To Win Both Halves Betting Market Explained – Full Definitions

Written By: Conor Rafter
Last Updated: October 11, 2022

To Win Both Halves Betting Market Explained

In order to win a bet on the ‘To Win Both Halves’ betting market, you must correctly choose the victor in the two halves of a football match. Unlike the Half Time/Full Time Market, where you can pick from more than one outcome over the course of both halves (E.G. Draw/Home Team), this market requires that you select one team to outscore their opponents in both halves.

Ladbrokes’ description of the market is as follows:

Ladbrokes definition

The 90-minute match is split into two 45-minute halves, your selection must outscore the opponent in both halves. E.g. If your team is leading 1-0 in the first half, and the game finishes 1-0, the score in the second 45 minutes was 0-0, a draw, and therefore only the first half is deemed a winner and the bet loses.

Ladbrokes
To Win Both Halves Betting Market Explained - Ladbrokes description
The Ladbrokes description of the “To Win Both halves” betting market.

And SkyBet has a shortened definition of this market in its Football Rules section:

Sky bet Definition

You’re betting on: the nominated team scoring more goals than their opponents in BOTH the first half AND the second half.

Sky Bet
To Win Both Halves Betting Market Explained - Skybet description (1)

To Win Both Halves Terminology

As ‘To Win Both Halves’ is quite a simple, down-to-earth market, there isn’t much more to know beyond its definition at face value. 

The ‘halves’ refer to two sets of 45 minutes within a football match, with the team in question required to score more than their opponent throughout both parts of the game. At some sportsbooks, such as Betfair, the home team is referred to as ‘1’ and the away team is labelled ‘2’. You’ll know which is which by examining the stadium the match is being played in – E.G. Liverpool vs Manchester United at Anfield, Liverpool would be ‘1’ and United ‘2’.

To ‘Win’ simply means that one team overcomes the other by bagging more goals. When the team ‘wins’ both halves, they have outscored the opponent in the first and second half. ‘Both’ represents the fact that to win the bet, the team you bet on must win the first and second half.

How ‘To Win Both Halves’ Betting Market Works

You’re predicting which team will win in both halves of a football match. This does not mean you’re betting on the exact scoreline, goalscorers, not how many goals will be scored per half.

As the premise of the market is incredibly easy to grasp, this is a great market for inexperienced bettors without requiring a detailed strategy. Just do your research on the teams you’re betting on to get a feel for their form, then add the selection to your betslip and input a stake. 

It’s important to remember that your team must win both halves for the bet to come good. For instance, if you bet on Chelsea To Win Both Halves against Arsenal and the Blues win 3-0 in the first half but the second half ends 1-1, your bet loses. This is because Chelsea failed to win both halves despite winning the game.

See below for more examples of bets in the ‘To Win Both Halves’ betting market.

Hungary vs England – SkyBet Example

  • SkyBet have England To Win Both Halves at 3.50 (5/2).
  • A £10 on this selection would win £35 if England outscores Hungary in the first and second half.
  • E.G. England wins 1-0 in the first half, then 2-1 in the second half.
  • The game ends 3-1 to England and your bet wins.
To Win Both Halves Betting Market - Hungary v England

Italy vs Germany – William Hill Example

  • William Hill has Italy to Win Both Halves at 9.50 (17/2).
  • A £5 bet on Italy to Win Both Halves could win £47.50.
  • E.G. Italy beat Germany 2-0 in the first half and score once to no reply (1-0) in the second half.
  • The game ends 3-0, and your bet wins.
To Win Both Halves Betting Market - Italy v Germany

Croatia vs Austria – SkyBet Example

  • SkyBet is offering Croatia To Win Both Halves at 6.50 (11/2).
  • A £20 bet on Croatia to outscore Austria in both halves has the potential to see returns of £130.
  • E.G. First half ends 1-0 in Croatia’s favour and the scoreline is repeated in the second half.
  • The 2018 World Cup runners up win the match, and your bet is a good one.
To Win Both Halves - Croatia v Austria

Strategy For This Betting Market

Betting strategy for the ‘To Win Both Halves’ betting market is fairly straightforward. Picking a team that is sure to outscore their opponents in both halves of the match is essential. 

Bet On Teams That Score A Lot

If a team tends to go into halftime without a lead and scores a big percent of their goals in the second half, they aren’t likely to win this bet for you.

Similarly, if a team tends to grab a 1-0 lead in the first half and then put ten men behind the ball and defend deeply, they also are not a good pick. They will need to outscore their opponents in the second half too for the bet to win.

Teams don’t necessarily need to be great defensively in this bet – they need to be proven goalscorers. Even if you bet on a team that is known for leaking goals, they can still win this bet for you by simply outsourcing their opponent in both halves.

Bet On Teams Playing Against Defensively Weak Teams

Whilst backing a team that tends to score a lot is advised, value can be found by backing a team whose opponents leak a lot of goals. 

If the team you back in this bet have been a little goal shy but find themselves up against a relegation threatened team who leak a lot of goals, they could be a prime candidate to back in this bet and good value could be found if they are often a little shy in front of goal.

Understand the difference between ‘To Win Both Halves’ and the ‘Halftime/Fulltime’ betting market

Example 1: Your chosen team leads 1-0 at half time and finishes the match 1-0.

Example 2: Your chosen team leada 2-0 at half time and finishes the match 4-2 winners.

In these two examples, a bet on the ‘To Win Both Halves’ market would lose. This is because in both examples, they didn’t win the second half. 

In Example 1, your chosen team won the first half 1-0 but drew the second half 0-0. In Example 2, your chosen team in the bet won the first half 2-0, but drew the second half 2-2.

In both of these example scorelines, a bet on this team on the ‘Halftime/Fulltime’ betting market would have won, though, because both teams were winning at halftime and then were full time winners. 

To learn more about the halftime/fulltime betting market, read our guide.

Conor Rafter
Conor Rafter

I’m a freelance writer who loves all things sports & betting related. Having worked in this field since 2018, I’ve experienced a wide range of intriguing bookmakers and online casinos. With this expertise, I strive to create helpful, honest articles. My primary goal is quite simple: to guide and inform readers using facts and analysis.

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