• Betting Over Under Nba
• Betting Over Under Explained
• Betting Over Under Football

Total score over/under betting is one of the three most popular forms of NFL gambling, along with moneyline betting and spread betting. Despite being quite difficult to do well, the concept is quite simple: Over/under betting strategy means picking how many total points will be scored in a game. The number provided as a line is the combination of both teams, and you simply pick: Over? Or under?

A total (also known as an over/under) allows bettors to choose whether the number of points scored by both teams will be over or under the listed amount. If an NFL total is set at 45, bettors wager on the. Over Under Betting is the second most popular type of NFL betting, just behind spread betting. Over Under Betting is also known as “Game Total Betting” and you will often see it be referred to as either.

Naturally, in practice, the strategy gets a little more complicated, so I’ll explain over the course of this page.

• Super Bowl Betting Picks: Over/under pick of the week Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs: UNDER 56 This game opened at a whopping 57.5, one of the largest totals in Super Bowl history.
• Get the latest NHL odds, point spreads, money lines and over/unders for popular sportsbooks and view SportsLine's expert analysis of each upcoming game.

Before I go into detail, though, I want to remind you that over/under bets are one of the most in-depth situations that you will find in NFL gambling. More than most other types, over/under wagers require that you have a complete and comprehensive vision for how you think an NFL game will play out.

We also list our top recommended NFL betting sites here, for your convenience.

This page does not concern researching and determining what the outcome of a game will be: For more information on that, check out my general introduction page, which describes my three-stage NFL Betting Strategy. In short, to make over/under bets, I utilize a three-stage process: gathering information, utilizing checks & balances and visualizing the game.

Here, I’ll go beyond this general NFL betting strategy and provide the following details specific to over/under betting:

• How total score over/under bets work and how to interpret the line
• How to know when to place a wager on a total score over/under bet
• How to find good value and make money in the long run with O/U bets

Let’s get started by talking about what an over/under bet is, and how the line works.

How Does a Total Score Over/Under Bet Work?

In my experience, over/under betting is one of the most common and enjoyable ways to gamble on the outcome of an NFL game. Across the nation and across the world, people tune in to NFL games – especially during the fourth quarter – to see whether their over/under bet will pay out.

A total score over/under bet is simply a wager placed on how high the combined score will be between the two teams. To explain, let’s take a look at some specific examples:

These examples come from the Wild Card round of the 2016/17 NFL playoffs: There were 8 games on national TV the weekend of January 7-8, and the gambling public was out in full force to stake their claim on one team or another to win, to cover the spread, or to push the total score one way or another.

These were the available total score over/under bets:

• New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers: Over 44.5 (-115), Under 44.5 (-105)
• Detroit Lions @ Seattle Seahawks: Over 43 (-110), Under 43 (-110)
• Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers: Over 47 (-110), Under 47 (-110)
• Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans: Over 37 (-110), Under 37 (-110)

When I put up these sample over/under bets, a couple things become immediately apparent. First off, we notice that different from moneyline bets and spread bets, an over/under bet is a bet on one side of a line, not on an individual team. You can bet the over, or the under, but you can’t bet on one team or the other.

The other thing that you’ll notice is that there are odds attached to each outcome – each over or under. This reflects the golden rule of sports gambling: The goal of odds-makers is always to promote even action on both sides of a wager. Changing the odds to make wagers more or less profitable to gamblers is the way that odds-makers prompt even action on both sides of an over/under bet.

The four games listed above also demonstrate the usual range of over/under odds. In contrast with moneyline odds (which vary widely) and ATS odds (which will often go up to +/- 150), over/under odds do not vary much. Having 75% or more of the games show -110 on both sides is a pretty standard proportion.

And in these examples, the total score lines themselves (which a gambler may go over or under) are also very standard. If the distribution of total score over/under lines was a normal curve, then it’s likely the bulge of the bell would fall around the range of 42 to 47 – this is the range of lines that you will most often see for most NFL games.

Let’s think about what this means in practice. If a game has a total score of 42 points, this means that – on average – both teams contributed 21 points to the total score. This means the equivalent of three touchdowns per team, or six touchdowns total over the course of the game.

