Both teams to score (BTTS) is a soccer bet on whether each team scores at least one goal. BTTS Yes wins on results such as 1-1, 2-1 or 3-3, and BTTS No wins on 0-0 or on any score where one side finishes without a goal, such as 2-0 or 0-1.
The bet is settled on the score when normal time ends, stoppage time included. For bets with bookmakers authorised in NSW, that is the default under the Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules (clause 5.2.7.3), so a goal in extra time or a penalty shootout changes nothing. Soccer betting sets BTTS among the other goal markets.
How a BTTS bet settles
| What happens | BTTS Yes | BTTS No |
|---|---|---|
| 0-0 | Loses | Wins |
| 2-0 or 0-1 | Loses | Wins |
| 1-1, 2-1 or 3-3 | Wins | Loses |
| 1-0 at 90 minutes, then an equaliser at 90+4 | Wins: stoppage time counts | Loses |
| 0-0 at 90 minutes, then 1-1 in extra time | Loses: normal time decides | Wins |
| 1-0, with an equaliser ruled out after a review | Loses | Wins |
The two sides finish differently. BTTS Yes is decided the moment the second team scores, and no later goal can undo it. BTTS No stays open to the final whistle, because one goal from the side on zero turns it into a loss.
Many bookmakers also sell BTTS for one half, or joined to the result or a total as one market, such as BTTS and win or BTTS and over 2.5; check your bookmaker's terms for the period each one settles on.
Example: Illustrative prices, not a real match. A bookmaker offers BTTS Yes at $1.86 and No at $1.92, which add to 1 / 1.86 + 1 / 1.92 = 105.8%. $40 on Yes returns $40 x 1.86 = $74.40 if both sides score, a $34.40 profit, and loses the $40 if either side does not.
A match called off early is the awkward case. With no official result declared, the NSW rules keep bets already decided when play stopped and refund the rest (clause 5.2.7.1). With one declared, they refund bets that depend on the number of goals (clause 5.2.7.2), but they do not name BTTS, so check how your bookmaker treats it. Abandoned and postponed matches compares the rule types.
How own goals count in BTTS
BTTS is settled on the score, and an own goal is a goal on the scoreboard for the other side. So an own goal counts towards BTTS like any other goal: if Team B's only goal in a 2-1 defeat came off a Team A defender, BTTS Yes wins.
Own goals part company with the score only in markets built on who scored. The NSW rules' own goal clause covers first and next goalscorer bets, which settle on the following goal unless the bookmaker priced an own goal (clause 5.2.7.3). It says nothing about BTTS. With illustrative events, Team A wins 2-1 and Team B's goal is a Team A defender's own goal:
| Bet | What it settles on | Result |
|---|---|---|
| BTTS Yes | the score, 2-1 | Wins |
| Team B over 0.5 goals | the score | Wins |
| A Team B player to score at any time | goals credited to Team B's players | Loses: no Team B player scored |
| Same game multi of BTTS Yes and a Team B player to score | every leg | Loses on the player leg |
Three rule types turn up in soccer betting terms:
- Score-based: the market follows the official score, own goals included. BTTS belongs here, because the question it asks is about the score.
- Scorer-based: the market follows the player credited with the goal, and an own goal credits no player on the side it counts for.
- Combined: a multi or same game multi that mixes the two, where each leg follows its own rule, so one own goal can win one leg and lose another.
Note: Online bookmakers write their own soccer rules. Search your bookmaker's terms for "own goal" before you bet a combination that mixes the score with scorers; the own goal page covers goalscorer markets.
BTTS and over 2.5 goals move together
Every BTTS Yes result has at least two goals, and the only BTTS Yes result under 2.5 goals is 1-1. So the two bets tend to land together, and multiplying their chances understates how often they do.
Take an illustrative match where Team A is expected to score 1.30 goals and Team B 1.20, in a Poisson model that treats the two sides' goals as independent (e is the constant 2.718):
- BTTS Yes = (1 - e^-1.30) x (1 - e^-1.20) = 0.727 x 0.699 = 50.8%.
- Under 2.5 goals = e^-2.50 x (1 + 2.5 + 2.5^2 / 2) = 0.0821 x 6.625 = 54.4%, so over 2.5 = 45.6%.
- A 1-1 draw = (e^-1.30 x 1.30) x (e^-1.20 x 1.20) = e^-2.50 x 1.56 = 12.8%.
The four combinations fill in by subtraction:
| Over 2.5 goals | Under 2.5 goals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTTS Yes | 50.8% - 12.8% = 38.0% | 12.8% (1-1 only) | 50.8% |
| BTTS No | 45.6% - 38.0% = 7.6% (3-0, 0-3, 4-0 and so on) | 54.4% - 12.8% = 41.6% | 49.2% |
| Total | 45.6% | 54.4% | 100% |
If the two were independent, Yes and over would land together 0.508 x 0.456 = 23.2% of the time; the model says 38.0%. Given BTTS Yes, the over comes in 38.0 / 50.8 = 74.8% of the time, and given BTTS No only 7.6 / 49.2 = 15.4%.
Two more points follow. BTTS Yes with under 2.5 can only be 1-1, so that combination is the same result as 1-1 in correct score betting; the model's fair price for it is 1 / 0.128 = $7.81. BTTS No with over 2.5 needs a one-sided result such as 3-0, the rarest of the four here at a fair 1 / 0.0759 = $13.18.
