How Over Under Betting Works – Where to Find the Best Odds?
Bookies would often offer a market that would be a prediction of a fixed statistics number for a particular sporting event, where punters can wager on “over/under” (OU) odds. This is considered to be one of the most famous forms of sports betting, due to the limitless opportunities it offers – over/under markets can be made on a game’s score, the number of penalties given, player assists, the overall amount of injuries, number of passes, and so on. Essentially, punters would bet on whether the end result would be lower or higher than the predicted number; however, that number will be the combined value of the efforts of both teams.
Sports Where Over/Under Markets Are Most Prevalent
Basketball, football, hockey, and American football are considered to be the most covered ones by over-under markets. Although any occurrence during a sporting event that can be quantified into a score value can be made into an OU market, it is usually the popularity of the sport itself that dictates the number of OU opportunities presented by a bookie.
Even Results in an Over Under Sports Market
Although OU markets exist because almost every sporting competition generates points in several aspects. In order to avoid confusion and somewhat equalize the odds of a market, bookies often choose a score value that is based on the average value generated by previous competitions. Even if the score and odds are considered as “good”, there are cases where the combined result of the competitors would match the OU value set by the bookie. This is most commonly referred to as a “push” (similar to Blackjack), and if the case is such, the bookie will refund any wagers to their punters (since neither of the over/under conditions are met, the bettor neither wins nor loses).
Sometimes when bookies offer over under football betting, they use the same principle as in “handicap betting” as to avoid an even result. They condition the OU rule to apply for a “fraction of a goal” – for example, an over/under of 1.5 goals. This, however, wasn’t considered to be a standard practice for sports that provide double-digit (sometimes triple) results such as basketball and American football, but in recent years a decimal value has been added there as well in order to prevent “push events”.
Bookmakers That Offer This Kind of Bet
Over/under markets are some of the most popular ones in the online sportsbook world; in fact, there is hardly any online bookie out there that would avoid offering any sorts of over/under odds. Sportsbooks such as William Hill, Paddy Power, Bet Victor, Betfred, and 888sport are among the most visited websites for punters who prefer to bet solely on OU odds.
Most Bookie Bonuses Allow OU Bets
In its core, wagering on OU is considered as a straight bet. This means that every punter who has scored a free stake bonus from their favourite bookie will be able to place those promotional funds on over/under markets. On the other hand, there is an exception to that rule – over/under markets cannot be combined into an accumulator or any other type of “combined” stake. This also includes “each way” wagers.
The Best Over Under Betting Strategy Is to Watch the Bookies
When forming the odds for an over/under market, sportsbooks are known to underestimate or overestimate the expected outcome; which proves to be especially beneficial for punters who are also fans of a specific sport. Although bookies tend to be more careful these days, there is always a margin for error; and here is the best part – if a sportsbook tries to change the OU score (by raising it) they risk to pay out a huge amount of money to their punters! If you like to watch sports, you will definitely have an advantage!