For a 60-minute game, this in turn means a touchdown for every 10 minutes of game time: Touchdown #1 on a team’s opening drive. Touchdown #2 with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Touchdown #3 with 4 minutes left in the half. Touchdown #4 midway through the third quarter. Touchdown #5 with 10 minutes left in the game. And Touchdown #6 on the game’s final drive, within the two-minute warning.

Now, do all NFL games play out this way? Of course not. Not by a long shot. But the reason I give this simplified example is just to make the total score a little more tangible. Thinking about a 42-point total score over/under is a little hard to grasp at first. But when you break it down in the context of a real game, it becomes much more clear how to diagnose what a line means and what type of a game would provoke such a scoring pattern.

With this basic idea of how over/under bets work, let’s now look at when you should place an over/under bet, which is tantamount to knowing whether the odds offer good value.

When Should You Place an Over/Under Bet?

For some reason, NFL gamblers that are particularly keen on using hard statistics to decide when to place a wager seem to gravitate towards over/under betting. So to provide some hard statistics to this conversation, I would simply offer the numbers that I’ve assembled in my 15+ years of NFL gambling.

While it’s not profitable to look back too far into the past (as the NFL has changed dramatically over its history, and the introduction and widespread adoption of the West Coast offense has recently changed the landscape of scoring in the league), limiting our target range to the last 15 years of regular season and playoff football gives us plenty of data to play with – over 7500 games-worth, to be exact.

Over this span of time, the limits for total score lines have become fixed at 30 (for the lowest) and 60 (for the highest). Of course, just because odds-makers don’t post lines lower than 30 or higher than 60 doesn’t mean that games don’t end below or above these bookends. According to my data, roughly 1 in 7 games end up with a total score below 30, and roughly 1 in 8 games end up with a total score above 60.

It’s extremely important to keep in mind, however, that there is no magic statistical formula that will tell you whether or not a game will go over or under. There are a host of systems out there – like betting the under in divisional games and the over in non-conference games, betting the over if the game gets to 41 or 42 or 44 total points, betting the over in games played in below-freezing temperatures, and any number of others.

But once again, statistical systems must be taken with a grain of salt. During these same 15 years, during which so much statistical knowledge has become available about when to bet the over and when to bet the under, the actual record has remained almost exactly 50–50. As in all types of betting, the house will end up making sure that the odds even out.

This is why prudent over/under bets require an understanding of value. Value betting is generally defined as wagering only in situations when you feel very confident about what the outcome of a wager will be (i.e. you feel there is low risk) while at the same time you feel that the odds for a particular wager hold the potential for a nice payoff (i.e. you feel there is high reward).

The betting systems mentioned above are after precisely this type of value, albeit in a slightly misguided way. When a betting system points out some statistical anomaly about how often a particular set of situations has prompted a winning over or an under, it’s useful to note the conditions they reference, but this doesn’t mean you should take what they’re saying as law. Consistently finding value requires combining together a large number of different betting systems with a large number of situational factors.

Now at this point, you might be asking: But what are these factors? How do I know if I’m getting good value? The short and honest response is that I can’t possibly explain this to you in words, especially not in the course of one short page. Like I said above, there is no specific magic formula for you to follow, and if someone tells you that there is, they’re probably going to ask for your credit card information next. It takes skill, experience, and a certain amount of feel to find value, and this takes time to develop.

Having said this, I don’t want you to think that there’s nothing you can do to start making good value decisions, and learning for yourself how to make this a profitable part of your gambling repertoire. In the next section, I’ll dive into the specifics of finding good value for total score over/under bets.

How Do You Make Money with Over/Under Betting?

As I just stated, and as I explain in detail in my general NFL Betting Strategy page, NFL gambling is a skill, and it takes practice. Like any other skill, it takes time and effort to develop the intuition that makes you proficient and profitable. I’ve been employed for 15+ years as an NFL gambler, and one of the ways that I’ve been able to pull it off it by understanding that it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s more like a job.

With total score over/under betting, the single most important factor involved in making money in the long-run is being smarter and more disciplined at wagering only on good value bets. This is a skill that you will get better at the more often you do it. As you place more wagers, you’ll develop a feel for when there is good value to be found in a particular bet.

Don’t let yourself be suckered in by touts and sharps that will try to convince you that there is some set of numbers, some statistical formula, or some software package that will do the work for you to determine whether you should bet the over or the under, and is guaranteed to make you money 100% of the time.

