Push

A push happens when the outcome lands exactly on the number. Back a team at −7 and they win by precisely seven: the adjusted result is a tie, and your stake comes back.

Where pushes occur

• Whole-number spreads. −3 and a three-point win.
• Whole-number totals. A total of 47 and a final score of 24–23.
• Asian handicap whole lines. 0, −1, −2 can all push.

Half points exist specifically to prevent this. A line of −7.5 cannot push, because a margin cannot be seven and a half.

Pushes inside parlays

This is where it matters most. A push inside a parlay is normally removed, and the parlay recalculates with one fewer leg.

A four-leg parlay with one push becomes a three-leg parlay. The remaining legs must still win, but the price drops accordingly. This is standard at most books, though a minority grade the whole parlay as a loss, worth checking, because the difference is substantial.

Push versus void

A push and a void bet both return the stake, but they arise differently. A push is a legitimate result that happens to land on the line. A void is a bet that never properly took place, event cancelled, player withdrawn, market posted in error.

The practical difference appears in promotions. Many free bet and bonus terms treat pushes as qualifying bets and voids as non-qualifying, so a voided bet may fail to trigger an offer where a push would have.

Key numbers again

Pushes are not evenly distributed. In the NFL, margins of exactly 3 occur in roughly 15% of games, so a whole-number line of 3 pushes far more often than a line of 11 does. This is why books charge a premium to move off key numbers, and why “buying the hook” from −3 to −3.5 costs more than buying it from −11 to −11.5.