What Is A Push Bet
If you believe in the saying “time is money” then watching a three-hour football game only to get your money back is one of the most frustrating things to do. However, depending on how that result came to be, a push could be a positive result if your team pulled off the back-door cover.
What Does Push Mean?
When you hear someone use the term “push” they are referring to the result of game or event that ends right on the listed point spread or finishes in a draw. Pushes are the most common in sports that use the point spread like basketball and football. However, a push can also happen when betting on certain run lines in baseball or spreads in soccer.
Dec 24, 2020 A ‘push’ occurs when the result of a sporting event ends in a tie between the sports bettor and the Sportsbook. Neither party wins or loses. So, the original wager is refunded back to the sports bettor. Pushes in sports betting is not the worst thing in the world.
How Does a Push Work?
- A push in sports betting occurs when the point spread or point total hits the exact number in which you bet. For example, you can bet the Dallas Cowboys as a -7 point favorite to beat the Green Bay Packers or the Packers as a +7 point underdog. If the Cowboys win by seven points, both bets are a push and money is refunded (you get your money back).
- A push is in essence a tied bet, where the player has neither won or lost and their stake is returned as if there was no wager made A push may also be referred to as a “no action” bet, as the bet is treated as if it was never placed and the stake is returned United States Play at Bovada.
A push isn’t the worse thing in the world since you get your money back if your game happens to land right on the listed point spread. The most frustrating thing about a push is the time spending watching the game only to break even. Fortunately for bettors, sportsbooks don’t penalise you for making a bet that “pushes”, so you do receive all of your wager back.
Let’s use an NCAA basketball game as the first example. If your looking over the card and decide to bet the Baylor Bears -2 over the Oklahoma Sooners, this means that in order for you to cash your ticket, the Bears would need to win by three or more points. A 52-49 win would be just as good as a 90-87 win. If the Bears won by a mere two points (90-88, 52-50, etc.), your bet would be a push and you would receive your money back. If you like the underdog Sooners, a two-point loss would result in a push as well.
The second example comes in the form of a parlay. Obviously if you bet more than one game with a listed spread as a whole number, the chances of more than one game pushing are high. This is where you need to be careful and do your due diligence to understand how sportsbooks treat “pushes” on a parlay.
Some books simple reduces the number of teams in a parlay when there is a push – say you have a four-team parlay and one game pushes, your parlay simply becomes a three-team parlay that’s still in play. Other sportsbooks will treat that entire parlay as a loss.
Knowing how sportsbooks operate and understanding their unique set of rules is crucial to avoiding costly and unexpected losses.
How to Avoid a Push
One way to avoid the possibility of a push is to bet lines with a hook. A hook is the extra half point sportsbooks add to ensure there is a winner and a loser on both sides (also to attract balanced action). Another way to avoid a “push” is to move the line buy buying a half point up or down depending on which side you are backing. In football, moving a line from -3 to -2.5 has the ability to win you more money over time should the favorite actually win the game. The best times to move the line in football to avoid the push is when the point spread is -3, -4 or -7. These are the three most common margins of victory so getting a half point either way will turn your pushes into potential wins.
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A ‘push’ occurs when the result of a sporting event ends in a tie between the sports bettor and the Sportsbook.
Neither party wins or loses. So, the original wager is refunded back to the sports bettor.
Pushes in sports betting is not the worst thing in the world. What’s annoying is that you can spend your time watching the entire game, only to break even.
Nevertheless, sports bettors are not punished by Sportsbook’s for push bets. The full wager is always refunded.
Pushes are most common in sports that use the point spread, like Basketball and Football, but they can also be used in sports like Ice Hockey and Baseball in over/under betting.
Example
Imagine there was an upcoming NHL game between the Boston Bruins and the Calgary Flames, and the sports bettor was to bet that both teams would combine to score more than 5 goals.
The push comes into play if, at the end of the game, exactly 5 goals were scored.
If the bet was made and exactly 5 goals were scored, the bet pushes and the bettor would receive 100% of their wager back.
Parlay Push
If a bettor is making a parlay, every event in the parlay must win in order for the bet to win. But what if one of these events is a push? Does the parlay become void?
In most Sportsbooks, the answer is no. If a push occurs on one of the events in the parlay, that event is dropped from the parlay entirely.
In essence, it’s as if that event was never selected in the parlay at all.
After the event is removed from the parlay, the payout multiplier is adjusted, meaning that the new payout potential is also adjusted.
However, this is not always the case. Some Sportsbooks will count a push as a loss so it’s important to be aware of that sportsbook’s rules and T&C’s before making the play.
Half Points
Most betting lines on offer do not use whole numbers. Instead, they use half numbers. These betting lines do not have a push as an option as half points cannot be scored in any sport.
What Is A Push On A Bet
Going back to the previous example, imagine the total goals scored was over/under 5.5 instead of 5 and let’s say the bettor wagered on the over.
If 6 or more goals are scored, the bet wins. If 5 or fewer goals are scored, the bet loses. Half points are a way for Sportsbooks to avoid pushes.
What Is A Push Betting
At the end of the day, they are in the business of making money and pushes prevent them from doing so.
Avoiding A Push
While Sportsbooks look to avoid pushes, bettors benefit from not using them too. While pushes avoid losses, they also prevent wins.
For example, in American Football, the most common margin of victories are 3 points, 4 points and 7 points. This means that getting a half point on either side of the line can turn a push into a win.
Inside Trademate Push = Void
Inside the Trademate Sports products, we classify bets which end as a push as voided.
What Is A Push In Basketball Betting
The reason for this is that the outcome of both these instances are the same. That the original wager is refunded to the sports bettor. So instead of having to different classifications it’s simpler to just count them both as void.
What Is A Push In Soccer Betting
This Article was written by Ghostbettingtips!
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