A bet slip is the ticket you fill in before a bet is placed: it holds your pick, the odds, the amount you want to stake and what the bet would pay. Nothing is bet until you confirm the slip and the sportsbook accepts it.
Online, the slip fills itself when you tap a price; at a sportsbook counter or kiosk, the bet comes back as a paper ticket. Either way, the slip is the last place to check the bet before it becomes final.
What is on a bet slip
Here is a single bet on a moneyline, with example numbers.
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Selection | The side or result you are backing | Team A |
| Market | The kind of bet: moneyline, spread, total, prop | Moneyline |
| Odds | The price the book is offering right now | -150 |
| Stake | The amount you risk | $20.00 |
| To win | Your profit if the bet wins | $13.33 |
| Total payout | Stake plus profit, paid back if it wins | $33.33 |
The last two figures are arithmetic on the first ones. FanDuel’s house rules state the convention: positive odds “represent the profit on a $100 stake,” negative odds “the stake amount required to win $100.” At -150 you need $150 to win $100, so $20 wins 20 x 100 / 150, which is $13.33. Add the $20 back and the payout is $33.33. Our guide to how betting odds work does the same sum for any price.
Singles and parlays on one slip
Add a second pick and the slip offers two ways to bet them. As singles, each pick is its own bet with its own stake. As a parlay, the picks become one bet that wins only if every pick wins.
Encore Boston Harbor’s sportsbook rules give the parlay sum plainly: “The payout is calculated by multiplying the exact odds.” Take two example picks, one at -110 and one at +150. In decimal terms those are 1.9091 and 2.50, and multiplied together they make 4.7727. A $10 parlay pays $47.73, a profit of $37.73. The same $10 on each as singles would pay $19.09 and $25.00, but each one only needs its own pick to win.
If one pick in a parlay is void or ends in a push, it drops out and the rest are paid. For void picks, FanDuel’s rules say the remaining selections “will determine the outcome of the wager, with the odds re-calculated accordingly.” Encore Boston Harbor’s rules do the same for a push: the payout “will be recalculated based on the remaining legs.” In the example, a push on the -110 pick leaves a $10 bet at +150, which pays $25.00. Our parlay guide and our guide to round robin parlays cover the other combinations a slip can build.
When the odds change before you confirm
Prices move while you are filling in the slip. FanDuel’s house rules: “All odds and lines are subject to change at any time prior to bet acceptance,” and the odds that count are “the odds confirmed at the time the bet is accepted,” whatever was shown before. Customers are told of a change “via the betslip or equivalent confirmation interface.”
So read the slip again when it flags a new price. If the example moves from -150 to -160 before you confirm, the same $20 wins $12.50 instead of $13.33, and the new price is the one the bet is settled at.
After you confirm
An accepted bet is final. FanDuel puts it this way: “Once a wager has been accepted and recorded by FanDuel Sportsbook, it is final and cannot be amended, cancelled, or voided by the customer.” The same rules make checking your selections, stakes and odds the customer’s job before confirming.
Online, the accepted bet is kept in your account, where you can follow it until it is settled. At a counter, the paper ticket is the record. Encore Boston Harbor’s rules say the customer should check the ticket before leaving the window, and that “A winning wager will not be paid without the customer copy of the wagering ticket,” with set exceptions for lost, stolen or unreadable tickets. Keep it until the bet is paid.
How to place a bet
- 1. Choose the game and the market. A moneyline backs a team to win; a spread backs it to win by more, or lose by less, than a set margin.
- 2. Tap the price. The pick lands on your bet slip with the odds on offer.
- 3. Choose single or parlay if the slip holds more than one pick.
- 4. Enter your stake. Check the to-win and total payout figures against the odds.
- 5. Confirm. If the price has moved, the slip says so; check the new figures before you confirm.
- 6. Check the settled bet. After the game, compare the result and the payout with what the slip showed.
A licensed sportsbook verifies your identity and location before it takes a bet. The prices there include the book’s margin, which our page on what a bookie is works through with a real price. New to all of it? Our sports betting guide for beginners starts from the first step.