Correct score: how does this market work?

What is the correct score market?

With correct score, you name the exact result of the match, digit by digit. 2-1, for example. That's more precise than the winner or the total goals, which group several scores under one outcome.

Every possible score is its own selection, with its own price.

Why are correct score odds so high?

The market has loads of outcomes, and each exact score carries a low implied probability.

A 1X2 market spreads probability across three outcomes, Over/Under across two. Correct score spreads it across a big list of results. Each score gets a tiny slice, so its odds climb to match.

More outcomes, more margin?

Not necessarily. A market with many outcomes doesn't automatically share the price structure of a two-way market. The margin built into the odds depends on several things: liquidity, competition, how hard the market is to price. The number of outcomes is only one of them.

How margin works in general applies to every market. It's covered on the bookmaker margin page and isn't repeated here.

A misconception worth clearing up

A 4-3 does happen, even if its odds dwarf those of a 1-0 or a 2-1. Odds are an estimate of probability. They say nothing about whether the event can happen at all.

A worked example

Here are correct score odds for a Premier League match (made-up example). They show how probability gets scattered across the outcomes.

Say you put £10 on 2-1. If the match ends 2-1, you get £90.00 back (£10 × 9.00), a net profit of £80.00. If it ends 1-1, you lose the whole £10, even though 1-1 had shorter odds than 2-1, and so a higher implied probability.

The row that catches my eye in this table is 4-3. At 67.00 the implied probability drops to 1.5%, and the bookmaker still lists it.

Normal time and abandoned matches

Correct score generally covers normal time only, stoppage time included. Goals in extra time usually don't count, unless the operator says otherwise. A 2-1 after 90 minutes settles the market as 2-1, even if the score changes in extra time.

If a match is abandoned before full time and isn't replayed the same day, correct score bets are generally voided and stakes refunded. The score at the moment of the stoppage is never used for settlement. An in-play 1X2 bet can sometimes be settled on the score already reached.

Margin and implied probability

Correct score converts to an implied probability like any other market: divide 1 by the odds. Odds of 9.00 on 2-1 give roughly 11.1%, exactly as on a 1X2 market. The conversion, with a fuller table of examples, is on the implied probability page.

Add up the implied probabilities of every outcome and the total usually tops 100%, just as on markets with few outcomes. The gap is the bookmaker's margin, which is explained on the bookmaker margin page. With dozens of possible scores on offer, that margin is spread thinly across lots of small prices rather than concentrated on two or three. That's part of why comparing correct score odds across bookmakers is harder than comparing a 1X2 line.

OddScore and correct score

Correct score isn't one of the markets OddScore tracks. The platform tracks the match result (1X2 or winner), totals and handicaps. This page sits in the Academy to explain a common sports betting mechanism, even when the market isn't analysed in the app.

See all the markets and their families →

Put it into practice

Apply this guide to real odds.

Dig into the market

Odds movements are only part of the story. Here are the next topics to read.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & methodology