Last Updated on March 27, 2024
Over Under markets are amongst the most popular market type when it comes to betting, and its very beneficial to know how they work so you can fully maximize the enjoyment of betting on them.
Also known as ‘Totals’ markets, it’s a rare market type that can be applied to all sports, considering every sport has some form of scoring system that means that points are at play. Its not just the overall points or goals that you can apply this market type to though, it be applied to so much more, like individual events in games, like yellow cards, free throws, home runs, aces or touchdowns. It can even be applied to time periods, like over under 10mins for the first goal to happen in a football match.
2-way and 3-way Over Under
There are distinct differences between the two, and it is wise to know the difference. When you’re wanting to bet on an over under, its good to check first how many different selections are available in the market altogether.
There will be times when a line is provided, and you only have the option to be on ‘Over’ or ‘Under’. These are 2-way markets in that there are only 2 different things you can bet on and in these cases, the line will commonly be a decimal, and most commonly “x.5”.
But there are also such things a 3-way markets where you can bet on ‘Over’, ‘Under’ or ‘Exactly’. In these cases, the line is almost always a whole number, mainly because you cannot normally bet ‘exactly’ on something with a decimal point after it.
In almost all cases of this market, the term ‘Over’ means that it must be higher than the line for your bet to win, and not equal to. And for your ‘Under’ bet to win, it must be actually lower than the line, again, not equal to.
In 3-way market, if the result is the same as the line, your bet will lose, but in 2-way markets, usually you will get your money back if the result equals the line.
2-way OU markets
x.5 lines
The line for a two way over under market will frequently have a decimal value, and usually it will be x.5. In a basketball match, you’re like to see match over under lines around 200.5 or so, for baseball, it might be around 9.5, and for football, its likely to be around 2.5. For match lines in this way, you need to add the points of both teams to get the final result, but there are also markets available where you can bet on the individual team scores too.
So in terms of a baseball match with a run line of 9.5, if you bet on over 9.5, it means that you want there to be 10 or more runs in the game. And if you bet on under 9.5, it means you want there to be 9 or fewer runs in the game. Because you cannot have a 0.5 number of points in most sports, you will either have a losing bet or a winning bet.
Similarly in football, if the line is 2.5 goals, if you want to bet on over 2.5, then you want 3 or more goals in the match, but if you bet on under 2.5 goals, you want there to be 0, 1 or 2 goals total in the game.
It’s also worth noting that for football, this market is almost always based on 90 minutes of play. If it is a fixture that could go to extra time or penalties, anything that happens in that period does not count. But for most other sports, particularly American sports like basketball or baseball, points scored in overtime count towards the final settlement.
| Actual Total Points Scored: | ||||||
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Over 9.5 | L | L | L | W | W | W |
| Under 9.5 | W | W | W | L | L | L |
*W = Win, L = Lose
x.0 lines
There will also be times when the over under line that you are trying to bet on is a x.0 line. In a football match, a 2.0 or 3.0 line is fairly common to see. They work in a similar way to the x.5 market, but the main difference is that if the actual number falls exactly on the line itself, all bets will be drawn and you will get your money back.
For example, if the goal line in a football match is 3.0, and the final score is 2-1, then regardless of whether you bet on over 3.0 or under 3.0, your stake will be returned to you for no profit and no loss.
| Actual Total Goals Scored: | ||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Over 3.0 | L | L | L | D | W | W |
| Under 3.0 | W | W | W | D | L | L |
*W = Win, D = Draw, L = Lose
Split OU Lines
As well as x.5 and x.0 lines, there are such lines called split lines, which are primarily used in football betting, but are also very popular. In this bet type, your bet is split into two parts, with each part placed on a slightly different market, but at the same odds.
A split market looks something like “2.5,3” or “4,4.5”, and the markets that the split will happen in are displayed clearly there. If I want to bet on Over 4,4.5 then half of my stake will go on over 4.0, and half of my stake will go on over 4.5.
| Actual Total Goals Scored: | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Over 4.0 | L | L | L | D | W | W |
| Over 4.5 | L | L | L | L | W | W |
If there are 3 or fewer goals in the game, my bet on Over 4,4.5 will fully lose, as both portions of the bet end up losing. If there are 5 or more goals in the game, the bet will full win, as both portions of the bet end up winning. But if there are exactly 4 goals in the game, then half of the bet will draw, and half of the bet will win.
Likewise, if you bet on under 4,4.5 then the breakdown looks like this, so if there are three goals, your bet wins, and if there are five or more goals, your bet will lose. If there are 4 goals exactly, then half your bet will be a draw, and the other half of the bet will win.
| Actual Total Goals Scored: | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Under 4.0 | W | W | W | D | L | L |
| Under 4.5 | W | W | W | W | L | L |