What is a bet slip?

On the screen

Tap a price on a book's site or app and the pick drops onto the slip, usually a panel at the side or the bottom of the screen. Nothing has been bet yet. The slip is a draft, and you can change the stake, remove the pick or add more.

Read the two figures it gives you. "To win" is the profit. "Returns" or "payout" is the profit plus your stake. Put $55 on a side at -110 and the slip says $50 to win and $105 returned. Put $20 on an underdog at +250 and it says $50 to win and $70 returned. Some slips let you type in either the stake or the amount to win, and on a minus price the second box asks you to risk more than you win, so check which one you filled in.

Add a second pick and the slip will offer to combine them into a parlay, and often a round robin as well. You can bet them as separate straight bets instead, and I usually would. (The slip is the best salesman the book has, and it never takes a day off.)

When the price moves

A price can change while the pick sits on the slip. Most books then ask you to accept the new price before the bet goes in, and many offer a setting that accepts every change for you. I'd leave that setting off, because the price is the bet, and I want to see a new one before I take it.

Before you confirm

The ticket is the bet. Once a book accepts it, it stands at the price and the number on it, and most books won't cancel it because you tapped the wrong team (the house rules page goes through that). So read the slip once more:

• the team or the side, and the bet type
• the number, whether a spread, a total or a moneyline price
• the stake, against the size you set yourself

At a counter it is the same thing on paper. You give the clerk the game's number from the board, the bet and the amount, and you walk away with a printed ticket. Read that one before you leave the window. A screenshot of the confirmed bet does the same job online.