(Even if they advertise something more realistic – which is to say, something closer to being correct 60% of the time – I would still turn tail and run as soon as they want you to whip out a credit card and pay them five easy payments of whatever.)

In total score over/under betting, there is no substitute for visualizing the entire game in your own mind. You need to actually count up – point by point, quarter by quarter, drive by drive, possession by possession – which team is going to score how many points when and why (take a look at my general NFL Strategy page for more info on this). Do this before you even look at the line, and you’ll have a baseline opinion to compare against.

Next, when you look at the line, make careful note of how different your personal decision on the total score is from the decision that odds-makers framed for the gambling public. You could be dead on (in which case, you’re probably right but there probably isn’t value) or you could be way off (in which case, you’re either right, and there is value, or you’re wrong).

Once again, there’s no exact science to knowing whether or not you are right (and the odds are different) or you are wrong (and the odds were right). The most honest thing I can tell you is this: the key to a good value bet is when you feel certain of a given outcome, while the gambling public and/or the odds-maker feels differently.

For me, I’ve come to a pretty good understanding with myself about when I’m probably stumbling into a good value bet and when I’m probably deluding myself. This isn’t something that I know factually, using statistics or logic, it’s just a feeling I have through years of experience. This is precisely the type of intuition that you can develop with enough time and practice.

Trust your gut, learn from your mistakes, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a profitable NFL gambler.

Summary: NFL Over/Under Betting Strategy

Total score over/under betting is one of the three most popular NFL bets. The concept is quite simple: In a total score over/under bet, you pick how many combined points will be scored in a game between the two teams. More than almost any other type of NFL betting, over/under bets require an in-depth prediction for how the game will play out, for which I employ my three-stage NFL betting strategy.

Here’s an example from the Wild Card round of the 2016/17 NFL playoffs: New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers: Over 44.5 (-115), Under 44.5 (-105). Notice that an over/under bet is a bet on one side of a line, not on an individual team. Also, notice that there are odds attached to each outcome – each over or under. This is the way that odds-makers prompt even action on both sides of an over/under bet.

The odds for total score over/under wagers are pretty staid: you’ll often see odds of -110 on both sides of a significant proportion of the available total score bets. Most lines fall in the range of 42 to 47, with odds-makers never setting a line below 30 or above 60. However, the actual total score of games often falls below 30 or above 60, even though odds-makers don’t set lines in this range.

A key strategy for understanding the line is to visualize how a game might play out to yield that total score. For example, a typical line of 42 could mean 21 points per side, 3 touchdowns per team, which means 6 total touchdowns in a game. Six touchdowns spread over a 60-minute game averages out to one touchdown every 10 minutes of game time. This helps us visualize what the line of 42 means.

Over time, you’ll develop a greater feel for what the individual total score numbers mean, and you’ll be able to connect these abstract numbers with a tangible intuition about how offensively intense or how defensively stolid a given game must be in order to yield the total score that you see odds-makers list. This skill takes time and practice to develop, but it’s absolutely vital to turning a profit with O/U bets.

Even though there are a large number of statistically beefy betting systems available for picking total score over/under bets, the truth of the matter is that finding good value requires combining together a host of different factors – there is no magic formula. In simple terms, you are trying to find a situation in which you believe the outcome has low risk, but you also find the odds have high potential reward.

Naturally, finding good value in this way – the combination of low risk and high reward – is the goal of all gambling ventures (and all monetary investments, too). But in the case of total score over/under bets, there’s simply no shortcut to doing the work of visualizing the entire course of an NFL game, counting up the points, and comparing this to the line. If the line feels off, you just might have a good value bet.

In conclusion, take the time to develop your own intuitive skill for when the total score of a game will certainly go over or under the line posted by oddsmakers. It’s not easy, but I can tell you from 15+ years of NFL gambling experience that there are few more rewarding experiences to see the course of a game turn out along the narrative you envisioned. In any case, it’s certainly a ton of fun.

Sports betting isn’t just about who wins and loses the game; there are several other ways you can get in on the action. Perhaps the most popular way is betting the Over/Under odds, otherwise called totals.

Totals betting revolves around the combined number of points, runs or goals that the two sides/teams will put up in a contest.

Oddsmakers will set a benchmark number for each game, so bettors can decide if they think the total will go over or under that number.

