A market defines the question asked about a match. A selection is one of the possible answers. A line is the threshold used by some markets (2.5 goals, for example). An odd is the price attached to the selection. Markets group into a few main families — result, totals, events, handicaps, secondary markets — each answering a different question.
What does the odd you're looking at actually represent?
A single match can offer dozens of markets: final result, total goals, handicap, correct score, goalscorers, corners or player statistics. Each market asks a different question and has its own settlement rules. An odd never makes sense on its own — it only means something once you know which market it belongs to.
Key point. Before reading an odd, always identify the market it belongs to. The same odd of 2.10 does not mean the same thing on a 1X2 and on an Over/Under.
Market, selection, line, odd: four concepts not to confuse
A market is a question. A selection is an answer. A line is a threshold, when the market has one. An odd is the price attached to the chosen selection.
EVENT Team A vs Team B the match
MARKET 1X2 / Total 2.5 / BTTS the question
SELECTION 1, X, 2 / Over / Yes the chosen answer
LINE 2.5 the threshold, when it exists
ODD 2.10 the attached price
Fictional example, for illustration only:
| Market | Selections and odds |
|---|---|
| 1X2 | 1 → 2.10 · X → 3.40 · 2 → 3.60 |
| Total 2.5 goals | Over → 1.90 · Under → 1.95 |
| BTTS | Yes → 1.80 · No → 1.95 |
Three markets, three distinct questions, asked on the same match. 1X2 asks who wins. The total asks how many goals will be scored. BTTS asks whether both teams will score. Three questions, three settlement families, three independent sets of odds.
Market ≠ ticket structure
1X2, Over/Under, BTTS and Handicap are markets. Single bet and accumulator are ways of assembling selections, not markets.
A single bet stakes money on one selection, whatever market it comes from. An accumulator combines several selections, possibly from different markets, into one ticket. This distinction is covered in detail on the page dedicated to single bets or accumulators — it isn't repeated here.
The main families of markets
Common markets group into four main families, each answering a different question.
Result — who wins, or which outcome occurs among a closed set. This is the best-known family: 1X2, Moneyline, Double Chance, Draw No Bet.
Totals and events — how much of a given event will happen relative to a line, or whether a specific event will occur. This includes the total goals or points, known as Over/Under, BTTS ("both teams to score"), and correct score.
Handicaps — the result once an artificial adjustment is applied to the score, the margin, or the total. See handicap betting, split into European Handicap and Asian Handicap.
Secondary markets — corners, cards, goalscorers, player statistics, time-based markets. A family deliberately grouped on a single page, covered in secondary and specialty markets.
Summary table of common markets
| Market | Typical outcomes | Main question |
|---|---|---|
| 1X2 | 3 | Home, draw or away? |
| Moneyline | Usually 2 | Who wins? |
| Double Chance | 3 selections covering 2 outcomes | Which two outcomes are covered? |
| Draw No Bet | 2 | Who wins, with the draw refunded? |
| Over/Under | 2 | Does the total exceed the line? |
| BTTS | 2 | Do both teams score? |
| Correct score | Many | What will the exact score be? |
| European Handicap | 3 | What is the result after the handicap? |
| Asian Handicap | 2 | Which side covers the handicap? |
| Secondary markets | Variable | Which specific event happens? |
The number of outcomes and the exact settlement rules vary by sport and by operator. This table gives an order of magnitude, not a universal rule.
Main market or secondary market?
A main market — like 1X2 or Over/Under — usually covers the overall result of the match. A secondary market covers a more specific event: a player, a sequence of play, a statistic.
A secondary market is neither better nor worse by nature than a main market. It often depends on a larger number of individual events, which changes its nature, not its legitimacy.
The detail of secondary markets — corners, cards, goalscorers, player statistics — is covered on the page dedicated to them: secondary and specialty markets.
What these markets have to do with probability and odds
Every market has its own odds, its own margin and its own implied probabilities — the underlying mechanics are shared by every market.
Converting an odd into a probability, removing a bookmaker's margin, or comparing an odd with a fair odd works the same way regardless of the market observed. These mechanics are explained once, in the cluster dedicated to probability: implied probability, bookmaker margin, margin-free odds, fair odds.
The market stays the same, the price can move
The market posed on a match doesn't change between opening and kickoff. The price attached to each selection can.
| Time | Over 2.5 odd |
|---|---|
| 10:00 | 2.05 |
| 15:00 | 1.94 |
| 18:00 | 1.82 |
The "Over/Under 2.5 goals" market didn't change over the course of the day. The price attached to the Over selection did. Why that movement happens, and how to read it, is covered in the dedicated guide to odds movements and on the page explaining why odds change.
Understand why and how an odd moves →
Dig into the market
Odds movements are only part of the story. Here are the next topics to read.
1X2 betting: understanding the 1, X and 2 odds
The most common three-way result market in football.
Understand 1X2Moneyline: betting on the winner
Usually two-way, common in tennis and basketball.
Understand the MoneylineDouble Chance: 1X, 12, X2
A selection that covers two outcomes out of three.
Understand Double ChanceDraw No Bet: refunded if the match is drawn
Your stake is refunded if the match ends in a draw.
Understand Draw No BetSingle bet or accumulator?
A different concept: how several selections combine on one ticket.
See the differenceOdds and probability
What an odd really tells you once the margin is removed.
Understand oddsFrequently asked questions
What is a sports betting market?
A market is the question asked about a match: who wins, how many goals will be scored, which team scores first. Each market has its own possible outcomes and its own settlement rules.
What is the difference between a market and a selection?
The market is the question ("who wins?"). The selection is the answer chosen among the outcomes on offer ("team A"). The odd is the price attached to that selection.
What is a line in a sports bet?
The line is the threshold some markets use to separate two outcomes, for example 2.5 goals on an Over/Under market. Not every market has a line: 1X2 doesn't.
Are single bets and accumulators markets?
No. Single and accumulator describe how several selections are assembled into one ticket, not the content of a market. The detail is covered on the page dedicated to single bets or accumulators.
Is a secondary market riskier than a main market?
A more specific market often depends on more individual events, which can make it harder to assess. That doesn't make it less legitimate or less reliable by nature.
Does OddScore analyze every market listed here?
No. OddScore tracks a limited number of markets depending on the sport, listed transparently on each dedicated page. This page describes how markets work in general, including ones the platform doesn't track.
Sources & methodology
This page combines standard sports betting market vocabulary, settlement rules published by Betfair, a licensed operator, and OddScore's own observation of the markets actually offered by operators and tracked by the platform.
- Distinguish, for each common market, the question asked, the possible outcomes and the settlement rules.
- State explicitly which markets OddScore tracks and which it does not yet.
- Link out to each market's dedicated page to avoid repetition and keep each explanation in one place.
- Betfair — Exchange general rulessupport.betfair.com
- Betfair — Charges and commissionbetfair.com
- UK Gambling Commission — Definitions of terms