The vig (also juice or margin) is the extra a price-setter builds into a market, so both sides add up to more than 100%. A −150 / +130 game has a 3.5% margin.

What is the difference between the spread and the moneyline?

The moneyline is who wins. The spread gives the underdog a head start of a set number of points, goals or runs, and asks whether the favourite wins by more than that.

What does a lean mean?

On SportLark a lean means our calibrated chance clearly beats what the price needs. It is a forecast, never a guarantee, and most games have no lean.

Glossary

43 odds, standings and forecast terms, each in a sentence or two.

A

American odds (moneyline odds): Prices written around $100. −150 means risk $150 to win $100; +130 means $100 wins $130. See also: Decimal odds, Implied probability.

B

Back-to-back: A team playing on two days in a row. Tired legs and a backup goalie or rested stars often follow, so lines can move when the schedule says back-to-back.
Best available price: The most generous price on offer for one side of a market at the moment it was read. Prices differ between sellers and change often.

C

Calibration: Whether stated chances come true at the stated rate. A calibrated 60% wins about 6 times in 10 over many games. The chances on this site are calibrated before they are shown.
Closing line: The last price before a game starts. It carries the most information the market will ever have about that game. See also: Line movement, Opening line.
Conference: The larger group a league is split into (Eastern and Western in the NHL and NBA; AFC and NFC in the NFL). Playoff spots are usually decided inside each conference.

D

Decimal odds: The total returned for each $1 staked, stake included. 2.50 returns $2.50 per $1: $1.50 profit. The implied chance is 1 ÷ the price. See also: American odds, Fractional odds.
Division: The smallest group of teams in a league's standings. Division rivals play each other most often, and many playoff formats reward the division winner.

E

Edge: The gap between a forecast chance and the chance a price needs. A positive edge means the forecast rates the side better than the price does. An edge is an estimate, not a profit.
Even game: A game where both sides' chances are within about two points of 50%. The honest read is that either side can win.
Even money (+100, 2.00, 1/1): A price where a win pays the same as the stake. It implies a 50% chance.

F

Fair chance (no-margin chance, no-vig chance): Each side's chance once the margin is taken out, so the sides add to 100%. This is the market's chance the site shows. See also: Margin, Implied probability.
Favourite: The side the market rates more likely to win, shown with a minus price (−150) or a decimal price under 2.00.
Final: The game is over and the score is official. Final/OT and Final/SO mark hockey games decided in overtime or a shootout; F/10 marks a baseball game that went 10 innings.
Fractional odds: Profit over stake, written as a fraction. 3/2 means $2 wins $3 profit (the same as +150 or 2.50). See also: American odds, Decimal odds.

G

Games back (GB): How far a team trails the leader in the standings: half the difference in wins plus half the difference in losses.

H

Handle: The total amount of money bet on a game or market.

I

Implied probability (implied chance): The chance a price needs to break even. −150 implies 60%; +130 implies 43.5%. See also: Fair chance.
Injury report: The list of players ruled out, doubtful or questionable before a game. Late changes to it are one of the main reasons prices move.

L

Last 10 (L10): A team's wins and losses over its ten most recent games: a quick read of current form.
Lean: Our side in a market when our calibrated chance clearly beats what the price needs. Strong lean is the larger gap, Slight lean a smaller one, No lean means the numbers agree with the market. A lean is a forecast, never a guarantee. See also: Edge, Market view.
Line: The number a market is set at (a spread of −3.5, a total of 6.5) or, loosely, the price itself.
Line movement: A change in a price or number after it opens, as news and money arrive. See also: Opening line, Closing line.
Live odds (in-game odds): Prices that keep updating while a game is being played.

M

Margin (vig, vigorish, juice, overround): The extra built into a market so both sides add to more than 100%. −150/+130 adds to 103.5%: a 3.5% margin. See also: Fair chance.
Market view: Showing the market's own fair chance for each side, with no model of ours on top. Sports without a model that has earned its place are shown this way.
Model: A set of rules, fitted on past games, that turns information (form, injuries, rest, matchups) into a chance for each side. Models are wrong often; calibration keeps their chances honest.
Moneyline: A bet on who wins the game outright, with no spread.

O

Opening line: The first price posted for a market. See also: Closing line.
Over/under (total): A bet on the combined score of both teams: over or under a set number such as 6.5 goals or 221.5 points.

P

Parlay (accumulator): Several bets joined into one ticket that wins only if every leg wins. The prices multiply, so the chance falls fast.
Pick'em: A game with no favourite: both sides at the same price, or a spread of zero.
Probable pitcher: The starting pitcher a baseball team has announced. Baseball prices depend heavily on who starts, so a change moves the line.
Prop (proposition bet): A bet on something inside a game rather than its result: a player's points, shots or strikeouts, or who scores first.
Puck line: Hockey's spread, almost always 1.5 goals. The favourite at −1.5 must win by two or more. See also: Spread.
Push: A result that lands exactly on the number (a 3-point win against a 3-point spread). The stake is returned.

R

Run line: Baseball's spread, almost always 1.5 runs. See also: Spread.

S

Spread (point spread, handicap): A head start given to the underdog. At −6.5 the favourite must win by 7 or more; at +6.5 the underdog covers by losing by 6 or fewer, or by winning.
Starting goalie: The goalie named to start a hockey game. A backup in net can move a hockey price more than almost any other news.
Streak (STRK): A team's current run of wins or losses: W3 means three wins in a row.

U

Underdog: The side the market rates less likely to win, shown with a plus price (+130) or a decimal price over 2.00.

W

Wild card: A playoff spot for a team that did not win its division, decided by record across a conference or league.
Win chance: Each side's chance to win the game, shown in percent. The two sides of a game always add to 100%. See also: Fair chance, Lean.

Questions

What is the vig?: The vig (also juice or margin) is the extra a price-setter builds into a market, so both sides add up to more than 100%. A −150 / +130 game has a 3.5% margin.
What is the difference between the spread and the moneyline?: The moneyline is who wins. The spread gives the underdog a head start of a set number of points, goals or runs, and asks whether the favourite wins by more than that.
What does a lean mean?: On SportLark a lean means our calibrated chance clearly beats what the price needs. It is a forecast, never a guarantee, and most games have no lean.

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Updated October 25, 2026