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Betting 101

Start your betting journey with confidence. Our comprehensive guide breaks down the basics, helping you understand odds, types of bets, and essential strategies. Whether you’re a beginner or need a refresher, we’ve got you covered.

Strategy

Elevate your betting game with expert strategies. Learn advanced techniques to analyse matches, manage your bankroll, and make informed decisions. Our strategy guides provide the insights you need to stay ahead and maximise your winnings.

How to Bet Sports

Master the art of sports betting with our step-by-step tutorials. From selecting the right bookmaker to understanding bet types and placing your first wager, our guides are designed to make you a confident and successful sports bettor.

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Maximise your betting experience with the best bonuses and promotions. Learn how to find, claim, and make the most of free bets, deposit bonuses, and exclusive offers. Our guides help you take full advantage of these opportunities to boost your bankroll.

Betting Scams

Stay safe and informed by learning how to identify and avoid common betting scams. Our guide provides essential tips on recognising fraudulent schemes, protecting your personal information, and ensuring a secure betting experience.

Betting Psychology

Gain a mental edge in your betting with insights into the psychology behind successful wagering. Learn how to manage emotions, develop discipline, and maintain a winning mindset to improve your overall betting performance.

All You Need to Know About Football Bets!

You are about to enter the realm of the smart, the daring, and the experts. The world where knowledge, risk, and luck get rewarded and where decent preparation helps. A scene existing as an extension of a beautiful game to make one beautiful sport – or religion, if you wish – even more exciting. We are talking football betting. An important ground rule to start with, which even professional or more experienced bettors tend to forget, is that when you play with real money, you risk losing real money. In other words, you should only play with money you can afford to lose. In this guide, we mean to teach you everything about football betting, the ins and outs, the terms, and the principles, so that when you become more advanced, you can dive into the world of specific odds and bets that Bet Football has to offer. However, Before you start betting on football, it pays to know what kind of bets you can make. There are a lot of choices when it comes to football betting, so you’ll want to do your research if you want to be successful. In this guide, we’ll explain how you can have more fun while placing bets on football and tips and tricks for success.

How Does Football Betting Work?

Every week, thousands of football matches take place all over the world. Bookmakers will offer odds on the likelihood of specific match outcomes and occurrences, such as the number of goals scored, corners won, red and yellow cards displayed, and individual goal scorers.
  1. A variety of bookies will have unique deals and competitive odds in order to provide you with the greatest bet possible.
  2. When you make a winning bet, you’ll be paid back your original stake plus the rewards from the odds.
  3. Payouts are usually instant after the event’s outcome is confirmed, meaning you can take your winnings or place another bet.
The first thing to understand about sports betting is that in sports, and especially with football, nothing is guaranteed. Sports betting is one of the most popular forms of gambling. However, due to the nature of football and how unpredictable it can be, all of your research and careful planning can be undone by the bounce of a ball. Surprise results are always possible, and it’s what makes the sport so exciting to bet on. For this reason, it’s essential to manage your risk and do the proper research into the best markets and matches to bet on.

Pre-Match & Live Football Betting

Now you know the basics, it’s time to look to the next step. There are two main types of bets sportsbooks often offer. We will take a look at those two:
  • Regular bets: regular bets are all bets placed before a match takes place. With some tournaments, sportsbooks already offer the opportunity to predict all matches and outcomes, but usually, a website ‘opens’ odds on a match 24 hours before the actual match takes place. Whatever the bet you place, it’s regular.
  • Live bets: when a match starts, a bettor sometimes realises that the team he or she bet on is playing differently than expected. Especially those with an eye for the game, who find they can better predict during a match than before. This is possible by placing live bets. There are tons of different live bet options, but they all have in common that they apply directly to the game played and are placed while the match is taking place.
  • More can be found about live football betting here!

Main Football Bets

Now you know when and how to bet on football, it is time to consider what types of bets you can place. The main football betting markets (types) are as follows.
  • Match Bet
  • Players
  • Goals
  • Match happenings
  • Final/Correct score

