Over Betting Term Meaning
‘Over’ is one half of the betting term over/under, or o/u, that relates to selected betting markets in a number of different sports.
Sports betting doesn’t have to always involve picking a side to win, and in fact, they are thousands of bettors that simply want to get in on the action and bet on the actual game rather than a particular team.
Over/Under betting markets are one way they can achieve this. For instance, in basketball, you can simply bet over or under the total number of points in the game.
It does not matter which side scores them as it is a collective total you are betting on. The same type of markets apply to American football, Aussie rules, rugby and football (soccer).
The over/under amount will be set by the bookmaker, and you’ll have various options at different odds. This is an example of the ‘over’ bets from an English Premier League match between Newcastle and Crystal Palace.
| Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: Total Goals | Odds |
|---|---|
| Over 0.5 | 1.05 |
| Over 1.5 | 1.33 |
| Over 2.5 | 2.20 |
| Over 3.5 | 4.00 |
| Over 4.5 | 8.00 |
| Over 5.5 | 17.00 |
| Over 6.5 | 34.00 |
The total number of goals always ends in .5. It is known as the hook and its purpose is to eliminate the draw/tie result, so the bet will either win or lose. Let’s imagine you bet £20 on over 2.5 goals, these are the possible outcomes:
- The match ends without any goals being scored (0-0). You lose the bet.
- The match ends with 1 goal being scored. You lose.
- The match ends with 2 goals being scored. You lose.
- The match ends with 3 or more goals being scored. You win. The score could be 2-1, 3-0 or 6-3 to either side, it does not matter for this bet.
- £20 x 2.20 = £44 return (£24 profit)
The top online bookmakers offer over/under football betting markets for the following as well:
- Total goals (1st half only)
- Total goals (2nd half only)
- Total team goals (1st half, 2nd half and whole match)
- Total corners
- Total bookings
Over betting markets are also available in-play. A popular strategy is betting on the over 0.5 goals market during live matches.
The pre-match price, as you can see from the Newcastle match, is very low, but if this game is still 0-0 at half-time that price will be around 1.15. Not a massive return so it’s best to build an accumulator with four or five selections to increase your overall returns.
Over Betting FAQ
What is over betting?
Over is one half of the betting term over/under, that relates to betting on something to go over a set number in many different sports.
