1X2

1X2 is the first market any of us ever bet, and the one we spend years learning to actually read.

It's just the three outcomes of a match: 1 for the home win, X for the draw, 2 for the away win. No handicaps, no half goals. The simplicity is the appeal and the trap, because casual money piles onto favourites and big names, leaving the draw and the unfashionable side mispriced more often than you'd think.

When you want to express "I don't think the favourite wins" without picking exactly how, the draw and the Asian handicap are usually cleaner tools than a straight 1X2 punt.