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A strong run in the final minute of a basketball game or a sudden interception after a failed touchdown pass in the dying seconds of an NFL game. These are among the most dreaded events bettors can experience, or at least a good part of them. Such last-minute, ‘backdoor’ turnarounds in sports can have lasting effect on the outcome of a bet and have led to the term ‘backdoor cover. Let’s find out more about the meaning of backdoor cover in sports betting.
Every second counts in sports betting. A backdoor cover is when the team that is behind in a game scores points which do not affect the outcome of a match but still cover the spread in an Against the Spread bet. Whereas the points scored do not change the winner of a game, they do flip a winning bet to a losing bet. Let’s illustrate with an example that recently took place in an NFL game.
The Los Angeles Chargers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs in an away game and there was a +3.5 spread on the Chargers, who were the clear underdog in the game.
Close to the end of the 4th quarter, the Chargers were still trailing by more than 4 points, which would mean that a +3.5-spread bet on the Chargers would not be the winning selection. However, a late game touchdown pass thrown by the Chargers’ already injured quarterback Justin Herbert, brought the losing team within 4 points and set the final score at 24-27, effectively making the backdoor cover. In just a matter of seconds, all -3.5-spread bets lost and all +3.5 spreads won.
This example shows that even if the Chargers could not celebrate a win, one group of bettors surely did at the expense of a group of bettors who suffered a what is also called a bad beat.
Yes, as illustrated by the 27-24 win of the Chiefs over the Chargers, a team can lose and still cover the spread. This is exactly what a backdoor cover means. A team scores meaningless points that have no effect on the outcome of a match, while they do matter on the result of a point spread bet.
Frustratingly, your favorite team can make you lose money while they still win the game by conceding last minute points.
While a game is under way, you can effectively still bet on a team to cover the point spread in the last few minutes of play and hedge against a backdoor cover happening.
If you are looking to bet on a team to win but do not wish to take into consideration the stress of running into a last-minute bad beat, you can simply choose to bet on the outright winner of a game, which is also called a ‘money line’ bet in American sports. When betting on money line, the spread becomes unimportant and all you have to do is cheer for your favorite team to win.
Because of the high scoring nature of the games, backdoor covers are common in American Football and Basketball. Because of the bigger points spreads in these games compared to ice hockey or soccer (football), additional points scored do not necessarily mean a change in the outcome of a result.
Technically there could be opportunity for a backdoor in soccer, for example when betting Asian Totals, where you predict a team’s winning margin. However, this does not happen too often. Backdoor cover is also not a term used in relation to bets on soccer, and bettors are more likely to talk about bad beats instead.
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