Pros and Cons of 1×2 Betting
A good way to analyse whether 1×2 bets are good or bad business is to put the characteristics of the entry into a pros and cons list.
Pros:
- Simple bet to be made: Unlike bets on goals/points or the scorers, 1×2 bets are simple to be made.
- Good option for multiple bets: A bolder punter can use 1×2 bets to create interesting combinations. By selecting multiple teams to win (or draw) even at very low odds, the multiple ends up being potentially very profitable.
- Widely available: Being the basic bet, it is almost impossible not to find the 1×2 betting market at betting sites. Even if it is an obscure game, this market will certainly be a viable option.
Cons:
- Requires in-depth analysis: As mathematical odds play against the punter in 1×2 betting, you need to do extensive research on the teams and athletes involved to have a good chance of winning.
- High risk: Speaking in simple mathematical terms, 1×2 bets are relatively dangerous for the punter because he can lose at 2/3 odds and win at only 1/3 odds.
- Can be less profitable than the handicap: A mallet that many people take time to discover is that the handicap -0.5 is the equivalent to victory in 1×2 bets, but often appear with different odds.
- Of course there are still other important characteristics in 1×2 betting, but with this in mind it is already possible to understand well the general concept of this market and, more importantly, know when is (and when is not) interesting to invest in it.
Odds
Talking about odds in 1×2 betting is talking about how the basic odds of any bookmakers are thought. It is the Moneyline odd that will make clear who is the favourite for the duel, as well as demonstrate when, on the contrary, there is no clear favourite.
Matches between a team considered to be heavy favourites against a team considered to be underdogs show in the 1×2 betting odds how the bookmaker sees the match. The best way to do this, of course, is with an example.
Let’s look at the odds on a World Cup Qualifier in Europe, Germany vs Romania. Note that it is a team that is multi-champions of the world and frequent presence in the World Cup and the Eurocup for decades against another that hardly participates in such competitions.
Germany appears with odds close to 1.10 in the 1×2 betting markets of almost all bookmakers. Romania, considered an absolute underdog, the odds are around 30.0. This means that if you bet £10 on Germany to win, you get £11 if you get the green card, but if you bet the same on Romania and win, you get £300.
The “willingness” of the bookmakers to pay such high values denotes, of course, the absolute confidence that the game will follow the logic of favorite x underdog. This is clear because even the odds for a draw would be very high (around 11.0), that is, any result other than the victory of Germany would be considered a historical underdog.