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Batten the Hatches [Sailing] Also batten down. To put away all loose objects on the ship and to close all openings, such as ports and hatches, in preparation for heavy weather. Hatches used to be secured with battens.

Batter [Baseball] An offensive player who takes his position in the batter’s box.

Batter's Box [Baseball] The area beside home plate in which the batter must stand while at bat. The batter cannot leave his position in the batter's box after the pitcher comes to the set position or begins his windup.

Batters Box [Baseball] An area drawn to the left and right of home plate in which the batter must stand when addressing the pitcher. The pitcher may not throw the ball until the batter is in the batters box and ‘ready’.

Battery [Horse Racing] A term for an illegal electrical device used by a jockey to stimulate a horse during a race. Also known as a "machine" or "joint."

Batter’s Box [Baseball] An area marked by white chalk lines on the left and right side of home plate in which a player must stand while batting.

Batting Average [Baseball] The percentage of a player's official at bats that results in a hit. Divide total hits by total at bats. A good batter hits around .300 or higher.

Batting Average (Avg) [Baseball] Number of base hits per at bat. Naturally, a higher number is better. Formula: (Base Hits) / (At Bats)

Batting Order [Baseball] A list of players and the order in which they will bat. This order cannot be changed once the game begins. Dang! Substitute players must take the batting place in the order of the player substituted.

Baudry Point [Fencing] A safety collar placed around a live epee point to prevent dangerous penetration.

Baulk-Line [Croquet] On each of the short sides of the yard-line are other unmarked lines, approximately 12 yards in length, known as the Baulk-lines. In British play, these are the starting lines.

Bay [Horse Racing] Color of horse varying from yellowish tan (light bay) to brown or dark, rich shade of mahogany (sometimes listed as dark bay or brown) with black points- black mane, tail and shadings of black low on the legs.

Bay and a Gray [Poker] A $6 bet, consisting of a red chip ($5) and a white chip ($1). Such a bet would be made in a $3-$6 limit game. Bay comes from horseracing, where it is a reddish brown horse with black markings; red casino chips often have black markings on their edges.

Bayonet [Fencing] A type of electrical connector for foil and sabre.

Bb [Poker] Shorthand, particularly in e-mail and Internet postings, for big blind.

Bb/9 [Baseball] Walks per Nine Innings

Bbow [Wrestling] Bad Boys of Wrestling

Bbrb [Poker] 1) The term usually applies to a draw game, generally lowball, and is often shortened to BBRB. 2) The situation in which one player offers to bet without looking at his cards if the second will raise, similarly without looking at his cards.

Bc [Blackjack] [1] The acronym for Betting Correlation. [2] The acronym for Bryce Carlson, the author of Blackjack for Blood. [3] An abbreviation for Barbary Coast, a casino. [4] An abbreviation for Back Count.

Bca [Blackjack] The acronym for a software program called Blackjack Count Analyzer

Bcci [General] Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Bccp [General] Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan.

Bcw [Wrestling] Border City Wrestling

Be [Blackjack] The acronym for Betting Efficiency.

Beach [Golf] A sand hazard on the course

Bead Lock [Motor Sports] A device used on some short-track racing cars to positively fasten the tire bead to the wheel rim. Particularly with low-pressure tires often used on dirt tracks, a bead lock keeps the tire on the wheel, and prevents the tire from slip-rotating around the wheel, which can cause the bead to break.

Beam [Sailing] (1) The widest part of a boat. (2) Abeam, at right angles to the length of the boat. (3) Sturdy wooden timbers running across the width of a boat . Used to support the deck of a wooden boat.

Beam Reach [Sailing] Sailing on a point of sail such that the apparent wind is coming from the beam (side) of the boat at about a 90° angle. A beam reach is usually the fastest point of sail. A beam reach is a point of sail between a broad reach and a close reach.

Bean [Poker] Chip; dollar. "Dealer, would you sell me some ante beans?" "Cost ya a bean to get in this pot."

Beanball [Baseball] A pitch that is intentionally thrown at the batter, generally when the batter is "crowding the plate." A power play by the pitcher.

