Halftime / Fulltime Strategy

 

 

We like to present the most basic kinds of bets first, the most basic of which is just betting sides, whether using a fixed-odds bet or a spread bet. Both teams to score and over / under are some slightly more advanced bets that you might progress to if you’ve mastered the basics and want another way to beat the bookmakers and public out of their money. A half-time / full-time bet is yet another way to get good odds while still hedging against unnecessary variance. (Half-time / full-time is often abbreviated as HT / FT.) On the major bookmakers that lay the best odds for sharps — SBOBet, Pinnacle, and Betfair, to name a few — half-time / full-time bets are offered on association football matches, though they could pick up steam for American football and basketball as well. In a half-time / full-time bet, the bettor must predict the result after a single half of play (including injury time, or normal time), then he must also predict the result after the second half. Think of it as a parlay on a single game. In a normal sides bet for football, there are three possible outcomes: team one wins, draw, or team two wins (1×2). In a half-time / full-time bet, there are nine possible outcomes (three outcomes for the first half, half-time, times three outcomes for the total game, full-time). We’ll list them here:

Team 1 ahead after both halves (1/1)

Team 1 ahead at HT, then FT a draw (1/x)

Team 1 ahead at HT, then Team 2 wins (1/2)

Draw at HT, then Team 1 wins (x/1)

Draw at HT, Draw at FT (x/x)

Draw at HT, then Team 2 wins (x/2)

Team 2 ahead at HT, then Team 1 wins (2/1)

Team 2 ahead at HT, then FT a draw (2/x)

Team 2 ahead after both halves (2/2)

You’ll notice that the odds you get on the outcomes 2/1 and 1/2 are longer — more favorable, to the gambler — than the odds you’d get betting on a parlay of 2 at HT and 1 at FT, or vice versa. This is because the two bets are not independent events — in football, it’s quite unlikely that one team will be ahead at the half, and then the other team will win! In order to execute these bets profitably, you must have a strong grasp of both teams’ tendencies, as well as a good working knowledge of the simpler bets we cover on betting-strategy.org. Similarly, the odds you get on 1/1 and 2/2 are not as good as you’d expect from looking at the straight odds. Betting on even a heavy favorite to be ahead at HT and FT is risky, as teams will often look to conserve their energy in the first half. Remember that they aren’t obligated to score any time in the first half to win, just because you’ve wagered on them! Also remember that weird things happen in sports; that’s why everyone likes to watch and wager on them! Otherwise, there’d be no money in sports betting. At betting-strategy.org we try to help you find the patterns that nobody else will. HT / FT bets are just another place where these patterns can be.