Every contract on Kalshi is a yes-or-no question that settles at $1 or $0, but the question changes shape from market to market. Learning the common contract types is less about memorizing names and more about knowing exactly what has to happen for you to get paid, because each type resolves on different criteria. Get the type wrong and you can be right about the game and still lose. Here are the ones you'll meet most often.
Match Win (the moneyline)
This is the simplest one: will a given team or player win the match, outright? You buy Yes on the side you think wins, and if they win, the contract settles at $1.
The wrinkle worth knowing is how ties and overtime are handled, because it varies by sport. In sports like basketball, football, baseball, and hockey, these are usually two-way markets where overtime counts, so whoever wins the game wins the contract. Soccer is the classic trap. Many soccer match markets are three-way and settle on the result after regulation, which means a draw is its own separate outcome rather than a win for either side. Always confirm whether a match market treats a draw as a third possibility before you assume your side just needs to "not lose."
Over/Under (totals)
A totals contract isn't about who wins at all. It's about the combined score of both sides against a set number, the "line." A market might ask whether the total goals in a match will be over 2.5, or whether total points in a game will be over 220.5. You take Yes if you think the scoring clears the line and No if you think it falls short.
The half-point in those lines, the ".5", exists on purpose: it removes the possibility of the total landing exactly on the number, so there's always a clean yes or no. Totals reward a read on pace and style rather than on which team is better.
Run Line and Spread (margin markets)
These contracts are about the margin of victory, not just the winner. In baseball, the spread is called the run line, and it's typically set at 1.5 runs: a favorite has to win by 2 or more to cover, while the underdog side wins if they lose by exactly 1 or win outright. Football and basketball call the same idea a point spread, and hockey calls it the puck line. Same concept across all of them: a team has to win by more than the line, or stay closer than the line, depending on which side you hold.
Margin markets are where a "better team" can win the game and still lose the contract, which is exactly why the type matters so much.
Advance and Futures (longer horizons)
Not every contract resolves the same day. Advance markets ask whether a team will move on from a stage of a tournament, like reaching the next round of a knockout bracket. Futures stretch further out: will a team make the playoffs, reach a final, or win a championship. These carry longer time horizons, which means your money is committed for longer and the price can swing many times before settlement as the season or bracket unfolds.
A note on player contracts and DNP
Some markets hinge on an individual player's performance, like whether a specific player exceeds a stat line. These come with a mechanic that trips up newcomers: what happens if the player doesn't play. On an exchange, a "did not play" situation doesn't automatically void the way people sometimes expect. Depending on the market's rules, a No side may simply win, or the contract may resolve to a last-traded fair value. This is spelled out in the market rules, and reading them before you trade a player market is not optional.
The one habit that ties it together
Across every one of these types, the format is identical, a yes-or-no contract priced between 1¢ and 99¢ that settles to $1 or $0, but the resolution criteria are different every time. The single most valuable habit you can build is reading the rules and settlement source on each market before you commit, so you know exactly what has to happen for your contract to win.
Building that habit into a repeatable routine, so you're checking the same things every trade instead of relying on memory under pressure, is precisely what BLKJ was made for. It's a discipline system that grew from one trader's rulebook into a full toolkit: a probability zone framework, a built in trade journal, and analytics that keep you honest about your own process, all connected directly to Kalshi. The rules were never the hard part. Following them live is, and that's what BLKJ was built to fix.
This post is educational and is not financial advice. Prediction market trading carries risk, and you can lose the full amount you put into any contract.