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Ian Bruce

The BTTS meaning in betting is straightforward. It’s the acronym for Both Teams To Score, which is a type of wager most commonly found in the world of football betting. In this guide, we explain how this bet works, how it is priced, and how it compares with other football markets.

BTTS Betting – How It Works

The BTTS betting market is available at most online betting sites in the UK. It involves predicting whether or not both teams will score in a particular game. While BTTS markets can sometimes be found in relation to other sports, Both Teams To Score is primarily viewed as a football market.

Bookmakers form their own opinions about how likely it is that both teams will score and then offer odds for Yes or No. The BTTS Yes meaning is that the bettor expects both teams to score a goal. Similarly, the BTTS No meaning is that the bettor does not expect both teams to score.

The selection made reflects the bettor’s own view of the match. If a Yes bet is placed and both teams score at least one goal each, the BTTS bet is a winner. If a No bet is placed, at least one of the teams must reach the end of the match without having scored for the bet to succeed. As with any wager, the outcome is uncertain and the stake can be lost.

BTTS Football Betting In Practice

With the BTTS betting meaning explained, here is how such bets appear in practice. Imagine an interest in Both Teams To Score in a match between Newcastle and West Ham. The market is found by visiting one of the football betting sites compared here and navigating to the relevant match page. The market for BTTS is usually listed somewhere below the main market for the match result. The available odds for Both Teams to Score will look something like this:

Both Teams to Score
Yes 1/2 No 6/4

At this point, clicking Yes or No adds that option to the betting slip, where a stake is entered before the bet is submitted. If the prediction proves correct, the bet wins; if not, the stake is lost.

Characteristics of the Both Teams to Score Market

Both Teams To Score is among the more widely used football markets, and there are a few reasons why it is familiar to both newer and more experienced bettors. Here are some of its main features:

The Match Result is Irrelevant

As far as the settlement of a BTTS bet is concerned, the result of the match is not a factor. It doesn’t matter which team wins or if the match ends in a draw. The only relevant question is whether or not both teams score a goal. This means BTTS is a market used by people who prefer not to predict match results.

BTTS Has Two Possible Selections

For those new to football betting, the BTTS market is simple in structure. There are only two options to choose from – Yes or No. That means fewer possible outcomes than in more complicated markets, such as Correct Score, which have many selections, though this does not make the result any more predictable.

Bets Are Settled Once the Outcome Is Known

When a BTTS bet is placed, the bookmaker settles it as soon as it has won or lost. If both teams score within the first ten minutes, a Yes bet is settled straight away because the outcome is already decided. Settlement can therefore occur well before the final whistle is blown.

Other BTTS Betting Markets

The standard BTTS market is straightforward, but bookmakers also package Both Teams To Score in a number of alternative ways, which involve additional conditions. The variations most commonly found at UK betting sites are described below:

BTTS and Result

SOCCER

Here you decide whether or not both teams will score, as in the regular market. You also have to predict whether the match result will be a home win, a draw, or an away win. Both parts of the selection must be correct for the bet to be settled as a winner. There are six possible outcomes in this market, so it is harder to get right than a regular BTTS bet, which is reflected in the longer odds attached to it.

BTTS in Both Halves

SOCCER

This is a bet on both teams to score in both halves of the match. That means both teams must score at least one goal each in the first 45 minutes and that both teams must go on to score at least one additional goal each before the full-time whistle is blown at 90 minutes.

BTTS No Draw

SOCCER

The Both Teams To Score No Draw market is essentially a variation on the BTTS Result market described above. In this case, the bet is that both teams will score and that the match won’t result in a draw. Other names for this bet are BTTS and Win, Both Teams To Score No Draw, and Both Teams To Score and Win. There are just two options to choose from, Yes and No. With a Yes selection, both teams must score, and the match must result in either a home win or an away win.

BTTS 2+

SOCCER

This BTTS betting market involves predicting whether or not both teams will score two or more goals each in the match. That outcome is far less common than both teams scoring once or more, so the market is not offered for every fixture. It tends to appear in games where the bookmaker anticipates a higher number of goals.

