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Backdoor cover explained - What is a backdoor cover?

James Leeland

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Publish Date: 13/03/2020

Fact checked by: Jordan Noble

Sportsbooks offer many different ways to bet matches, ranging from player props to in-play markets. Another example of the broad options is the spread on a match. When you wager on the margin of loss or victory for a side, you may encounter what is known to experienced bettors as a backdoor cover.

A backdoor cover isn’t so much something you actually bet to take place as it is a term for what happens when you bet on a spread and the match plays out a certain way. An example makes it clear.

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Table of Content

Backdoor cover explained simply
An Example of a Backdoor Cover
The Essential Elements of a Backdoor Cover
Conclusion
Try these betting guides and strategies

Backdoor cover explained simply

Refers to event occurring late in a sporting contest
Backdoor cover affects your bet, not the overall result
Great for live betting
Applicable to all major sports like football, cricket, tennis etc
A big part of spread betting

An Example of a Backdoor Cover

Suppose Liverpool is playing Everton and the pre-match spread was Liverpool -2.5. Further assume you took Everton to cover, meaning you would need Everton to either win the match or lose by no more than two goals to win your bet.

As the match plays out, Liverpool proves the superior side, taking a 3-0 lead into stoppage time at the end of the second half. The match is effectively over. However, in the last minute of stoppage time, Everton gets a goal to make the final score 3-1.

While that Everton goal did not affect the outcome of the match, Liverpool still won comfortably, it did make all the difference for your bet on the spread. This is a perfect example of a backdoor cover because it has all the essential elements.

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The Essential Elements of a Backdoor Cover

While backdoor covers are subjective to a degree, there are three aspects that comprise a typical backdoor cover. Those are:

The underdog covers the spread
The score that cover the spread does not affect the outcome of the match
The score that covers the spread comes late in the match

If a favorite scores late in a match to cover the spread in their favor while not affecting the outcome of the match, that is known as a frontdoor cover. Going back to the example, if Liverpool scored late to go up 3-0, that would be a classic frontdoor cover.

Similarly, if an underdog scores early in a match to pull within the spread, it is usually not considered a backdoor cover. In our original example, if Everton scored to make it 3-1 in the 13th minute, that would not usually be considered a backdoor cover. This is because there is enough time left in the match remaining as to potentially allow the underdog to win the match outright.

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Additionally, this would not qualify as a backdoor cover because the time left gives the favorite ample opportunity to push the spread back towards its side, too.

An underdog scoring enough to actually win the match, even if that score comes late in the match, is not a backdoor cover because that score is not meaningless to the outcome of the match.

Backdoor covers are rare but can be exciting when your money is on the underdog on the spread. Even when a club is losing, it can still help you win.

Suggested meta title: How Backdoor Covers Work In Sports Betting

Suggested meta description: Backdoor covers are a rare occasion that bettors need to understand as they can make or break a sports bet.

Conclusion

By having it explained, you hopefully won’t have to ask ‘What is a backdoor cover?’ anymore. You’ll see that backdoor cover is something that happens late in a sporting encounter that can affect your bets, but not the overall result. There’s little way that you can actually predict when a backdoor cover will take place, but it’s a term that can describe what happens when you win or lose your sports bet late on in the game. So that by having backdoor cover explained, you’ll know that this can be an important event that determines the success of your bets on your favourite sport.

Try these betting guides and strategies

So if you understand the answer to the question of ‘What is a backdoor cover?’, it could be worthwhile taking a look at some alternative betting types and strategies. You may not think that you need to have rising method explained, but it’s essential to learn all you can about sports betting if you want sustained success.

From having a halftime bet explained for football to having a head to head bet explained for rugby, it can all help you avoid making daft mistakes. Plus with the ability to have a value bet explained to spot truly remarkable odds, to having bad beat explained to avoid those shocking defeats, you’ll be well-placed for the next time that you want to bet on sport.