Moneyline betting

What is Moneyline (1X2) betting?

The premise is simple. Pick the likeliest of three outcomes:

• The favourite wins

• The underdog wins

• A draw

The terms ‘moneyline’ and ‘1x2’ are often used interchangeably and their use generally depends on where in the world you’re placing your bets. The key difference between the two is that only 1x2 bets allow you to bet on a draw. If you’ve placed a moneyline bet (generally on US sports like Basketball) and the result is a draw, your wagered stake will typically be returned to you. You will find that 1x2 markets are more common in sports with a high probability of a draw like football, and the odds are calculated differently. For clarity, a 3-way moneyline bet is essentially the same as a 1x2 bet.

Unlike other forms of betting, such as point spread, it doesn’t matter what margin a team won by, it just matters that the final result goes in their favour. Your chosen team could win by one point or one hundred and you’d receive the same payout. The only thing that matters is the outcome. 

It’s also worth pointing out that you can have situations where there’s little to choose between the two teams and there isn’t actually a favourite and an underdog and both options are instead available at the same price – with the outlier being the draw. 

Where to play on Moneyline (1X2)

Most betting operators offer moneyline betting thanks to its simplicity and popularity. Nice perks to look out for include unique promotions, competitive odds and smooth withdrawals. Here’s a few of the top bookmakers offering moneyline betting in the UK:

Moneyline (1X2) on bet365

You can find moneyline betting options at bet365 on sports where there are two competitors facing off against each other, such as football, boxing, rugby and tennis.

bet365 is best known for pioneering the ‘2 Goals Ahead Early Payout Offer’, which sees your bet settled early if your chosen team goes in front by two goals or more. Available on over 80 football leagues, this offer is an attractive option for bettors who like to dabble with match result betting.

On top of this, bet365 offers enhanced odds on big name competitions such as the Champions League, Europa League and the English Premier League. These enhanced prices are only available on 3-way moneyline bets, and bets placed on these enhanced odds won’t qualify for things like the ‘2 Goals Ahead Early Payout Offer’ or ‘Soccer Parlay Boost’. It’s definitely worth bearing this in mind if you’re placing moneyline bets at bet365.

If you’re based in the UK, you’ll generally find that bet365 defaults to displaying fractional odds, but you can change how you view them in your account settings. The ability to view fractional, decimal, American or American fractional makes bet365 a great choice for bettors who have crossed borders and are yet to learn a new system.

>Go to bet365

Moneyline (1X2) on Betfred

Betfred offers moneyline betting across a broad selection of sports. An established name in the UK, the bookmaker is known for their extensive and varied promotions, with their ‘Double Delight’ and ‘Hat-trick Heaven’ offers on selected football matches proving to be fan favourites amongst British punters. To get involved, you simply have to place a bet pre-match on a player to score first in an eligible game. If they go on to score a second or third time you’ll be paid out at double or triple the odds.

>Go to Betfred

Moneyline (1X2) on Unibet

A part of Kindred Group, Unibet is a Scandinavian bookmaker that has quickly gained traction in the UK. It offers moneyline betting on popular and more niche sports, such as bandy, hurling and Gaelic football. Unibet has won awards for both their commitment to social responsibility and the quality of their product, making it an all-round great choice for anyone placing moneyline bets in the UK.

The Unibet rewards centre is stocked with various ways to enhance your bet, including ‘Combo Boosts’, ‘Profit Boosts’ and ‘Reboosts’. You can also place ‘Insurance Bets’, which returns your stake as a free bet if your bet loses by a certain number of legs. 

Why bet on Moneyline (1X2)

With so much competition on the market, it’s important that you pick the right bet type that suits you. We’ve taken a look at some of the key things to consider around moneyline betting. 

Thanks to its popularity, moneyline betting tends to have higher market liquidity. This essentially means that since there’s a lot of money in the market in question, you’ll often see more competitive odds and higher betting limits.

There are unique risks associated with trying to profit from placing moneyline bets on favourites and underdogs. You’ll often find you are more likely to have to bet a large amount on a favourite if you’re hoping for any substantial payout. These risks often carry underwhelming rewards, and bankroll busting upsets happen all-too-frequently. 

Betting on underdogs also carries risk for more obvious reasons. However, moneyline betting is a great choice if you’ve got a knack for spotting ‘live dogs’ (underdogs with a legitimate chance of winning, despite unfavourable odds) or perhaps have a strong knowledge on more niche sports.

Moneyline (1X2) strategies

While the structure of the bet is simple, there’s plenty of strategies that you can employ when placing a moneyline bet. We’ve listed some of our best moneyline strategies for you below:

Always shop around for the best price: Since moneyline bets are so popular, bookmakers often compete with each other to lure in punters. As a result, it’s definitely worth making sure that you’re getting the best odds available. You can do this by shopping around at your favourite providers, or by using things like odds comparison tools to give you the best chance of finding a nice price on your chosen selection. 

