Betting on Match Results

Team A v Team B Full Time Result

	Typical Odds
Team A win	10/11
Draw	9/4
Team B win	3/1

Bet Guide: This is a straightforward bet on which team is going to win the match (or whether it will finish a draw). Teams playing at ‘home’ (always listed first) will normally be shorter odds favourites – unless the visiting ‘away’ team is very strong.

Double Chance

	Typical Odds
Team A and the Draw	1/5
Team B and the Draw	5/6
Team A or Team B	2/7

Bet Guide: This bet gives you two chances to win out of the three possible outcomes. You can either back a team to win AND the match to be a Draw (so you only lose if your pick loses). Or if you can bet on both teams to win (so you only lose if the match ends a Draw).

Draw No Bet

	Typical Odds
Team A	4/11
Team B	2/1

Bet Guide: This is a straight win/lose bet –with the bet voided if the match is a Draw.

Handicap Result

Team A (minus 1)	5/2
Team B (plus 1)	13/5
Tie (Team B plus 1)	5/6

Bet Guide: Handicaps can create a betting opportunity when it wouldn’t otherwise exist – either making two teams more even, or getting better odds on short-priced favourites. You will see handicap bets applied to Goals (see Asian Handicaps) and Corners – the team with a ‘minus’ handicap having to overcome their deficit in order to win the bet.

So, for example, if a top team were awarded a minus 2 handicap against a lesser team – they would need to win the actual match by at least 3 Goals to win the bet.

Asian Handicap (sample)

Team A (minus 0.5 Goals)	2.0* (decimal odds – Evens)
Team B (plus 0.5 Goals)	1.72* (decimal odds – about 8/11)

* Bookmakers often use decimal odds for Asian Handicaps

Bet Guide: This is a popular way of betting in the Far East (hence the name), offering a potentially better chance than straight forward Match Result bets.
Handicaps are awarded (in brackets) that the winning team must overcome. These handicaps can vary from match to match – and are sometimes shown in ‘fractions’ of Goals. Of course you can’t have 0.5, or 1.5 of a Goal – it is simply a means to decide winning margins. Below is a list of example handicaps and their outcomes:

A team with a (-0.5) handicap must: Win the match by any score. Any other result and the bet is lost.
A team with a (-1) handicap must: Win the match by 2 Goals. By 1 Goal and the bet is void and stakes are returned. Any other result the bet is lost.
A team with a (-1.5) handicap must: Win by 2 Goals. Any other result and the bet is lost.

Split Handicaps

You may also see a ‘split’ handicap, such as: (0,-0.5) – which splits the bet into two, for example:

A team with a (0,-0.5) handicap must: Win the match by any score. If the match is a Draw – half the stake is refunded, half is lost. Any other result the bet is lost.
A team with a (-0.5, 1) handicap must: Win by 2 Goals. Win by 1 Goal and half the stake is returned, half lost. Any other result is a loser.

And so on…

With split ‘plus’ handicaps – i.e. if a team with a (0,+0.5) draws the match, half the stake is returned and half the stake wins.

Half Time/ Full Time

Team A – Team A	15/8
Team A – Draw	16/1
Team A – Team B	40/1
Draw – Team A	7/2
Draw – Draw	4/1
Draw – Team B	8/1
Team B – Team A	28/1
Team B – Draw	16/1
Team B – Team B	13/2