Beano [Bingo] A game played with bingo cards in which the players cover squares when objects similarly numbered and lettered are randomly drawn to complete lines or other patterns. Also Bingo.

Bear [Poker] A tight player.

Bear Away, Bear Off [Sailing] To fall off. A boat falls off the wind when it points its bow further from the eye of the wind. The opposite of heading up.

Bear Grease [Motor Sports] Slang term used to describe any patching material used to fill cracks and holes or smooth bumps on a track's surface. Can also be used as a sealer on the track.

Bear Greese [Motor Sports] Slang term used to describe any patching material used to fill cracks and holes or to smooth bumps on a track's surface.

Bear in [Horse Racing] The action of a horse running towards the rail rather than straight.

Bear Out [Horse Racing] The action of a horse running towards the outside of the track, rather than straight.

Beard [General] A friend, acquaintance or other contact who is used to place bets so that the bookmakers will not know the identity of the actual bettor. Many top handicappers and persons occupying sensitive positions use this method of wagering. Same as proxy bettor, front man.

Beard (Us) [Horse Racing] A friend or acquaintance or other contact who is used to placing bets so that the bookmakers will not know the identity of the actual bettor. Many top handicappers and persons occupying sensitive positions use this method of wagering.

Bearing [Sailing] The direction of an object from the observer. "The lighthouse is at a bearing of 90 degrees."

Bearing in (Or Out) [Horse Racing] Deviating from a straight course. May be due to weariness, infirmity, inexperience or the rider overusing the whip or reins to make a horse alter its course.

Bearing in (Out) [Horse Racing] Failing to maintain a straight course, veering to the left or right. Can be caused by injury, fatigue, outside distraction, or poor riding.

Beat [Poker] 1) Get ahead of. "I can't beat this game." 2) The situation of losing a pot, often to someone defying the odds; usually preceded by bad. "I had four kings pat. The guy called a raise to draw three to ace-joker and made a five-high straight flush. What a bad beat!"

Beat the Board [Poker] In a stud or hold'em game, have a hand better than any other player's board. The opposite is can't beat the board, and means that a particular player's entire seven-card hand cannot beat the four exposed cards of another player.

Beat the Box [Golf] Breaks faster than others to establish a big lead.

Beat the Defender [Basketball] When an offensive player, with or without the ball, is able to get past an opponent who is guarding him.

Beat the Defense [Ice Hockey] To get by one or both of the defensemen.

Beat the Goalie [Ice Hockey] To score a goal, usually by faking out or outsmarting the opposing goaltender.

Beater [Motor Sports] (Slang) A car for everyday transportation. Usually not in perfect condition.

Beating [Sailing] Tacking. To sail against the wind by sailing on alternate tacks (directions).

Beaufort Wind Scale [Sailing] A method of measuring the severity of the force of wind, named after Admiral Beaufort who created the system. 0 is no wind, whereas 12 would be a hurricane.

Becket [Sailing] A loop at the end of a line.

Bed [Bowling] The area surrounding the lane, including the approach, the pit, and the gutters.

Bed and Breakfast [Motor Sports] Dale Earnhardt during a red flag

Bedding Compound [Sailing] A material used to join two objects completely. Usually used to create a water tight or very secure joint.

Bedor, Pana [Archery] An arrow with a leaf shaped or barbed head, Java.

Bedposts [Bowling] The 7-10 split.

Bedsprings [Poker] A form of widow game found only in home games, in which each player is dealt five down cards, as in draw, followed by a betting round, and then 10 cards are arranged in two columns of five, with each turned face up one at a time, each followed by another betting round (yes, 11 betting rounds). Each player makes the best hand possible by using any combination from his five and two next to each other from the widow.

Bee Deck [Poker] A standard paper deck for card room use, made by the American Playing Card Company; so called because of a drawing of a large bee on the ace of spades. Since the cards often have a diamond pattern on the back, they are sometimes called diamond-back cards.

Beef [Blackjack] An argument with a customer or a boss, a complaint. "He had a beef about the way I turned my hole-card."

Beefy Shot [Croquet] A long-hard shot.

