Blog Posted on 09/12/2022 | Author: Karen Macarthur

Beginner’s Guide to Totals Bets and Over/Under Bets

When betting on sports online, you’ll have the option to choose from several different types of betting options. A highly popular and exciting sports bet type is the totals bet. In this article, we explain to you everything you need to know about total bets, from basics to how they work in sports like football and hockey. Read on!

The basics of totals bet

First thing first, we want to clarify a misconception that prevails among many novice sports bettors. As a beginner, you may think that the totals bets and the over/under bets are two different bet types. But let us tell you that they both are basically the same type of bet.

Now you might wonder that if both totals bets and over/under bets are essentially the same, then why do they go by two different names? Well, the answer to that lies in the fact that the bet type has a different name in different parts of the world. While it is often referred to as a totals bet in the US, the bet type is usually called over/under in other parts of the world.

With a totals wager, what you’re essentially doing is wagering on a numerical total such as points scored or goals made by both teams in a sporting event. An interesting thing about this wager is that unlike other types of betting options, it doesn’t really matter what the exact total value is. Here, all you need to do is bet whether the total score will be above or below the number posted by the sportsbook.

Breaking down a totals bet

Now that you know the basic concept behind the totals bet, here’s a look at an example to make it more concrete. Let’s say in an upcoming football game between Manchester City and Chelsea, an online bookmaker puts up a total value of 6 goals. What this essentially means is that as per the sportsbook’s belief, the combined number of goals will be 6 when the match is over.

When placing the totals bet, you need to decide whether the actual final score will be more or less than the number posted by the sportsbook. If you think that the actual final score will be lower than 6 goals, you’ll wager under the game. On the other hand, you’ll bet over the game if you believe that the final score will be more than 6 goals. To win this type of football bet, your guess must be correct.

What you can wager on with a totals bet?

Totals bet is widely used to wager on the final scores in basketball, football and cricket betting. As such, many sports bettors tend to believe that one can only wager on the total scores with this type of bet. But let us tell you that this bet type can be used with several other options.

Provided that it’s something countable, it’s very likely that you’ll find an over/under wager available for it. To give you an example, you have the option to wager on the total number of fouls in a football game. Similarly, you can bet on the total number of home runs happening in a baseball match. Another good example is wagering on the total number of birdies occurring in a golf competition.

All in all, the totals bet can be applied to a lot of different things in the world of online sports betting.

Betting strategies for totals bet

Just like playing casino games, there’s no way to correctly know what the final outcome of a sporting event will be. But there exist a number of tips and tricks that can improve your chances of guessing the correct outcome. They are:

Divide the game into sections

Many experienced sports bettors will give you this advice. Rather than trying to guess the final score for the entire sporting event, you must break the game down into sections – quarter by quarter or half by half. That way, you’ll be able to make more accurate guesses on the final outcome of both sides.

Go through the coaching history

As a sports fan, you’d be knowing that coaches are one of the most important elements of any sports team. After all, they are responsible for putting together the team’s game plan for the day. While it’s not possible to attend coaches’ meetings and know their game plan, going through their coaching history can give you an idea about how their team will act in the match.

Check the conditions

As a sports bettor, it’s important for you to always check the weather conditions. This is because different weather conditions like humidity and rain affect how players perform in a match. This, in turn, tends to have an impact on the final score. And you can use that information to your advantage.