Football receives more bets on it in the UK than any other sport. It’s estimated that around £14 billion is gambled in a given year in the UK, with almost a fifth of that being from online bookmakers. So, putting two and two together, it seems that many people want to know how football betting works online. The first tip is to consider the best new customer betting offers to help you get started.
The basics
The first thing to understand is the game of football itself. Fortunately, it happens to be the most popular sport in the world, so the majority of people looking to bet on it already know the rules and outcomes. If not, then this is where to start.
The outcomes of the game aren’t the only thing you can bet on, though. So, whilst we can bet on the winner or a draw, it’s also possible to bet on the number of goals or corners, or the first goalscorer. These are often easier to predict because we can better understand the dynamics of a game than who will win. For example, many of us can spot which game will have goals because of the stylistic matchup at hand and their recent striker’s form. But, this doesn’t mean we know who will win. Under/over 3.5 goals often yield good odds.
After you’re familiar with the betting types and markets, it’s important to understand odds and value. In the UK, fraction odds are used where the first number is your winnings in regards to your stake, which is the second number.
Strategy
When making a bet, there’s more to consider than just making a good prediction. Football is very unpredictable, so no strategy that we use will have a very high success rate. Around 25% of Premier League games end in a draw for example, which tells you that you’re not likely to predict them correctly every time.
So, we need to prepare for losses. How we do this is through bankroll management, where we control our stakes and place limits on ourselves. For example, never deposit more than £30 per week and never bet more than 10% of our account balance.
It’s important to try different betting types, but eventually, the goal is to find a niche that you become very knowledgeable on.
Research
The final piece of the puzzle is research. Football is a sport based on momentum. Liverpool in recent seasons has shown how they can be one of the best teams in the world one minute, but if the tide turns, they can go on a seriously poor run of form. So, form is what we need to keep an eye on first and foremost.
We can also consider other stats that relate to our bet. If we’re betting on both teams to score in a game, we need to look at goals for and against recently of both teams. But, manager interviews, injury news, and crowded fixtures are all considerations too.