Beer [Skydiving] Skydiver fluid.

Beer Frame [Bowling] A frame after which one bowler has to buy beer for all the others. This is often a pre-determined frame, with the low scorer in that frame getting stuck with the tab. Sometimes, if all bowlers but one roll strikes in a frame, that becomes the beer frame and the bowler who didn't strike has to buy.

Beer Hand [Poker] In hold 'em, 7-2 as one's first two cards.

Beerline [Skydiving] An imaginary area at the dropzone which the skydiver needs to land within or else he/she will have to do a Case.

Beeswax [Greyhound Racing] UK slang term for betting tax. Also known as 'Bees' or 'Ajax'.

Beggar [Poker] In high games, a no-pair hand (and one that is not a straight or flush, either) with no card higher than a 10.

Beginner [Horse Racing] A horse which is termed a good beginner is either a pacer which shows a lot of speed at the start of a mobile event, or a trotter or pacer which steps away cleanly from a standing start. Similarly, a poor beginner is a pacer which doesn't have a lot of early speed or a trotter or pacer which doesn't settle into its gait straight away.

Behind [Poker] 1) Losing. "Are you behind or ahead?" 2) With regard to a reference position at the table, acting after (usually immediately after). If the deal is one position to your left, you are behind the deal. If a player is sitting to your left, he acts behind you.

Behind a Log [Poker] Describing a situation in which a player is far ahead of a game and thus playing only premium hands. Sometimes playing behind a log.

Behind the Defender [Soccer] The area between a defender and his goal.

Behind the Net [Ice Hockey] The area of ice behind the goal cage is legal territory.

Being Off Color [Croquet] The opposite of hitting true.

Bel [Archery] A small bow used by children to shoot fish, Nicobar Islands.

Beladau [Martial Arts] A Sumatran curved dagger with a convex cutting edge.

Bell [Horse Racing] A bell that is rung in the home straight to warn drivers they are about to commence the final lap of the race.

Bell Lap [Greyhound Racing] In harness racing, the last lap of a race, signified by the ringing of the bell.

Belly [Archery] The side of the bow nearest the archer.

Belly Buster [Poker] A draw to fill an insight straight; a gut shot.

Belly Card [Poker] A card that makes an inside straight.

Belly Hit [Poker] A card that makes an inside straight.

Belly of the Bow [Archery] The surface of the bow closest to the archer when they hold the bow in the firing position.

Belly Putter [Golf] Ype of putter in which the butt of the grip is positioned against the player’s stomach in order to create a pendulum effect. Most belly putters are @40" in length. Popularized by Vijay Singh and Paul Azinger, among others on the PGA Tour.

Belly-Buster Straight [Poker] A straight made by catching a belly buster.

Belly-to-Earth [Skydiving] Standard horizontal position in traditional parachuting and formation flying. By arching your back and spreading the arms and legs, you will automatically turn belly down in freefall (kind of like a badminton ball).

Belly-Up [Poker] 1) Honestly; usually preceded by play. To play belly-up implies honest play from a usually dishonest player. "Why do I deal myself seconds? Because I can't win when I play belly-up." 2) Playing carefully, as opposed to recklessly. "I don't lose as much when I play belly-up, but I don't have any fun, either." 3) Broke; busted. "I went belly-up after I had that flush beat."

Belt [Golf] To hit the ball with extreme power.

Belt Sander (1” X 30”) [Golf] Type of belt sander using a 1” wide by 30” long belt to abrade shaft tips and attempt to turn ferrules. Acceptable for shaft work, but too fast for ferrule work. This sander runs at 3450 rpm.

Belt Sander (1” X 42”) [Golf] Type of sander using a long (42”), thin (1”) belt to abrade shafts and finish ferrules. The preferred type of sander in most shops, the 1” X 42” belt sander runs at 1725 rpm.

Beltline [Motor Sports] A horizontal line, usually imaginary but sometimes indicated by a feature in the body design, just below the window openings on a car or truck body.

Beltronics (Beltronics Swingmate) [Golf] Computerized device (approximately 4” X 6”) for measuring swing speed. Placed on the ground behind the club, the Beltronics may be used for either indoor or outdoor fitting.