BTTS Acca

SOCCER

A BTTS acca is an accumulator bet that includes BTTS predictions for several different matches. For example, a bettor might make a BTTS prediction about four matches. As with most other acca bets, every prediction must be correct for the bet to win. That makes a BTTS acca less likely to be settled as a winner than a BTTS single bet, though the potential payout is larger, and the risk of losing the stake is correspondingly higher. An Accumulator Calculator can be used to work out potential returns.

BTTS Betting Tips and Strategies

We’ve defined the meaning of BTTS in betting, explained how the bet works and highlighted the most popular BTTS bets you can make. Let’s now go one step further and provide you with a handful of BTTS betting tips and strategies that can help you make the most of this bet.

  1. Look at For and Against

    One factor some bettors examine is the For (GF) and Against (GA) figures in the league table (such as the English Premier League table) for each team involved in the match. For a Yes selection, both figures being fairly high is relevant: it isn’t enough that a team scores plenty of goals, it also matters whether they concede their fair share.
  2. Assess Recent Results

    While the For and Against figures give an indication of how the teams have fared over the current season as a whole, more recent form can also be assessed. That means looking at how both teams have performed in their last two or three matches and whether they scored and conceded in most or all of them. No outcome can be predicted with certainty, however.
  3. Look at Head-to-Head Results

    Head-to-head records are another consideration, showing how the two teams have fared in previous matches against each other. If both teams scored in the majority of their meetings over the last three or four seasons, that is one piece of context, though past results are no guide to future ones.
  4. Check the Odds

    A further point relates to the odds a bookmaker is offering for the BTTS Yes and BTTS No options. Bookmakers assess football matches in far more depth than most bettors have time for, so significantly shorter odds on Yes or No usually reflect their own analysis. Bookmakers are not always right, so where the odds differ markedly from a bettor’s own view, some would describe that as a value betting situation, although losses remain possible in every case.

Characteristics and Limitations of BTTS Betting

As with any type of wager, the Both Teams to Score bet has both characteristics in its favour and points that count against it. We’ve summarised both sides of the case below so that you can see them at a glance and form your own view of how BTTS betting works.

Points in favour of BTTS Betting:

  • Used by both newcomers and more experienced bettors.
  • The BTTS bet is simple and straightforward.
  • Predicting the match outcome isn’t necessary.
  • Bets can be settled before the match ends.
  • BTTS bets can be included in accumulators.

Limitations of BTTS Betting:

  • Odds in regular BTTS markets are modest.
  • Form study is needed to make informed predictions.
  • Tougher BTTS markets aren’t available at all betting sites.

An Alternative to BTTS Betting

Those who are interested in the idea of BTTS betting may also come across a related and often-overlooked alternative: the Over 1.5 Goals market. Here you choose No if you think there will be no goals or just one goal scored in the match, or Yes if you think there will be two or more. The difference with this market is that either team can score the goals. So if one team wins the game by two or more goals to nil, the bet will win, whereas a BTTS bet on the same game would lose.

BTTS Bets in Other Sports

While BTTS is most commonly associated with football betting, similar markets can also be found in a handful of other sports. Here are a few examples:

  • Basketball Betting - A market on both teams to score over a certain number of points in a game.
  • Hockey Betting - A market on both teams to score a certain number of goals (2 or more, etc.).
  • Rugby Betting - A market on both teams to score a certain number of tries.

It is worth bearing in mind that the BTTS bet meaning in markets for other sports might differ slightly from how we’ve explained the meaning of BTTS in football betting. For that reason, it is sensible to check the specific rules of any market before staking money on it, as the requirements of that market may call for a different approach to Both Teams to Score.

Summary

Having read how BTTS in betting works, you should be able to recognise a range of markets that you might previously have passed over. BTTS betting will not suit everyone, and, as with all forms of betting, outcomes are uncertain and losses are possible. Anyone concerned about their gambling can find support and information through GamCare.

FAQs

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Ian Bruce

Ian Bruce joined Safest Betting Sites in 2024 as Senior Sports Editor to oversee the quality and usefulness of its gambling content. He originally developed an interest in betting after landing a winning Yankee on his first attempt. He then spent years figuring out how to replicate that success. Along the way, he became one of the UK’s leading writers on the topic of betting and gaming. Ian’s career has now spanned more than three decades, and his enthusiasm for systematic and responsible betting hasn’t waned one bit. However, his preferred approach to winning these days is Dutching, for the simple reason that “It’s a lot easier than landing Yankees.”