Over/under goals betting covers the goal lines themselves.
BTTS in same game multis
A same game multi is priced as one combination, because the bookmaker knows linked legs land together. The model's fair prices are 1 / 0.508 = $1.97 for BTTS Yes and 1 / 0.456 = $2.19 for over 2.5. Multiplied, they give 1.97 x 2.19 = $4.31, but the fair price of both landing is 1 / 0.380 = $2.63.
So a bookmaker's SGM price for the pair sits well below its two singles multiplied, and that gap is the correlation being priced, not a discount.
Take illustrative singles of $1.86 for BTTS Yes and $2.08 for over 2.5, which multiply to 1.86 x 2.08 = $3.87. An SGM price of $2.45 for the pair sits 2.45 / 2.63 - 1 = 6.8% below the model's fair $2.63. Judge an SGM against the chance of all its legs landing together, never against the multiplied legs.
Other pairings to check before you build a ticket:
- Team A to win with BTTS No is the same result as Team A to win to nil, which may be priced as a single.
- BTTS Yes with a player to score depends on how each leg treats own goals, as the table above shows.
- If a player leg cannot settle because the player does not take the field, your bookmaker's SGM terms decide the ticket. Same game multi rules sets out the rule types, and how SGM odds are calculated covers the pricing.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A same game multi loses if any leg loses, linked legs often fail together, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Using expected goals as a guide, carefully
Expected goals (xG) measures how many goals a side's chances were worth. In the model above, a side with expected goals of x scores at least once with a chance of 1 - e^-x, and BTTS Yes is the two sides' chances multiplied. That makes the price sensitive to small changes in either input:
| Inputs (illustrative) | Team A scores | Team B scores | BTTS Yes | Fair price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.30 and 1.20 | 72.7% | 69.9% | 0.7275 x 0.6988 = 50.8% | $1.97 |
| Team B 0.30 lower, at 0.90 | 72.7% | 59.3% | 0.7275 x 0.5934 = 43.2% | $2.32 |
| Team A 0.30 lower, at 1.00 | 63.2% | 69.9% | 0.6321 x 0.6988 = 44.2% | $2.26 |
The same 0.30 drop takes about 7.7 points off BTTS when it comes from Team B, the side less likely to score (50.84% to 43.17%), and about 6.7 points when it comes from Team A (50.84% to 44.17%). The lower scoring chance moves further for each tenth of a goal: Team B's falls from 69.9% to 59.3%, Team A's from 72.7% to 63.2%.
Errors in your inputs cost the same way. If Team B's true figure is 0.90 and you use 1.20, an illustrative $2.05 BTTS Yes price looks 2.05 / 1.9671 - 1 = 4.2% above fair. Against the true fair price it sits 2.05 / 2.3164 - 1 = 11.5% below.
Three cautions before trusting the number:
- The model treats the two sides as independent. Real matches are not: a side that falls behind usually pushes forward and the side ahead may sit deeper, so treat the result as a first estimate.
- A few games of xG are a small sample, and goals stray from it over short runs.
- The market has already priced public information. Check your figure against what the total and the handicap imply before you rely on it; Poisson distribution betting builds the full model from both sides' expected goals.
Both teams to score strategy: when BTTS fits
In BTTS betting, start with the price. A BTTS bet is worth considering only when its price beats your fair estimate. At $1.86 against the fair $1.97, each $1 staked returns 0.5084 x 1.86 = 94.6 cents on average, so the $40 bet in the example gives up about $2.18 each time before any result.
Then the view behind it:
- BTTS Yes needs the side less likely to score to score, so its team news and attack matter more than the favourite's.
- BTTS No suits a low-scoring or one-sided view. It wins on 0-0 and on every clean sheet, so it pays less than a clean sheet bet on one side.
- Where the same result has its own market, compare both prices: BTTS Yes with under 2.5 is the 1-1 correct score, and Team A to win with BTTS No is win to nil.
BTTS is the wrong bet when your view is about how many goals there will be rather than who scores them: an over or under says that directly. It is also the wrong bet while team news that would change your number for the weaker side is still to come.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A price above your fair estimate helps only on average: at a 50.8% chance, BTTS Yes still loses almost half the time, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Mistakes that cost money with BTTS
| Mistake | What it costs, on the illustrative numbers |
|---|---|
| Judging an SGM by its multiplied legs | You expect $4.31 for a pair whose fair price is $2.63, so even an SGM price above fair, such as $2.80, looks short |
| Betting below your fair price | $1.86 against a fair $1.97 gives up 5.4% of every stake on average |
| Counting extra time | A cup tie that is 1-0 after 90 minutes loses BTTS Yes, however extra time ends |
| Forgetting own goals in a scorer combination | The BTTS leg wins, the player leg loses, and so does the ticket |
| Trusting one input too far | A Team B figure 0.30 too high turns an 11.5% shortfall into an apparent 4.2% edge |
Checking BTTS against the Terminal's soccer markets
A BTTS price rests on the same expected goals that set the total and the handicap, so those markets are where to check your inputs.
On B337's Terminal, each bookmaker's soccer head to head, line and total prices sit in their own column, with the best available price picked out. Not every bookmaker prices every game, so the columns follow the market. Prices are read on a repeating cycle, so confirm one in your bookmaker account before you bet. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. One late goal from the side on zero can settle a BTTS bet either way, a fair price from your own model is only an estimate, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.