What Does Over Under Mean In Betting
Totals wagers are more commonly referred to as an Over/Under bet. The name of the wager is interchangeable and both are used in sportsbooks and in the media. A totals bet is one of the easiest and most popular bets to make in the sportsbook. The only more popular bet is picking winners. Betting totals are available for most major professional sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and hockey.
Over / Under Betting Odds Explained Betting on the over/under point total of a game is quite popular when making a sports wager. Bettors tend to really like betting on over/under because they don't really have a rooting issue for one team or the other, but rather offense or defense.
In most cases, when wagering on a total the bettor is simply choosing whether the total number of points scored by both teams will be over or under the listed total of points to be scored. That’s it. The winner and loser of the game don’t matter in a totals bet. The only thing that matters with this kind of bet is the number of points (runs, goals, etc.) scored.
- MMA Over and Under Bets. If you’ve ever heard of over/under bets before, these are going to seem fairly similar. In a basketball game, you would typically bet on if the number of points scored by both teams was over or under a certain amount. This would be the same for football as well as most other sports. Combat sports, like MMA, are.
- The bet might be over/under 165. If the total number of points scored by BOTH teams is over 165, the over bet wins. If the total is under 165, the under wins. Usually, the points will be in half points to prevent ties (Over/Under 165.5).
Before a game begins betting over or under the total points scored is usually a -110 wager. Bettors will wager $110 to win $100 for a pre-game totals bet. If bettors wager a lot more on one side of the total, the moneyline might change before the actual point total moves. At a certain point, the sportsbook will reset the total and the moneyline will move back to -110.
Here’s an example from this past Super Bowl as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9.
- The over/under, or total, for this game was 54.4 points. Bettors who wagered on the Over needed the total score to be 55 points or higher. Anything 54 points and below would have been a winner for Under bettors.
- With the Bucs having scored 31 points and the Chiefs having scored just 9 points, the total wound up being 40 points – well below the set over/under of 54.4 and a win for Under bettors.
- If the total of this game was 54.0 points and the final score added up to exactly 54 points (38-16, for example) the bet would be a “push” and bets would be refunded.
Like all kinds of sports betting options, totals bets have expanded. Betting a total is no longer only available for pre-game bets. There may be totals available for partial games (quarters or periods), individual teams, and during in-play and live wagering. A partial game total might be a wager on how many points will be scored in a certain time period. Meanwhile, in-play bets could just be an adjusted total for the entire game.
Over/under bets
Even though Totals and Over/Under may be used interchangeably for scoring, there’s another way to make Over/Under bets. An Over/Under bet can also be a proposition bet where there’s a wager made on a specific occurrence. A boxing match is a good example since scoring isn’t quite the same as the major sports:
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor
The fight will last 9.5 rounds
- Over (-110)
- Under (-110)
Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor by technical knockout in the 10th round and over bettors won this wager. Had either fighter won the match earlier the under would have cashed since the result would have happened in the ninth round or sooner.
Today there are Over/Under bets available for a number of sports beyond the major North American sports. Fights often have how many rounds will be complete while auto racing might have the number of laps finished by a driver. The possibilities for Over/Under wagers are prop bets are seemingly only limited by the imagination. Sportsbook operators continue to expand their betting menu with unique bets that include new Totals and Over/Under options.
Best sites to make an over/under bet
What Does Over And Under Mean In Basketball Betting
A totals bet is a wager where you will predict that an occurrence will be over or under a certain threshold. You can probably guess why they are called over/unders now. For example, you could bet on the over/under total points score in a basketball game.
The bet might be over/under 165. If the total number of points scored by BOTH teams is over 165, the over bet wins. If the total is under 165, the under wins. Usually, the points will be in half points to prevent ties (Over/Under 165.5)
Football Over Under Explained
As you can see, this allows you to cheer for both teams to score a ton or for both teams to do terribly. Most sports games will allow you to bet on the over/under of how many points/goals/runs are scored. Some sports will also allow you to bet on the over/unders of other occurrences.
Over Under Odds
For example, golf betting sites will allow you to bet on how many birdies or how many eagles there will be on a particular hole or during a particular tournament round. Other sports may allow you to bet on how many fouls, penalties, or yellow cards there are during a game. Basically, anything that can be counted during a game or match is a candidate for a totals bet and is probably offered somewhere.