// GLOSSARY
Handle
Handle is the total amount of money wagered through a sportsbook over a given period, regardless of outcome. It is a volume metric, not a profit metric: a sportsbook can report record handle in a month where it actually loses money if enough favorites and overs hit.
State gaming regulators and public sportsbook earnings reports lead with handle because it is the cleanest top-line comparison across books and states. Hold (the percentage of handle the book keeps as margin) and revenue (the actual dollar profit) are the numbers that determine whether the handle was profitable for the operator.
For a bettor, handle is mostly useful as context, not as a personal metric. Return on investment (ROI), sometimes phrased as return on handle, is the number that matters for evaluating your own results: profit divided by the total amount you staked.
Handle answers 'how much money moved.' Hold answers 'what percentage did the book keep.' Revenue answers 'how many actual dollars did the book make.' Conflating the three is a common misreading of sportsbook earnings reports.
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