Sports betting rules: pushes, overtime, rainouts and voided bets

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Every sportsbook publishes house rules that decide how a bet is graded when something unusual happens: the result lands exactly on the number, the game goes to overtime, it’s rained out or postponed, or the line was posted by mistake. The basics are similar across US books, but the details differ, and the rules of the book that took your bet are the ones that count.

Here are the rules that come up most, using Bovada’s versions as examples.

Pushes

A push happens when the result lands exactly on the line. For example, a 3-point favorite wins by exactly 3, or a game with a total of 45 ends with 45 points scored. The bet is graded as a tie and your stake comes back. A line with a half point, like -3.5 or 44.5, can’t push.

At Bovada, a tied game on a two-way money line is also a push. In a parlay, a pushed leg drops out and the ticket pays at the next size down, so a two-team parlay with a push becomes a straight bet. Our guide on how to bet parlays shows what that does to the payout.

Teasers are stricter. At Bovada, a two-team teaser with a push and a win is graded no action, and a push in a sweetheart teaser loses the whole bet.

Overtime and extra innings

Full-game bets on US sports usually include overtime. At Bovada, full-game and second-half bets in football and basketball count overtime, while first-half and single-quarter bets don’t, so a fourth-quarter bet ends when regulation does. In baseball, full-game bets are settled on the final score, extra innings included.

Hockey works a little differently. Bovada’s full-game hockey bets include overtime and shootouts, but a shootout counts as one goal for the winner, however many goals are scored in it. A 2-2 game won in a shootout is graded as 3-2, so the total is 5. Three-way hockey lines, which let you bet on a tie, are settled at the end of regulation.

Soccer money lines are three-way as well. At Bovada, if you don’t pick the draw and the game goes to extra time, your bet loses.

When a shortened game counts

Bad weather or darkness can cut a game short. A shortened game still counts once enough of it has been played. These are Bovada’s cutoffs:

SportOfficial after
NFL and college football55 minutes of play
NBA43 minutes of play
College basketball35 minutes of play
Hockey55 minutes of play
Baseball money line5 innings (4½ if the home team leads)
Baseball run line and total9 innings (8½ if the home team leads)
From Bovada’s football, basketball, hockey and baseball betting rules, September 2026. Other books often use the same cutoffs, but not always.

If an official baseball game is called early, Bovada settles the money line on the score after the last full inning. The exception is when the home team ties the game or goes ahead in the bottom of the inning that was cut short. Then the score when the game was called stands.

If a baseball game is suspended and doesn’t resume at the same venue within 48 hours of its scheduled start, Bovada voids any bets that haven’t already been decided.

Postponed games

Postponement rules come with time limits, and they vary by sport. At Bovada:

  • Football: bets stand on an NFL, college, UFL or CFL game played within 48 hours of its scheduled start, because Bovada doesn’t count that as a postponement.
  • Basketball: the same 48-hour window applies to NBA playoff and March Madness games. Bets on other postponed basketball games are graded no action.
  • Baseball: bets on a postponed regular-season game are void. In the playoffs, bets stand for the rescheduled game.
  • Hockey: if a game isn’t played on its scheduled date, bets are void.

A bet graded no action or void is refunded. In a parlay, that leg drops out and the ticket pays at the smaller size, the same as a push.

Obvious line errors

Sportsbooks keep the right to void a bet placed on a line that was obviously wrong, such as a heavy favorite posted by mistake as the underdog.

Bovada’s rules say bets on an obvious line error are voided, and that a bet can’t be cancelled once it’s accepted. If your bet is voided for an error, your stake is refunded and there’s no payout.

The book decides what counts as obvious. At a state-licensed sportsbook, you can take a dispute over a voided bet to the state regulator. At an offshore book like Bovada, the last step is the book’s own dispute office.

Listed pitchers

Baseball money lines are priced partly on the starting pitchers, so books let you tie a bet to them. At Bovada you can choose whether both listed pitchers, one of them or neither must start. If a pitcher you required doesn’t start, the bet is typically refunded as no action.

A bet with no pitcher condition is called an action bet, and it stands whoever starts. Some books re-price action bets to the new line when a starter changes. Our guide to specifying pitchers in baseball betting covers when each option makes sense.

Dead heats

A dead heat is a tie for a paying position, such as a golfer’s top-10 finish. When more players tie than there are paying spots left, your stake is split. The share that matches the open spots is paid at your odds, and the rest loses.

Say you bet $20 on a golfer at +300 to finish in the top 10, and he ties for 10th with one other player. Two players share one spot, so half your stake, $10, is paid at +300 and returns $40. The other $10 loses. You get $40 back for a $20 profit, where a clean top-10 finish would have returned $80 for a $60 profit.

You’ll run into dead heats most often on golf finishing-position bets like top 5, top 10 and top 20. Check your book’s golf rules to see exactly how it settles them.

Where to find a book’s rules

Books differ on details like how long a postponed game has to be replayed and whether baseball bets default to listed pitchers or action. Bovada keeps a general rules page plus separate rules for each sport in its help center, and they’re worth reading before you bet on anything unusual. Our Bovada review covers the rest of its sportsbook.

Bovada publishes its grading rules sport by sport, so you can check how a bet will be settled before you place it. If your state has legal online sportsbooks, a state-licensed book gives you more protection than an offshore site like Bovada.

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