over a period. The terms say which, and the cashback list compares them.

• Bookmaker (bookie, sportsbook): the company that takes the bet.
• Punter: the person who places it.
• Verification (KYC): proving your identity to the bookmaker.
• Minimum deposit and minimum withdrawal: the smallest amounts a site accepts in and pays out.
• USSD: paying from your bank by dialling a short code, with no data, as the USSD betting guide sets out.
• Withdrawal (payout): moving winnings from the betting account to your bank.
• Self-exclusion: locking your own account for a period you choose.

• Virtuals: computer-generated matches and races that run every few minutes.
• Aviator and crash games: games where a multiplier rises until it crashes.
• RTP (return to player): the share of all stakes a game pays back over the long run.

Some words to distrust are heard around betting and belong to fraud. Sure odds, fixed matches, 100% booking code and balance adder all promise something that does not exist. Nobody knows a result in advance, and no app adds money to a betting balance.

Knowing the words does not change the odds, but it stops you placing a bet you did not mean to. The bookmakers themselves are compared in the table of betting sites in Nigeria. Betting itself is for adults aged 18 and over.