Are you looking to explore the world of football betting? Do you want to learn how to bet on football in 2024? Perhaps you're already a football bettor but are looking for some pointers to help you improve? Well, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will be talking about all things football betting. We'll look at the basics, such as football betting odds and different football bet types, before going on to look at different football betting sites, betting strategies and tips for success.
Betting on Football 101: Beginner's Guide to Success
Football betting can be quite scary for beginners. Nowadays, there are so many different bet types, and so many choices, it can be hard to know where to start. Naturally, the best place to start is with the basics. In this section of our How to Bet on Football guide, we'll take baby steps and cover the first things the newbie or inexperienced football bettors need to learn. In other words, let's start with the football betting basics.
Understanding Football Betting Odds
A good place to start is with betting odds. Now, if you're new to the betting world then odds can seem confusing and intimidating. To a newbie who is learning how to bet on football, understanding odds may seem like a complex task, but the concept of betting odds is really a rather simple one.
Explaining Football Betting Odds
Simply speaking, betting odds simply reflect the perceived likelihood of something happening. In other words, if a bookmaker is providing odds on a sporting event, the odds offered are merely a reflection of their opinion regarding how likely (or not) something is to happen. At this stage, it's important to understand that any odds you see are an expression of a perceived percentage chance. Basically, all betting odds are simply another way of expressing percentages or implied probability. For example, odds of 2/1 reflect a percentage or probability of 33%. So, if a bookmaker, which is really just an oddsmaker, is offering odds of 2/1 for England to beat Brazil, all this means is that the oddsmaker believes that there's a 33% chance of England winning.
At this point, for anybody learning how to bet on football in 2024, we should go over the fact that you'll likely see different types of betting odds. This too can also be confusing. There are typically three popular types of betting odds. These are fractional odds, decimal odds (sometimes known as European odds), and American odds. Now, again, this sounds quite complicated, but it's really not. These varying odds types are merely different ways of expressing the same odds, or as touched on above, the same percentage chance.
Let's look at the different types of odds in a little more detail below:
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Fractional Odds
If you're learning how to bet on football in the UK, then fractional odds are typically what you'll encounter the most. Traditionally, fractional odds are the norm in the UK betting industry. Fractional odds do exactly what they say on the label; they display odds in fractional format, e.g. 2/1, 5/1, 6/4, 7/4, 10/1 and so on.
A popular concern of those likely to be interested in this beginner's guide to football betting is not understanding what fractional odds mean in terms of potential returns. There's an easy way to work this out. If you look at fractional odds, all you really need to know is that the left of the fraction is what you'll put on and the right of the fraction is the amount of profit you'll make should your bet win. Let's say you take odds of 10/1. The 1 represents your stake and the 10 represents the amount of profit you'll receive. Therefore, if you put £1 on and win, you'll get £11 in return (£10 profit + £1 stake). if you stake £5 at 10/1, you'll be risking £5 in an attempt to win 50 in profit (5 x 10 = 50). At this point, it's also important to remember that you always get your stake back in addition to your profit when winning. Therefore if you put £5 on at 10/1 and win, you'll get £55 in return (£50 profit + £5 stake = £55).
You may have heard of or read terms such as 'odds on' and 'odds against'. These terms refer to which way round the odds are. Odds that are greater than 1/1 (more commonly known as evens or even-money) are referred to as odds against, while odds that are less than 1/1 are known as odds on, which is basically another way of saying that your profit will be smaller than your stake.
Decimal (European) Odds
Also common in the betting world, especially in Europe and on betting exchanges (we'll get to those at a later date), decimal odds are also relatively self-explanatory. Decimal odds are simply a display of betting odds in decimal format. Instead of 1/1, it's 2.00. Instead of 2/1, it's 3.00, and so on.
When learning decimal odds, work from 2.00 as a base. In other words, if you know that 2.00 is 1/1 (evens), then you know whatever you put on, you'll double if you win. If you go down from 2.00, then this becomes odds-on, and your profit will always be lower than your stake. If you go up from 2.00, you're betting odds against, and your potential returns will be greater than your stake.
American Odds
Typically used in America but also understood and preferred by some bettors in other parts of the world, including the UK, are American odds. Now, American odds are always displayed as + or -. For example, +105 or -105. With American odds, the '-' means you're betting odds on, while the + means that you're betting odds against.
To help you along see the table below, which shows how a variety of odds convert, from fractional, to decimal, to American, to implied probability (percentage chance).
