Football betting markets explained, market by market

A football betting market is one question about a match that a bookmaker will take bets on: who wins, how many goals, who scores, how many cards. There are dozens, but they fall into a handful of families, and nearly all of them settle on the same clock: 90 minutes plus stoppage time, with extra time and penalties left out unless the market says otherwise. Sky Bet's football rules and Smarkets' both put that first. This page lists every family, says how each settles, and points to the piece that explains it in full.

If you want to see how BAI8 prices a real fixture across the main markets (result, both teams to score, over 2.5 goals, the likeliest score), open any match on the football predictions page. The Free plan covers 5 assessments a month, no card needed.

The markets at a glance

Family	Markets	What settles it	Read more
Result	1X2, double chance, draw no bet	Score after 90 minutes	Double chance, draw no bet
Halves	Half-time result, HT/FT, win either half	Score at each half's whistle	HT/FT, first half
Goals	Over/under, both teams to score, team totals, odd/even	Goals in 90 minutes	Over/under 2.5, BTTS
Handicaps	Asian, European, winning margin	Score after the handicap	Asian handicaps, European
Scores	Correct score, win to nil, clean sheet, scorecast	Exact score, or score plus scorer	Correct score, scorecast
Players	Anytime and first goalscorer, shots on target	One player's numbers	Anytime scorer, shots
Match stats	Cards, corners	Counts in 90 minutes	Cards, corners
Knockouts	To qualify, method of qualification	Includes extra time and penalties	To qualify
Multiples	Accumulators, system bets, bet builders	Every leg must win (or as the system says)	Accumulators, bet builders

Result markets: the base of everything

The match result, or 1X2, has three outcomes: home win, draw, away win. It is the market every other one is cut from. Double chance covers two of the three outcomes in one bet (home or draw, away or draw, home or away). Draw no bet takes the draw out: if the match is level, your stake comes back, which Smarkets' rule 12.5.19 settles as a void.

Because they share the same three outcomes, the prices should agree. Here is an example with made-up prices, not a quote or a BAI8 call. Say the 1X2 is 2.00 home, 3.60 draw, 4.00 away. Those imply 50%, 27.8% and 25%, which add up to 102.8%; the extra 2.8 points is the bookmaker's margin. Scale them back to 100% and you get roughly 48.6%, 27.0% and 24.3%.

• Home or draw (double chance) is 48.6% + 27.0% = 75.7%, a fair price of about 1.32.
• Home, draw no bet, is 48.6% out of the 72.9% where somebody wins: 66.7%, a fair price of 1.50.

If a bookmaker's double chance or draw no bet is longer than those fair prices, it is offering more than its own 1X2 says the bet is worth. That cross-check is the single most useful habit in football betting, and how to read a football match odds market walks through it from the start.

Goals markets

Over/under bets on the total goals in 90 minutes against a line such as 2.5. Half lines (0.5, 1.5, 2.5) cannot push; whole lines (2.0, 3.0) refund on the exact number; quarter lines (2.25, 2.75) split your stake across two lines, as Asian goal lines explained shows. Both teams to score asks one thing: did each side score at least once. Team totals do the same as over/under for one side only, and odd/even counts 0 goals as even, per Smarkets.

These markets reward a view on how open the game will be rather than who wins it. Two evenly matched attacking sides can make "over" and "yes" the stronger bets even when the result is a coin toss.

Handicaps and margins

A handicap gives one team a head start so the bet is closer to even. Asian handicaps remove the draw, and a whole-number line refunds if the adjusted score is level. European handicaps keep the draw as a third outcome. Winning margin asks by how many goals the winner wins. All three settle on the 90-minute score with the handicap added, per both rulebooks.

Score and player markets

Correct score is the hardest single bet to land because a match has so many possible scores; the correct score explainer shows why even the likeliest score, usually 1–1 or 1–0, loses about seven times in eight. Scorecast combines a correct score with a first scorer. Player markets settle on one player's numbers: own goals do not count for goalscorer bets (Smarkets 12.5.15 to 12.5.17), and a player who takes no part is voided.

Cards and corners

Cards markets often use booking points: on Smarkets a yellow counts 1 and a straight red 2, with a maximum of 3 per player, and cards shown to players who are not on the pitch or to managers do not count. Corners count only corners actually taken. These rules differ more between bookmakers than any other family, so read the house rules first.

Knockout markets: the exception to 90 minutes

"To qualify" and "to lift the trophy" include extra time and penalties, because they ask who goes through rather than who wins on the night. Sky Bet adds that first-leg scores should be taken into account where there is one. Confusing a 90-minute result bet with a to-qualify bet is the commonest way to lose a cup tie you thought you had won.

Multiples

An accumulator needs every leg to win, and the prices multiply, which also multiplies the bookmaker's margin. A void leg is removed and the odds are recalculated, per Smarkets rule 12.6.1. System bets such as a Yankee spread one stake across many combinations; bet builders combine markets from one match, where the legs are not independent.

To see how these markets look on a real fixture, open any match on the football predictions page. The Free plan covers 5 assessments a month, no card needed.

18+. Bet only what you can afford to lose.

What this does not tell you

It does not tell you which market has value on a given match; that depends on the chances, not the market type. It summarises two bookmakers' rules, and others differ, especially on cards, corners, abandoned matches and player voids. Before you bet, read the rules of the bookmaker you are using.