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Betting Glossary - Essential Betting Terms beginning with S

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Schooling
Jump training/practice
Scope
Horses potential for physical development
Score
To win a lot of money
Scratch
Withdraw; cancel
Sectional Timing
In the USA where horse races are run flat out from the start, usually on dirt, the timing of the race after each furlong and each quarter mile or half mile is an essential guide to winner finding. In England the vast majority of races are on grass and usually start slowly and build up to a finish.
Selection
The horse you are backing.
Sell the Index
A type of spread betting whereby you gamble that an index based on the possible outcomes of an event will finish below the lower limit of the spread.
Seller
Horse race which culminates in the winner being offered up for public auction
Sellers and Claimers
This is the lowest quality of race where the winner and possibly other horses have to be sold by auction, or may be claimed for a price advertised before the race. This price may be used to allot the weight of the horse. The more money the owner wants for the horse the more weight it will be set to carry in the race.
SFC
See Straight Forecast.
Shake up
Final stages of competition in a race
Sharp
Wise guy, seasoned, successful bettor
Sharp Track
Racecourse with tight corners
Short odds
Shorter odds - for example 2/1 is shorter than 4/1 - are applied to competitors that the bookmaker thinks are more likely to win..
Show
As the odds change on a race course, an assessment of the prices are transmitted to screens in betting shops and credit offices by the (SIS) racing television company.
Side Bet/Side Wager
A wager on a particular team, or side, to win a contest
Silks
Jockey's racing attire in the colours of the horses owner
Silver Ring
The betting area for bookmakers' pitches in the cheap enclosure on a racecourse.
Single
One bet on one selection, not attached to any other bet by way of being in an accumulator.
Single action
An "if bet" in sports gambling that is processed only if the precedent bet wins.
Single Stakes About/Up and Down Bet
Two selections in two different races. If the first selection wins, an amount equal to the original stake is put on the second selection and vice versa. It is two bets.
Sire
Father (of a horse)
SIS (Sports Information Service)
A subscription channel unavailable by dish or cable. A multi-screen racing and general sports television service supplied to credit offices and betting shops. A domestic dish or cable version called The Racing Channel is available.
Skull Cap
Mini helmet
Smart Money
Cash placed by by individuals who may have inside information as to the performance of a horse or horses in a race
Soft Line
A wagering line that is not current with the true posted line. A line that has been adjusted or moved as a result of action and does not reflect the true line as posted.
SP
Short for Starting Price.
Spread
A spread in sports wagering is the predicted scoring differential between two opponents as quoted by a sports book. See "point spread."
Spread a plate
Lose a horseshoe
Spread Betting
Type of betting offered by index firms in which a range of outcomes is expressed in the form of an index. you can bet that the finishing index (the make up) will be either above a given level (in which case you would buy the index) or below (in which case you would sell the index). The spread itself represents the market-maker or bookmakers profit margin.
Spring Double
Double bets on the Lincoln Handicap and the Grand National, both run in springtime.
Springer
A horse whose long odds suddenly shorten in the betting just before the race is said to be a 'Springer in the market'.
Square
A novice when it comes to sports betting.
Stable
Horse accommodation
Stable Jockey
Jockey employed by a stable to ride some or all of their horses at race meetings.
Stake
The amount bet by the punter on a single transaction.
Stand Out
A horse which has a rating far higher than others in the race, or which stands alone because the others are knock-outs.
Starter
Official responsible for starting a race
Starting Price (SP)
The average odds of a horse in the betting ring at the commencement of the race
Stayer
Horse with plenty of stamina, who can maintain a gallop for a long period of time.
Steam
when a line starts to move rapidly. Most "steam games" do not necessarily reflect objective circumstances, but are games that a mass of bettors are drawn to for some reason.
Steamer
A horse with a long early bird price on which there is a rush of bets placed up until the beginning of the race.
Steeplechase
Race over fences
Stewards
Officials of the Jockey Club who oversee a race meeting looking for horses not running on their merits (non-triers) or those showing marked improvement in form, jockeys who break guidelines (e.g. excessive use of the whip) and incidents in a race which may lead to disqualification of a horse, or more likely, punishment of the jockey by suspension from riding. The stewards at a local meeting may refer a serious incident to the senior stewards in London.
Stewards Enquiry
An enquiry into whether or not the rules of a race have been broken.
Stiff Track
Racecourse with stamina sapping inclines and/or challenging obstacles
Stirrup
each of a pair of devices attached to each side of a horses saddle, in the form of a loop with a flat base to support the riders foot.
Stirrup Leather
leather strap attaching stirrup to saddle.
Store
A bookie or sports betting establishment.
Straddle
A traded option spread strategy whereby a call and a put contract with the same exercise price and expiry month are simultaneously bought or sold. When bought you are gambling that the underlying share price or index will move strongly either up or down. When sold you are gambling that the market will be stable and move up or down only between the narrowly defined limits you have chosen.
Straight Bet
A single wager on a selected side or over/under
Straight Forecast
Nominating which selections will finish first and second in the correct order.
Straight Tricasts
A bet where you choose three selections which will finish first, second and third in an event and say in which order. All three must come in for a return. See combination tricast.
Stud
Where horses are bred.
SU
Straight up win, winner of a contest regardless of spread
Super Heinz
A Canadian-type bet consisting of 120 bets on all the permutations of seven selections. The bet splits into 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four-folds, 21 five-folds and seven six-folds and a seven-fold. See Trixie, Yankee, Canadian, Heinz and Goliath.
Super Yankee
Five selections in five different races, comprising ten doubles, ten trebles, five fourfolds and one fivefold. It is 26 bets win and 52 bets each way spread in the context of investments, the difference between the prices at which the investment can be bought and sold. In spread betting the difference between two index levels above or below which you bet that the index will finish once the results of an event are known. In either case the spread gives the market-maker or bookmaker his earnings.
Suspension
Riding ban imposed for a number of days
Switch Betting
Betting in which the bookmaker debits the stake and tax and inputs winnings by direct access to the punter's debit or credit account.
System
A method of betting that should favour the player.