Introduction to Football Betting

Basic Guide to Football Betting:

Football is the perhaps the greatest sport to bet on nowadays.  Whether it’s the unpredictability of an intense hot-seated derby, or the drama and suspense of seeing a team latch on to a 1-0 lead - there’s always something to throw money at.  Modern day football fans have seen it all too. Arabs Sheikhs, Russian oligarchs and exiled Prime Ministers, football’s where the money’s at.  It’s a sport where goal scorers are immortalized and hooliganism excels.  Where rivalry beckons and administration dwells.  

How To Bet on Football

Before you get started reading our football betting strategy/tips and predictions, you need to know how and where to place bets.  You can sign up to a number of great betting sites online for free, and earn extra bonuses and free bets for doing so.  If you’re just getting started in football betting, we recommend signing up to Bet365, one of UK football’s most respected sports betting brands.  When you sign up to Bet365, you’ll also receive a free bonus up to £200!  For more information on Bet365, please read our Bet365 Sports Betting Review.

What to Bet on in Football?

In modern football betting there are a number of different types of bets you can place and odds to analyse.  One of the most popular types of bets which most will already be aware of are straight bets.  A straight bet is when you bet on a specific event happening in football, such as backing a win or a draw.  Another type of bet in football that many won’t have heard of however is a points spread.  Betting in a points spread (more a US betting system) means the favourite team needs to win a by a certain number of points.  If the spread is -1.5 for example, then the team needs to win by two points for you to win.  This is also known as Asian Handicap betting.  If you wanted to bet on the weaker side in contrast, you’d win as long as the team doesn’t lose by more than a one goal margin (giving it +0.5 on the points spread overall).  I personally don’t recommend betting on a points spread because more often than not the realistic odds aren’t favorable, and it can also be confusing for new bettors.

Another popular bet in football betting is the Total Score Bet.  This is where you bet on either higher or under the total number of goals you think will be in a game.  If the bookies believe there will on average 2.5 goals in a game, you can either bet high or under this level.

Is Football Betting Profitable?

This question entirely depends on how intelligent you are when it comes to placing bets in football.  When making a bet, the first thing you need to look for is value – that is the expected value of the returns of a bet being positive.  This can either be achieved by studious insight into the game, or by the bookie giving favorable odds for an event to happen.  Either way, an intelligent football bettor who reads articles on football betting strategy and makes his picks wisely can easily become profitable.