Although a push during a football match is usually punished by the referee, a push in football betting offers a different outcome. For those who have dabbled with spread betting in the past, you may already be aware of such a term.
While for those who wager in more traditional ways, one question will likely spring to mind. What is a push in football betting? First, it is something that does not happen often, and now we will explain why.
OVER OR UNDER
One of the most common football betting markets is the over/under on goals. With 2.5 the most popular bet of all. In this instance, you are backing the total (or maybe just one team’s) number of goals to be scored within 90 minutes.
Will You Back Over Or Under?
If the number of total goals scored is two or less – this is under 2.5 goals
If the number of total goals scored is three or more – this is over 2.5 goals
The reason for the 0.5 is that it acts as the pure dividing line between the two outcomes. You simply cannot score half a goal in football, and this means there is always a winning choice and a losing choice in the market.
PUTTING ON A SPREAD
However, spread betting is where a push can be found, and a push is an exact value found between the plus and minus parts of the market. A good example of this would be the bookmakers spread on corners.
Let’s say that Tottenham is preparing to play Liverpool and a high-profile bookmaker has offered a spread on nine or more total corners at the end of the match.
If you believe the spread will be more than nine, then you would take the option to buy. If you think that the spread will be lower than nine, then you would take the option to sell. Ultimately, this will determine if you make a profit or a loss.
Betting On Corners Is A Popular Spread Market
Should the spread be nine and the match ends in 11 total corners, your bet would be a winner.
Should the spread be nine and the match ends in 7 total corners, your bet would be a loser.
Should the spread be nine and the match ends in 9 total corners, the bet would be neither a winner nor a loser.
With this being a draw of sorts, this is where the push comes to play. No winner or loser in this scenario means that the stake is returned to the person who placed the wager.
An equivalent to this would be the draw no bet market. If Tottenham and Liverpool are contesting the same Premier League match and you have backed Antonio Conte’s men to win, a 1-1 draw would mean no winnings would be coming your way.
However, backing them in the draw no bet market would at least return your additional stake and it is exactly the same when it comes to the push in spread betting.
If the spread offered returns the same value as the plus or minus options, then the market is left undecided.
It does not have to be total corners either, it could just as easily be yellow cards or even the total number of throw-ins.
THE MAGIC NUMBER
For example, a high-profile spread betting operation could offer the following in the Tottenham and Liverpool match:
You Can Also Spread Bet On Throw Ins
Total number of throw-ins +25
Total number of throw-ins -25
If you think it is going to be more than 25, the call would be to buy the spread. If you think it is going to be less than 25, the call would be to buy the spread.
In this instance, the exact number of total throw-ins was 25, and once again, the push has been activated within the spread. A draw between yourself and the bookies and this means you have the funds to take them on again. Will your luck be in next time?
