Which bookmaker has the lowest margin on over/under and both teams to score? 667 matches, compared with Pinnacle
Short answer. On over/under 2.5 goals, Betano came closest to Pinnacle among the bookmakers we track: on the same 517 matches its margin was only 0.25 percentage points above Pinnacle's, and in the big European leagues it was slightly below Pinnacle. Bet365 (+0.65 points) and SBO (+0.97) followed; BetVictor was the most expensive (+4.62). On both teams to score the margins were higher at four of the six bookmakers that price both markets, and the cheapest was Betfair Sportsbook — but Pinnacle prices that market on far fewer matches, so that comparison rests on only 45 matches.
This is a first measurement: prices read on 9 October 2026 for upcoming matches kicking off between that evening and mid-November (444 of the 667 on 10–11 October). The live table is recalculated every hour from prices refreshed about every three hours; we will repeat this study on several weeks of closing prices.
What we measured
The margin (overround) of a two-way market is 1/odds of one side plus 1/odds of the other, minus one. A fair market sums to exactly 100%; the excess is what the bookmaker keeps on average. In money, a margin m costs you about m ÷ (1 + m) of everything you stake if it is spread evenly — a 7% margin is about 6.5 units per 100.
We took each bookmaker's current price on full-time over/under 2.5 goals and on both teams to score for 667 upcoming matches in 74 leagues, read on 9 October 2026 from two feeds (API-Football and the-odds-api). Each bookmaker's price pair comes from one feed, the most recently updated; pairs that make no sense (a margin below −2% or above 25%, usually two different lines mixed in a feed) are left out. Betting exchanges are excluded: they charge commission on winnings, not a margin. Pinnacle is the benchmark because it is the sharpest public price.
Over/under 2.5: compare on the same matches
The straight average mixes leagues: a bookmaker that prices many small leagues looks more expensive than one that prices only the big ones, because small leagues usually carry higher margins (at Pinnacle and at six of the seven bookmakers here; Betfair Sportsbook is the exception). So the ranking below compares each bookmaker with Pinnacle on the same matches.
| Bookmaker | Average margin (its matches) | vs Pinnacle, same matches | Same matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle (benchmark) | 5.21% (520) | — | — |
| Betano | 5.61% (612) | +0.25 points | 517 |
| Bet365 | 5.87% (623) | +0.65 points | 518 |
| SBO | 5.28% (139) | +0.97 points | 138 |
| Betfair Sportsbook | 6.69% (494) | +1.52 points | 464 |
| 1xBet | 7.43% (633) | +1.97 points | 505 |
| Marathon Bet | 8.31% (629) | +2.93 points | 520 |
| BetVictor | 9.85% (449) | +4.62 points | 424 |
The league mix changes the picture. On the 102 matches in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the Champions League, 1xBet priced over/under 2.5 0.85 points below Pinnacle and Betano 0.55 points below — while on the other 400-odd matches 1xBet was 2.69 points above. An average over all leagues hides that: if you bet the big leagues, 1xBet was the cheapest on over/under 2.5 in this snapshot; elsewhere it was among the dearest. (See the limits below on what "below Pinnacle" means on the 2.5 line.)
SBO looks cheap on its straight average (5.28%) because it prices far fewer matches (139) in a different league mix; on the same matches it is about one point above Pinnacle.
Both teams to score
| Bookmaker | Average margin (its matches) | vs Pinnacle, same matches | Same matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle (benchmark) | 4.62% (45) | — | — |
| Betfair Sportsbook | 6.73% (398) | +1.39 points | 45 |
| Betano | 7.55% (592) | +2.84 points | 45 |
| William Hill | 7.64% (582) | +2.89 points | 45 |
| Bet365 | 7.42% (571) | +3.00 points | 45 |
| 1xBet | 8.12% (633) | +3.24 points | 45 |
| BetVictor | 9.68% (455) | +3.91 points | 45 |
| Marathon Bet | 8.80% (629) | +3.92 points | 45 |
Two things stand out. First, both teams to score costs more than over/under at four of the six bookmakers that price both: Betano charges 7.55% against 5.61%, Bet365 7.42% against 5.87%, 1xBet 8.12% against 7.43%. Only Betfair Sportsbook (6.73% vs 6.69%) and BetVictor (9.68% vs 9.85%) price the two about the same. Second, Pinnacle quotes both teams to score on far fewer matches than over/under — 45 of the 667 here — so the comparison on the same matches is thin. Read the order as indicative, not settled.
What this means if you bet goals
- The market matters as much as the bookmaker. At the same bookmaker, switching from both teams to score to over/under 2.5 saved about two points at Betano and one and a half at Bet365, about half a point at 1xBet and Marathon Bet, and nothing at Betfair Sportsbook or BetVictor.
- Ask which leagues you bet. A bookmaker's ranking can flip between the big leagues and the rest, as 1xBet's does.
- A low margin is not value. It only lowers what you pay. Whether a price is worth taking depends on the fair probability, which our match pages show wherever Pinnacle prices that line.
Limits
- One snapshot: prices read on 9 October 2026 for matches kicking off up to mid-November; the big leagues account for 102 of the 520 matches Pinnacle priced on over/under.
- Current prices, not closing prices; margins usually tighten towards kick-off.
- Only the 2.5 line for over/under; other lines can carry different margins. 2.5 is often an alternate line at Pinnacle, where its margin is higher than on its main goals line, so being "below Pinnacle" on 2.5 does not mean being cheaper than Pinnacle's main line.
- Only bookmakers our feeds carry; Romanian, Polish or Brazilian local bookmakers are not in this sample.
- William Hill's over/under prices and SBO's both-teams-to-score prices were not in our feed for these matches.
The Bookmaker Margin Index shows the 1X2 ranking and this goals table live, and the bookmaker pages show each one's 1X2 margin over the last 90 days.