When someone asks you if you are taking the 1, the x, or the 2 in soccer betting, do you know what that means?
You may not, but it is actually pretty simple to read in the various American betting apps. Many do not even have the numbers or the x in the apps, just boxes. But there are still some that do have the 1x2. So here is the explanation in the easiest of terms.
There is the home team listed first (always the home team listed first in soccer) with odds like -250, then a draw/tie with odds like +325, and finally a third box with odds like +600 for the road or away team.
The 2 in the 1x2 betting line is the away or road team in soccer. Unlike in other American sports, where the home team is listed second, the home team is listed first on a soccer score or betting app.
So if you see Manchester United draw Brighton & Hove Albion, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils are the home team (the 1 in the betting app), playing at Old Trafford, while the Seagulls will be the away team (the 2 in the betting app)
When you bet the money line on any soccer game, there can be three outcomes, also known as 1 x 2. The home team (1) can win, the away team (2) can win, or the match can end in a draw (x).
In regular-season contests, such as the English Premier League, Portuguese Liga Nos, Netherlands Eredivisie, the UEFA Europa League, and even the group stage games at the World Cup and other various tournaments, bets are graded at the end of the regulation 90 minutes of play, plus any time added on for injuries and substitutions.
Even when tournaments go to knockout stage contests, such as in the Champions League, Europa League, or the World Cup, and there could be extra time, standard soccer bets are settled in regulation time.
If the game goes to extra time, and you bet the 1x2 line, it is graded according to what the score was at the end of regulation time, before added extra time and penalty kicks.
For example, if you take France as the away team (the 2 in the 1x2 betting) this June in its EURO 2020 Group F match with Hungary, and Les Bleus win the contest 3-1, you would win your wager.
But if you took France in the knockout stage as the 2 (in the 1x2 betting line), and the match goes to extra time after a 1-1 regulation but Les Bleus end up scoring twice in extra time to win 3-1), you will lose your bet. The 1x2 line only counts for regulation, which was a 1-1 draw.
If you think the home team will win the match outright, you bet on 1. If you think the away team will win the game, you bet on 2. If you believe it will be a draw (a tie), which would be when the two teams have the same score when the final whistle is blown, you would bet the x (draw) for that outcome.
The 1x2 soccer betting line is very similar to the money line in other sports like the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) , and the National Hockey League (NHL).
Except in those sports, you always have a winner each game, with the exception of the NFL games, which occasionally end in ties. For soccer, though, many games end in draws at the end of 90 minutes and injury time, so that is where the extra x of the 1x2 comes into play. You can be very profitable betting on soccer draws.
So where do you place these bets online?
Any sports book in America will have the 1x2 odds on a soccer match. You can go to BetMGM, William Hill, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetAmerica, Golden Nugget Sportsbook, SugarHouse, Caesars, bet365, Unibet, Hard Rock, PointsBet, and Resorts. All have online and mobile capability.
Every month, there are more online apps launching as well, plus more states joining the sports betting fray. By the time 2021 ends, there could be six or seven more states, and over half of American states, that have some form of legalized online sports betting.
