Online sports betting has completely revolutionized the industry with new ways to bet. Nowadays, picking the winner is not enough. Punters are looking for new and innovative ways to wager where head-to-head bets come in. While they are mostly similar to picking a winner in a standard match, there are crucial differences between them.
As mentioned, H2H betting is a standard form of gambling in sports where you pick one athlete or team to finish ahead of the other. If your selection finishes above the other, you win your bet. Not in a direct match where you choose a winner – head-to-heads can pit any player or team against another in a competition. For example, in a golf tournament with 100 participants, a pair of players might be offered an H2H wager, with you picking the winner.
This exciting market can be tailored to any sport. Esports, Formula 1, horse racing, football, tennis – a head-to-head bet works on them. This wager doesn’t matter if your pick wins the match or the tournament – it only matters who wins the virtual matchup.
Head-to-head sports betting is picking up serious steam as it’s a fun way to put your money on matchups that don’t happen for real. For example, the real money bookie might offer 2 pairs in a tennis match, and it’s up to you to choose if one player does better. This type of betting can be tailored for teams and is popular since it doesn’t require you to pick the winner of a match or a tournament.
It is a tough choice to make. Nowadays sports betting suggests a variety of options and systems to choose from. Team-based gambling allows you to pick a team winner of a match, competition, or tournament. Regarding betting head-to-head, it’s a virtual matchup that doesn’t occur. Think of it as an imaginary match between 2 players or teams, and you have to pick which finishes above the other.
Punters consider it more entertaining than team-based betting, and we like the idea too. It would be better to try both approaches and see which suits your wants and needs more.
Head-to-head contests might sound confusing, but the process is very simple. It is a competition that puts 2 players or teams contesting directly against each other in a tournament, so the market is always offered in pairs.
Below are a few examples to put sports betting h2h into perspective.
Let’s see a Formula 1 example:
Both Leclerc and Verstappen compete in F1. While they might not often fight for the top spot, with a head-to-head bet, in this case, you’re wagering on who finishes best. For example, a bet on Leclerc will win if he finishes 2nd but ahead of Verstappen from the 3rd spot down.
You might get h2h odds that put Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal in tennis. You pick one of the players to win the match, and you will win your bet if they defeat their opponent.
Placing a head-to-head stake is easy at the best high-stakes bookies. Find the betting head/to/head market on which you want to put your money, click on the odds, and enter your stake. It’s that easy.
Another exciting thing about head-to-head betting is that sportsbooks have gotten creative with offering this market to punters. Punters can now find additional betting opportunities for H2H bets via prop betting. This option always surrounds wagering on whether or not a player or team can reach some specified statistics or achieve particular milestones. The best part is that this head to head props are available across most sports. However, the offering will vary depending on the sportsbooks.
Some of the standard head-to-head props that you can come across while betting include:
Head-to-head betting can be applied to virtually any sport. Whether it’s football, basketball, tennis, Esports, Nascar racing, horse racing, or golf, you’ll find no shortage of h2h markets.
The rise of Esports in recent years has led to the availability of the sport for punters in the betting scene. Head-to-head betting is one of the popular options many punters opt for in Esports. In Esports, head-to-head betting involves wagering on the outcome of a direct competition between two specific Esports teams or players. Like the H2H betting options, this one, too, focuses on the performance of selected players or teams against each other rather than the outcome of the overall tournament or event.
As one of the top Esports betting markets, CSGO is perfect for head-to-head bets. Choose the player or team you think will win the match, and watch how the action unfolds with live streams.
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport worldwide, with a massive global fanbase. As such, the sport receives the most attention from bettors, making it an excellent option for sportsbooks to offer head-to-head bets.
Since it’s a team sport, head-to-head in football refers to the typical standard bet that pits a team against its opponent in a football game. In football, this refers to the match result or 1X2 wager. You back the “1” option if you believe the home team will win or back “2” if you think the away team has the advantage. The “X” bet is the option that covers the event of a draw during a game.
For example, let’s say that Liverpool is set to play Newcastle in an EPL matchup in the former’s home. A typical sportsbook will offer this market to punters:
| 1 | X | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Liverpool vs. Newcastle |
1.68 |
3.50 |
5.25 |
In this head-to-head market, you can back Liverpool, potentially winning $68 in profit for every $100 you stake. A bet on the draw is more lucrative and can yield $250 for every $100. The biggest H2H payout possible here is backing Newcastle, the home team, to get $425 for a $100 wager. Like most head-to-head bets, your selected outcome must happen for you to win.
Tennis is different from football as it is an individual sport. Instead of betting on a team, you will be backing a player to win against another in a head-to-head bet. And with several tournaments and competitions happening all year round, punters will find many opportunities for tennis head-to-head bets.
