The beautiful game is the most popular sport in the world. With this popularity comes a myriad of betting options from operators around the globe. With such a huge selection on offer, placing soccer bets can be intimidated before learning how to bet on soccer. However, understanding odds and each of the possible betting options is easy. Get started with our simple guide below and you’ll be placing your first soccer bets in no time.
Betting odds
When placing a soccer bet, you will be provided with the odds for each possible betting option. Odds are merely a numerical representation of how likely an event is to happen. For example, if you were betting on the flip of a coin, there would be two possible options to bet on (heads or tails). Assuming that there are no external factors affecting the flip, each option would be just as likely to happen as the other. Therefore, if you bet that the coin will land on heads, there would be a 50% chance of that happening. Bookies from different regions will then either represent that percentage as a fraction or a decimal. In our coin flip scenario, the heads bet would have 0.5 odds in decimals and 1/2 as a fraction.
When creating betting odds on various outcomes of a soccer fixture, a bookie will take into account a number of variables. The weighting and inclusion of different variables that affect each fixture may differ from bookie to bookie. This may result in two different online betting providers offering different odds for the same outcome.
Placing a 1×2 Match Result bet
Most betting providers will offer a 1×2 Match Result option as the default bet on soccer fixtures. A Match Result bet simply requires you to predict whether team A or team B will win, or if the fixture will end in a draw. To place a 1×2 Match Result bet, you will need to select one of the aforementioned options for your preferred soccer fixture. Your bet slip will be updated with your selection. It is then simply a matter of completing your bet slip with the amount you wish to bet and clicking Bet Now.
Additional betting options
Soccer fixtures generally have the broadest range of betting options of any sporting event. The betting options range from a simple Match Result bet to Overs/Unders, Winning Margin and over 50 others.
Additional soccer betting options include:
- First Team to Score – Predict which team will score the first goal or if there will be no goals scored during the game.
- Correct Score – Predict the exact score of a soccer fixture from a selection of outcomes. This betting type offers extremely favourable odds as a result of how difficult it is to predict the exact outcome of a soccer fixture.
- Anytime Goalscorer – Bet on a specific player to score during a match. If your selected player scores anytime during regulation time, your bet will be paid out.
- Home Clean Sheet/Away Clean Sheet – Predict if the home/away team will or won’t go the full length of the game without conceding. This betting option only requires you to bet on a Yes or No option. There are separate Clean Sheet betting options for both the Home and Away teams. Additionally, there a number of other clean sheet options including Away Team or Any Clean Sheet, Draw or Any Clean Sheet, and 1st/2nd half Home/Away Clean Sheets.
Placing a multi bet
Online betting providers offer two main betting types: single and multi. A single bet is simply a bet on a single outcome with a single set of odds. A multi bet requires you to correctly predict a number of outcomes each with its own set of odds. If any of your individual Multi Bet predications are wrong, the whole bet is lost even if you correctly predict 9 out of 10 outcomes for example.
The final odds of a multi bet are calculated by multiplying the odds of each of your selections together. For example, if you select Arsenal to win with 1.33, Luton Town to win with 1.73 and Liverpool to win with 1.57, the odds of your multi bet would be 3.6 (1.33 x 1.73 x 1.57 = 3.6). As a result, if you placed a $1 bet, you would receive $3.6 in winnings.