Betting Glossary - Essential Betting Terms beginning with O
- O/U
- over/under. The total listed for the game, you can bet on whether the total combined score will be OVER or UNDER that number Acceptor - horse remaining in race after a key declaration stage
- Objection
- Complaint by one jockey about another about a breach of rules during a race
- Odds
- A way of expressing the probability of an outcome - or a distortion of the actual probability, adjusted to build in a margin for the bookmaker. Odds are closely related to fractions.
- Odds Against
- Where you are betting a lower stake than the bookmaker; e.g. 2/1.
- Odds On Favorite
- A horse, team, or individual so favored by the public that the odds are less than even.
- Off
- (Of a race) the start
- Off Course Betting
- Where you can bet in credit offices and betting shops.
- Off the bit/bridle
- Horse who has run out of energy and has to be pushed along, any restraint on the reins/bit having been released to allow the horse to run at maximum capacity.
- Off the board
- A game on which the bookmaker will not accept action.
- Off the pace
- Not keeping up with other horses during a race
- Off-course bookmaker
- A bookmaker who is not present at the race course or other event - eg in a high street betting shop.
- Official Handicapper
- A group of officials who assess the weights of horses as a mark of their ability. These ratings are used to decide what weights horses carry in handicap races.
- Official Line
- The line that the bookmaker uses for wagering purposes. The line which comes from Las Vegas is quite often referred to as the official line; however, the line that your bookie offers you is actually your "official line."
- On
- betting term for when a bet has been struck
- On Course Betting
- Betting at the race course.
- On the bit/bridle
- Horse being restrained from running all out (by pulling back on the reins and on the bit in its mouth)
- On the nose
- To win (that horses nose to be in front of the rest)
- On the rail
- Running close to the inside rail on a race track.
- Open ditch
- Steeplechase race with a ditch on the take-off side
- Open race
- A race where it is generally agreed that any one of several horses could win.
- Out
- A price moves out if the odds get longer.
- Out of
- "born to a mother called"
- Outlaw Line
- Term for the earliest line in sports betting. This is an overnight line which only a handful of players are allowed to bet into.
- Outsider
- A horse with a small chance in a race, as expressed by the offer of generous odds.
- Over
- the "over" is a sports bet in which the bettor guesses that the combined point total of two teams will be above a specified total.
- Over-Round
- In theory, using natural odds, a betting book can be fairly weighted between bookmaker and bettor. However bookmaker profit margins mean that they must alter the odds in their favour. Over-roundness is a means of expressing to what extent the odds are in favour of the bookmaker. An evenly weighted book based on natural odds is expressed as 100%, and the more the odds move in the bookmaker's favour the more that figure rises. Thus a book that is weighted 20% in favour of a bookmaker is expressed as 120% over-round.
- Over/Under
- A bet on whether the combined total of the points/goals scored by the two teams will exceed or be less than a specified number
- Overlay
- When the odds on a proposition are in favor of the bettor rather than the house
- Overplay
- An advantage for the bettor in which the price on a given wager is greater than the real probability of its success.
- Overweight
- When Jockeys riding weight (of jockey + tack) is above the minimum allowed by the handicapper.
- Owner
- Person who owns a horse (or share therein)