Sportsbooks do an excellent job of providing a litany of betting options for its users across a variety of sports. However, one market that seems to go under the radar is āwinning marginā.ą¹ This guide will detail everything you need to know about the bet type, and how you can make a profit off the back of this knowledge.
Winning Margin Bet Explained
A winningš„ margin bet is a type of single bet in which youāre attempting to predict how many points/goals the winning team will wiź§n by.
US sportsbooks offer varāØious winning margin markets, with the high-scoring nature of the countryās most popular sports ā football and basketball ā facilitating some margin of error.
Instead of having you predict the exact margin of victory, sportsbooks will provide a pź§oint range (or band).
How Do I Place a Winning Margin Bet?
Winning margin markets are typically offered for an array of sports, includinį©į©į©į©į©į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©š±į©į©į©g basketball. In thš¦¹e step-by-step guide below, we explain how to place a winning margin NBA bet with FanDuel:
Log in to your FanDuel account by accessinš§g the blue āLog Inā icon located in the top right-hand corner of the homepage. Create an account via the green icāon alongside it if you need to.
FašØnDuelās popular markets are prominent on their homepage. A scroll down showed upcoming NBA events.
(Source: FanDuel) FanDuelās NBA coveraš°ge is shown below. We opted to place a bet on the Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers game.
(Source: FanDuel) To access all the gameās markets, we clicked āMoāre Wagersā.
There are a multitude of different markets available on šthis game, so we had to use to horizontal slider to find FanDuelās āMarginā markets ā shown below.
(Source: FanDuel) We opted to place a āMarš“gin of Victoryā bet, deciding to baź¦”ck the Heat to win by 1-5 points. There were 12 different margins available in this sub-market.
(Source: FanDuel) Here is the wager in our bet slip. Enter your stake and click the āPlace Betsā icon to conclude the winninšg margin betting process.
(Source: FanDuel)
Best Betting Sites for Winning Margin Bet
The winning margin market may not necessašrily be the most prominent, but the USā leading sportsbooks will ofāØfer this bet type for a multitude of popular sports. Here are the best sportsbooks for winning margin betting:
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Examples of Winning Margin Bet
There are various winning ąµ²margin bets you can pź©²lace with your favourite sportsbook. Hereās a rundown of the options typically available to you:
Winning Margin by 2
āBy 2ā indicates a preciź¦se prediction where youāre betting on the winning team to win by a margin of štwo points/goals.
As a result, such markets are typically provided for lower-scoring sports such as soccer, ice hockey, and baseball. Itād be very tough to back exact margin of victories for football oą¦r basketball games givšen how many points are scored.
If you bet on Bayern Munich to beat Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final match-up āby 2ā, youāll need Bayern to win by two goals ā 2-0, 3-1, 4-2, etc. Anything but a winning margin of two will mean yourį©į©į©į©į©į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©š±į©į©į© wager loses.
Winning Margin 4 Way
Winning margin 4-way simply means šthat you have four outcomes to choose from when predicting the final score. There are four point bands, if you will.
For example, in an NBA maš„tchup between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, bookies could provide these winning margin 4-way markets:
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Boston Celtics 1-10
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Miami Heat 1-10
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Boston Celtics 11+
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Miami Heat 11+
In shošrt, you can bet on both teams to winā by one to ten points, or by over 11 points.
Winning Margin 3 Way
3-way winning margin betting limits the punter somewhat, with the bigger point ranges lowering the odds iną¼ some instances.
The bookmaker will provide three different margin options for a match. DraftKings, for example, providešs markets on either team to win by X number of points or šmore, as well as either team to win by fewer than X points.
Winning Margin 1-5
With this winning margin bet, youāre betting on the team to win by at least a point, but no more than five. If the point difference at the end of the game lands between this point range, youāve gošt yourself a winning bet!
For instance, if you bet on theš² Celtics to beat the Heat by 1-5 points, a 110-107 victory would be a winner, but a 110-99 win would be a losing bet.
Winning Margin 12 Way

Thisź¦ is the same āpremise as the 4-way winning margin markets. With 12-way, though, 12 different point ranges are provided, offering punters even greater specificity and greater odds as a result.
In the example above, DraftKingsā is providing six different winning margin ranges for each team, starting out at 1-5 ašŗnd working up to 26+.
Strategies for Winning Margin Betting
šHerš½e are four ways you can stand yourself in the best possible stead when placing winning margin bets:
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Check stats: This is fairly obvious, but a quick check of a teamās attacking and defensive stats can help you gauge the margin of victory. Teams that defeÜ«nd well are typically going to be involved in closer matches, while those that attack proficiently are more likely to enjoy bigger margins of victory when they do win. You can also check a teamās average margin of victory or defeatš.
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Head-to-head matchups: History matters, right? While teams tend to change and evolve rather quickly, recent matchups between two teams can help you gauge the nature of an upcoming bout. Are they tightly fought affš¶airs, or does one team run away with it?
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Check player injuries: News regarding player injuries and statuses is easily found nowadays thanks to the growing intertwining of sports and social media. Use these updates to your advantage in the betting world. A player missing a particular game could have huge ramifications when placing a winning margin bet. The Miami Dolphins are less likely to blow a team out if Tyreek Hillās injured, while Bayern Munich are more susceptibšle to defeats on the big occasion without star goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
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Understand the game: While we're not saying you need to improve your knowledge of the sport, itās important to understand the context of the game in question. There ašre going to be occasions when the fixture means more to one team than it does to another, especially towards the backend of the season, when teams are vying for playoff positioning or places in European competitions (in soccer). You might want to check out goal difference stats when placing soccer winning margin bets, as there might be times when a team needs to run up the score to move up a position in the standings.
Pros & Cons of Winning Margin
Let's now have š a look at some of the advantages and drawbacks that come with winning šmargin betting:
- Allows for some margin of error when predicting the final score of a match
- These types of bets can provide bigger margins
- Useful for accumulator betting ā bigger odds
- Sportsbooks provide an array of different winning margin markets and thus, point ranges
- It's particularly difficult to predict winning margin for high-scoring sports
- Research required to master winning margin betting
ThePuntersPage Final Say
We believe that winning margin betting is an avenue that any avidā sports bettor should explore. Leading bookie are providing an array of different winning margin options on a variety of sports and, if you do your research, thereās certainly an opportunity for yź¦ou to profit more with this market compared to mere match result betting.
FAQs
When placing a winning margin bet, youāre betting on the number of pointš s/goals the winnš¹ing team will win by.
This type of winning ą± margin bet provides four different point ranges for the game ā two for each team. 1-10 anš±d 11+, for instance.
Football winning margin betting involves backing a team to win by a certain numbeār of points. Sportsbooks will provide various point ranges for each match, and you must choose which range ā as well as the winniš»ng team ā the winning margin will lie.
Itās the samąµ²e concept for every sport. With basketball, youāre betting on the margin of victory. Given the high-scoring nature of the sport, sportsbooks will supply a range of different winning margin markets as well aās point ranges, which is up to 12.
A winning margin band are the points between the winning and losing team. There areā various bands for each match and are displayed like this: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.