What happens to over/under wagers when the score of a game equals the exact amount set by the sports book?
Do all bettors win?
Do all bettors lose?
Don’t they usually include a half-point in the figure to make this impossible?
I think it’s called a push and everybody just gets the money they bet back, no winners or losers.
The bet is returned, regardless if you bet over or under.
Often, but not always. In a push, the bet is returned, perhaps with the vigorish deducted (I don’t gamble other than Lotto, so I may be wrong about the vig…)
Joe
No vig on a push. Wins only.
In a straight bet, a push is push. Typically no juice is paid. If one were to parlay a few o/u bets together and one of them pushed, you would lose the parlay bet.
So, wouldn’t the sportsbook be better off to always have a 1/2 point to prevent a push?
Not if an over-under of, say, 45 resulted in substantially more bets on the over and an over-under of 46 resulted in substantially more bets on the under. In that event the bookie risks a large loss in either case and may prefer to take the chance on a push which results in no vig, but has no risk of a large loss.
Yeah, but how often would a one point swing really effect wagering to that effect?
In football? A lot, due to the discrete nature of scoring. For example, an o/u of 48 is a big difference than one of 49, because of how points are scored there.
Alright. But Just to keep the Mods happy, lets assume we’re talking about legal gambling in Vegas.
Anyone have any stats as to how often over/under bets result in a push?