In football, the aim of the game is to score goals and be the team that scores the most to win. Anyone who is a fan of the game knows this, and so too do sports bettors. Yet when placing sports bets on football with bookmakers, you may also find yourself looking at a market titled “Over 1.5 Goals”.
This market will almost always be set against a market of “Under 1.5 Goals”. Both are popular betting markets, covering the total number of goals scored within a match. The main match market doesn’t relate to one team or the other, but to both teams competing in a match. Generally speaking, most sportsbooks offer a selection of over/under markets, including over/under 0.5, 2.5, 3.5, and so on. They also allow you to bet on over / under goals for individual teams or even in each half.
It is up to you how to wager on this plethora of markets, depending upon how you see the match in question. If you believe many goals will be scored, then you would wager on a higher number, and the opposite is true if you don’t think so many balls will hit the back of the net.
In the case of over 1.5 goals, you are betting on the fact that you believe two or more goals will be scored in a game of football. If betting on under 1.5 goals you are saying there will be one goal or no goals in the match.
Why the Decimal Point?
You may be questioning why a gambling market like this would have a decimal point in it. After all, it isn’t possible to score half a goal in a football match. All over/under markets come with the .5 decimal in them, because this means there is no possibility for a draw outcome or a stake refund. It is a two-way market – you either win the wager or you lose it. It’s as simple as that!
The over 1.5 goals market applies only to the 90 minutes of full-time play in a match. It does not cater to extra time (when further goals may be scored in a game) or penalty shoot-outs. Whatever the score looks like once the 90 minutes of full-time play has come to an end will determine whether you win an over 1.5 goals bet.
It doesn’t matter which team(s) score the goals in this case, either. If a match finishes 1-1, then you still win an over 1.5 goals wager (because two goals in total have been scored). It’s the same if the final score was 3-0 – and over 1.5 goals wager would win again. The only instance where this market would not provide a payout is if a match ended in a result of 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1.
You still win if many more goals are scored, too. Let’s say a football match finishes in a result of 7-4, if you had wagered on over 1.5 goals, you still get a win from it.
Conversely if betting on under 1.5 goals the only way the bet can win is if a match ended in a result of 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1.
What Is the Advantage of Betting on Over / Under 1.5 Goals?
Both the over and under markets are highly popular with bettors. They have huge amounts of liquidity on the top online sportsbooks. In many cases, this liquidity is second only to the match winner markets.
Over /under 1.5 goals is slightly less popular than over /under 2.5 goals, but not by much. The odds are often decent on the market, which makes it appealing for many sports bettors.
It’s also a simple method of betting on football matches, and you don’t have to worry about which team will win in the end. If you confident that at least two goals will be scored in a game for the over market or there will be one goal or less for the under market.
Trading the Market with a Betting Exchange
You don’t have to settle on just placing a standard bet on the over 1.5 goals market. You also have the opportunity of trading the market by making use of an exchange. Because of the high level of liquidity, it serves as a popular one for exchange traders to benefit from. Before doing this, you can make use of some potential strategies for the over 1.5 goals market.
You need to make use of in-play stats, which follow the games as they play out. From those stats, you can get a better picture of how likely it will be for a goal to be scored. The advantage of waiting for the game to be live before betting is that the odds of over 1.5 goals can rise in comparison to pre-match odds.
If a goal isn’t scored within the first 10 minutes of a football match, then the odds will move more so in favour of the under 1.5 goals market. If you back under 1.5 before the game, then you can lay on an exchange after those 10 minutes have passed (or you can cash out).
The under 1.5 goals market will also increase after a goal is scored, and then moves back down as the game progresses if no more goals are score. If you are confident to back under 1.5 straight after a goal then good odds will be available.
