This is one of those terms that newer bettors run into for the first time and panic because they do not know if they just won or lost their bet.
We remember seeing “push” show up on our account for the first time and having to Google it. Here is what it means.
The short version
A push is a tie between you and the sportsbook. Your bet did not win and it did not lose. The result landed exactly on the number and your stake gets refunded in full. No profit, no loss, you just get your money back.
When it happens
Say you bet the Cowboys -7 and they win the game by exactly 7 points. They did not cover by more than 7 and they did not fail to cover. They landed right on the number. That is a push.
Your sportsbook will void the bet and return your original stake to your account as if the bet never happened.
Same thing can happen on totals. If the over/under is set at 44 and the final combined score is exactly 44 that is a push for everyone who bet the over and everyone who bet the under. Everybody gets their money back.
Why you see half points everywhere
This is directly related to pushes and once we understood it the half points on every line made a lot more sense.
When a sportsbook sets a spread at -6.5 instead of -7 they are eliminating the possibility of a push because you cannot win a football game by 6.5 points.
One side wins and the other side loses. No refunds.
Some bettors actually prefer whole number lines because the push option means you can get your money back instead of losing. Others hate them because a push feels like a waste of time.
We have had a few Sundays where three of our bets pushed on the same day and it felt like we spent the whole afternoon watching football for absolutely nothing.
Pushes on parlays
This is the part that confuses people the most. If one leg of your parlay pushes most sportsbooks will remove that leg from the parlay and recalculate the payout based on the remaining legs.
So if you have a three leg parlay and one leg pushes it becomes a two leg parlay. Your bet is not dead. You just lose that leg and the potential payout drops.
We have actually had parlays saved by a push. One leg was going to lose but the final score landed right on the number so it pushed instead and got removed from the ticket.
The other two legs won and we still got paid on a two leg parlay instead of losing the whole thing.
