I've decided to put together a number of things that I hope will help improve the betting community and alleviate some of the questions/concerns of bettors new and seasoned alike. Enjoy.

First and foremost, the site (d2jsp) does NOT support Sports Betting of any sort. Bet at your own risk, the site will not take any action against bad mannered bettors or those who do not pay after losing a bet.

Table of Contents:

• Common Phrases and Terms
• What are some websites to find "official" betting spreads and lines?
• Safe Betting Techniques
• Links to Unofficial Bettors Lists

Common Phrases and Terms
Unofficial Bettors List - A compilation of Trusted, Active, New Bettors and also Welchers. Look to these Lists as guidelines when making bets. Nominations for these lists are done by members of the community.
Trusted Bettor - A member of the betting community who has earned the trust and respect of his/her peers. These members can be Trusted with large bets without problem and some Trusted bettors volunteer their time to help mediate bets between other bettors (Unofficial Mediators).
Active Bettor - A member of the betting community who actively participates in discussions has had a number of successful bets without any problems, with the occasional exception, you can feel safe betting with those listed as Active.
New Bettor - Pretty self-explanatory. Those users that are new to the betting scene and have had a few successful bets.
Welcher - Someone that does not fulfill his or her end of the bet (aka, doesn't pay when he or she loses a bet). Even if a welcher pays back some or all of his or her welches, you should never bet with him or her. Once someone develops a Welcher's mentality, more than likely they will welch in the future. If you must bet with a "Welcher Who Paid Back," use an unofficial mediator, although most don't offer their services to welchers.
Confirm - Self-explanatory. Verbiage used to confirm a bet once it is proposed. Both sides of a bet must confirm it for it to be valid.
Auto-confirm - Bettor A posts that he/she is betting on Team 1, Bettor B posts that he/she will bet xxx fg on Team 2 and that he auto-confirms the bet. This means that Bettor B automatically confirms the bet for the specified amount if Bettor A confirms it. Note: Bettor A decides to bet a different amount of fg, Bettor B will have to post back to confirm the new amount for it to be valid.
Retract - Retracting a bet means that you are withdrawing your offer. Although some bettors find it annoying (and sometimes bad mannered) if someone retracts a bet after it's confirmed, but a bet can be retracted up until game time (unless otherwise specified by the bettors).
Spread - Pretty simple, really. Let's say the official spread on a game is Cleveland +5 vs. Dallas; if I were to bet on Cleveland, I would add five points to Cleveland's final score and if that is greater than Dallas' score, I would win the bet. If I were to bet on Dallas, the spread would be Dallas -5; thus, I would subtract five points from Dallas' final score and if it is greater than Cleveland's score, I would win the bet. A lot of times, you will see spreads with .5 points, this is to eliminate the possibility of a tie.
Moneyline - This is used by sportsbooks to determine odds on a "straight up" (no spread) bet. They will be posted as Team A -###, or Team B +###. Example- Detroit -110 vs Tampa Bay +120. In this case, Detroit is favored to win the game. If I were to bet on Detroit, I would have to bet 110 to win 100, thus -110; if I were to bet on Tampa Bay, I would bet 100 to win 120, thus +120. A simplified way to use Moneylines is for odds. In the example of Detroit -110/Tampa +120, if I were to bet on Detroit, I would offer 1.1:1 odds on my bets (X*1.1:X); Tampa, I would get 1:1.2 odds (X:X*1.2).
Sending Upfront - This means that in order to confirm your bet, you would send your fg upfront to the person with whom you are betting with. My advice: you should only do this with Trusted bettors, or some Active bettors that have established themselves as good bettors. Mostly, this is asked of bettors that have just started in the community by more established members to protect from welching. Once again, use your own discretion when being asked to send upfront. One alternative to sending upfront is using an unofficial mediator for your bet, I would recommend this over sending upfront to everybody.
Parlay - In a parlay bet, you bet one amount on a certain number of picks (usually 3-8) for a certain day. If you correctly pick all of the chosen games, you receive odds depending on how many games you choose. Example, a three-game parlay might have 3:1 odds, so if you correctly pick three out of three games, you would win 3x the amount you bet. The more games you choose, the higher the odds, since the probability of picking the correct winner of five, six, seven, eight or more games is increasingly difficult. Example thread: http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=21705284&f=201&st=0
Pick Challenge - A flat amount or a bet per game on all of the games for a certain day (or week); picks are usually done in a serpentine order (ABBAABBAAB...). Example thread: http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=24017174&f=201

What are some websites to find "official" betting spreads and lines?
There are a ton of sites, so the term "official" is used loosely. Just find a site you like and stick with it. Here are a few examples:


Safe Betting Techniques
This is simply some advice from my personal experiences and also from my observations... just some pointers on how to bet safely.
*Once again, d2jsp.org does NOT support Sports Betting of any kind. So, if you are welched, there's nothing the site will do for you. You are betting at your own risk.
*There is a reason the Unofficial Bettors Lists are labeled as "Unofficial," they are run by members of the betting community and people are nominated by their peers. We all make mistakes on who we deem trustworthy, but for the most part, the lists are an accurate display of the community.
*Do not bet with a past welcher. Sure, some of them may have paid back some or all of their welches, but welching is like hair, you can shave it off, but it's going to grow back. Once again, the site's moderators and admin won't do anything about welchers (locking, warning, etc). So, bet at your own risk.
*Don't send upfront to everyone and their mother. I've noticed a lot of new bettors that come in and send upfront to everyone that posts in their thread. This is how welches happen.
*Use an unofficial mediator for bets that you don't feel comfortable with, that's what they're there for. If someone wants you to send upfront and you don't feel comfortable with it, suggest to use a med instead, everybody wins.
*Don't overbet. Keep a good tab on the bets you have (Track the topics and label them) and how much fg you have left for other bets. I know, as a gambler, you feel like you can't possibly lose all of your bets, but it happens, everyone has a bad day or two... overbetting and not being able to cover your bets is the same as welching.
*Some people post in-game bets, or bets after the game has already started. These bets cannot be retracted and do NOT edit your posts on in-game bets, to avoid any confusion and future blacklisting, etc. I'm not a real big fan of in-game bets, but as long as the terms are lined out for both sides and both understand, there shouldn't be any problems.
*Be smart. Ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask someone to use a med for your bet.

Links to Unofficial Bettors Lists
At the time of this post, these are the current threads for the different sub-forums and the Unofficial Bettors Lists that are used in each.
NFL & College Football - http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=23745761&f=204
Basketball - http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=18661883&f=202
Baseball - http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=21696134&f=201
World Football - Soccer - http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=22135553&f=205
Hockey - http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=23841055&f=203
Read the threads in order to understand how to be added to these lists and also how to nominate others.

Big thank you to those volunteering their time to run the Unofficial Bettors Lists, and also those of you that contribute to the Sports Betting community.

Hopefully with this, new bettors and those less experienced can learn how to bet safely and minimize the risk of welchers.

In Closing...
Bet at your own risk.
It's okay to ask questions.
Be smart.

Good luck out there. Please don't spam this topic. Feel free to PM me any questions/comments/additions.

imo you should of made it set-up so poeple would read it and not just have the wall o' text.

good job though.

Yeah, all you'd really have to do is bold the common phrases and space out the techniques.

Very nice compilation, though.

failsauce

Sticky this .

can't cuz it isn't jsp supported

jsp stop supporting betting, thats why there are the lists, it happened around july last year


sad day

Bump for Saturday.

This post was edited by Eniac on Oct 4 2008 01:20am

Bump for Sunday!

gg guide dude, well put together - maybe some spaces would help the eyes