Fractional |
Decimal |
American |
Probability |
1/2 |
1.50 |
-200 |
66.7% |
4/7 |
1.57 |
-175 |
63.6% |
8/13 |
1.62 |
-162.50 |
61.9% |
4/6 |
1.67 |
-150 |
60% |
8/11 |
1.72 |
+137.5 |
57.9% |
4/5 |
1.80 |
-125 |
55.6% |
5/6 |
1.85 |
-120 |
54.5% |
10/11 |
1.91 |
-110 |
52.4% |
1/1 |
2.00 |
+100 |
50% |
Different Football Bet Types
Now that we've covered the basics in terms of odds, it's time to look at some of the different football betting markets. Nowadays, there are loads and loads of football betting markets. They may even be too many, so we'll keep it simple and look at the basic, most popular types so that you get the idea.
Win/Draw/Win Betting (also known as Moneyline or 1X2)
The most common type of football bet is Win/Draw/Win betting. The idea here is simple, you bet on the match result. You can either bet on the home team to win, the away team to win or bet on the match to finish in a draw. Nice and easy. Win/Draw/Win betting is one of the oldest football betting markets and because of its simple nature, it remains one of the most popular.
Both Teams to Score
Another simple yet hugely popular football bet type is Both Teams to Score. As the name suggests, this bet type involves betting on whether or not both teams will score in a football match. The options are simple in that you can choose whether to bet on both teams to score or both teams not to score.
Draw No Bet
This is one of the more complicated bet types or rather one of the bet types that novice football bettors tend to take a while to get to grips with.Draw No bet involves betting on a team to win a match, but if the match ends as a draw, you get your stake refunded, as opposed to losing.
Choosing the Right Football Betting Site
Nowadays, with so much choice, choosing a football betting site can be difficult. Fortunately, we've done some of the hard work for you in this how-to-bet-on football guide, and we only recommend football betting sites of the highest quality, so fear not, we've got you covered. See below for a list of the top football betting sites.
Bookmaker |
Bonus |
Football bonus minimum odds |
Bet With Bookmaker |
Bet365 |
Bet £10 Get £30 in Bet Credits |
1/5 (1.20) |
Bet with Bet365 |
Betfair |
Bet £5 Get £20 in free bets |
1/2 (1.50) |
|
Betfred |
Bet £10 Get £60 in Bonuses |
1/2 (1.50) |
|
SBK |
Bet £10 Get £30 in free bets |
1/2 (1.50) |
|
Unibet |
Bet £5 Get £40 Sports Bonus |
2/5 (1.40) |
|
Copybet |
Bet £10 get £50 in free bets |
1/2 (1.50) |
|
Spreadex |
Get £50 in Bonuses |
1/2 (1.50) |
|
Vbet |
Bet £10 Get £20 in free bets |
1/1 (2.00) |
|
BetVictor |
Bet £5 Get £30 in bonuses |
1/1 (2.00) |
|
Ladbrokes |
Bet £5 Get £20 in free bets |
1/2 (1.50) |
Factors to Consider When Selecting a Football Betting Site
There are several things to consider when choosing a football betting site. First and foremost, when beginning your football betting online, you want to choose a reputable and reliable provider. We only recommend football betting sites that are fully verifiable and hold proper licenses from official gambling bodies such as the UK Gambling Commission. When searching for a football betting site, safety and security should be the first thing that you consider. Now, let's look at some of the other important factors below.
User Friendliness
One of the most important factors to consider is user-friendliness. It's not good registering at a football betting site that is difficult to use or poorly laid out. You want to choose betting sites that have been built and designed with the user experience in mind. The same goes for mobile players. If you're going to be doing your football betting via a mobile app, then the app needs to be well-designed, quick and smooth to use.
Bonuses
Bonuses are not to be ignored. Of course, a big thing to consider is the welcome offer. if you're learning how to bet on football in 2024, then obtaining a good welcome bonus is a good place to start as doing so can boost your starting funds. There are lots of welcome offers out there, but not all are created equally, so shop around and find the best one. You also want to consider what sort of existing customer bonuses are on offer too.
Betting Markets
Now this is a big one. If you know what sort of football bets you're going to be placing, then you want to ensure that the football betting site in question can cater to your needs in terms of markets. Moreover, if you like variety, then you'll want to choose a football betting site that offers lots of different markets. Part of this football betting guide is to ensure that you never neglect market/betting options when choosing a football betting site.
User Reviews
It's always a good idea to choose a betting site that has lots of positve users reviews. After all, if a site has been positively reviewed by lots of other users, then you know that it's good. Conversely, if a site has lots of negative reviews, then that should serve as a red flag and thus you can steer clear.
