Goal Line betting is a form of betting that is based on the total number of goals scored in a football match.
The bettor does not have to predict the result of the game, or how many goals each team will score exactly.
Instead, it is an over/under bet where they simply predict the number of goals to be scored in a match and whether that number will be over or under the stated goal line for the bet.
While in football, this type of bet is known as a Goal Line bet, it also goes by many other names. Most commonly, in football betting, it is known as the Over/Under 2.5 Goals bet.
The 2.5 Goals is the eponymous Goal Line mentioned in the phrase Goal Line bet. And while picking 2.5 goals may seem odd, after all, teams cannot score half a goal, by using the half-goal, bookmakers create a two-option market.
Here’s how:-
The Over/Under 2.5 Goals bet sees the Goal Line set at 2.5 Goals.
Therefore, the two betting options available on the Goal Line bet are:
As scoring half a goal is impossible, there is no option to match 2.5 goals being scored.
The only other thing to remember for this bet is that the number of goals refers to the total number of goals scored in the match by both teams. Who scores the goals or when they are scored is irrelevant for this market.
This is a brief answer to the question of ‘what does goal line mean in betting?’ However, Goal Line betting is so popular across many sports (albeit under a different name often), that it is worth exploring the goal line bet, and its many variations, in a bit more detail.
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The most common Goal Line bet is set at Over 2.5 Goals as, for most matches, this is the bet that gives punters the best value odds for both the Over and Under options. This is because, on average, football games tend to have between two and three goals scored in a typical game.
However, the Goal Line being set at 2.5 Goals is not the only option available with bookmakers. In fact, some of the very best bookmakers, such as bet365 Sport, will offer a range of different Goal Line bets for a single match.
The most common other Goal Line betting options include:
Bookmakers may occasionally offer Goal Lines of Over/Under 5.5 goals or more for selected matches.
Where the chances of one Goal Line option being the winner and the other only having a slight chance of being correct, this is reflected in the difference in odds between the two options.
For example, the price is much higher for the Under 0.5 Goals and Over 4.5 Goals markets than for the Over 0.5 Goals and Under 4.5 Goals options.
Top Tip! – The differences in odds for some Goal Line betting markets can be useful for savvy punters who like to research their bets and find a match where they think either lots of goals or few or no goals will be scored. In such circumstances, betting on the longer odds options for Goal Line betting is potentially good value!
Some bookmakers offer Goal Line betting on soccer with two (sometimes more) options available as in the screenshot below:
This is a slightly different Goal Line bet in soccer as your stake is split between the two options and there is a difference in how you are paid out.
In the example above, let’s say we backed the Over 2.5/3.0 goals market with a £20 unit stake.
This bet would see £10 placed on the Over 2.5 Goals option and the other £10 placed on the Over 3.0 Goals option.
This same process is applied on Goal Line markets in soccer that have two, three or even more selections. Your total stake is simply divided across the different options and any Over or Under bets on whole number goal totals can result in a Push outcome if the number of goals matches the Goal Line set for that market.
While the phrase Goal Line betting may be used in football (soccer), you can find very similar bets in many other sports, all of which use slightly different terms to describe the same kind of over/under bet using the scoring format particular to that game.
Some of the major sports where you can find Line Betting of this type (together with the phrases used) include:
In the examples above, the X will be determined by a number of factors including the sport played, the number of points/sets/legs/shots/goals/runs or rounds available in a match and also on where the bookmaker feels the goal line needs to be set to offer the punter the best value options.
For example, in an American Football match, the Points Line for a match may be set at 58.5 points. However, in Basketball, the Points Line will be set much higher as basketball games see many more points than American Football matches, so it will be set at around 191.5 points.
You can find this type of Line Betting available across different markets in both pre-match and In-Play betting for a wide range of the sports shown above.
A. A goal line bet is a bet usually made on soccer matches that is a wager on the total number of goals to be scored in the game. The most common option is to bet on whether there will be over 2.5 goals or under 2.5 goals scored in a match.
A. Using a half or quarter of a goal means that this creates only two possible outcomes for a bet as a half or quarter goal cannot be scored.
A. Yes, Goal Line betting in soccer often goes under the term Over/Under betting or Over/Under 2.5 Goals betting. In other sports it can be known as a points, runs, sets, shots, rounds or goals bet.
A. In this case, your stake is divided equally between the two options. Your first bet on the Over 2.5 Goals option would win. Your second bet on the Over 3.0 Goals option would be a Push, meaning you get your stake money back.
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