Win Both Halves Explained
With so many types of betting markets out there, it is hard for UK sports fans to get started. One of the best sports betting markets that is often overlooked by some is 'win both halves'. While this might seem like a straightforward choice, not everyone is aware of the win both halves betting market. Our guide to win both halves has all the information people need, so read on for full details.
Win Both Halves Explained
As the name suggests, win both halves bets involves predicting that a team will score more goals - in football, or points in rugby - in both the first half and the second half of the match. However, although this type of bet is available on all of the best football bookies, it has quite a low profile. And many people might not even realise that it is also commonly used in rugby union betting.
These days, customers of the top UK betting sites often use the win-both-halves market as a way to get more value. Let's say that Liverpool are playing Everton in the Premier League. Liverpool will be the strong favourites, so their odds to win the game are not likely to be very appealing at all. However, a bigger price will be offered on the win-both-halves market, meaning punters can back the favourite and still get a good return.
The final score of the match does not matter in win both halves bets, as long as the team that has been backed scores more goals than the opposition side in both halves of the game. So if Liverpool win the game 3-0 but score all of the goals in the first half, the bet would lose. However, if the score is 2-0 with Liverpool 1-0 up at half-time and scoring again after the break, this would satisfy the conditions of a winning wager.
Naturally, the team that has been backed to win both halves must be in the lead at half-time. This is the first thing that has to happen in order for a win both halves wager to be a winner. However, what makes win both halves bets different from a similar market such as the HT/FT option is that the team being backed has to score more goals in the second half of a game too.
How to Place a Win Both Halves Bet
The process for placing a win both halves bet works the same as in any other wager. The win-both-halves option is available both pre-match and in-play. Here is how to place these bets:
Login to Your Preferred Betting Site
Once you are in, you need to browse the sportsbook for a specific match to bet on.
Find the Win Both Halves Market
You will usually have to scroll down to find the win both halves market, which is offered both live and pre-match by most bookmakers.
Pick the Team You Want to Back
If you know which team to back, then you just have to add your pick to the bet slip to continue.
Enter the Stake and Place the Bet
After adding your pick to the bet slip, you need to enter the desired stake, checking out the amount of potential profit up for grabs. Then tap on confirm to place the bet - and good luck!
Tips and Strategies for Win Both Halves Markets
While nothing can ever be guaranteed once the action gets underway out on the pitch, these tips and strategies for betting on To Win Both Halves markets could well come in very handy.
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Carry out research by assessing data and statistics: Teams that score a lot of goals are more likely to provide winning wagers in win both halves markets. A side that wins a lot of games by a tight score such as 1-0 or 2-1 will not be worth backing to win both halves. Something else to consider is when they normally find the net (a nice spread is best here).
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Pay attention to the team news for a game: It goes without saying that if a team is set to be without a star striker, it will affect their chances of scoring in both halves. The presence of a 'supersub' type striker on the bench is also worth looking out for, as these players can help increase the chances of a winning bet.
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Tactics play a part: In the event of a team knowing they need to boost their goal difference, for example, this could point to them trying to rack up a big score against their opponent, increasing the chances of this type of bet winning. Of course, it could also be the opposite and defence-minded teams should be avoided for this type of bet.
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Home advantage matters: Most teams tend to perform better in front of their own fans rather than away from home, which will be reflected in all the odds for the away team to win both halves. But it might also be worth taking a look at a team's record at a specific stadium, which might be positive even though it is away from home.
Advantages to Win Both Halves Bets
There are a few big advantages to win both halves bets and some of the other similar betting markets out there, such as double chance, to win either half or the HT/FT betting market.
One of the major reasons to choose a win both halves bet or a similar option is to find more value. Football fans will know that one of the most important things to think about when betting is value, as there is a lot more to it than simply predicting the outcome of a game accurately.
In football, it is often the case that one team is strongly favoured in the betting market for a game. This can result in low odds - although you can our odds comparison to find the best ones - that are not particularly appealing. But in the win both halves betting market, backing the favourite can be a lot more lucrative due to the fact it is more challenging for a side to outscore their opponent in both halves of a game.
Very good value can also be found for win both halves and similar betting markets when a customer has decided that they want to side with the team that is not the favourite in the odds.
A couple of similar markets to win both halves bets offer multiple opportunities to win, which helps to explain why they have become popular options among football fans across the UK. As the name of this market suggests, double chance gives a user two ways to win their bet, with only one of the three potential outcomes - home win, draw or away win - leading to a lost bet.
There is a similar situation for win either half bets, which give users two shots at predicting the outcome accurately and picking out a winning wager. This bet can also land at half-time in a particular game, meaning the wager is paid out and the second half of the match is irrelevant.
Factors to Keep In Mind With Win Both Halves Bets
While the win both halves betting market is not that complex, there are some factors to consider. For example, it is usually the case that a win both halves bet is for 90 minutes only. This only comes into play for a cup competition like the FA Cup or the knockout rounds of the Champions League, but it is definitely worth taking into account for those placing win both halves wagers.
As an example, let's say that Manchester City are up against Barcelona at home, with the game being the second leg of a knockout tie in the Champions League tournament. City then need to score more goals than Barcelona to win the wager, but only in 90 minutes. This means that if City are 1-0 up at half-time and then 3-1 up at full-time, then the bet has won.
However, in the event that City led 1-0 at half-time and then 2-1 at full-time, but 3-1 after extra-time, the win both halves wager would have lost due to the fact it only counts the initial 90 minutes. It should be noted that injury time, or additional time, is not the same as extra count and a win both halves bet will count until the referee blows the full-time whistle
By the same token as any extra time not being included in the outcome for a win both halves market, if a cup match goes to a shootout then the penalties are not taken into account either.
A rarer factor to think about when placing win both halves bets is what might happen to the wager in the event of the game being called off during the second period of the match. This is a rare occurrence but can happen for a range of reasons, such as crowd trouble or poor weather.
Most of the time, bets such as win both halves wagers will be declared null and void in the event of a match not being completed in this fashion. This means the customer's stake is returned.
Win Both Halves FAQs
What does win both halves mean?
How does it differ from HT/FT betting?
How to lay win both halves?
Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.