Evaluating the Reputation and Features of Betting Platforms
At this stage of our football online betting guide, we must stress that it is important to do your research. The only way that you can be sure that you're picking the right betting site is by taking the time to look into things. Consider all the above factors and then go and ask the important questions. Find the answers to these questions by looking at different betting sites' reviews, reading user reviews and looking at each betting site to see what is on offer. This way you'll know whether a football betting site is right for you or not.
Exploring Various Football Betting Options
Of course, we now live in a football betting world that has no shortage of betting options. As the old saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. There are many ways to bet on football, which is what makes football betting so enthralling. We're going to look at a few basic way to bet on football below.
Win/Draw/Win Betting Strategies for Online Platforms
Betting on the match result has stood the test of time for a reason. It has long been one of the most popular ways to bet on football of its simple nature. After all, football is all about the result. Results decide everything and results are often what people talk about so it's not surprising that betting on match results is what a large portion of the football betting community does. Moroever, when learning how to bet on football, match result betting is a great place to start.
If looking for how to bet on football in 2024, even though there is so many ways to bet on football, what with all the complicated and exotic markets available these days, betting on the match result is still a solid way to play it. So, how do you go about betting on results in a proper way?
Thankfully, there's no right or wrong way to go about betting on the win/draw/win market, but if you're looking to be sensible and are attempting to grind out a profit over the long term, then there are a few things you can do to help you along.
Team form is often cited as the be-all-and-end-all, but generic form isn't always that helpful. For example, Team A may have won three games in a row and Team B may be without a win in three games, but does that automatically make Team A a good bet? Absolutely not. It's important to look beyond just basic form, and look beyond results. Find out how teams have been performing, find out if they've been lucky or unlucky, perhaps they've been creating more than their opponents in recent games but just haven't had the breaks, which suggests that their form may soon turn. Being diligent and looking into things beyond the bare form is a good place to start.
Also, staying up to date with team news is important. A team may be in great form and therefore, that team is quite a strong favourite ahead of the next game, but if they're due to be without a couple of key players due to injury, perhaps you can expect them to be less effective, which may prompt you to think that the outsiders are actually a good bet at the available odds.
At the end of the day, it's all about taking your time to look into things, which should lead you to make informed betting decisions, which is important. Consistently making informed betting decisions in the long run can help lead to positive results.
Team Positioning in Football Betting
Following on from the above on looking beyond basic form, when betting on football results, it is important to consider team positioning. In other words, not all results are equals and thus not all form is relevant. Your goal should be to search for a relevant form that relates to team performance. For example, if a top-half team is due to play against a team that is in the bottom six, you want to know how that team has performed against similarly positioned opponents. Likewise, a team may be in great form because they've benefitted from a string of recent games against open opposition, but they're now due to play against a very rigid and defensive team that doesn't give much away, so rather than just consider recent form, you'll want to go deeper and consider how the team performs against defensive opponents.
Exploring Different Bet Types
Earlier in this football betting guide we looked at some of the most basic types of football betting, such as Win/Draw/Win, Both Teams to Score and Draw No Bet, but these are far from the only bet types. let us now take a look at some more football bet types.
Total Goals
This is where things start to get a little more complex, but not massively. Total Goals involves betting on the number of goals a match will have. A common bet of this nature is 'Over 2.5 Goals', which means that you're betting on the match to contain at least three goals. Similarly, you might bet on 'Under 2.5 Goals', which means that you're betting on the game to contain less than three goals.
Team Goals
Similar to the total goals bet type, Team Goals focuses on the goals scored by just one team, either home or away. For example, you might bet on the home team to score 'Over 1.5 Goals'. Conversely, you might bet on the home team to score 'Under 1.5 Goals'.
First Goalscorer
Relatively self-explanatory, this football bet type focuses on an individual player rather than a team and involves betting on which player will score the first goal in a given match. Typically, bettors can choose from all players involved, with forwards naturally carrying the lowest odds.
Understanding Handicap bets: European & Asian
When initially learning how to bet on football, handicap betting is something that most people struggle to get to grips with, but once you've got the idea, handicap betting is quite simple. In its simplest form, handicap betting involves betting on teams to win or lose by a certain margin.
European Handicap Betting
European Handicaps are the easiest handicaps to get to grips with. This type of handicap betting merely involves betting on teams to win or lose after a certain handicap has been applied. For example, you may bet on the home team to win '-1'. This means that the team you're betting on effectively starts a goal down and thus has to win by two goals for your bet to be deemed a winning one. Of course, the team doesn't start a goal down in reality, just for the purpose of the bet. There are many different handicap bets that can be placed. For example, instead of betting on the home team -1, you could bet on the away team '+1', which means that the away team effectively starts a goal to the good and thus only needs to draw the game in reality to maintain the handicap advantage.
