What is a push in sports betting? – The Athletic

Just as there are ties in sports, sports betting has ties as well. Pushes are the ties of the sports betting world. They feel just about as satisfying as ties in any sport. Not awful, but not good either. At the end of the day, its a lot of sweating and stress just to get your initial investment back.

When a bet pushes, its as if nothing ever happened. The bet would essentially be canceled. The money you put down on the bet is returned and its like nothing ever happened.

A push happens when the betting line matches the exact outcome. If a spread is eight and the favored team wins by eight, thats a push. If a total is 54 and the final score is 30-24, thats a push.

Pushes are why lines with a .5 point, goal or run exist. Compare a baseball game with a run total of 8 to a line of 8.5. In both cases the over needs nine runs or more to win. The only difference is the under bet gets a win if there are eight runs scored and the total is 8.5. If the total is 8, both sides push with eight runs scored.

Not every bet can have a push. A moneyline bet, for example, is all about predicting the result so there cant be a tie on the bet. Either the team you bet on won or it didnt. Even in sports with ties, the tie is an outcome included in moneyline bets so even a tie wouldnt be a push. The exception to this is a Tie No Bet option that youll find if you dig a bit deeper into a sportsbooks offerings. This is available in soccer or hockey (where it is called Tie No Bet Regular Time). This specific bet type provides you insurance in case of a tie in soccer, at the cost of your odds, and essentially gives you a push if the game ends in a tie.

With that exception out of the way, pushes are possible in totals and spreads, but not traditional moneyline bets.

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What is a push in sports betting? - The Athletic