The US Open is one of the biggest tennis tournaments that receives much attention from sports betting enthusiasts and usually comes with head-to-head wagers. So, let’s look at a typical US Open head-to-head betting example. A typical sportsbook may offer you an H2H market on Carloz Alcaraz against Daniil Medvedev when the tournament is coming up.
With this market, you need to back which player you believe will best the contender. For example, if you wager on Carloz Alcaraz, you will only win the bet if he beats Medvedev and goes higher in the US Open tournament.
Golf is another excellent sport for head-to-head betting, with many bookmakers offering markets. A PGA tour event typically starts with up to 100 golfers, and players can place bets on different aspects of the tour.
Unlike most bets, the head-to-head golf betting option involves betting on one of the golfers to perform better than another. In the period leading up to golf competitions and events, sportsbooks will match different golfers into pairs of two and offer head-to-head bets. The goal is to predict which of the two golfers in a pair will have a better score or finish higher in the event.
As one of the oldest sports in the world, horse racing also has a large market for head-to-head bets. With many different racing events, from the Cheltenham Festival to the Grand National, the American Classics, and much more, punters have many opportunities to find exciting betting options.
In horse racing, head-to-head betting is a wager that involves betting on which of two specific horses in a race’s lineup will finish ahead of another. Like the Formula 1 sport, bookmakers will pair up different horses participating in a race together, and you will predict which one will place better out of the two.
Formula 1 is another sport well suited for head-to-head racing. This car racing sport features some of the most anticipated events for its fans and many markets for punters looking to get some betting action.
A typical Formula 1 race has 20 drivers, with every one of them vying for a win. Instead of the typical race-winner bet, Formula 1 head-to-head betting involves wagering on the performance of two pairs of drivers against each other in a race. The task is to pick which of the two players will perform better during the race and finish in a higher position.
The best part about Formula 1 head-to-head betting is that your selected driver doesn’t necessarily have to take first place for you to win the bet. The driver must finish in a higher position than the contender paired to the bet.
Another great sport for Head to Head betting is NASCAR races, similar to horse racing and Formula 1 H2H betting. The sport gets much attention from a huge fan base and receives much action in the betting scene.
A typical NASCAR race features anywhere between 36 to 40 drivers or more, and sportsbooks would offer bets on the race winners. But the head-to-head is different. In NASCAR head-to-head betting, the sportsbook would match up two different drivers scheduled to participate in an upcoming race. From any pairing, bettors will pick which driver they think will perform better and finish in a higher place.
Like in horse racing and F1 races, the race’s overall result is unimportant. What matters is that the selected driver finishes ahead of the paired contender. For example, a bookmaker may pair Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola in a head-to-head bet for an upcoming NASCAR race. Let’s say you back Alex Bowman to come out on top.
You don’t need Alex Bowman to win the race to win this bet. Even if he finishes in the 36th out of 40 positions, you will win the bet if Aric Almirola is in any of the last four positions (37th-40th).
America’s beloved pastime, the National Football League (NHL), is not left out in head-to-head betting. As a team sport, this betting market is similar to football. It involves a standard moneyline wager where you bet on the outcome of a match between two NFL teams, specifically the game-winner.
Here, you simply back the team you believe has the higher winning chances on your bet. If your selected team is victorious, you win your bet. But if they lose the game, you will also lose your bet.
The return you can expect from head-to-head bets depends on the odds on offer. Underdogs offer more money if you get it right, while favourites pay less, but they are the safer choice.
When placing a back bet in an H2H, you calculate the payout using the formula odds * stake=return. If you need to subtract the commission, the payout will be a bit lower. For example, if you place a wager of €10 on a back bet of 3.00, the return without commission would be €30. Most bookies and sports betting exchanges have a calculator that easily checks the potential payout.
Calculating the payout for lay bets in head-to-head sports betting is simple, too, if you use the calculator the bookie/exchange offers. If you still want to calculate it, the formula is stake * 0.98=profit.
Using the example above, a lay bet of €10 on odds of 3.00 means a potential return of €9.8. This return includes the bookie’s commission fee.
As with any form of sports betting, no strategy can guarantee you a win while placing head-to-head bets on sports. You will win some of your wagers, and you will lose some. You can do little about that, as sports matches are inherently unpredictable.
However, there are some things that you can do and common mistakes that you can avoid to improve your winning chances with your bets. Let’s look at some of these tips:
As you might have already inferred, head-to-head betting has many benefits punters can enjoy when they place bets online. However, like most things, it also has several drawbacks that any interested punter needs to know. So, let’s explore its pros and cons.
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We hope our head-to-head betting definition guide tells you everything you need to know about this type of betting. It’s an exciting way that breaks free from traditional bets while keeping the same factor that’s easy to understand. If you’re looking to wager on teams or players without sticking to moneyline bets, head-to-heads are the real deal.
