In most countries around the world, sport is part of the culture and history of the country. A national sports team that is selected to represent their country and are regarded as national heroes and carry the hopes of the entire nation. It is no wonder that millions of people all around the world are glued to the television screens when a major sporting event is taking place. The world of sport is also the ideal platform for gamblers to place wagers on teams to win or to lose. Today online sports betting is a global phenomenon. As with online gambling, anyone with a computer or smartphone can logon and place win bets, over-under bets and more on any sport, anywhere in the world.
Before You Bet
For anyone who is just getting into online betting in Australia, the terminology can be a big confusing. With online gambling, players can simply play any casino game for free until they get the hang of the game and master the basics. They can then swop over and start playing for real money. With online sports betting, you have to know what you are doing from the start. The good news is that placing a sports bet can be a simple or as complicated as you wish to make it. But what most people want to understand is what an over-under bet is and how exactly does it work?
Knowing the Teams
The first thing any prospective sports bettor needs to know is that over-under bets are usually reserved for bettors who are experts on the sport in question. Unlike standard win bets where player can simple pick a team that will win, with over and under bets, the bet itself is based on the scores in the game. For example an over and under bet can be set at 56 points in a rugby game. This means that the bettor has to decide whether the combined score of both teams will be higher or lower than 56 at the end of the game.
Placing the Bet
If a bettor does not know a lot about the teams playing the particular match, they cannot make an educated guess on how many points will be scored in the match. Over-under bets are usually set with a decimal point in order to avoid a push. If the bet was set at 19 and the one team scored 8 and the other 11, the bet would be a push and all the bettors would have to have their bets returned. For this reason many over and under bets are set with a half point like 35.5 or 16.5. This ensures a guaranteed win or loss.
Variations on Over-Under Bets
In the UK, there is another variation of over-under betting that is usually used for soccer bets. Here players can buy points on the bet. Players can set a value on a point and buy or sell a bet from the spread. For example if the total number of goals is set at 5. A bettor can choose to buy a point at $100. This means that every goal that is scored above the 5 set goals, the bettor will win $100. Similarly if a player sells points at $100, each goal point under 5 the bettor wins $100.