Totals are one of the most significant pieces of information that oddsmakers release for a slate of games. One glance at the Over/Under odds board, and you’ll quickly gain a sense of which games are projected to be low- or high-scoring or somewhere in the middle.

There are scores of bettors out there who focus on Over/Under betting as a key part of their sports betting strategy.

You can do the same, and we’re going to show you how.

What is Over Under betting?

Over/Under is a wager on the expected number of points to be scored in a contest.

For each contest on the docket, oddsmakers will set the bar with an estimated number. The betting public then has an opportunity to react and decide if they like the actual amount to go over or under that benchmark.

Betting on the Over Under is available for all the major sports.

In sports with low totals, such as baseball and hockey, the benchmark is set in single digits, with the exception being a potentially high-scoring MLB game.

In NFL betting and college football betting, the total will be set with double digits. For example, you may see 39.5 points for an affair that looks to be low-scoring or 56.5 points for a game that could wind up as a shootout.

When it comes to betting on the NBA and college basketball, the benchmark numbers climb into the triple digits. For high-scoring NBA contests, it’s not uncommon to see totals set at 200 points or higher.

Once you become familiar with Totals betting, you’ll be able to get a handle on the general range of numbers posted for each of the sports. After you understand the ranges, zeroing in on potential targets and understanding the potential style of each game becomes simple.

What does ‘Over/Under’ mean?

Over/under is synonymous with totals betting. After oddsmakers post the game line and odds, which includes the projected totals for each game on the docket, bettors then decide if they like the game to go over or under that number.

Those expecting a high-scoring affair will bet the “Over,” while those who think things may be a bit tighter than anticipated will bet the “Under.”

However, for those new to Totals betting, the numbers posted by oddsmakers may not seem to make much sense.

After a little seasoning, you’ll find that the numbers are often quite prescient, to the point that each half-point of difference on the board can make a huge difference. That’s part of the challenge in totals betting.

Of course, oddsmakers aren’t always exactly on the money; there are plenty of games that go way over or under the benchmark number set.

Spotting these games on a daily or weekly schedule is also part of the intrigue, and there are plenty of bettors who are quite good at it.

Examples of betting the total number of points

For a complete understanding of Totals betting, it’s helpful to examine how it applies to each of the major North American sports. We’ll stick with the pro leagues to use as examples, starting with MLB betting.

While a slugfest can break out at any time, baseball is generally a lower-scoring affair in comparison to the NBA or NFL. As such, benchmark totals will be set accordingly.

For a ballpark range, games set at seven runs or less can be somewhat of a pitchers’ duel, while those with a total of nine or more runs could be higher scoring. In the middle, you’ll find plenty of games set at eight or 8.5 runs.

Consider this fictitious total from a random game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets:

• Over 8.5 runs (-110)
• Under 8.5 runs (-110)

As you break down the game, your goal is to determine if you expect more or less than 8.5 runs to be scored in the contest.

Betting on the NHL is a bit unique for Totals in that the vast majority of games are set at 5.5 goals.

A game that’s anticipated to be low-scoring is generally set at five goals. In comparison, the higher end of the spectrum is usually six goals, with the occasional 6.5 making an appearance.

If the MinnesotaWild and VancouverCanucks were squaring off in an average clash that was to be within the normal range, here’s what the totals would look like:

• Over 5.5 goals (-110)
• Under 5.5 goals (-110)

When you dig into this tilt, you’re deciding if you expect the total number of goals to go Over or Under 5.5 goals.

In the NFL, there are more points scored per contest, so the range of Totals jumps dramatically.

Anything less than 40 points is considered a low-scoring game. Above that range and up to 50 points or so is about average. Games that go from the mid-50s into the 60s are considered high-scoring affairs.

For our example, let’s say the Indianapolis Colts are set to face off with the Las Vegas Raiders in a potentially high-scoring game:

• Over 56.5 points (-110)
• Under 56.5 points (-110)

The job of the handicapper is to determine if the game will be higher or lower scoring than the number set by oddsmakers.

Last but not least, let’s consider the NBA and its high-scoring matchups. For ranges, numbers set at around 195 points or less indicate a lower-scoring contest. There will be plenty of games between the upper 190s and the range of 210-215. Anything over the latter is the higher range of the spectrum.

