A secondary market covers a more precise event than the match result: a corner, a card, a scorer, a player stat. There are six main families: corners, cards, goalscorers, player statistics, time-based markets and team totals. The more precise the label, the more conditions have to line up for the bet to win. The precision doesn't remove any uncertainty.
More specific, not more random
A secondary market isn't more random by nature than a main market. Its result simply depends on more individual events, so its uncertainty takes a different shape.
It covers one precise situation: a player, a sequence, a statistic. That makes it neither less legitimate nor harder to understand.
Main market or secondary market?
Neither category is better than the other. They just answer different questions.
Main markets cover the match as a whole: winner, 1X2, total goals, main handicap. Secondary markets target a finer event: corners, cards, goalscorers, shots, passes, rebounds, player stats, moments of the match.
Why are they harder to read?
Several things can make a secondary market harder to read, though none of them is a universal rule.
It can hang on a rare event, on a player's role and playing time, on the tactical context, the match scenario, the referee, injuries or substitutions. Liquidity can differ too, fewer operators may offer it, stake limits can be different, and the margin can be built another way. I'd put playing time first on that list: a goalscorer price says very little until you know whether the player starts.
More precise doesn't mean more predictable
"A very precise market allows a more precise analysis."
However precise the label, the uncertainty stays. What it adds is a set of conditions that all have to line up for the scenario to happen.
Team A win
→ depends on the overall result
Player X to score
→ depends on starting, playing time, role,
number of chances, their quality, conversion
Player X to be booked
→ depends on playing time, tactical role, duels,
the match scenario, the referee, one individual event
Read those three lines from top to bottom. The list of conditions grows with each example, while the label sounds more and more precise.
The six families of secondary markets
Corners: Over/Under corners, corner handicap, one team's corners. Totals and handicaps work the same way as on main markets, just applied to a finer event.
Cards: total cards, most-booked team, a player to be booked. Operators don't always count red cards, second yellows and disciplinary points the same way. Read the exact market rules before you bet.
Goalscorers: anytime scorer, first or last goalscorer, depending on the operator. The market centres on one player rather than the team.
Player statistics, or Player Props: shots, shots on target, points, rebounds, assists, games won, aces, depending on the sport. You're betting on a player's individual performance, not on their team's result.
Time-based markets: team to score first, a goal before or after a given minute, half-time result, half-time / full-time combination. Settlement adds a time dimension on top of the question about the result.
Team Totals: for example Over 1.5 goals for Team A. They differ from the match total, which adds up both teams. The general workings of totals are explained on the Over/Under page.
Liquidity: a point of caution
Some main markets attract more activity than some secondary markets. That can affect how many prices are available, how stable they are, how fast they adjust, depth and limits.
It isn't a general rule, though. The level varies a lot by competition, operator and the exact market. The role of liquidity in price behaviour is covered on the page about sharp and soft profiles, and its effect on the odds in the guide to odds movements.
More specific doesn't mean more predictable. Before reading a price on a secondary market, check exactly what has to happen for the bet to settle as a winner.
OddScore and secondary markets
No secondary market is among the markets tracked by OddScore. This page belongs to the Academy: it explains a common 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.
See a market reading
A real match with its odds, movements and 0-100 signal.
Open the demoMargin calculator
Measure a bookmaker's margin on any market.
Calculate the marginDig into the market
Odds movements are only part of the story. Here are the next topics to read.
Types of sports bets
Market, selection, line, price: the main families of markets.
See the guideOver/Under: understanding totals betting
The general workings of totals, which Team Totals are built from.
See Over/UnderSharp or soft bookmaker: what's the difference?
Reaction speed and market depth, market by market.
Compare the profilesOdds movements
How to read a price movement, whatever the market.
See movementsFrequently asked questions
What is a secondary market?
It's a market on an event more specific than the overall result of the match: a player, a sequence of play, a statistic.
Is a corners bet more random?
Not by nature. The result depends on more individual events than a main market does, so the market behaves differently.
What is a Player Prop?
A bet on a player's individual performance (goals, shots, assists, rebounds, aces, depending on the sport) rather than on their team's result.
What's the difference between a Team Total and the match total?
The match total adds up both teams. A Team Total covers one team only, for example Over 1.5 goals for Team A. The general workings of totals are covered on the Over/Under page.
Why do some secondary markets have less liquidity?
Main markets often attract more activity, which affects how many prices are on offer and how fast they move. That doesn't hold for every market, though: some secondary ones stay very liquid.
Is a more precise market more predictable?
No. A more precise label adds conditions to the scenario (a player starting, their role, the context of the match) without reducing the uncertainty about the result.
Sources & methodology
This page draws on standard secondary-market vocabulary and settlement rules published by Betfair, a licensed operator. It covers the six families without going into detail on each one.
- Describe each market family briefly, with an example, without going into exhaustive detail.
- Talk about the factors that make these markets harder to read in conditional terms, without turning them into universal rules.
- Say clearly that the precision of a market label doesn't reduce the uncertainty of its result.
- Betfair, Exchange general rulessupport.betfair.com
- Betfair, Charges and commissionbetfair.com
- UK Gambling Commission, Definitions of terms
- BeGambleAware