Proofset AcademyModule 2 · Sports bettingLesson 2.2Free · 25 min

Types of tennis bets

On a single match, an operator offers dozens of bets: the winner, the score, a games margin, a number of games, a specific set, and all of this live during the match. Each bet has its own settlement rule. Knowing how to read them means knowing exactly what you are betting on.

Part 1

Six families of bets

Match winner

Player A wins

The simplest: who wins the match. Two possible outcomes; there are no draws in tennis.

Set score

2-0 to A

The exact score in sets. In a best-of-three-sets match, four outcomes are possible: 2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 0-2.

Handicap

A −3,5 games

Games (or sets) are taken away from or added to a player, then you see who wins.

Total games

Over 21,5 games

You bet on the number of games played in the whole match, over or under a line.

Set winner

B wins the 1st set

Who wins a specific set, regardless of the rest of the match.

Live

during the match

Any of the bets above, during the match, with odds that change with every point.

The exact list of bets on offer depends on the operator, within the framework set by your country's gambling regulator (lesson 2.1).

Part 2 · Your turn

One match, seven bets: you settle them

Here are seven bets placed before a fictional match between A and B. First guess which ones win, then reveal the final score.

PlayerSet 1Set 2Set 3
Part 3 · Your turn

The handicap, on a line

A games handicap adjusts a player's score before the winner is decided. “A −3,5 games” means: 3,5 games are taken away from A. The bet wins if A still has more games than B after this deduction, so if A wins at least 4 more games than B. Drag the match's games margin.

+3

Why the “,5”? There is no such thing as half a game: that is exactly why it is used. With 3,5, the margin can never land exactly on the line, so there is never a tie. The same trick is used for totals: “over 21,5 games” means 22 games or more.

Part 4 · Animation

Live, the odds move with every point

During a match, the probability of winning changes after every point, and the live odds follow. A break can make them jump. Watch how player A's chance of winning evolves, point by point, in a simulated match.

Simulation: two players of the same level, 63 % of points won on serve, best of three sets. The curve is a chance estimated at each point by a simplified calculation, not real operator odds.

Key point: live, everything moves very fast and the emotions of the match weigh on decisions. Deciding within a few seconds, caught up in the emotion of the match, is a risky situation (module 3).

Part 5 · Your turn

The accumulator: the chances multiply

An accumulator combines several bets into one: it only wins if all of them win. The chances multiply together and drop very quickly. Add selections, each with a 70 % chance of winning.

Chance that the whole accumulator wins70,0 %

The calculation: 70 % × 70 % = 49 %. With three selections: 34,3 %. With five: 16,8 %. An accumulator of “almost certain” selections loses more often than it wins. And each selection keeps its own bookmaker's margin (lesson 2.4).

Why this matters for a bet

  • Proofset works only on the match winner. Its probabilities and its minimum odds say nothing about handicaps, totals, sets or live bets.
  • Read the rule for each bet: a handicap, a total or an exact score is not settled like a winner bet, and the rules in case of retirement often differ (lesson 1.6).
  • The more conditions there are, the lower the chances. An exact score or an accumulator requires several things to happen at the same time.
Part 6

Test yourself

7 questions. You need 6 correct answers to pass the lesson.

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