For our example, the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans are set to tipoff in a game that looks to be skewing toward the higher end on scoring:

• Over 216.5 points (-110)
• Under 216.5 points (-110)

Do you think the game will be even higher scoring than that? Could the sportsbooks be off the mark as a lower-scoring game breaks out? Well, that’s up to you to decide before you place your wagers.

We’ll walk through some tips on how to find the answers to those questions shortly. For now, let’s take a look at the odds and numbers attached to Over/Under betting.

Over Under betting odds and line moves

After the opening odds and lines are released, there can be a shift in the numbers in advance of game time. So, why is that?

Two main factors lead to this movement.

First, the betting public gets their chance to weigh in after the opening numbers are released. If one side of the equation is heavily bet on while the other side attracts scant attention, then oddsmakers may adjust.

In general, this will occur to attract more action to the other side. If a sportsbook goes into a game with lopsided action, well, that’s a liability on the book’s end. As such, oddsmakers aim to make those instances few and far between.

Odds and line moves can occur if news becomes public after the numbers’ release.

For example, a significant injury or a trade of a star player could impact the outlook for a game, and the lines will adjust accordingly.

A vital aspect of the Over/Under betting strategy comes in the tracking of movement from release until the time you’re ready to wager.

This simple step can help give you a sense of market sentiment, as well as alert you to new information that you may have missed in your research.

Over/Under betting and line shopping

In addition to line moves, it’s important to note that there can be differences in the odds at various sportsbooks. While most are at least somewhat in the range of market consensus, you can find some differences here and there.

While a half-point may not seem like that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, the reality is that it is. That lone half-point can be the difference between a winning and losing ticket when the final whistle blows.

Don’t be shy about shopping around for the best odds and lines.

For example, let’s say you have done your research on an NFL game that had a projected total of 56.5 points and odds of -110.

Just as you’re about ready to pull the trigger, you notice the line has moved at your book. It’s now at a total of 56 points and odds of -115. Should you take the bet anyway?

You certainly can, but you can also look around at other prices. During your hunt, you may find other books still at the original 56.5 number. Even better, you may see it listed with more attractive odds, such as -105.

Line shopping helps to point out these opportunities, so it’s good practice to check out what other operators have to offer for comparison purposes.

How to handicap totals bets

Handicapping totals bets is different than breaking down a game and looking for the winner.

While you can still examine similar things for both — overall team strength, key stats, etc. — it’s helpful to look at a few specific data points for Over/Under betting.

The trend can be your friend lots of times in sports betting, but it can also turn out to be nothing more than noise. This applies to Totals betting as well, but it’s still a critical step you need to take when handicapping.

You’ll want to consider the season-to-date and recent record of both sides on the over/under bet.

For example, let’s say it’s an NBA game with a total of 210.5 points. As part of your research, you look at how both squads have performed on the Over/Under:

• Team A: 22-18 over/under season-to-date, 7-3 over/under for past 10 games.
• Team B: 23-17 over/under season-to-date, 4-6 over/under for past 10 games.

On both, the record tells you how many “overs” and “unders” the team has had.

For example, Team A has gone “over” 22 times for the season, and seven times in their last 10 outings.

Examining these trends as part of your handicapping for Totals can help you spot potential inefficiencies in the market, not to mention which way a contest between two teams is likely to lean.

The bottom line on betting the total number of points

Betting Over Under Nba

Betting Over Under Explained

Over/Under betting refers to wagers that are placed on the total amount of points, runs or goals scored in a contest. Oddsmakers set a benchmark number for each game on the docket.

Betting Over Under Football

The betting public then gets its chance to weigh in and decide if they like the number to be over or under the projected totals. Hence, the name Over/Under is used interchangeably with Totals when talking about these types of wagers.

As you begin to gain experience with Totals betting, you’ll get a good sense of the ranges that are specific to each sport. After you have a handle on that, you’ll be able to quickly decipher the potentially low-, mid- and high-scoring games from any slate you see.

Just like with other types of wagers, odds and lines can move based on news or market sentiment. Line shopping to find the best price is a key part of a Totals betting strategy, as a half-point can make a world of difference.

For the handicapping of these bets, you can go through your routine for clues, but also be sure to spend time on trends. How teams performed for the season, or the past 10 games, can be a good indicator.