Chris Hardy brings years of experience to Wetten.com, thanks to his strong background in journalism and online writing. Chris' career began nearly 20 years ago when he was hired to work for his local paper; he then made the move to web writing when he and his wife moved to the USA to be closer to family in 2017. This location change led Chris to develop a particular passion in US sports such as basketball and NFL (he remains a beleaguered Miami Dolphins fan and is sure their turnaround season will happen... one day) and he utilises his all-encompassing knowledge of US sports, along with soccer, when writing for Wetten.
What is 1×2 betting?
If you want to make any money from your sports bets, it’s well worth asking ‘What is 1×2 betting?’. This is because 1×2 betting markets are some of the most common bets that you’re going to come across. So if you have any hope of making any profits on sports like cricket and soccer, then you’ll need to get the question of ‘What is 1×2 betting?’ answered.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced pro or a rookie asking for advice on which bookmaker is best for beginners in Australia, as we are here to give you a helping hand. So keep reading to see our answer for the important question of ‘What is 1×2 betting?’
If you’ve wondered how bookmakers make money, it’s because they will put up odds for a variety of outcomes for a sporting encounter. Such sporting contests commonly include popular sports like soccer, cricket and rugby that have three potential match outcomes – a win, draw and a loss.
1×2 betting markets will correspond to these potential outcomes. The 1 would represent a home win, the x represents a draw, while the 2 represents an away win. It’s important to note that home wins and away wins are still the common terms to use even when there isn’t a home advantage such as in the Cricket World Cup.
It’s your job as a punter to put down your bets on any one of these three betting markets. If you know how betting odds are calculated, then you’ll find that bookmakers will put plenty of research into making sure that each of the 1×2 odds they put up gives them a slight edge. Despite this, 1×2 is one of the most simple bet types that you can come across.
A quick word about double chance betting
We should note that we can’t answer ‘What is 1×2 betting?’ without mentioning double chance betting where you could bet on two of the potential outcomes happening. You’ll get less in the way of profits with double chance bets, but it can give you a little extra insurance.
1×2 bets explained with examples for cricket
If you’re still asking ‘What is 1×2 betting?’ then we thought we’d help you out with a quick example. You won’t be able to try 1×2 bets for limited-overs tournaments like the Big Bash League. But any cricket match where a draw is possible such as Test match cricket or the Sheffield Shield lends itself well to some 1×2 betting.
So, if you wanted to bet on Australia in an Ashes Test match against England, you could go to a bookmaker like one of the best betting sites with Skrill in Australia and see what 1×2 odds they had.
As Australia were the home team, you might see odds of something like 2.25 in the first column for a home win. England’s odds would be in the last column and could be something like 2.80 for an away win. In the middle you’d find odds of somewhere around 3.50 for a draw.
Now you just have to put your money down on one of these options being the final match result and hope that luck is on your side.
1×2 bets explained with examples for soccer
1×2 betting is hugely popular amongst soccer fans, as there’s a pretty good chance of there being a draw. Bookmakers commonly undervalue the drawing result, so while backing a draw might seem anticlimactic, it’s a good way to get a little more from your soccer bets.
As Adelaide had home advantage and the better recent form, you might see odds of 1.65 in the first column, while Melbourne Victory would have odds of 6.00 in the away win column. The draw would be something like 3.60 in the middle column.
1×2 bets explained with examples for rugby
You might be thinking ‘What is 1×2 betting?’ when it comes to sports like rugby where draws are very rare. Thankfully, you’ll find that the whole concept is exactly the same.
For a match between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Cronulla Sharks, a Rabbitohs home win would be in the first column with odds of something like 1.72, a Sharks away win would be in the final column with odds of around 2.20, and the unlikely draw would be represented in the middle with odds of around 21.00.
Any sport with a draw is going to be perfect for 1×2 betting. Soccer and cricket are the most obvious options, but you could also find 1×2 bets for sports like ice hockey, rugby and more. While Australian rules football matches sometimes have a draw, there are often too rare for bookmakers to put on 1×2 betting markets.
One option would be to go to a betting exchange in Australia. Here you’d get a chance to not only back 1×2 betting markets, but you could also lay each of these bets which means that you’d be betting on the predicted result not happening.
It’s well worth asking ‘What is Asian handicap betting?’ if you’re looking to back a favourite on 1×2 markets, but can’t get any decent value odds. This can take out the draw from the equation and put a team or player at a points advantage or disadvantage. By doing this, you stand to get better odds for a favourite, or more chances of wins when backing an underdog.
Just because you have taken a 1×2 bet doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily locked into this bet until the end of the match. Be sure to find out the answer to the question of ‘How does cash out betting work?’ and then find a bookmaker with this feature to give you more flexibility with your 1×2 bets.
If you have the best strategy for no risk matched betting Australia has to offer, then you can pretty much guarantee winning bets. However, doing this could cause you to be banned from getting bookmaker bonuses, and not even going to the best resource for making bookmaker complaints Australia has at the moment is going to help you out.