Asian Handicap Betting
Asian Handicap betting is a little more complicated, as there are more outcomes. For example, if you were to bet on a team '-1' Asian Handicap, you'd lose if they fail to win, you'd win if they win by two or more, but you'd get a refund if they win by just one. This differs from European handicap betting as if you bet on a team '-1' there, you either win or lose, and there is no potential refund. Sound simple? Well, things are about to get a little more complicated.
There are three main types of Asian Handicaps, which are:
- Full Asian Handicap
- Half Asian Handicap
- Quarter Asian Handicap
Full Asian Handicap
Full Asian handicaps are handicaps such as +1, -1, +2, -2 and so on. In other words, they're full numbers. Let's say that you bet on a team -1, as touched on above, you'll win if the team wins by two clear goals, you'll get a refund if they win by one and you'll lose if they either draw or lose. Similarly, if you bet on a team +1, you'll win if they either win or draw the game, you'll get your money back if they lose by just one and if they lose by two or more, you'll lose.
Half Asian Handicap
Half-Asian handicaps are actually a little simpler, even if they don't seem it. For example, if you bet on a team +0.5, then that team is effectively getting a head start of half a goal. Therefore, they need to avoid defeat for you to win your beat. if they lose, by any margin, you'll lose your bet, simple as that.
Quarter Asian Handicap
Now, quarter Asian handicaps are where things get a little more interesting. Quarter handicaps are also known as split Asian handicaps as this type of handicap bet is actually two bets rolled into one, or rather one bet split into two. For example, if you bet on a team to win -0.75, you'll collect a full win if they win by two or more goals, a half win and a half refund if they win by one and a loss if they fail to win the game.
Other Betting Markets
There are of course many other betting markets that are quite typical in today's ever-growing football betting world. Some of the other betting types available to football bettors are as follows:
Half-Time/Full-Time
This type of football bet means to bet on the result both at half-time and at full-time. For example, let's imagine Arsenal are playing Manchester United. You may bet on Manchester United to be winning at half-time and full time, or you may bet on the first half to be a draw but the match to be won by Manchester United. Conversely, you could bet on Manchester United to be winning at halftime and Arsenal to be winning at full-time.
Double Chance
Similar to handicaps and Asian handicaps in the sense that there are multiple outcomes covered, Double Chance allows players to cover two sides of the three-sided result market. For example, if Real Madrid were playing Chelsea, you might bet on Chelsea to win or draw, thus covering two of the possible match results.
Anytime Goalscorer
Another popular bet type is Anytime Goalscorer. As opposed to the bet type directly above, this involves betting on a player to simply score at any point during a given match. If the player scores, you win. Again, very straightforward.
More Unique Bet Types
As those learning how to bet on football should now know, there are so many different bet types. Here are some more niche or rather slightly less common football bet types:
Correct Score
Does what it says on the tin, the Correct Score market allows bettors to bet on the final score of a match. For example, you could bet on the home team to win 2-1, or 1-0, or 3-2. Alternatively, you could bet on a 1-1 or a 2-2 draw, or perhaps a 1-3 win for the away team. The possibilities here are quite plentiful.
Scorecast
Combining two different markets, the Scorecast market allows bettors to bet on either a first or anytime scorer as well as the correct score of the match. An example would be betting on Heung-min Son to score first and Tottenham to win 3-1.
Wincast
Much like the bet type above, Wincast bets allow users to bet on either a first or anytime goalscorer as well as the match result. An example would be betting on Kevin De Bruyne to score first and Manchester City to win the match.
Now onto Next Manager and Player Odds Markets
Nowadays football bets are exclusive to what happens on the pitch either, as there are lots of special betting markets for things such as 'Next Manager to Get Sacked', or 'Tottenham's Next Manager?'. There are also loads more players in markets than the basic ones mentioned above. You can now bet on players to 'Assist Anytime', ' Score or Assist', and 'Score Two or More Goals'. 'Receive a Card'. With this level of variety, it's easy to see why football is such a popular sport among the betting community.
In-Play Betting Strategies and Tips
And now we come to in-play betting, which in recent times, has arguably become one of the most popular parts of football betting. For those learning how to bet on football in 2024, in-play betting is big business. This type of betting allows users to bet during the game. For example, you may be watching a game that is 0-0 after an hour and feel that one team has the edge thus prompting you to bet on them to win in-play.
