UnjuicedSharp betting has its own vocabulary, and most of it is simpler than it sounds. Every term below appears somewhere on Unjuiced. Skim it once and the rest of the help center reads easily.
Odds and pricing
American odds
The standard US format. A minus number is what you must risk to win $100 (-150 → risk $150 to win $100). A plus number is what you win on a $100 risk (+130 → win $130).
Decimal odds
Odds shown as a total return multiplier, including your stake. 2.50 means $10 returns $25. Common outside the US and easier for parlay math.
Implied probability
What a price says the chance of an outcome is. -150 implies about 60%. Convert any price with the Implied Probability calculator.
Juice (vig, margin)
The sportsbook's built-in fee. It's why both sides of a coin flip are priced at -110 instead of +100 — the extra is the house's cut. Also called vigorish or vig.
Devig (no-vig, fair odds)
Removing the juice from both sides of a market to reveal the true probability. The resulting price is the fair line — the number every edge on Unjuiced is measured against. See the No-Vig calculator.
Hold (overround)
How much margin a book has built into a market overall. Lower hold means a better deal for you.
Line
The number being bet — a spread (-3.5), a total (44.5), or a player prop (Over 5.5 hits).
Moneyline, spread, total
The three main game markets: who wins outright (moneyline), who wins after a points handicap (spread), and whether combined scoring goes over or under a number (total).
Alt lines
Alternate versions of a line at different prices — buying a safer number for a worse price, or a riskier one for a better price.
Key numbers
Margins that occur unusually often in a sport — 3 and 7 in NFL football. A line moving across a key number matters far more than the same move elsewhere.
Cents
How prediction markets price outcomes: 1¢–99¢, where the price is the implied probability. 48¢ ≈ a 48% chance. Convert with the Prediction Market converter.
Value, edge, and results
Expected value (EV)
What a bet is worth on average. Positive EV means the price is better than the true odds, so the bet profits over time even though any single bet can lose. See Understanding Positive EV.
EV%
Your edge as a percentage of stake. A +5% EV bet returns about $5 per $100 wagered on average, over a large sample.
Edge
Any advantage over the market price — the gap between what a bet is worth and what you're paying.
CLV (closing line value)
Whether you beat the market's final price before the game started. The fastest honest signal that your betting is working. Full explainer: What is CLV?.
Kelly criterion
A formula for bet sizing based on your edge and your bankroll. Most bettors use a fraction of it (half or quarter Kelly) to smooth out swings. See the Kelly calculator.
Bankroll and unit
Your bankroll is the money set aside for betting. A unit is your standard bet size, usually 1–2% of it. Talking in units keeps results comparable regardless of bankroll.
ROI
Return on investment — profit divided by total amount wagered. More meaningful than raw profit because it accounts for how much you risked.
Hit rate
How often something has happened — usually how often a player cleared a prop line. Shown as L5, L10, L20, and season on the Hit Rates board.
L5 / L10 / L20 and H2H
A player's last 5, 10, and 20 games; H2H is their history against tonight's opponent specifically.
Sample size
How many events a number is based on. A 100% hit rate over 3 games is far weaker evidence than 70% over 40.
Streak
Consecutive games clearing (or missing) a line.
DvP (defense vs. position)
How generously an opponent's defense treats a given position and stat — context for whether a prop is in a good matchup.
Strategies
Line shopping
Checking multiple books and betting the best available price. The simplest habit that improves results; it's the whole point of the Odds Screen.
Arbitrage (arb)
Betting both sides at different books where the prices guarantee a profit regardless of outcome. See How to use the Arbitrage tool.
Middle
Betting both sides across a gap in the line, so both can win if the result lands between them. See How to use the Middles tool.
Hedge
Placing a bet on the opposite side of one you already hold, to lock in profit or cut a loss.
Bonus bet conversion
Turning a promotional stake-not-returned bet into predictable cash by betting the other side. See the Bonus Bet calculator.
Tailing
Following someone else's bet. On Unjuiced that means betting a play a tracked sharp is already on.
Steam / line movement
A price moving, often sharply, as money lands on one side. Sudden movement usually means informed money arrived.
Sharp Intel terms
Sharp
A bettor with a verified, consistently profitable record. Ours are found, backfilled, and required to keep meeting our criteria — see How to use Sharp Intel.
Prediction market
An exchange where outcomes trade like stocks between people, priced in cents, instead of against a bookmaker. Explainer: Prediction markets vs. sportsbooks.
Wallet
A prediction-market account. We say sharp instead — the wallet is the account, the record is what matters.
Lane
A sharp's specialty: a sport and bet type together, like MLB Totals, NFL Spreads, or Valorant Maps. Lane performance is weighted more heavily than overall record.
Conviction
How much larger a bet is than that sharp's normal bet in that lane. Shown as a multiple — 5.0× means five times their usual size.
Slippage
How far the price has moved since the sharp entered. Too much slippage and their edge is no longer available to you.
Liquidity
How much money is available to be matched at each price. Thin liquidity means large bets move the price.
Position and settlement
A position is an open bet; settlement is the market resolving and paying out. Both are recorded publicly, which is what makes verification possible.
Consensus
How tracked sharps split across the two sides of a market. We show the side the weight of proven money is on rather than listing both.
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