What does over/under mean in sports betting?

What is an over/under bet?

Simply put, an Over/Under bet allows bettors to predict how many goals, points or other action will occur in a match or game, over or under a specified amount. The betting site sets the amount, or line, and give you, the bettor, to bet over or under that number.

This market is available on most sports and events, with many variations of Over/Under bets available on many betting sites.

What sports have over/under bets?

There are an array of sports for which Over/Under bets are available. In fact, most sports you can think of have Over/Under bets.

Take a look at the list below, where we’ve detailed the most popular sports bettors place Over/Under bets on, along with the most common variations.

• Football - Goals, Corners, Fouls
• Basketball - Points, Half betting, Quarter betting
• Tennis - Games, Sets, Points
• Cricket - Total Runs, Team Runs, Wickets
• MMA - Total Rounds, Winner & Total Rounds, Significant Strikes
• Rugby - Points, Team Points, Half betting
• Baseball - Hits, Pitches, Home Runs
• American Football - Points, Half betting, Quarter betting
• Boxing - Rounds, Knockdowns, Result & Total Rounds

How does over/under work? Real examples!

Let’s take a look at some examples of the Over/Under market. For this section, we’re going to concentrate on football, basketball and boxing.

We’ll start with football and the Women’s Euro 2025 game between France and Germany.

There’s a wide range of Over/Under markets available for this fixture, including the following:

• Asian Total Goals Over/Under
• Asian Total Goals First Half Over/Under
• Total Over/Under Cards
• Total Over/Under France Cards
• Total Over/Under Germany Cards
• Total Over/Under Corners
• Total Over/Under Corners First Half
• Total Over/Under Corners Second Half
• Total Over/Under France Corners
• Total Over/Under Germany Corners
• Total Over/Under Goals
• Total Over/Under Goals First Half
• Total Over/Under Goals Second Half
• Total Over/Under Goals France
• Total Over/Under Goals Germany
• Total Over/Under Offsides
• Total Over/Under Shots
• Total Over/Under Shots on Target

As you can see, there are a huge amount of options for Over/Under betting! Let’s say we want to place a bet on this fixture but we’re unsure of who will come out on top. What we do expect, though, is there to be a few goals scored in the game. We might decide to place a Total Goals Over 3.5 bet. Or, if we’re expecting a fiery encounter, we might decide instead to look at the Total Cards market, and place a bet on Over 3.5 cards to be shown in the game.

The Match Winner odds for this fixture are detailed in the table below.

Let’s now say we think France will win the game comfortably, but the odds of 1.90 don’t particularly appeal. We might instead look at the Total Goals market. For France to score more than 2.5 goals in the game, we’re offered odds of 3.40, much more appealing than a standard Match Winner bet.

Moving onto basketball and the EuroBasket fixture between Latvia and Turkey. Again, we found a good range of Total Over/Under bets available, including the following markets:

• Total Points Over/Under
• Total Points Over/Under Latvia
• Total Points Over/Under Turkey
• Total Points Over/Under First Half
• Total Points Over/Under First Quarter
• Matchbet & Total Points Over/Under

Again, there’s quite the choice of Over/Under markets in basketball. The Match Result odds, for Regular Time, of this game are as follows.

If we think Latvia will win the game, but it won’t be a particularly high scoring fixture, we might decide to place a bet on Latvia to win and Under 169.5 points to be scored, which gives us odds of 3.10. Again, much better odds than a standard Winner bet.

What we might also think about is how many points Turkey will score. If we don’t think the Turkish side will score many, we might look at a Turkey Total Points Under 83.5 bet, which gives us odds of 1.93. With this bet, it doesn’t matter which team wins or loses, as long as Turkey don’t score more than 83 points.

Onto boxing and the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. For this fight, the following Total Over/Under markets were available:

• Usky Total Knockdowns Over/Under
• Dubois Total Knockdowns Over/Under
• Usky to win & Total Rounds Over/Under
• Dubois to win & Total Rounds Over/Under
• Total Knockdowns
• Total Rounds

While there aren’t as many Over/Under markets in boxing as there are in other sports, there’s still a decent choice available. The Bout odds for this fight were as follows.