Types of Football Bets

However, these main betting markets are just the beginning, and the best football betting sites offer a range of bets. Some of the most significant events offer hundreds of football betting markets on leagues worldwide.Here are just a few of the more common ones:
    • Asian Handicap – Asian Handicap bets apply a handicap to one of the teams, meaning that this team will then start the game with a goal deficit. You will see that sportsbooks sometimes offer a handicap on a team when they are favourite. If a team has a handicap -1, it means they will need to win with two goals difference. Handicap -2 means winning with three goals difference, and so forth. The odds on these bets are usually higher. Asian Handicaps remove draws from the equation, and whichever team you pick will need to overcome the goal deficit or avoid losing by that margin. For example, a game between Manchester United and Burnley might give a -1.5 handicap to Manchester United and a +1.5 goal advantage to Burnley. If you pick Burnley, they have to avoid losing by more than 1.5 goals. On the other hand, if you pick Manchester United, they would need to win by more than 1.5 goals for your bet to be successful.
    • Bet Builder/Same Game Multi – Bet builders, also known as same game multi bets, are relatively new compared to other football bets. They’ve recently become much more popular online, allowing bettors to choose multiple markets on the same game and combine them in a single bet. Like an accumulator, these bets can provide massive payouts if you’re lucky enough.
    • Goalscorer – Goalscorer bets consist of a few different types of bet, including anytime goalscorer and first-time goalscorer. You’re picking the player who you think will score at some point in the game or the one you believe will score first in the match.
    • Half-Time/Full-Time – This bet allows you to bet on both the half time result and the full-time result. For example, you can bet that the game will be a draw at half-time but that the home team will be the winner at full time. Some sites also allow you to bet on half time/ full-time scores as well.
    • Both Teams to Score – Frequently abbreviated to simply, BTTS, the Both Teams to Score bet requires precisely what the name suggests, and both teams involved in the game must score for it to payout. This means that neither team can end the game with “Nil” on the scoresheet in order for it to be successful.
    • Double Chance – A double chance bet is a bet on two of the three possible outcomes of the game. So, instead of just betting on the home side to win, you can bet on the home side to win or for the game to end in a draw.
    • Scorecast – A scorecast bet combines the correct score market with a goal scorer market. For example, you can bet on Leicester City winning 2-1 and Jamie Vardy scoring at any time. Scorecast odds are much higher than regular correct score bets because there are two separate outcomes.
    • Accumulator – Accumulator bets combine multiple selections across multiple games into one bet. For example, you could bet on the outcome of every Champions League game happening that night, picking Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern Munich to win. The more selections you add, the higher the odds will be, but every one of your selections needs to be right for your bet to payout.
    • Over/Under – Over/under bets are a bet on the total number of goals in a match. You can choose either under or over a particular number. For example, if you think a game is going to be low scoring, you’ll go with under 2.5 goals.
    • Draw No Bet – A draw no bet is like the match bet, only it removes the option of betting on a draw. You can only choose the home team or the away team. In the event of a draw, instead of losing your stake, it will be returned to you.
    • Outright Bets – Outright bets allow you to choose what you think will happen at the end of a competition. For example, you can bet on which team you think will be crowned Bundesliga champions, or you can bet on which player will be the top goalscorer in their league or even on which player will win the Ballon ‘D’or.

Dos and Don’ts of Football Betting

Dos

  • Use your head – Using your head means thinking carefully about each bet. A lot of bettors prefer to bet on their favourite teams or bet against their least favourite teams. Many also automatically assume that the favourite will come out on top. If you want to be successful, you’ll need to think logically and consider the different factors that affect a football match.
  • Manage your spending – Betting is fun, but it can become a problem if you’re not careful with how much you spend. Anyone who has been betting for long enough will tell you that managing your bankroll (the amount of funds you have to bet) is vital. You should keep your bets to a certain percentage of your bankroll. That way, your bets get larger as your bankroll grows and get smaller as it decreases. By managing your spending, you can bet for longer while spending less.
  • Do your research – As with using your head, research is essential if you want to get an edge in sports betting. You don’t have to spend countless hours studying the game, but you should at least know the quality of certain players and how they affect the overall performance of their teams. You should also pay attention to stats and head-to-head records, as these can have a big impact on future results.
  • Use sports betting bonuses – Most sports betting sites offer free bets and matched deposit bonuses to new users, and many offer rewards to their current bettors too. You should look to use these whenever possible as they reduce the risk to your own cash and can be a lot of fun. Just be careful to read the terms and conditions thoroughly.
  • Be patient – Patience is a virtue, and this is especially true in sports betting. You should be researching and waiting for the odds to move in your favour, and it often pays to wait. You should also avoid betting on too many games at once. Take it slow and steady when you first get started, as there are plenty of games to bet on.

Don’ts

  • Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose – As well as managing your spending, it’s important to always keep your bets manageable. In some cases, you might be tempted by a bet that you feel is a sure thing, but nothing is ever certain in football, so you should never bet more than you can afford to lose.
  • Don’t bet on preseason or non-competitive games – Preseason and friendly fixtures are often used by managers to allow their squad to gain fitness, and it’s very difficult to ever predict what will happen or which players will be involved. As a result, betting on these is usually ill-advised.
  • Don’t get carried away – It’s easy to get carried away if you land a big return on a bet, but you should always bet smart and stick to the same betting strategy as ever. Likewise, if you’re on a losing streak, it can be very frustrating and result in you losing focus. Always stick to your strategy and take a break if you need to change your mindset.
  • Don’t bet on leagues or teams you don’t know well – If you want the best results, knowing the teams, players, and competition is important. There are thousands of matches happening all the time, but it’s not a good idea to bet on games where you have no clue about either side.