Choose your underdogs wisely: Unsurprisingly, there’s always a high chance that the favourite will win. In this case you won’t lose money siding with them, but you have to risk more to get a substantial reward. Learning how to spot viable underdogs is a more lucrative approach than backing favourites. If you’re certain you want to bet on favourites, consider putting a couple in an accumulator to increase your potential return on investment (ROI).

Track prices over time: Bookmakers adjust their odds based on how the public interacts with them. Sharp movements tend to happen when betting pros (‘sharp bettors’) change their predictions, causing bookmakers to change their lines in response. Spotting price movements can indicate that the experts disagree with the general consensus and spotting these can suggest betting opportunities that everyone else might not yet have picked up on.

Keep an eye on teams off the pitch: If used correctly, things like social media, league tables and blogs can all be invaluable research tools. Keeping up to date with updates like injury news, new player announcements and predicted lineups (all of which we publish on LiveGoals) can help you spot potential discrepancies between predicted odds and likely outcomes. It’s useful to consult statistics to see how much home advantage affects your team and research their coach’s strategy.

Consider expected value: The best way to improve your bottom line is to consistently place bets where the bookmaker offers odds higher than the ‘true probability’ of the outcome. This creates positive expected value (+EV). It’s a difficult skill to master, but you can find the true probability of sports events by conducting your own research. You can achieve this by doing things like analysing statistical models, comparing your predictions with betting tips from renowned tipsters  and closely following the relevant news and updates ahead of the event. Once you have a full set of data, you can then calculate an ‘implied probability’ and compare it with the odds provided at your chosen bookmaker to see if your bet is worth placing.

When smart, bet early: Smart bettors can spot outlandishly favourable odds days or weeks before a contest and exploit them, which is known as ante-post betting. Making an ante-post bet requires an encyclopaedic knowledge of your chosen sport but can drastically improve your bottom line, particularly when betting on a favourite. It does carry more risk however, as placing bets further out leaves the window open to more potential change. 

Common mistakes to avoid with Moneyline betting (1X2)

A key thing to remember is to not  just look for bookies offering odds on the outcome you have in mind, but to instead look for value bets. You can do this by conducting thorough research and then considering if the odds you’re looking at are higher than the perceived probability. Since moneyline betting is so popular, you should get into the mindset of not settling for anything less than the most competitive odds.

As always, don’t let emotions cloud your judgement. Don’t bet on a team because of superstition or personal loyalties, and never place risky bets to make up for losses.

Moneyline (1X2) in different sports

Moneyline betting exists in pretty much every sport you can think of. Betting the moneyline was invented for head-to-head formats, and most bookmakers offer it for a variety of sports. 

⚽ Football

The term ‘match bet’ or ‘full time result’ is usually used to refer to a moneyline bet in football. Placing match result bets on football generally doesn’t include goals scored in extra time or penalties, so anything that happens after regulation time (90 minutes plus any injury time) won’t have an impact on your bet. Football matches held in a knockout format have the possibility of going beyond regulation time, which is where you can have the added risk of your chosen team winning a game but losing your bet – because they haven’t won in 90 minutes. 

🏀 Basketball

Basketball is one of the UK’s fastest growing markets for sports bettors and bookmakers are responding quickly to the growing demand. Fans enjoy betting the moneyline since the games are often tight and the leading position is passed back and forth very frequently. 

Regulations do not allow for scores to remain tied in basketball, so around 6% of NBA games go into overtime. Once again, bookmakers have individual rules regarding the score in these cases. Generally speaking, if a bookmaker offers a 3-way moneyline on a match, overtime will not count. The vast majority of bookmakers who only offer 2-way betting will include overtime in their result.

🎾 Tennis

Moneyline betting is common in tennis as there’s usually quite firm favourites to win, particularly in early rounds of grand slams. It’s not uncommon for bettors to place a few of these bets in accumulators in the early stages of tournaments.

If a player withdraws from a match once it starts, typically due to injury, this is considered a retirement. Bookmakers respond differently to this: some will void the bet, others deem retirement a loss and others state that all bets are valid if at least one set is completed. 

This is a relatively common occurrence, so choose a bookmaker with retirement policy in mind if betting on tennis is your thing. Some punters choose to spread their bets across bookmakers in order to to capitalise on differences in their retirement policies, thus mitigating risk.

Conclusion

Moneyline betting is an excellent introduction to sports betting. It’s simple enough to try without extensive research, but exploring relevant news and statistics will improve your chances dramatically.

While it might not provide the most lucrative payouts if you want to back the favourites, smart moneyline betting can be hugely profitable. It’s a great choice for beginners, but every bettor should have an understanding of the key things that make a strong moneyline bet – shopping around for moneylines, careful analysis and planning ahead.

If you’re going to make a profit on moneyline betting, you need to think about your long-term strategy, rather than shooting for huge short-term rewards. A good tip is to calculate your bankroll before placing any bets and to never gamble more than 1% of your income. If you think gambling is starting to negatively affect your life, help organisations are ready to provide support 24/7.