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A Beginners Guide to Betting on Football

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Betting on sports is a favorite pastime of countless people around the globe. Not surprisingly, football bettors are probably the largest group of the all, seeing this is one of the, if not the most popular sport in the world.

If you enjoy watching football as it is, placing an occasional bet definitely adds to the excitement. However, some people are just afraid to do it because they don’t know where or how to start. This beginners’ guide to football betting should help answer some of your questions and give you a good starting point.

Football Betting Fundamentals: What You Can Bet On

If you’re completely new to football betting, things may seem a bit confusing. Pretty much everyone knows they can bet on an outcome of the match but every reputable sportsbook out there offers much more than these straightforward bets. So, what exactly can you bet on?

Well, in short, almost anything you can think of.

The best casinos and betting sites feature a variety of options (often referred to as betting markets) That go well beyond predicting the outcome of the match. Some of the most popular markets are:

  • Over / under (the bookie sets the line and you’re trying to predict if the number of goals, corners, yellow cards, offsides, etc., will go over the line or remain under it)
  • Goal scorers
  • Correct score
  • Both teams to score
  • Halves – betting on the outcome of the match on the halftime and at the end

You can often combine different markets on the same betting slip. However, if you’re betting on a single game, there are certain restrictions, which vary from one bookie to another. For example, you’ll never be allowed to bet on both teams to score and combine it with a correct score of 1:1, as you’re just boosting your odds at no risk.

Understanding Odds

Understanding odds is key to successful football betting. If you had previous experience betting on other sports, everything should be quite clear. If not, here’s a quick breakdown.

Odds are set by the bookmaker as their prediction of probability of a certain thing (not)happening. For example, If you have a game where Manchester United are set at 2.0 to win, this means that if you bet $10, you’ll win $20 if Manchester do end up winning.

When there are more than one picks on your tickets, the odds will multiply to produce your overall odds. So, if one event is set at 2.0, another at 1.5, and the third event on your ticket is 2.3, your total odds are 6.9. So, if you were to bet the same $10, you would stand to win $69.

Finding Good Bets

It’s one thing to know how football betting works. However, knowing what to actually bet on and have good chances of winning is a completely different matter. Of course, you can always back up your favorite team or bet on your favorite player to score, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the most profitable way to go about it.

If you want to take a more serious approach to betting on football, you should look into forums and blogs from successful punters. You’ll find there are plenty of free resources you can get access to and receive some solid tips to give yourself a better shot at winning.

That said, you don’t have to do all this to have fun betting on football. It’s perfectly fine to just do it for fun and to add even more excitement to watching games you already enjoy watching. Even if you just do it listening to your heart, you’re bound to get a few winning tickets here and there – and these wins really count!