Reviews are only useful if the vocabulary is clear. This list explains the words we lean on, grouped by what they help you judge: the operator, your account, the bets themselves and the tools that keep spending under control.
Most disputes in betting begin with a word one side understood differently. Treat the definitions here as a general guide only. Where the operator's own terms define a word differently, theirs govern your account, and you should read them in full before registering anywhere.
The glossary below is split into basics and advanced, but it helps to know the four families first.
Licence, regulator, registration number, entity. They tell you who is responsible for your money.
Verification, KYC, source of funds, one account per customer. They govern what you must provide.
Odds, margin, in-play, outright, Cash Out. They govern what a wager means.
Limits, time-out, self-exclusion. They govern how much you can lose.
The words a first-time reader meets in the first five minutes.
A way of expressing the price of a bet: how much you receive for a stake if it wins.
The amount of money you put on a single bet, which you lose if the bet does not win.
The part of an operator that takes bets on sport, as opposed to casino games.
Casino tables run by a real host and streamed to your screen.
The terms require every account holder to be over 18.
Words that carry weight in a safety or legal assessment.
A registration number under the Gibraltar regime. The operator's terms quote one for each entity.
Know your customer: identity, address and funds checks an operator can run on your account.
The built-in advantage a bookmaker has when its prices imply more than one hundred percent in total.
A cap you choose on the stake of any one bet.
A block you place on your own account to stop play for a chosen period.
Short examples help the abstract words land. The figures are invented purely for illustration.
If the prices for a two-way market imply 52 and 52 percent chances, the extra four points are the margin.
If you cap deposits at a fixed amount per week, you decide the figure while calm, so that a bad evening cannot spend past it.
No glossary covers every phrase an operator uses. When a term in your own account or a bet slip is unclear, the definition that counts is the operator's, not ours.
Most defined words in a betting contract are explained inside the contract itself, often near the top or in a definitions clause.
If the wording still reads two ways, put the question to the operator in writing and keep the answer, so a later dispute rests on its own reply.
How to read the definitions responsibly.
No. They are general explanations only, written to help you read the operator's own rules.
Sometimes. The operator's own terms govern your account.
Because it lets you check a licence claim against a regulator instead of taking the operator's word.
In the bet365 terms and conditions, published in its help centre. Read them in full before you register.
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