Have you ever placed an over/ under bet on an exciting football match? If you haven’t, we suggest taking a look at our article to learn about the under 3.5 goals meaning in football betting.
What is the Under 3.5 Goals Meaning in Betting?
To know about the under 3.5 goals meaning or over/under meaning, you need to know what over/ under betting is first. Over/ under is a type of football betting market and it is actually quite popular.
Essentially, before the start of a football match, the bookie will give you a score line for the end of the match. This is an estimation of how many goals in total the two teams might score.
The combination of goals is guessed by the bookie based on all external factors surrounding the match.
Your job here is to guess whether the actual result will go over or under the bookie’s guess.
This type of betting is also called totals. After you’ve placed your bets, you just need to see if both teams score a combined total of more or less than the bookies guess.
When it comes to the under 3.5 goals meaning, the bookie has estimated that the combined total goals of the two teams are 3. The reason that there is a fraction after the 3 is so that the bookie doesn’t draw with any punters.
There’s no chance that two teams could score 3.5 goals as there are no fractional goals. So, there’s also no chance that the sportsbook would have to return your stake in this instance.
So, if two teams score 3 goals or less together, the bet is lost. But if the combined score is 4 or more, then the bet wins.
In the rare instance that the sportsbook offers a whole number for your over/ under bet, that would be considered a push.
If the sportsbook set the over/ under bet to 3 goals and both teams scored a combined total of 3, your entire stake would be returned to you. But this is a very uncommon type of bet.
Under 3.5 Goals Bet Examples
Examples are a good way of explaining what the under 3.5 goals meaning is. As we said earlier, there’s almost always a 0.5 in it.
So, let’s say you’re betting on Real Betis and Real Valladolid to score under 3.5. Now if both teams combinedly score 3 or fewer goals, you’ll win the bet.
This is regardless of how many goals each team scores.
In reality, even if Real Betis has a score of nil and Valladolid scores, 1, 2, or, 3 goals, you win the bet. The same is true for the opposite as well.
Alternatively, each team could also score 1 goal and you’d still win. And another situation is the game ending in a score line of 2-1 for either team.
The possibilities are much faster if you pick them over. So, if each team scores 2 goals, if the score is 3-1 or anything higher, you’ll win the bet.
Some may be wondering what happens to over/ under bets if the game goes to injury time or extra time. There’s usually no change, the final score of the game will determine whether or not you win the bet.
For this type of bet, you’ll need to wait until the final whistle at the end of the game to know the results of your bet. That’s because a goal could be scored at the very last minute of the game which might completely change the outcome.
Over/ under bets don’t necessarily have to be restricted to 3.5 goals. There are also score lines of 2.5 and 1.5 goals. But the most popular one might arguably be over/ under 3.5 goals.
Review
If you need more reasons beyond the under 3.5 goals meaning, to bet on this market, look no further. There are quite a few pros to this market.
But just like any other market, there are a couple of disadvantages too, and we’ll explain them all.
Both Teams Help You Win
When you’re placing a bet in the under 3.5 goal market, the teams don’t have to compete for your bet to win. As long as the two teams score a combined total of 3 or fewer goals, you’ll be good.
It’s the same, and arguably better for the over 3.5 goals meaning of the market. The two teams together just need to score as many goals over 4 as possible and that would be enough.
So, with over/ under betting, you just need to make the right estimation of how much the two teams might score together.
No Chance to Draw
There is no chance for you to draw in the over/ under market. Sportsbooks almost always offer the market in a fractional number.
The only situation where there would be a whole number is if it were a push bet. And that is quite rare in itself.
And this is definitely a pro since no one wants to place a bet and just have their stake returned to them. That ruins the whole experience of placing a bet on an exciting game.
Good for Rookies
This type of bet is definitely great for rookies. That’s because there isn’t much to understand about this market. All you need to do is make an educated guess on how many total goals the two teams might score.
So, if you’re betting on a high-voltage game with one or even both teams having very good goal scorers, you’d go with the over-market. And if you think both teams are defensively good, you’d stick to the under-market instead.
Long Wait to Settle
This is essentially the only con of the over/under-betting market. You need to wait until the referee calls the play-off and blows the last whistle of the game to settle your bet.
If there is a lot of injury time awarded at the end of open play, or if the game goes to extra time, this may be a bit intolerable.