Dictionary

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D'Alembert System

A stake management system used in many types of gambling. Under this system, for each stake you add one unit if you lose but deduct one unit if you win. This avoids the problem of impossibly large stakes inherent in certain other systems.

Deposit Betting

Betting by telephone with money deposited in advance.

Don't Pass Line

Line on a craps layout. Bets placed on this line are essentially bets against the shooter either winning the come out roll or making the point.

Double

A bet in which two horses must win or be placed (each way) on the same day. In sports betting, two events may be nominated on different days including major horse races advertised ante-post.

Doubling Up

A stake management system (also called a martingale) used in many types of gambling under which you double your stake each time you lose until you win and recoup your losses. This system is flawed because consecutive losses rapidly create a stake which is impossibly large.

Draw

The starting positions of a horse race from numbered stalls are drawn the day before a race.

Dual Forecast

A tote bet where to win you must correctly forecast the first and second placed horses in a race in either order.

Each Way

Betting that a horse will be placed first, second or third (sometimes fourth) by dividing the stake 'each way'.

Each Way Single

Two bets - one is for the selection to win and the other if for it to be placed. The place bet is settled as a fraction of the win odds.

Each Way Double

Two separate bets of a win double and a place double.

Effect of the Draw

On racetracks with bends or where a strip of ground on one side of the track has better going, the horses drawn nearest the bending rail or in line with the favoured strip have an advantage. This is particularly true in handicaps and where a front-runner is among those with a favoured draw.

En Prison

In roulette this describes a stake left on the table for a further spin of the wheel when you have bet either black or red and the outcome was zero.

Even Money Bet

A bet with odds of 1/1, where you get double your stake money back (including your original stake money).

Favourite

The shortest-priced horse in a race - the expected winner.

Field

The runners in a race. When a bookmaker calls `3/1 the field', he means that the favourite is 3/1. The total amount he has taken in bets for a race is the `field-money.'

Field Against

A situation where a bookmaker increases the odds about a horse.