Football: Half-Time / Full-Time Betting Strategy

Being a successful punter is all about finding value in betting. If you’re familiar with the concept, though, you’ll know that valuable bets aren’t that common.

Finding the right wager to make can take a lot of effort – and alternative markets are a major asset. You’ll need to have all the tools you can get your hands on in your Toolbelt. To that end, we’ll be exploring the Half Time/Full Time betting market and how to use it effectively.

What is the Half Time/Full Time bet?

Simply put, this market combines the Half Time and Full-Time result bets into one wager. Essentially, you’re predicting which team will be in the lead during half-time and which team will win in the end.

Also, note that this market does not take into account any score changes beyond the standard 90-minute timeframe. Specifically, we’re referring to stoppage time, injury time, extra time, or even penalty shootouts.

Anyway, a standard result bet presents the player with three options – home win, draw, or away. As you probably know, these are often referred to as 1, X, and 2, respectively. Since this market combines two result bets, Half Time/Full Time in football betting has 6 possible outcomes.

These are pretty much every possible combination of the two results:

• Home Lead – Home Win
• Home Lead – Draw
• Home Lead – Away Win
• Draw – Home Team
• Draw – Draw
• Draw – Away Win
• Away Lead – Away Win
• Away Lead – Draw
• Away Lead – Home Win

To bet on HT/FT, all you need to do is pick one of the above. Now, as you may have realized by now, this market is a fairly risky one. You’re trying to predict how the match will progress, which can be very hard. That said, some of the less likely options can have extremely high odds, resulting in high profits.

Knowing how to bet on Full Time/Half Time is all about picking the right option for the right situation. Most of them have their uses, though some should be wagered on with more care than others. Either way, this betting market is not beginner-friendly and requires extensive knowledge of sports betting predictions and calculating the value. Still, we can give you some pointers.

Half Time/ Full Time Betting Strategy

HT/FT betting on football is fairly versatile, meaning that there are several reasons why you’d want to go for it. For instance, a common use is to simply use it to increase the odds on “safe” bets. What does this mean?

Say you’re betting on a very one-sided match. Backing the favourite is likely to win, but the rewards may not be worthwhile. However, if you also throw in a prediction that they’ll be in the lead at half-time, the odds will increase. This is a very common way of making HT/FT bets and maybe a good starting point for beginners.

To reap the full rewards of HT/FT, though, you’ll have to dig deeper. Let’s say that, thanks to statistics and research, you know that the favourites tend to underperform in the first half. Or, conversely, that the underdogs tend to put up a strong fight in the first 45 minutes. You can then predict a draw at half-time, which would substantially increase the odds on an otherwise unrewarding wager.

Another common beginner strategy for Half Time/Full-Time betting is to go for a Draw/Draw. Essentially, you’re hoping for a 0:0 result – that’s statistically the most likely way to win this wager. If H2H stats indicate a high likelihood of a null result, you can get excellent returns. Much better than with a straight 1X2 bet, at least.

Half Time/Full Time Bet Tips

Consider a team’s strategy before making your selection. For instance, if the favourite of a match is defensively focused, the result at half-time is more likely to be a draw.

Similarly, keep up with football news. Details such as player injuries and weather can affect a team’s goal-scoring ability.