Many sports bettors believe betting
on overs/unders is easier than trying to predict the winner of a game and
bookmakers tend to agree with that fact by placing smaller betting limits on
overs/unders than they do when betting a team, either against the point spread
or on the money line.
Overs/unders, more commonly referred
to as totals, are a type of betting opportunity offered to gamblers where they
may bet that the final score of a game is over the bookmaker's posted total or
it goes under the number. The winner of a totals bet is determined by adding
the final score of both teams. It's that simple.
Imagine the New York Jets are
playing the Miami
Dolphins and the posted total is 40. If you bet over on the game,
you win your bet if the two teams combine for more than 40 points. If the
Dolphins win 24-17, for example, you have made a winning bet. If the Dolphins
were to win 24-14, you would lose the over bet, as the final combined score was
just 38. If the final score added up to 40, the bet would be considered a push,
or a tie, and your money is returned to you.
Football
and Basketball Totals
When betting on football and basketball
totals , the bettor risks $11 to win $10, just as they do when
making a bet against the point
spread . If the bookmaker can get an equal amount of money wagered
on the over and the under, he is guaranteed to make money no matter what the
final score is.
Most NFL football totals will range
between 32 and 52, with an average number right around 41 points. If two high
scoring teams with poor defenses are playing each other, the total may be
posted higher.On rare occasions, two sound defensive teams playing in poor, cold weather,
may see the total dip below 32, but this doesn't happen too often.
College football totals may be even
higher, as some teams have great offenses and equally poor defenses. College
football totals have been known to reach into the 70-point range.
When a bookmaker accepts a maximum
bet on a football total, they will typically adjust the line by .5 points in an
effort to attract money bet the other way, although this is at the discretion
of the individual bookmaker. They may move the line a full point or they may
not move it at all.
Basketball totals work in exactly
the same manner as football totals, where the bettor risks $11 to win $10.
Naturally, the over/under numbers are much higher, as many more points will be
scored in a basketball game, as opposed to a football game, and totals can
range from 120, for a low scoring NCAA team, well into the 200s for an NBA
game.
When bookmakers accept a maximum
wager on a basketball total they will typically respond by adjusting the line
1.5 points in an effort to attract people to be the other way. Example: If the
posted total on the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets is 190 and a bettor
places a $500 wager on the over, which happens to be the maximum
bet allowed at a
particular sportsbook. The sportsbook would then raise the total to
191.5 in an attempt to get people to wager money on the under.
Baseball
and Hockey Totals
Baseball and hockey totals wagers
use the same principal as football and basketball overs/unders, where the
bookmaker posts a number and you can bet either over that total or under the
total, but there is one essential difference and that rests in the amount of
money a bettor must risk to win $100.
Because scoring in baseball and
hockey is so much lower than in football or basketball, the bookmakers are
reluctant to change the number of a total and instead will adjust the odds.
Example: If the over/under number on the Dodgers and the Giants is 9 and a
bettor places a $500 wager on the over, the bookmaker is unlikely to raise the
total to 9.5. Instead, he will make bettors who wish to wager over 9 risk $120
to win $100, which is written as -120. Those wishing to bet the under would
then be able to wager at even money or +100, as totals nearly always use a
difference of .2, commonly called "20 cents."
If people continue to bet the over,
the bookmaker will continue to adjust the odds upward and eventually bettors
may have to risk $145 to win $100, or -145. In this case, an under bettor would
risk $100 to win $125. The bookmaker will generally raise the odds up to -145
before raising the total to the next number, which in this case would be 9.5.
Betting overs/unders is another way
to add some excitement to a game and many times will offer more betting value
than trying to pick the winner. Many serious bettors concentrate on totals,
believing they are easier to win than picking which team is going to cover the
spread. Now that you understand overs/unders, you're closer to experiencing the
"total" sports betting adventure.
