Betting markets explained

What each market on a Kenyan bet slip actually settles on — including the edge cases that decide arguments: extra time, own goals, postponements and the difference between the two kinds of handicap.

Updated Friday, 7 August 2026 at 09:00 · The Natybet Desk

A betting market is the specific question your bet answers. 1X2 asks who wins after 90 minutes. Over/under asks how many goals both sides score between them. BTTS — written GG on most Kenyan apps — asks only whether each side scored at least once, ignoring the result entirely. Almost every settlement dispute comes from a bettor answering a different question from the one the market asked.

Two rules cover most of those disputes. Football markets settle on normal time only — extra time and penalties do not count, so a cup tie level at 90 minutes is a draw for betting purposes. And own goals count, credited to the team they were scored for. Read the definitions below before you stake on a market you have not used, not after it settles the wrong way.

Every common market, defined

1X2also: Match result, Full time result, Three-way: A bet on the result after 90 minutes plus stoppage time: 1 for a home win, X for a draw, 2 for an away win. Extra time and penalties do not count, so a cup tie that finishes level at 90 minutes settles as a draw even if one side goes on to lift the trophy.
Double chancealso: 1X, X2, 12: One bet covering two of the three 1X2 outcomes. 1X wins if the home side wins or draws, X2 if the away side wins or draws, 12 if either side wins. The price is much shorter than 1X2 because you are covering roughly two-thirds of the outcome space.
Draw no betalso: DNB: A bet on one team to win, with your stake returned in full if the match is drawn. It sits between 1X2 and double chance in both risk and price, and it is the market to use when your read on a match is 'this side is better' rather than 'this side wins'.
Over/under goalsalso: Total goals, Over 2.5, Under 2.5: A bet on the combined goals scored by both teams, against a line set with a half-goal so it cannot be tied. Over 2.5 needs three or more goals; under 2.5 needs two or fewer. Only goals in normal time count, and own goals count towards the total.
Both teams to scorealso: BTTS, GG/NG, Goal-Goal: Settles yes if each side scores at least once in normal time, and no otherwise. The result is irrelevant: a 4-3 thrashing and a 1-1 draw both settle yes, while a 6-0 settles no. Own goals count for the team credited with the goal, which is the scoring side.
Asian handicap: A handicap in goals applied to one team before settlement, using quarter- and half-goal lines so that the draw is removed or split. A −0.5 handicap is identical to a straight win. A −0.25 line splits your stake between a 0 line and a −0.5 line, so a draw returns half your stake and loses the other half.
European handicapalso: Three-way handicap: A handicap applied to the scoreline with the draw kept as a live outcome. At home −1, a 2-1 home win settles as an adjusted 1-1 draw and your bet loses. Unlike the Asian version, there is no stake refund — it is a three-way market.
Correct score: A bet on the exact final score in normal time. The most heavily margined common market on the board, because dozens of outcomes are on offer and the operator prices every one of them shorter than its true probability.
Half time / full timealso: HT/FT: A bet on the result at the interval combined with the result at the end. Nine possible outcomes, and the appealing ones — a side losing at half time and winning at the end — are rare, which is why the prices look generous.
First goalscoreralso: Anytime goalscorer: A bet on a named player to score first, or at any point, in normal time. Most operators void a first-goalscorer bet if the player takes no part in the match, but rules on substitutes coming on after the first goal differ between operators — check yours before staking.
Multibetalso: Accumulator, Acca, Parlay, Combo: Several selections combined into one bet, with the odds multiplied together. Every leg must win. The multiplication also compounds the operator's margin on each leg, which is what makes long multis the most profitable product a bookmaker sells.
Cash out: Settling a bet before the event finishes, for an amount the operator calculates from the current odds. The offered figure always carries a margin, so cashing out repeatedly costs money on average even when each individual decision feels prudent.

The three rules that settle most arguments

Normal time only. Unless the market explicitly names extra time, 90 minutes plus stoppage is the whole of it. This applies to 1X2, goals, BTTS, handicaps and correct score alike.
Own goals count, for the team they were scored for. They are goals like any other in every goals-based market.
The operator's rules are the authority on your bet. Where a postponement window, a substitute goalscorer rule or a void policy differs between operators — and they do differ — the version that applies to your money is the one in the app you staked in, not the version on any guide including this one.

Choosing a market, honestly

The market you pick changes your margin more than your selection changes your win rate. Main markets on major leagues carry the tightest operator margin; correct score, HT/FT and goalscorer markets carry the widest, which is why they are the ones promoted hardest. If you are going to bet, betting the boring markets is the single cheapest improvement available to you, and it costs nothing to make.

None of which is a system. Picking cheap markets reduces the size of the edge against you; it does not reverse it. What we think each market is actually useful for, and how often our own reads in them come off, is on our accuracy record.

Frequently asked questions

Does over 2.5 goals include extra time?

No. Football goal markets settle on normal time — 90 minutes plus stoppage — unless the operator's rules explicitly say otherwise. Goals in extra time and penalty shoot-outs are ignored. This is the single most common source of 'my bet should have won' complaints on cup fixtures.

What is the difference between draw no bet and double chance?

Draw no bet refunds your stake if the match is drawn, so a draw costs you nothing but earns you nothing. Double chance treats the draw as a win, so a draw pays out — but at a much shorter price, because you are being paid for an outcome you have already been partly compensated for. Neither is inherently better; DNB is the higher-variance, higher-return option.

Do own goals count for both teams to score?

Yes. An own goal is credited to the team it was scored for, so it counts towards that team's requirement in a BTTS market and towards the total in an over/under market. It also counts for the scoreline in a correct score bet.

What happens to my bet if the match is postponed?

Rules vary by operator, and this is worth reading before it matters to you. Commonly a fixture not played within a defined window is voided and the stake returned, with the leg removed from a multibet rather than the whole multi being void. But the window and the treatment differ, and the operator's own rules are the only authority on your bet.

Which market has the best odds?

Wrong question — 'best odds' means lowest operator margin, and that is a property of the market's competitiveness, not its name. Main markets on major leagues (1X2, over/under 2.5) carry the tightest margins. Correct score, HT/FT, goalscorer and anything with a long list of outcomes carry the widest. Our odds guide shows how to calculate the margin yourself from the prices on screen.

What does GG mean on Kenyan betting sites?

GG is the local shorthand for 'goal-goal', which is the same market as both teams to score — yes. NG or NG/GG means the opposite side of it. Kenyan operators use GG/NG and BTTS interchangeably in their apps.