Belts [Motor Sports] Belts are used to drive many engine accessories. Most overhead cam(OHC) engines use cogged (toothed) belts to drive the camshaft(s). Belts drive the power steering pump, water pump, air-conditioning compressors, etc. Could also refer to safety belts/harness.

Bench [Basketball] A team's substitutes, as in, "The Lakers have a very strong bench."

Bench Grinder [Golf] Table-mounted machine often used to cut shafts prior to assembly. Used with two attachments; one commonly is a cut-off wheel and the other is a grinding or buffing wheel.

Bench Jockeying [Bowling] As in baseball, conversation or gibes meant to distract an opponent.

Bench Minor Penalty [Ice Hockey] A two-minute penalty assessed against someone in a team's bench area rather than a player on the ice. Any player except a goaltender may be designated by the coach to serve in the penalty box.

Bench Racing [Motor Sports] Talking about racing; what racers and race fans do in the winter, or any other time when there's no real racing going on.

Bench Seats [Motor Sports] Full-length seat that can usually seat two or three people.

Bend [Sailing] A type of knot used to connect a line to a spar or another line. Also the act of using such a knot.

Bend on [Sailing] To attach a sail and prepare it for use.

Bend One [Golf] To hook or slice a shot by using sidespin.

Bend Point [Golf] The point of maximum bending on a shaft as measured by a compression test of the shaft on both the tip and butt ends.

Bend Uter [Archery] [1] A toy crossbow where the bolts are shot through a tube. [2] A slur bow.

Bender [Bowling] A curve or hook that nearly falls into the gutter before beginning to break.

Benefited [Golf] Bettered position when crowding or jam occurs in which it was not involved.

Benny Blue, You're All Through [Craps] Betting that the next roll will be the number of 7 (5&2)

Bent [Poker] 1) A card marked by creasing or folding slightly, so that a cutter can cut to that card. 2) A card being innocently or accidentally folded. "Give us a new deck; we've got a bent card."

Bent Grass [Golf] Type of grass seen for the most part on Northern courses. It is of the genus Agrostis, native to North America and Eurasia. It is a hardy and resilient type of grass that can be cut very short.

Bent-Shaft Paddle [Canoeing] A paddle with a bend in the shaft near the throat, which increases power but decreases control.

Bep [Blackjack] The acronym for Break-Even Point.

Bequeathed Runners [Baseball] Any runner(s) on base when a pitcher leaves a game are considered bequeathed to the departing hurler; the opposite of inherited runners (see below).

Bermuda [Golf] Type of grass seen mostly on Southern courses in North America. Of the type Cynodon dactylon. Originally native to southern Europe. It was introduced to warmer areas of the world to be used on courses where bent grass will not grow.

Berries [Poker] The nuts; usually preceded by the.

Berry Patch [Poker] An easy (to beat) game, particularly one full of live ones gambling it up.

Bersilat [Martial Arts] A Malaysian martial art embracing both empty-hand and weapons techniques.

Berth [Sailing] (1) A place for a person to sleep. (2) A place where the ship can be secured. (3) A safe and cautious distance, such as "We gave the shark a wide berth."

Bertillon Card [Greyhound Racing] A greyhound's identification card that lists 56 physical identifying points for every registered racing greyhound. The greyhound's Bertillon number is tattooed in its ear.

Beryllium Copper (Becu) [Golf] An alloy used to produce club heads, typically irons. The alloy is more dense than stainless and is claimed to provide a softer feel by some players. Beryllium heads are easily identified by their copper coloration.

Beryllium Nickel (Beni) [Golf] An alloy comprised of beryllium and nickel used to produce iron heads. This alloy is considered softer than stainless steel and is identified by a bronze-type of coloration.

Best Ball [Golf] Descriptive of a match in which the best individual score of two or more partners is the score for a hole. Also, the score itself, as in, "Smith had the best ball with a birdie, while his partner shot par."

Best Bet [General] A horse which is considered to have a good all round chance of winning a race or running a place. A best bet may be an investors own choice, or a horse that has been highlighted by a tipster or selection panel.

