How to Read Football Betting Odds (1X2)

1X2 betting is predicting which side will win or if an event will end in a draw.

1 = Team 1
X = Draw
2 = Team 2

In contrast to basketball or tennis, it is quite common for a football match to end in a draw. This is so common that the prices for football events are usually shown as “1X2”, and not as a 2 outcome market as in other sports.

“1X2” breaks down as follows:

X – This market represents the draw in an event. The draw can be any score, as long as both sides are equal; the score can range from 0-0 to a high scoring tie such as 6-6

1 – This market is Team 1, traditionally the home team. Make sure you double check! Inconveniently, in North America the road team is listed first.

2- This market is Team 2, traditionally the road team. Again, North America does things backwards and puts the road team first.

Commonly you will see odds for football events listed on a sportsbook like this:

In the example, Chelsea is “1” and Man City is “2”, choosing a draw as the outcome would have you pick “X”. The markets are not directly aligned with the team names, so you need to remember the relationship between the 1X2 prices and the teams in the event.  Though betting on the draw may not be as exciting as backing your favourite team, it can be a very profitable approach to wagering on football matches!

To convert any odds formats check out Pinnacle’s odds converter.