Half Time/Full Time
Half time/full time betting is one of the most popular ways in which gamblers bet on football games. With this form of gambling, bettors attempt to predict the half time “result” (i.e. whether the home side will be winning, or the game will be standing at a draw or the away side will be winning) followed by the same thing at the end of the game. This is sometimes known as a “Double Result” bet.
It is, in effect, two bets, as each bet needs to come off for you to win, but obviously it isn’t the same as a double bet as the half time “result” is very likely to have some bearing on the real result at the end of 90 minutes.
Bookmakers, therefore, create a specific market for the nine different possible outcome combinations that exist for this form of bet which are as follows:
- Home/Home
- Home/Draw
- Home/Away
- Draw/Home
- Draw /Draw
- Draw /Away
- Away/Home
- Away /Draw
- Away /Away
Obviously, the odds offered reflect the perceived chances of the two sides playing one another. So, for example, if one of the English Premier League’s elite sides happened to be playing at home against one of the likely relegation candidates, the odds offered on the double result would be something like the following example (note – these odds are taken from a real Premier League game of this type):
- Home/Home 4/5
- Home/Draw 20/1
- Home/Away 100/1
- Draw/Home 11/4
- Draw /Draw 6/1
- Draw /Away 20/1
- Away/Home 22/1
- Away /Draw 22/1
- Away /Away 25/1
In this example, if the home side happened to be the much weaker side, the odds would be somewhat reversed – but not totally, of course, as home sides are given a better chance by the market before kick-off.
It’s important to remember that any extra time as may be played in a cup-tie doesn’t count; only the result at the end of normal time does. Also, if a match is abandoned for any reason, bets are voided and your stake will be replaced.
If you’re fairly confident one team is going to beat the other quite convincingly, you will always get better odds for a half time, full time bet for the win-win bet on that side than you will for a straightforward win bet. This is because, of course, other possibilities exist (i.e. your team may win 5-0 but score all the goals in the second half). But if you’re convinced your chosen side will get off to a good start and be leading at half time, this is always a more lucrative bet than a straightforward win in 90 minutes one.
