A market is the question asked about a match. A selection is one of the possible answers. The line is the threshold some markets use (2.5 goals, for example) and the odds are the price of the selection. Markets fall into four families: result, totals and events, handicaps, secondary markets. Each one asks a different question.
What do the odds you're looking at stand for?
One match can offer dozens of markets. Final result, total goals, handicap, correct score, goalscorers, corners, player stats: each one asks its own question and is settled by its own rules. So odds never make sense on their own. They mean something once you know which market they belong to.
Before you read a price, find its market. Odds of 2.10 don't mean the same thing on a 1X2 and on an Over/Under.
Market, selection, line, odds: four words not to mix up
The market is the question and the selection is the answer. The line is the threshold, when the market has one. The odds are the price of the selection you pick.
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
ODDS 2.10 the attached price
A fictional example, to make it concrete:
| 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 questions, one match. 1X2 asks who wins. The total asks how many goals are scored. BTTS asks whether both teams score. Each has its own odds and its own way of being settled.
Market and ticket are two different things
1X2, Over/Under, BTTS and handicap are markets. Single bet and accumulator describe how selections are put together on a ticket. A single bet covers one selection, whatever its market. An accumulator combines several, sometimes from different markets. The full detail is on the page about single bets and accumulators.
The main families of markets
Common markets fall into four families, with one question per family.
Result answers "who wins?" or "which outcome from a closed set?". It's the best-known family: 1X2, Moneyline, Double Chance, Draw No Bet.
Totals and events compare a count with a line, or ask whether something will happen. That covers total goals or points (Over/Under), BTTS ("both teams to score") and correct score.
Handicaps apply an adjustment to the score, the margin or the total before the bet is settled. See handicap betting, split into European Handicap and Asian Handicap.
Secondary markets gather corners, cards, goalscorers, player stats and time-based markets. They have their own page: secondary and specialty markets.
Common markets in one table
| 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 go over 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 change with the sport and the operator. Treat this table as a rough guide, not a universal rule.
Main market or secondary market?
A main market, like 1X2 or Over/Under, covers the overall result of the match. A secondary market covers something narrower: a player, a passage of play, a statistic.
A secondary market is neither better nor worse than a main one. It often depends on more individual events, which changes its nature without touching its legitimacy.
Corners, cards, goalscorers and player stats are covered on the page about secondary and specialty markets. On OddScore, I'd rather track a few markets and track them well. Today that means the result for every sport covered, totals in football, basketball and American football, and handicaps in basketball and American football.
Betting before or during the match: same market
Betting before kick-off or once the match is under way changes neither the market nor its question. It's a moment, nothing more. In-play betting keeps recalculating the price of markets that are already open: a 1X2 or an Over/Under asks the same questions before and after kick-off. Once your bet is placed, some operators also offer Cash Out, a buyback whose price the bookmaker works out on your open position.
These two pages add the vocabulary of timing to the vocabulary of markets: when to bet, and what you can still do once the stake is down.
What this means for probabilities and odds
Every market has its own odds, margin and implied probabilities. The mechanics are the same everywhere. Turning odds into a probability, removing a bookmaker's margin or comparing a price with fair odds works the same way on every market. We explain them once, in the cluster on probability: implied probability, bookmaker margin, margin-free odds, fair odds.
The market stays, the price moves
Between opening and kick-off, the market doesn't change. The price of each selection can.
| Time | Over 2.5 odds |
|---|---|
| 10:00 | 2.05 |
| 15:00 | 1.94 |
| 18:00 | 1.82 |
The "Over/Under 2.5 goals" market stayed the same all day. Only the price of the Over selection moved. Why, and how to read it, is in the guide to odds movements and on the page explaining why odds change.
Understand why and how odds move →
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.
1X2 betting: understanding the 1, X and 2 odds
The most common three-way market in football.
Understand 1X2Moneyline: betting on the winner
Often two-way, and common in tennis and basketball.
Understand the MoneylineDouble Chance: 1X, 12, X2
One selection that covers two outcomes out of three.
Understand Double ChanceDraw No Bet: refunded if the match is drawn
If the match ends in a draw, your stake comes back.
Understand Draw No BetSingle bet or accumulator?
A different topic: how several selections combine on one ticket.
See the differenceOdds and probability
What a set of odds tells you once the margin is removed.
Understand oddsFrequently asked questions
What is a sports betting market?
It's the question asked about a match: who wins, how many goals are scored, which team scores first. Each market has its own 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 you pick from the outcomes on offer ("team A"). The odds are the price attached to that selection.
What is a line in a sports bet?
It's the threshold that separates two outcomes in some markets, for example 2.5 goals on an Over/Under. Not every market has one: 1X2 doesn't.
Are single bets and accumulators markets?
No. Single and accumulator describe how selections are put together on one ticket, not what a market contains. The detail is on the page about single bets and accumulators.
Is a secondary market riskier than a main market?
A more specific market often depends on more individual events, which makes it harder to assess. It isn't any less legitimate or reliable because of that.
Does OddScore analyse every market listed here?
No. OddScore tracks the match result for every sport it covers, totals (football, basketball, American football) and handicaps (basketball, American football). The rest, such as BTTS, correct score or secondary markets, isn't tracked. The page still explains how they work.
Sources and method
This page draws on everyday sports betting vocabulary, on settlement rules published by Betfair (a licensed operator), on the Gambling Commission's definitions and on what OddScore observes of the markets operators offer.
- For each common market, we separate the question asked, the possible outcomes and the settlement rules.
- We say plainly which markets OddScore tracks and which it doesn't track yet.
- Each market has its own detailed page, so we link there instead of repeating the explanation.
- Betfair, Exchange general rulessupport.betfair.com
- Betfair, charges and commissionbetfair.com
- UK Gambling Commission, definitions of terms
- BeGambleAware, support for players