Outright Bet Betting Term Meaning

An ‘outright bet’ is a wager on the overall winner of a tournament or competition. These bets are generally placed before the tournament begins but it is also possible to place outright bets after the action has begun although the odds will most likely be different.

Outright bet refers to the team or player that you think will win a tournament. For instance, you could place an outright bet on New Zealand to win the Rugby World Cup or on Manchester United to win the English Premier League in the 2019/2020 season.

Here’s an example of the outright betting odds for the Wimbledon 2019. We’ve decided to include only the top 10 players as there are too many to list in full:

As players start to win matches their odds will shorten. For instance, a £10 outright bet on Novak Djokovic will return much less if he makes it through to the quarter-finals. 

This is because there’s a much better chance of him winning the tournament with just three rounds renaming compared to the seven rounds he had in front of him at the beginning of the tournament. 

You can also place each way outright bets. This means you’ll get a return if your player makes it to the final. For example, a £10 each way bet on Rafa Nadal (£20 in total) would return £102.50. 

The odds would be halved if he gets to the final but fails to win the tournament. If he exits the competition before the final you’ll lose your entire stake.

Perhaps the greatest outright bet of all time occurred when Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016. One lucky punter placed a £100 bet with Betfair for the Foxes to win the league at 2000/1. Needless to say, he held his nerve and walked away with a jaw-dropping £200,000.

Even before the emergence of online betting sites, outright bets were a popular addition in the local betting shop. In those days the choice was limited to high profile events such as the four majors in golf, grand slam tennis events, FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships and English Premier League. 

All of that has changed now with outright betting markets available on the team to win the Danish 2nd Division, the World Series and the America’s Cup among many others.