1×2 Betting Market

The 1X2 bet, also known as the match result bet, win-draw-win or 3-way betting, is one of the most popular wagers at the bookies. Gamblers Pro can remember what sports betting was like before the birth of online betting sites. In those days, if you wanted to have a flutter on the football, you had a sparkling choice of the 1X2 betting market (full-time only may we add), correct score and first goalscorer. 

What is the 1X2 betting market?

With the 1X2 bet, you are betting on the result (at a given point) of a match. While it’s not unique to football, it must be said that this is the sport it is most associated with. You might have noticed, it is a favourite punt for our tipster over on our expert EPL betting tips page. There are three possible outcomes with this wager which is why some punters and bookies refer to it as a 3-way bet.

The example below is taken from Betway. It uses the win-draw-win betting term instead of 1X2. The home team, in this instance Manchester City is ‘1’. The ‘X’ is for the draw bet and the away team (Chelsea) would be the ‘2’.

First Half – 1X2 bet

You can also place first-half 1X2 bets. This is the same wager but the bet is settled at half-time instead. As you can see, you get 1.77 on Manchester City to win the first half compared to only 1.40 on them winning at full-time. However, the odds on the draw and Chelsea are both down, so overall the market may hold less value for you.

Second Half – 1X2 bet

To complete the set, the third 1X2 is for the second-half only. This is where pre-match research and knowledge of the teams can help greatly. Often, as players tire, late goals are scored. Perhaps, one team has a tremendous record in a particular half which you believe is worth having a bet on. 

How to calculate 1X2 bet probability

To find out if the bookmaker is offering decent odds, you can easily calculate the 1X2 bet implied probability (i.e. the bookmaker’s margin). This is how you do that for a 3-way bet using decimal odds:

• 1 ÷ decimal odds option A x 100
• 1 ÷ decimal odds option B x 100
• 1 ÷ decimal odds option C x 100
• Then add the three totals together

Let’s put this into practice using the odds for the win-draw-win bet on the Man City vs Chelsea match. 

Full-time 1X2 betting odds:

First-half 1X2 betting odds:

The margin for the full-time market is below 5%, which is respectable in our opinion. But, the 10.20% margin on the first-half is heavily favouring the bookmaker. In short, the higher the betting margin is, the poorer the value for the punter.