For a growing number of bettors, the idea of over/under betting has become one of the most popular ways to back your hunches for an upcoming game. It’s a nice way to leverage sporting knowledge for the best results.Over Under Betting Guide | Over/Under Betting Explained
Below, we’ll look into how this type of bet works, covering topics such as what the term means, and give you some key tips on how to bet effectively in this market. With over/under betting explained, you will be empowered to make the smartest bets and turn your sporting interest into a way of winning on the betting front.Over Under Betting Guide | Over/Under Betting Explained
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The first thing we need to explain here is the most basic question. What does over/under mean in betting and why is it a thing? Let’s start with the brass tacks: An over/under market is a betting option that allows sports fans to predict whether the total points or goals in a game will surpass a certain number. It will be either over that number, or under it, hence the name of the market. In fact, this form of bet doesn’t just relate to points or goals. It could also relate to the number of yellow or red cards in a soccer match, or the number of aces served in a tennis showdown. The options in this regard depend on the bookmaker.
To make the picture a little clearer, let’s take an example: Let’s say the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Ravens are facing off in an NFL regular season game. With the level of offensive talent on show, you might expect this to be a high-scoring game. The bookmaker will offer a number for the over/under; let’s say in this case it is 52.5. If you expect a shoot-out between these teams, you might be predicting that the Ravens will win 35-31. That would mean there had been 66 points in the game, over the expected amount offered by the bookmaker. So you would bet on Over, and if the game ended as you expect, you would win. If, however, defenses got on top and the game ended 14-10, that would be 24 points, under the expected total, and you would lose.
That .5 of a point may seem odd, initially, but it helps explain over/under betting. The game is never going to end with 52.5 points, is it? You don’t get half points in the NFL. That’s precisely why the over-under is set this way. A game may end with 52 points, and it could end with 53 points, but it won’t end with exactly the same number of points as the Over/Under total specifies. In just about 100% of cases where Over/Under odds are offered, they will be set with a decimal point to simplify this situation. The score will always be either over or under the line, so over and under betting will always be a Yes-No question.
| Soccer | Goals, Cards, Corners |
| Football | Points, Passing/Rushing Yards, Touchdowns |
| Baseball | Runs in Game, Runs in Innings |
| Basketball | Points, Individual Player Markets (Rebounds, Three-Pointers) |
| Tennis | Games in Match, Aces |
If you’re looking to make an over/under bet at one of the best sportsbooks for NBA betting, then your first mission is to get an idea of how it is done. A simple step-by-step guide will help you do this in the right way.
Assuming you haven’t already got an account at a sportsbook offering betting over/under, this will be your first step. Choose a platform and go through the signup process. This will involve filling in an online form that asks you for a few pieces of information. It’s nothing too onerous, but pay attention to the process, as it will decide a few things including whether you qualify to bet at this site, and whether you can take advantage of their offers. You may have to provide some evidence of ID, such as scans of a driver’s licence or a copy of your passport.
To make your first bet, you’ll need to have money in your account, so once you’re signed up it’s time to fund your account. Keep a close eye on the signup offers; the amount you are offered as a bonus may depend on how much you deposit. Your deposit will allow you to make the right bet to benefit from the available markets, and use the bonus to the maximum benefit.
There are a lot of things you should do before you make a wager for the first time, especially if it is an over/under bet. As we’ve already explained, getting an understanding for this type of betting is one of those things. Another is to check recent form guides for the teams and games you are betting on. Additionally, you should keep in mind that it’s always best, initially, to bet on a sport you know well. You can look at all the stats you want, and check head-to-head records going back years. But nothing will give you a feel for the likely outcomes as much as knowing the sport. If you’re a football fan, bet on football; if you’re a basketball fan, stick to that initially. You can diversify afterwards, but for the time being, keep to what you know.
If you’re not familiar with betting, it’s a bad idea to go in all guns blazing and make ambitious bets on MLB betting sites. Following sport as a bettor is different from following it as a fan. You can be supremely confident that the team you support will win a game and do so in high-scoring fashion, but that confidence is driven to some degree by bias. When betting, you need to temper your optimism with realism; possibly, you should avoid betting on teams you love as it will help you keep a clearer head. Think strategically. How confident are you that this game will go the way you’re betting it will? Let your stake match your informed confidence.
