The correct score betting market involves correctly identifying the full time score of a football match. It's a risky market because there are so many factors in one football match that can vastly alter even the best indicators, and things like own goals, penalties and mistakes can happen. Saying that, using the correct score market does offer much higher odds than more traditional markets. The aim is to identify the exact number of goals scored in a game by each team.
Bookmakers usually accept scores right up to 7-6, but even then you may have the option to bet on 'other'. When a correct score is list as 1-0 it refers to the home team being the side that win 1-0 as they are always listed first (on the left). A correct score prediction of 0-1 would mean betting on the away side to win 1-0.
Pros of the correct score bet type
- If you can identify a correct score then the odds are sure to give you a fantastic payout as opposed to betting on the match result or total goals.
- Some teams are known for having typically tight and low scoring games which could make it easier to identify where on the correct score scale a game could fit in.
Cons of correct score markets in betting
- The risk is much higher. Even the worse team in the league can go to the best team in the league and score goals in the right circumstances.
- Bookmaker margins on the correct score market are very high, so you really need to have great insight to beat the bookmaker and make a long term profit.
What is the Correct Score bet type?
Correct Score betting is quite simple in concept but equally challenging when it comes to using the market successfully. Correct score is a market that's predominantly found in football (soccer) and other lower scoring sports.
If you select the home side to win 2-1, there's no margin for error, either it ends 2-1 to the home team, or your bet loses. Extra time in cup competitions do not count towards correct score markets, and how the goals are scored (own goals, penalties etc) is irrelevant. As long as you identify the correct number of goals each team score, then your bet wins.
When you place a correct score bet on a bookmakers website it's important to know that the home side will always be listed on the left. Draws will be in the middle, and the away side will be listed on the right.
Whilst a high strike rate may be unlikely when using this betting market we know that there are many things you can do to increase your chances of being profitable when using it. These can include avoiding games that are likely to be high scoring. If teams are known for regularly featuring in high scoring games, then the variance of possible correct scores grows significantly, thus decreasing your chances of winning.
Who uses the Correct Score betting market?
There are many ways to make money using this betting market. One approach is to identify games where you would expect under 2.5 goals to have a strong to near certain chance of occurring. That way you may be able to narrow down the likely outcomes to 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 and 1-1. Betting on all of them may not be your preference, but it gives you a smaller range of possibilities to choose from.
There are plenty of good statistics that can help inform a decision when betting on this market and another approach is identifying a strong favorite. It may be a near dead certainty that a home side is going to beat a home side, so it could be a case of checking recent form, head to head and their most common goal output to assess what range of correct scores you should be considering. If they're going to win comfortably (in your opinion), you may look to 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 for example.
The correct score betting market is one that you will see up and down the country in Saturday afternoon accumulators. It's more likely to be a popular choice with casual punters than a professional bettor, and that is because of the juicy odds on offer. Free to play games such as Sky Sports' Super Six, which involves predicting the correct score of six games, has endeared this betting market more to punters chasing the thrill of a big win. A professional bettor is much more likely to deal with the correct score market on the betting exchange where it can use the markets to back or lay outcomes and trade themselves into a position of profit.
The correct score market holds far more risk than a match market or a goals market, and the level of variables within a football match makes it a tough nut to crack. Outright betting on the correct score market is not something that you'll see professional bettors doing, whilst casual punters may well be drawn to the possibility of winning at juicy odds. With high bookmaker margins, the likelihood of profiting long term is lower than with other betting types, but it's not impossible.
Many people will back and lay off correct scores during the course of a game to trade themselves into a position of profit (trading). If you're confident enough to bet on a correct score market, then the overriding argument would be that placing a bet on the 1x2 or Asian handicap market and work with much less variance, and fewer losing streaks - which are inevitable when using a market like correct score.
Got the hang of the different bet types? See how successful tipsters make their mark by exploring our betting strategy guides.