What Is A Push In Sports Betting (And How To Avoid One)

In sports betting, a push occurs when the result of a bet is a tie, also known as a "no action" bet. This means that neither the bettor nor the bookmaker wins or loses, and the bettor's stake is returned. The Philadelphia Eagles are -3-point favorites against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the final score winds up being 24-21 in result of the Eagles.

Pushing a bet isn’t the desired result from any part as no one wants to watch a game for several hours without the payoff in the end. There are ways to avoid pushing a bet, whether it’s buying points, parlaying money lines, using teasers and finding three-way lines.

What Happens with a Push in a Parlay?

This caveat goes toward just about everything that we talk about in these betting tip articles: Be familiar with your sports book’s rules. The sports betting landscape in North America has exploded over the last five years, with several new operators entering the mix. Not all of them operate by the same guidelines and procedures. Make sure you’re familiar with the rules that your sports book operates with.

Now, with that being said, if a push occurs on your parlay ticket, that game essentially gets removed from your ticket as if it was never there in the first place. So if you placed a five-team parlay and one of the games ends in a push, that game gets removed from the equation and you now have a four-team parlay. If you placed a two-team parlay and one of the games ends with a push, you now essentially have a single wager on the remaining game.

Are There Pushes in Soccer?

Soccer wagering is tricky, especially for novice bettors. Just because a match ends in a tie does not mean that your bet “pushes.” Soccer has two betting markets: The two-way line and the three-way line. The two-way line incorporates some form of goal spread into the equation. The three-way line introduces the possibility of a draw. If you place a wager in the three-way market, your choices are Team A wins, Team B wins, or the draw. There can’t be a push.

The only two times that you’ll get a push in soccer are a) On the total. If the total is set at 3 goals and the game ends 2-1, that’s a push and you’re getting your money back; b) In the draw-no-bet market. When two teams are fairly evenly match, you likely won’t get a goal spread in the two-way market. Instead, you’ll get a PK or DNB option. If the game that you bet on ends in a draw, your wager will be refunded. Make sure you’re aware of the difference in prices between the traditional three-way moneyline and the draw-no-bet market.

Ways to Avoid Pushing a Bet

Buying Points:

In sports betting, buying points allows a bettor to move the point spread in their favor in exchange for a higher odds stake. For example, if a bettor wants to bet on the New York Giants +7 points against the Dallas Cowboys, they can buy points to move the spread to +7.5 or +8, giving the bettor more wiggle room to cover the spread.

Also, a bettor cannot push a bet that includes a half-point, which will result in a win or a loss. Buying ‘the hook’, which is the half point that moves a game off a key number like seven for football, is a very common practice in the sports betting world.

Teaser Betting:

A teaser is a bet that allows a bettor to adjust the point spread in their favor for multiple games. Like parlaying money lines, if one of the bets in the teaser is a push, it will not count towards the teaser and the bettor will receive a reduced payout or no payout at all.

If the Giants are +7 against the Cowboys and the Buccaneers are +3 against the Eagles, a bettor can create a 6.5-point teaser that creates a new teaser ticket that includes the Giants +13.5 against the Cowboys and the Buccaneers +9.5 against the Eagles. Teasers that are bumped to half-point spreads cannot end in a push. Always check the house rules of the sportsbook operator before placing teaser wagers.

Money Line Parlays:

Parlaying money lines involves picking the winners of multiple games into one into one ticket. With no ties in baseball, basketball and college football, parlaying money line selections into one bet slip can ensure the slip will be graded as a win or a loss.

If one of the money line selections is a push, it will not count towards the parlay and the bettor will receive a reduced payout or no payout at all. Always check the house rules of the sportsbook operator before placing parlay wagers.

Betting Three-Way Lines:

For sports like soccer and hockey that produce three-way lines, customers can use these to never get a push as a result.

A three-way line introduces the possibility of a draw. If a bettor places a wager in the three-way market, the choices are Team A wins, Team B wins, or the draw. There cannot be a push.

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