Totals (over/under) betting explained
How over/under bets on the combined score work, when a total pushes, and how alternate lines change both the price and the margin.
A total asks one question: will the two teams score more or fewer points than a set number between them? That number is the total, also called the over/under. It does not matter who wins or by how much, only the combined score.
How a total works
The sportsbook sets a line, such as 221.5 points for a basketball game, and offers two sides:
- Over wins if the combined score is higher than the line.
- Under wins if the combined score is lower than the line.
Say the total is 221.5, with both sides priced at -110:
| Final score | Combined | Over 221.5 | Under 221.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 115-110 | 225 | Wins | Loses |
| 112-108 | 220 | Loses | Wins |
| 130-91 | 221 | Loses | Wins |
The third row is a blowout that still finished under: the margin of victory does not matter.
Totals exist in almost every sport: points in basketball and American football, runs in baseball, goals in hockey and football (soccer), games or sets in tennis. In football (soccer) the common line is 2.5 goals: three or more goals is over, two or fewer is under.
Check what the total covers. In most American sports it includes overtime and extra innings, a football (soccer) total usually covers only the 90 minutes plus stoppage time, and some sportsbooks settle hockey totals on regulation time. House rules decide.
Half points and pushes
A half-point total such as 47.5 can never push. On a whole-number total such as 47, a combined score of exactly 47, for example 27-20, is a push: the bet is cancelled and the stake is returned.
Football (soccer) also has quarter-goal lines, sometimes called Asian totals. A line of 2.25 splits your stake evenly between 2 and 2.5. On over 2.25, a game with three goals wins both halves. With exactly two goals, the half on over 2 pushes and comes back, and the half on over 2.5 loses, so you lose half your stake.
The price on a total
A total comes with a price on each side, often -110 on both. At -110 a 100 stake wins 90.91 profit, and each side implies a probability of 110 ÷ 210 = 52.38%. The two sides add up to 104.76%: an overround of 4.76%, which is a margin of about 4.55% of all money staked. What the vig is explains the difference, and the American odds guide covers the arithmetic.
A sportsbook can also adjust the prices without moving the line, for example over 221.5 at -115 and under 221.5 at -105.
Alternate lines
Next to the main total, many sportsbooks offer alternate totals: the same bet on other lines. Moving the line changes how likely each side is, so the price moves with it. With a main total of 221.5 at -110 on both sides, the alternates might look like this:
| Line | Over price | Decimal | Profit on a 100 stake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 215.5 | -190 | 1.53 | 52.63 |
| Over 221.5 | -110 | 1.91 | 90.91 |
| Over 227.5 | +150 | 2.50 | 150.00 |
Neither line is better on its own; the question is whether the price is fair for the line.
Alternate lines often carry a bigger margin than the main one. Say over 227.5 is +150 and under 227.5 is -190. The implied probabilities are 100 ÷ 250 = 40.00% and 190 ÷ 290 = 65.52%, which add up to 105.52%: an overround of 5.52%, against 4.76% on the main line.
Finding the fair price of a total
To take the margin out, enter both sides of a total in the no-vig calculator. For the 227.5 pair above, scaling 40.00% and 65.52% back to 100% gives fair probabilities of 37.91% for the over and 62.09% for the under. That is fair odds of about +164 and -164, or 2.64 and 1.61 in decimal.
Read as American odds: −110
Read as American odds: −110
Margin 4.8%: the prices add up to 104.8%.
| Outcome | Implied | Fair chance | Fair price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome 1 | 52.4% | 50.0% | +1002.001/1 |
| Outcome 2 | 52.4% | 50.0% | +1002.001/1 |
The fair price spreads the margin across the outcomes in proportion to their implied probabilities.
One sportsbook's fair price shows only its own view; the fair odds guide explains how a consensus fair price is built from many.
Comparing totals between sportsbooks
Sportsbooks often disagree on a total, and how they disagree depends on the sport.
In high-scoring sports such as basketball, the line itself can differ by half a point or a point from one sportsbook to the next. Half a point matters: over 220.5 wins on a combined 221 and over 221.5 does not, so for the over the lowest line is best and for the under the highest.
In football (soccer) the main line is 2.5 goals at almost every sportsbook, so the comparison usually comes down to the price. On a 100 stake, over 2.5 at 1.95 makes 95.00 profit and at 1.87 it makes 87.00.
When one sportsbook has the better line and another the better price, which is worth more depends on how often the combined score lands on the numbers in between, so there is no simple rule. OddsKeepr shows the total and price at each sportsbook side by side, and how to compare odds covers the general method.
Other kinds of totals
The same idea applies to parts of a game and to single players:
- Team totals count one team's score only.
- Period totals cover a half, a quarter, a period or the first five innings.
- Player totals, such as a player's points or shots, are player props.
Betting always carries a risk of losing money, so if you bet, set a limit you are comfortable with and check that the sportsbook is licensed where you are. If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, free and confidential help is listed for every country under where to get help.