You can bet on a range of sports – from goals and corners in soccer, to points and touchdowns in the NFL, from aces and games played in a tennis match to goals at the best NHL betting sites. You can find so many markets out there that there should always be a way to find over/under betting options for any sporting occasion you’re watching. Below, we’ll illustrate just how versatile this market is and show how you can use the market to your benefit.
The standard single-match bet is of course a bet on the result of the match; this is true for moneyline betting as it also is in over and under betting. However, matches are broken down into sections by nature, and this is something you can take advantage of with over under betting. For example, if you happen to have noticed that a team is usually successful over ninety minutes, four quarters or nine innings, but tends to start slowly, then you could take the under for the early part of the match. Betting that there won’t be many goals in the first half may be a way to find value on a game where the overall over/under isn’t so generous.
The question of “What is over/under in betting?” seems simple to begin with, and it largely is – but it’s worth remembering that there are often different ways to apply this. It doesn’t always apply to the outcome of the match itself, or even one quarter or half. It could also apply to the performance of one player, or one team, in the course of a matchup. How many points will LeBron James put up during the match? Will Lionel Messi score more or less than 1.5 goals in the game? Will the Kansas City Chiefs beat the expected points total set out for them by the sportsbook? Calling this right can ensure you get a better chance of winning.
If you want to successfully bet on over/under markets, then it is important to consider the factors that make certain outcomes more or less likely. In a vacuum, it may seem obvious that a match will have more points than the line suggests, or that it will feature less scoring than has been suggested. There’s an old line that soccer fans like to use: “On paper, this is a straightforward contest. But soccer is played on grass, not paper”. Allowing for the fact that it’s sometimes also played on artificial turf, this is a good thing to remember when planning an bet. As well as looking at the soccer news for recent form, it’s beneficial to consider a range of factors which can throw the standard expectations out of the window.
It’s generally a good idea not to place a wager too far ahead of a game. There are multiple reasons for this, and we’ll go into more detail about those in a moment. But one of the major reasons for holding fire on this kind of bet is the fact that weather can heavily influence an encounter between two teams. You may look at a fixture between the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers and be convinced that it’s going to be a high-scoring shootout. However, if it gets to game day and the skies have opened, players will be running through mud and trying to hold on to a slippery ball, which may limit the points total. Always consider the impact that weather can have.
Players are one of the “known” factors you’ll be considering when you plan a bet. They’re an obvious consideration. There is a greater chance of a lot of goals being scored in an NHL matchup if Nathan McKinnon is involved, so you might be inclined to bet on the over if the Colorado Avalanches are playing. However if McKinnon isn’t fit to take to the ice, his goals will be removed from the equation, plus the Avalanches will be discomfited by the loss of their talismanic goalscorer. You may therefore revise your predictions downwards, or if you’re confident they’ll weather the storm, take advantage of a lowered Over/Under line.
In soccer, there is a term known as “bogey team” which refers to a team that, despite not being objectively as talented as your team, still has a tendency to beat them or at least make life more difficult for them. Paris St Germain are a match for pretty much any team in Europe on their night, but they have a habit of struggling when the opposition is Rennes, a comparatively small French Ligue 1 team with plenty of talented players but not much money. If you’ve noticed that one of the favorites tends to get stage fright when faced with a certain opponent, it may be smart to take the “under” when they’re up against that opponent.
Over/under betting can be a very interesting way to bet on your favorite sport without running up against the lack of value you sometimes find when making moneyline bets or predicting the correct score. Given the range of possible markets, it’s a versatile type of betting that offers you the chance to really leverage your knowledge.
Most sports will allow for some measure of over/under betting. Some will allow it more than others. In soccer, for example, you can usually find over/under markets for goals, corners, and even yellow and red cards. In tennis there may be markets for games played in a match, aces served and potentially double-faults. In baseball it might be less diverse, potentially only allowing you to bet on total runs – but even then there may be options to bet on runs within an inning, and so on.
As a minimum, you will want to know how the players or teams concerned have performed against each other in the past, but it does no harm to look at things like recent form, the weather, and injury reports close to the time of the game. There can be various factors which make a seemingly foregone conclusion look much less secure.
As a preference, place them close to the time of the game so that you are in possession of as much information as possible. Also, when you are a relatively new bettor, try to ensure you are betting on sports on which you have a certain level of knowledge. Over/Under betting rewards informed bettors perhaps more than any other kind.
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