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What Is Over/Under Betting?

Dave Kuzio

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Publish Date: 13/03/2020

Fact checked by: Jordan Noble

Over/Under bets are extremely popular with punters because there’s no need to pick a winning team. The challenge is to predict if the combined score of both participants in a sports event will be above or under a specific statistic for the match.

Considering an Over/Under is a two-bet preposition, both the Over and the Under will have separate odds of different or identical values. It's a bet type applicable to team events and individual sports, available in nearly all UK betting sites.

Table of Content

Over/under explained in five points
Example of Over/Under Betting
How are Over/Under Numbers Determined
The Bottom Line
Try these betting guides and strategies

Over/under explained in five points

Bet on something happening a certain number of times
Bookmaker decides the quantities in over/under bets
Bet on the number of goals, runs, tries and so on
Relatively safe betting option
Combine with other bets for bigger profits

Example of Over/Under Betting

Let’s explain in practical terms how an Over/Under functions by looking at a Premier League example. This is a hypothetical over/under betting football fixture between Arsenal F.C. and Nottingham Forest F.C.

Match	<	Over/Under	>
Arsenal F.C. vs Nottingham Forest F.C.	2.3	3.5	1.6

The decimal number in the total can be confusing, considering no half-point is available in any sport. However, this is necessary to eliminate the possibility of a draw or refund. You can win or lose; a push is not an option in sports betting.

Returning to our example, the 3.5 Over/Under means you can pick an Over and predict that teams will have a combined score of 4 or more goals. Alternatively, an Under will require the result after the final referee whistle to be 3 or fewer goals.

Bettors can select one of the two bets and choose a stake, which gets multiplied by the given odds. In this case, a £10 wager on an Over at 1.6 odds can produce a potential win of £16.

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How are Over/Under Numbers Determined

Bookies consider multiple factors when defining an Over/Under number:

Stats from both teams
Previous head-to-head matchups
Injuries
Current players' performance
The weather on game day if played at an open stadium
If coaching strategies focus on defence or offence

Another factor frequently overlooked is how punters react to a bet. If more wagers are made on an Over, betting sites can increase the total to encourage more betting on the Under.

This tactic is applied the other way around if the situation is reversed. The principles bookmakers use to formulate the number of points for an Over/Under can be used as an over/under betting strategy by punters to make an educated guess about the most likely combined score.

The Bottom Line

Over/Under bets, also known as totals, are popular for wagering on football, rugby, cricket, basketball, MMA, tennis, boxing, and nearly any other sport covered by sportsbooks. Although an Over/Under primarily focuses on forecasting the combined score for a complete game, it applies to other aspects.

Depending on the sport, half-time results or shots on goal, turnovers, assists, the number of wins in a season, and many other stats can be an option for this bet type.

Before placing an Over/Under, examine the given odds and how teams have performed in recent games and check our over/under betting tips.

Try these betting guides and strategies

Now that you know the answer to the question of ‘What is over under betting?’, it could be a good idea to take a look at some other popular bet types and betting strategies. We’ll have anything from simple bets like halftime bet explained to more complex issues like rising method explained so that you’re never short of some great betting inspiration.

From having options like a head to head bet explained to having backdoor cover explained, we’ll help you think a little more critically about your bets on sport. And once we have bad beat explained, you’ll be in a much better place to understand how even the most surefire sports bet can sometimes backfire.

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