Introduction

No team ever has to be leading at half-time, so this can be a tricky market to get right. However, that does mean that prices are often more attractive.

First half home and away win bets are placed using the 'Half Time' market on Betfair.

It's not the most popular market by any means, so you will find that liquidity is light in many of the smaller leagues - even as kick-off approaches.

For example, this fixture in the English Championship is due to be played two days from now and there's no money matched in the market at all.

Our algorithms need market prices to be as accurate as possible, so there's no way that you can do research for this type of bet until the day of the match.

1H Home Win

Here are some sensible guidelines when looking for a bet:

The home team should have won at least 60% of their first halves at home
The first half home win price should be at least 1.90, ideally 2.00
The home team should be above the away team in the league table

Once you bank some winners, you can play around with that 60% figure. You may find that 55% results in enough winners, or even 50%. To start with though, be patient and disciplined.

Below, you can see that the Live Value Shortlists tool has identified 4 fixtures that have value for all 3 algorithms and in which the home team has won at least 60% of their first halves at home.

However, only Lille v Clermont satisfies the guideline that the home team should be above the away team in the league table.

The price of 1.99 is very close to the ideal price of 2.00, so the game is worth a closer look.

Live Value Shortlists tool showing qualifiers for 1H Home Win

I clicked on 'Lille' to bring up the Score Table and then on 'First half score table' (bottom right).

You can see below that Lille had been leading at half-time in most of their home games this season and in the last 5/6.

On the right hand side of the Score Table you can see that, against teams towards the bottom of the league table, Lille had been leading at half-time in 4/5 home games.

I clicked on 'Clermont' to see how the away team tended to perform in the first half away from home.

Firstly, I noted that Clermont had only been behind at half-time in 2 of their last 6 away games.

However, the right hand side of the Score Table put their performances into context. Against the better teams away from home, Clermont had been losing at half-time in 3/3.

Very strong stats to support the perceived value that had been identified by the Live Value Shortlists and I was happy to place a bet.

I backed Lille in the Betfair 'Half Time' market with a stake of £10.00.

The price was slightly better at 2.00 so I had a potential profit of £9.80 (after commission) on the home win and a liability of £10.00 on the draw and away win.

Lille v Clermont 'Half Time' Betfair market

Lille took an early lead and this gave me the opportunity to show you how trading works.

Because Lille were now 1-0 ahead, they were more likely to be leading at half-time so the price dropped from 2.00 to 1.15.

I layed Lille with my original £10.00 stake which removed all liability from the market.

You can see below that I now had a 'free bet' on Lille because there was a potential profit of £8.33 on the home win and scratch (no profit or loss) on the draw and away win.

It only cost £1.47 of the potential profit to remove the £10.00 of risk.

Lille v Clermont 'Half Time' Betfair market after trading out the liability

You can leave bets as 'set-and-forget' if you prefer, but there are always options if you're available to trade when matches are in-play.

On this occasion, Lille ran away with the first half and the bet won easily.

1H Away Win

The guidelines for this bet are very similar, just in reverse.

Many away teams are happy to be level at half-time though, so you do need to bear that in mind.

1H Home/Away

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