Introduction to Over / Under bets

The over/under bet (O/U) is most probably among the most popular betting options when we are considering both online and conventional bookmakers. Surely, this guide will not be so useful to experienced bettors, but a lot of beginners will find it rather informative and interesting.

The reason why this type of wager has been so popular has to do with its simplicity and the fact that it can be used in almost all popular and not so popular sports like football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, American football etc. Over/under bets are placed on the actual points or goals of a game and it’s not as complicated as it might sound. Let’s take a look at some examples in order to understand what we mean:

Let’s start with football. The most common over/under bet in football is over/under 2.5 goals. If the player bets on under 2.5 goals, he wins the bet if the total goals of the match are less than 2.5 goals, which means results: 0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 2-0 or 0-2. In any other score, the bet loses. See, it’s simple and similar bets like over/under 3.5 or over/under 4.5 for example are also available in most bookmakers.

Let’s see another example, taking a basketball game this time. There can be many variations for example on the first half or final game or for just one team or both, but all have to do with the total sum of points. Let’s assume that the bookmaker decides that the total score of the game is 200.5 points. If the player selects under 200.5 then he wins when the total sum of the points of both teams are less than 200.5. In that case even a 100-100 score is a winner.

We may have noticed that usually when we refer to over/under bets we usually not use an integer like 50 for example but a decimal number like 50.5 but this is not always the case. But what happens when we bet on the outcome of a game with an over 50 bet and the final result of the game is 50? In that scenario we simply not win nor lose the bet and our money is returned back. Of course in order to avoid situations like those integers are not used so frequently.
I think it’s easily understood but, unfortunately over/under bets can be a decimal in other formats too (not always over/under x.5). Let’s see what those are taking football again as our example. For a better understanding we present you various integer and decimal over/under bets:

Over 2.00
• If the match ends without a goal or with just one goal, we lose the bet.
• If exactly 2 goals are scored, then the money we bet is returned.
• If 3 or more than 3 goals are scored in the game, then we win the bet.

Under 2.00
• If the match ends with 0-0 as the final score or only one goal is scored, then we win the bet
• If exactly 2 goals are scored, then the money we bet is returned.
• If 3 or more than 3 goals are scored in the game, then we lose the bet.

Over 2.25
• If the match ends with one or none goals, then we lose the bet.
• If exactly 2 goals are scored, then we only lose half our bet and the other half is returned.
• If 3 or more than 3 goals are scored, then we win the bet.

Under 2.25
• If the match ends with one or none goals, then we win the bet.
• If exactly 2 goals are scored, then we only lose half our bet and the other half is returned.
• If 3 or more than 3 goals are scored, then we lose the bet.

Over 2.75
• If the match ends with 1, 2 or no goals, the bet is lost.
• If exactly 3 goals are scored, then we win half the bet and the other half is returned.
• If more than 4 goals are scored, then we win the bet.

Over 2.5
• If 1,2 or no goals are scored, then we lose the bet.
• If 3 or more than 3 goals are scored, then we win the bet.

Under 2.75
• If the match ends with 1, 2 or no goals, the bet is lost.
• If exactly 3 goals are scored, then we only lose half our bet and the other half is returned.
• If 4 goals or more than 4 goals are scored, then the bet is lost.