If you deal with sports betting, you will come across so many betting markets at online bookmakers that you can hardly have an overview of them. To help you make your choice, we have summarized in this article everything you need to know as a tipper about so-called head-to-head bets.
Head-to-Head Bet Explained in Detail
Translated into German, head-to-head bet means “head to head” bet. And in principle the name says a lot about the bet. It’s about the direct comparison between two athletes, players, teams in sports betting or horses in horse racing. This bet is also called a 2/3-way bet or H2H bet. So you bet on which of the two participants in the competition will win or be placed better. And the outcome “draw” is excluded, if the event ends in a draw, the bettor receives his H2H bet back.
It is important that the overall result does not matter for this bet. For example, if you make an H2H bet in a Formula 1 race, it doesn’t matter which of the two starters wins. And whether each of them wins at all. The only thing that matters is which of the two starters gets faster and gets to the finish line first. The decisive factor is the better result in terms of time, number of points or goals.
Which driver gets the best placement, which eSports player makes more kills, or which footballer of the two has more goals – these are all head-to-head bets in different sports. Both starters can also belong to the same team, they do not necessarily have to be opponents. The only important thing is the comparison. Interestingly, head-to-head betting also has its origins in racing, in equestrian sports, where direct comparison between horses is always possible.
Different Types of Head-to-Head Bets
Depending on the game (competition) and sport, head-to-head betting can come in different forms. A head-to-head bet can be made for the individual competition as well as for the entire tournament or championship. The number of variants is quite high. And this betting option occurs in many sports: horse racing, formula racing, football, tennis, golf, cycling, ski jumping, and even eSports. And you can place them in both an individual competition and a team competition. Depending on the sports betting provider, this bet can also be placed as part of the combination bet.
Of course, different nuances apply to head-to-head betting depending on the sport. In the horse race, if at least one horse out of the two horses being bet on does not compete, this H2H bet will be considered void. In formula racing, the final ranking, the higher ranking and/or the number of laps completed play a role. So if both drivers don’t make it to the ranking, you compare which of the two drivers completed more laps. If one of the two drivers does not compete, this bet is also void, just like in horse racing. However, there is an important difference when betting on golf, as the outcome “draw” occurs more often in golf. If the golfer doesn’t make the cut after two “draw” rounds, he loses.
Is it worth making a head-to-head bet?
This betting option has both advantages and disadvantages. So whether it’s worth it for a bettor depends on what goals the bettor has. Such a bet often has quite low odds, which is of course not so good for bettors. In addition, a head-to-head bet requires a lot of background knowledge. In order to make such a betting decision, the tipper has to look at the statistics of the opponents and take many factors into account. And when it comes to a team competition, it’s even harder to guess correctly. However, making a decision about head-to-head bets is easier than making a decision about a winning bet. And this bet is very efficient in horse racing and formula racing.