There are loads of in-play betting strategies, but here are a few potentially positive in-play strategies that are quite easy to follow and implement:
0-0 Draws
Ahead of games that look like they could be quite tight affairs, games where early goals seem unlikely, betting on the 0-0 draw before the start of the match can be quite a good idea as you can use a betting exchange to lay the 0-0 draw before a goal is scored in-play as the game progresses and the odds for the game to end 0-0 shorten. Doing so correctly would ensure that you win a certain amount regardless of the end result.
Laying the Team in Front
In football, leading teams often fail to win, so a potentially positive in-play betting strategy is to look for leading teams to either lay on the betting exchange (which means to bet against) or bet against at a bookmaker/online betting site. Away teams that are leading by just a single goal can be good to look out for, as these teams often cease attacking in an attempt to hold on to what they have, and they then tend to come under lots of pressure. A good portion of the time, this pressure tells and the hosts equalise, so betting on enough home teams that trail by a goal, especially in the second half, can lead to in-play success, but be careful to look for and take the right opportunities, don't just blindly bet on every team that goes a goal down.
Identifying Value in Football Betting
When you're learning how to bet on football, the concept of value is something that you're going to come across sooner or later. Value is all important if you're a potential football bettor who is looking to try and make a profit in the long term. In other words, value is key if you're aiming to take football betting seriously. If you're just a fun bettor looking to place a few bets here and there for fun and aren't looking to make any money, then value is less important. In this case, the advice would be to learn about the basics, learn about the different football betting markets and simply have fun. However, if you want to take football betting at all seriously, then value is critical.
So, what is value? In the simplest possible terms, value is getting more for your money than you believe you should, much like buying an item in the shop for less than the going rate. In the case of football betting (or betting in general), value is simply getting greater odds than you should, thus giving you an edge. Bettors who make finding value a priority and who take value in the long term are the ones who have the best chance of being successful.
Techniques to Find Value in Football Betting
OK, so how do you go about finding value? Well, the traditional way to find value is to compile your own odds/price up events/markets for yourself. The theory being that you use your knowledge to compile your own odds, then compare those odds with the odds available and bet when your odds are greater than those available. However, pricing up is far from an exact science and it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to get it close to right. Therefore, such a process is perhaps not ideal for those learning how to bet on football.
Another way of finding value is to use the betting exchanges such as Betfair as a guide. The smartest punters, plus the biggest and most informed betting syndicates use betting exchanges, which means that the betting exchange odds close to the start of an event tend to be the closest possible representation of the 'true odds'. Therefore, if you look at the exchange odds just before an event is about to begin and compare these with the odds available at traditional bookmakers, you can find value. You can find value by taking bookmakers odds that are greater than the exchange odds right before an event is about to start. Such an approach requires little more than patience but in the long term, can be very effective.
One final thing worth mentioning at this point isn't directly related to value but is definitely relevant, even for those punters not looking to take their football betting that seriously. You should definitely shop around for the best odds. Use odds comparison sites and take the best odds. Doing so in the long term will certainly aid your chances of success. Of course, this requires having mutliple betting accounts, but that's not a bad thing as you can take advantage of multiple welcome offers and will then be well placed to take the best odds.
Balancing Risk and Reward in Betting Decisions
Risk and reward is also hugely important if you're going to attempt to profit from football betting. Something may seem like an easy win but is the potential reward worth the risk? For example, it's probably not worth risking 80% of your funds on what appears to be an easy bet just to gain a relatively small profit. Why? well, the risk outweighs the reward, and if that's the case, then the bet is ill-advised. Having a good grasp of risk and reward is key to being a potentially successful footballer bettor.
Football Online Betting Guide Summary and Conclusion
Ultimately, with football betting, there's a lot to know, so there's a lot to process in this beginner's guide to football betting, so we've summarised some of the key points below:
Summarizing Key Points in Online Football Betting Guide
The bottom line is that football betting can be really fun, but there's lots to learn, so it's important to take the time to get to grips with the basics. Below are some important things that those looking for a how-to-bet-on football guide should do:
- Learn about betting odds and understand how they work
- Learn about and understand the relationship between odds and probabilities
- Understand the concept of value
- Ensure that you put the work in to arrive at informed betting decisions
- Shop around for the best odds
- Use betting exchanges to guide you in terms of finding value
- Continue to learn more and more about football betting
Tips for Responsible Betting
Those looking to learn how to bet on football should also be aware of the importance of responsible gambling. At the end of the day, football betting can be lots of fun and if taken seriously can potentially lead to respectable winnings in the long run, but it can also be a gateway to damaging losses and developing harmful gambling habits, so it's massively important to gamble responsibly.
Only bet with money that you can afford to lose
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