While not as popular as betting against the point spread in sports gambling, betting the “over/under” isn’t that far behind. Sometimes you may see this as O/U, over-under, over under or simply referred to as “the over” or “the under.”

What does over under mean in betting?

Simply stated, it is the total of the points scored by both teams. While all sports employ an over/under betting option, by far the most money wagered on this bet is in football and basketball. Sports like baseball and hockey offer over/under options, but the vast majority of bets on those sports in based on the established “money line” to pick a winner at a set price.

Sports betting involves staking on the outcome of sporting events. Bettors attempt to predict the result of an event in order to win their bet - and potentially profit. What are sports betting odds? Put simply betting odds are representations of probability. Learn betting basics like how to read & understand odds, moneyline betting, betting against the spread and over / under bets. Articles cover introductory betting concepts for beginner bettors to learn the in's and out's of online betting.

Unlike a point spread bet in which you are aligning yourself with one team, you’re betting on both teams – either their offenses or the defenses – when betting the over/under. Sports books set over/under scores on games based upon numerous factors.

In the NFL, most over/under scores are set in the low-to-mid 40s.In college football, over/under scores are usually in the high-40 to low 50s – in the Big 12, the land that defense forgot, it can hit the 60s.In the NBA, a typical over/under tends to hover in the 210 range. In college basketball, a standard over/under is between 140 and 155.

The hidden factors that come into play in determining a point spread vary by sport, but have common themes. Recent team history is a primary factor that sports books like to exploit. Sports by their nature are a reflective business based on developing trends from previous games (“getting on a roll”) and, if a football team has scored 40-plus points in three straight games, the over/under is going to be higher because sports bettors tend to believe that trends are going to continue. It’s human nature…until they don’t.

If a critical player – a quarterback in football or a dominant scorer in basketball – is out or playing injured, the over/under will drop.

Other factors critical in setting the over/under number include weather (where applicable), an undefinable history between teams (you know Steelers-Ravens games are going to be physical bloodbaths) and injuries that may not jump out to casual fans that mean a lot sports books are all factors that go into creating and setting an over/under line that will draw an even number of fans to both sides of the number.

The key to betting the over/under is to look at a slate of games without knowing what the over/under is and set what you believe it should be based on your knowledge of those two teams. The ones that differ the most from what you think should be are the ones to place your bets on.

One final note that has been a mantra of those who bet the over/under with some consistency – every game is under until it goes over.

If you’re new to sports betting, start with picking and choosing games you’re convinced should go under and get an understanding of how late-game fireworks can botch your plans.

• Betting odds tell you how likely an event is to happen
• They also tell you how much money you will win
• However, at first, they may seem confusing and complex
• Our comprehensive guide takes you step-by-step to explain them

If you’re new to betting, one of the first things you should do is learn how betting odds work. It’s critically important because it allows you to understand how likely an event is to happen, and what your potential winnings will be. At first, it may appear confusing, however, read our guide and let us explain it to you.

In gambling, odds represent the ratio between the amounts staked by parties to a wager or bet. Thus, odds of 3 to 1 mean the first party (the bookmaker) stakes three times the amount staked by the second party (the bettor).

What is Probability?

The most basic level, betting provides you with the ability to predict the outcome of a certain event, and if your prediction is correct, you will win money. For any given event, there are a certain number of outcomes. Take rolling a dice for instance. If someone rolls a dice, there are six possible outcomes. Therefore, if you bet that the person rolls a ‘one’, there is a 16.67% chance that will happen. What betting odds merely do is present how likely the event is to happen. Bookies most frequently in the UK do this as a fraction, i.e. 4/7, whilst the vast majority also offer the ability to view them as decimals. Again, let us talk you through them. All will become clear.

Using Betting Odds to Calculate Probability

Whenever you see two numbers separated by a trailing slash, i.e. 10/1, this is known as fractional odds. From this, you can calculate how likely a given event is to happen with a calculation. For ease of explanation, let’s replace the numbers with letters i.e. 4/1 becomes A/B. Here is the calculation: Probability (%) = B / (A+B).

• 9/1 can be calculated as 1 / (9 + 1) = 0.10– There is a 10% chance that the event will happen.
• 4/1 can be calculated as 1 / (4 + 1) = 0.20 – There is a 20% chance that the event will happen.
• 1/1 can be calculated as 1 / (1 + 1) = 0.50 – There is a 50% chance that the event will happen.
• 1/4 can be calculated as 4 / (4 + 1) = 0.80 – There is a 80% chance that the event will happen.

Hooray! We’re making progress. Given a fraction, we can now tell how likely (the probability) what we’re going to bet on will happen. Now let’s figure out how much money can be won using betting odds.

Using Betting Odds to Calculate Winnings

Betting odds allow you to calculate how much money you will win if you make a bet. Let’s use the same examples as before, with the same replacement of numbers for letters, i.e. 4/1 becomes A/B. Quite simply, for every value of B that you bet, you will win A, plus the return of your stake.

• 9/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £9.
• 4/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £4.
• 1/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £1.
• 1/4 for every £4 you bet, you will win £1.

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What About Decimals?

Decimals are far more common on exchanges, such as Betfair, but all leading betting sites do give you the option to view betting odds in this format. They are an alternative to seeing betting odds in the fraction format, and in our opinion, are easier to work out. Here is the calculation: winnings = (odds * stake) – stake. Let’s illustrate it with some examples

• 9.0 can be calculated as (9.0 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £80 winnings.
• 4.0 can be calculated as (4.0 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £30 winnings.
• 2.5 can be calculated as (2.5 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £15 winnings.
• 1.25 can be calculated as (1.25 * £10 stake) – £10 stake =£2.50 winnings.

You can use our bet calculator to help you calculate winnings.
USE BET CALCULATOR

Decimal Odds Versus Fractional Odds

In truth, one isn’t better than the other but there is certainly a trend emerging towards decimal odds. Historically fractional odds were used in the UK, especially on racetracks and on the high street. There are two key differences. Generally, decimal odds are easier to understand. Based on this, there has a movement to attract more people to horse racing by making it more accessible to the average punter. Ten years ago, if you were going to Cheltenham, all the odds would be displayed as fractional odds. Now, they’re largely all in decimals. Don’t hesitate to check out our exclusive Premier League Betting Offers !

Parlay Betting Explained

The second difference between the formats is that fractional odds only represent winnings, and do not include the returned stake compared to decimals which do include the stake. The transition from fractional odds to decimals largely kicked off with the growing popularity of the betting exchanges such Betfair. For odds to change slightly, it’s really difficult to marginally increase or decrease the probability without creating large fractions which are hard to compute for the punter.

Use Our Tool to Convert Betting Odds Into Your Favourite Format

Our odds converter toolwill allow you see odds in whatever format you like . Not only that, but it’ll tell you how likely the selection is to win!

In Summary

Gambling Explained

Betting odds represent the probability of an event to happen and therefore enable you to work out how much money you will win if your bet wins. As an example, with odds of 4/1, for every £1 you bet, you will win £4. There is a 20% chance of this happening, calculated by 1 / (4 + 1) = 0.20.

What Do Betting Odds Mean

Next steps

That’s it! Hopefully, that clears up betting odds. You should now have the knowledge to read betting odds, understand how likely it is to happen, and how much you stand to win.

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