Odds on the Usyk win don’t offer much value. To increase the value, we might look at the Usyk win combined with the Total Rounds market. Usyk to win and Under 8.5 rounds offered odds of 3.20. So, if we place this bet and Usyk wins within the first eight rounds, we win our bet.

If we’re unsure who will prove victorious, we might choose a simple Total Rounds Over/Under bet. If we think the fight will be over quickly, we might choose a Total Rounds Under 6.5 bet at odds of 3.70.

Let’s now turn our attention back to football. As we saw in our earlier example, there’s a huge range of Over/Under markets available on most football matches. However, some are much more common than others. Let’s take a more detailed look at the top three Over/Under markets in soccer.

Over / Under goals

This is arguably the most common way of betting on the Over/Under market. The Goals market allows you to bet on how many goals will be scored in a match, over or under a specified amount.

Over/Under 2.5 is common, but many online bookmakers offer a goals range of between 0.5 up to 6.5 or more. In general terms, the Over market increases in odds the more goals you bet on being scored. For instance, in our France v Germany example odds on Over 2.5 goals were 1.56, with odds on Over 6.5 goals a mega 20.0. For the Under market, we see an increase in odds the fewer goals you bet on being scored. For instance, Under 5.5 goals has odds of 1.01. Under 2.5 goals has odds of 2.12.

Betting on Over/Under goals for either team, or either half, can also offer value. As an example, 2.5 goals in the France v Germany game has odds of 1.56. 2.5 goals in the 1st Half Over/Under market sees an increase in odds to 5.10. So, if you think there’ll be a fast start to the game, the 1st Half market might be worth considering.

Over / Under corners

Betting on corners is an incredibly popular football market. As with the Goals market, there are a few variations of the Over/Under corners bet. In addition to Total Corners in the game, bettors can also place wagers on Over/Under 1st Half, 2nd Half and either team.

Over / Under fouls

While not as common as other Over/Under markets, the Fouls market can offer great value. With this market, bettors can place wagers on how many fouls will be committed in a match, over or under a specified amount. Again, it’s possible to bet on the number of 1st Half and 2nd Half fouls, along with how many fouls a specific team will commit.

What can affect the over/under odds?

As with all types of bets, there’s lots that can affect the odds on Over/Under bets. Factors that can change how a bookmaker prices their bets. Player injuries, suspensions, team form, even the weather can have a huge impact on how a match or game might play out.

It’s really important, no matter which Over/Under market you’re betting on, that you do your research. If you’re betting on football, how many goals has each team scored in recent games? Does your research indicate a lot of games will be scored in this one? For tennis, think about the form and potential injuries of players, is it a match that might go to five sets or one that is likely to be wrapped up quickly?

Every aspect that could have an impact on how a fixture might play out should be considered before you place your bet.

What Happens If an Over-Under Is Exact?

Most operators don’t allow for the Over/Under to be exact. This is why the .5 is added to each option. However, some operators do take away the .5 option. If your Over/Under bet is exact, this is known as a Push bet where, in the majority of cases, your stake will be returned to you.

Remember to always gamble responsibly

In addition, we recommend that you stay organised with your betting. Keep a record of your deposits, wins, losses and withdrawals, this will help you keep a tight rein on your bankroll.

As well as this, remember to research into the game or match you’re betting on. Look into everything that can have an impact on what might happen in a fixture.

Conclusion

The Over/Under market is one of the more exciting betting markets around. There are many variations available on the majority of sports and events, with the majority of sportsbooks offering this market, meaning there’s plenty of opportunities to place Over/Under bets.

It can offer great value too, often providing greater value than other common markets. Another plus point is that the final result of an event doesn’t matter.

We recommend you do your research as thoroughly as possible, as there are a lot of variables that can affect the outcome of your bets.

An attractive market for both beginners and more experienced bettors, there can be great value to be found in Over/Under betting.