Chalk Review

What Is Chalk ?

In the context of betting, gaming and the world of the casino; ‘Chalk’ refer to the betting favourite. This term is highly known and used commonly in Australia and Europe as well as in the U.S. Chalk play is used when you want to place once on a favourite, while the terms ‘the chalkiest’ or ‘chalky’ are used to describe to a certain part of a sporting event.

This term is also used to refer to the number of favourite protagonists involved in a game. Anyone from the greyhound, horse, player or any other contender can be the favourite. The chosen favourite is described as the chalkiest horse or player.

Chalk Explained

As per the definition above, anything that is connected to the mention of ‘chalk’, refers to the favourite. A favourite also refers to the result from the shortest odds that are offered by Bookies. And ‘odds on’ is the possibility of the event’s outcome.

Another popular term that you can stumble upon in betting is called ‘heavy chalk’. This is the term given to a person or an animal that is regarded to succeed in the sport. ‘Heavy chalk’ would mean that you would win in any event that you take part in.

An example of this is Usain Bolt. One would regard him as the ‘heavy chalk’ especially if you were placing a bet on him in the next race. Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic are also great examples of sportspeople that you can agree to be part of the ‘heavy chalk’ team.

Chalk may have been coined during the early days of horse racing. The racing Bookies would then stand on the race track, holding a chalkboard where the offered odds were being displayed. If the odds had changed, they would then need to erase and then update it with the new ones. The odds, especially on a favourite horse, would change countless times. The Bookies needed to erase and update it on the chalkboard, thus; there will be a large amount of chalk dust created. Before then, it may have been an obscure term to be given to the favourite horse. As the years went by, the favourite was given the name ‘chalk’, for that reason.

The antonym for Chalk would be the Underdog. When the horse is said to be the Underdog, it stands no chance of winning. Some of the experienced betting enthusiasts would still prefer betting on them though the odds on winning on the Underdog are lower. Well, they are just mindful of what they will receive from the initial stake. The reason being that the return from betting on the Underdog is undeniably higher than the bet made with the Chalk.