Best Flush [Poker] A form of draw poker found only in home games, in which only flushes win. If there are more than one flush, the best one wins, exactly as if two or more flushes were competing in an ordinary game. If there is only one five-card flush, that hand wins. If there are no flushes, then the best four-card flush wins. If there are no four-card flushes, then the best three-card flush wins. Rarely, the best two-card flush wins.

Best of it [Poker] 1) Advantage or edge. In lowball, it might be said of a conservative player, "When you're both drawing, he's usually got the best of it." For this sense, the opposite of worst of it. 2) An edge gained by cheating; often preceded by taking or take. "He's never in a game unless he's taking the best of it."

Best of Three (Or Five) [Tennis] Refers to the maximum number of sets in any match. In "best of three" matches, players need to win two of the three sets. In men's tennis, most matches are "best of three," i.e. a match finishes when a player has won two sets.

Best-Hand [Poker] A cheating technique, necessarily involving signals, in which only the best hand among two or more partners is played in any one pot, thereby saving the others money when that hand is beat, and reducing the difficulties of figuring out who gets how much at split time. For example, Slim and Shorty are playing best-hand in a lowball game. Slim is under the gun with a pat 7-6-3-2-A, and is about to open, when he sees Shorty signaling that he has a pat 6-5-4-3-2. Slim very carefully discards his hand. (He does not throw the cards wildly into the discards; they might bounce and accidentally turn over. Slim would have a difficult time explaining to the other players why he wasn't even opening the pot with such a good hand.) Shorty plays the hand, and likely wins it. If he loses, however, he doesn't cause Slim also to lose money to the holder of the winning hand, thereby saving the cheating team half of what they would have lost. Best-hand is one of the most difficult scams to detect, because the players are not raising for each other, nor are they performing any physical manipulations upon the cards. Even with careful observation, best-hand could easily be confused with the legitimate situation of players staying out of each other's way.

Bet [Poker] To put money into the pot, pursuant to the rules of the game, thus maintaining a chance of winning the pot.

Bet after the Declare [Poker] A variation found in home games in which there is an extra round of betting after players have made their declaration. The showdown follows this round of betting. Also called bet-declare-bet.

Bet Blind [Poker] Make a bet without looking at one's cards. This occurs most frequently in lowball, in which a player draws one or more cards and, on the second round of betting, bets before receiving the card or cards. This is done usually for the purpose of stimulating action, but sometimes to discourage an opponent from raising. Sometimes players claim to bet blind but have actually seen their draw card or cards; doing this is considered bad form, and gives the claimant a bad reputation. The term is also heard in seven-card stud, with a player betting before receiving the river card, or in hold 'em before the river card is dealt.

Bet Blind-Raise Blind [Poker] 1) The term usually applies to a draw game, generally lowball, and is often shortened to BBRB. 2) The situation in which one player offers to bet without looking at his cards if the second will raise, similarly without looking at his cards.

Bet Details [Keno] The terms under which a Bet is placed, including: cost of bet, ways and number of games.

Bet for Value [Poker] Betting in order to raise the amount in the pot, not to make your opponents fold.

Bet into [Poker] To bet before a stronger hand, or a player who bet strongly on the previous round.

Bet on the Come [Poker] Playing a worthless hand in the hope of improving it is called "betting on the come."

Bet Out of Turn [Poker] Put money in the pot before it is one's turn to do so, that is, before other players who are supposed to act first have had a chance to indicate what they are going to do. In most card rooms, acting out of turn is not binding. A player who puts money in the pot out of turn is usually permitted to withdraw that money, and is usually required to do so. Betting out of turn is often an honest mistake, particularly from a beginner or someone who doesn't pay enough attention to what is going on; sometimes, though, it is an angle intended to influence the action of others.

Bet Per Game [Keno] The Bet per Ticket divided by the Forward Games.

Bet Per Way [Keno] The Bet per Game divided by the Number of Ways.

Bet Sizing [Blackjack] A system of varying one's bets according to the advantage that he has in a given situation.