How to bet on football in 2024 - A complete guide by Digimagg

Utilize our comprehensive football betting guide to acquire the knowledge necessary for wagering on the captivating world of football.

Football maintains its status as the preferred sport for betting in the UK, capturing 40 percent of total wagers. Given the multitude of matches worldwide, bettors have a diverse range of betting markets at their disposal. Betting platforms attract punters with enticing promotions and competitive odds.

A profound grasp of these markets is crucial for bettors to make informed and strategic decisions.

This article aspires to serve as an exhaustive guide for football betting, furnishing punters with indispensable knowledge to adeptly navigate the intricacies of the sport and make well-considered choices.

Demystifying Football Betting Odds: An In-Depth Explanation

When you first register on a new betting platform, understanding the mechanics of football odds might seem daunting.

Odds act as a representation of the connection between your bet and the potential winnings for a specific outcome. These odds are determined by bookmakers, and if you choose to wager on a particular result, you'll use these odds to calculate your potential payout.

Traditionally, odds are presented in fractions (e.g., 2/1), but they can also be expressed in decimals (3.0 is the equivalent of 2/1 in fractional terms). The bookmaker you're using allows you the flexibility to select the preferred format for odds presentation.

For example, if the odds for a game are 2/1, you would receive £2 for every £1 bet, along with having your initial stake returned. Alternatively, placing the same bet with decimal odds of 3.0 means you would get a total return of £3 for every £1 wagered.

Guide to Football Betting

Each week, a multitude of professional football matches occurs globally, and bookmakers present an extensive array of odds covering nearly every facet of these games. This includes markets related to match outcomes and specific events within fixtures, such as the number of goals scored, corners earned, red and yellow cards displayed, or individual goalscorers.

Many bookmakers offer competitive odds and ongoing customer promotions throughout the year, often featuring enhanced odds for major matches. If the outcome of a game is determined, and your bet proves successful, you receive both your initial stake and winnings based on the odds.

The football market boasts various bet types, including accumulators that allow you to combine different selections into a single high-odds bet. Most football betting sites incorporate this feature. Given the plethora of options, there isn't a definitive "best" way to bet on the sport; it ultimately depends on the preferences of the individual placing the bets.

Bet builders, a relatively new option, permit the creation of high-odds punts. However, some may prefer the simplicity of markets like the first goalscorer or match result. In the subsequent section, we will provide an overview of the most popular types of football bets.

Selecting a Football Betting Platform

Here is our exhaustive compilation of top football betting sites. These platforms are strongly endorsed for creating accounts and benefiting from new customer promotions. Armed with your enhanced comprehension of football betting, you can explore the subsequent sections of our guide by scrolling down.

Guide to Football Betting: Bet Builder and Same Game Multi Options

Bet builders have become extremely popular in football betting, quickly becoming the favored betting method for many. Also known as same-game multis, these bets let you merge outcomes within a single match rather than spanning different fixtures, providing a similar experience to accumulators.

Although combining selections raises the associated risk, it also allows you to capitalize on your understanding of the two teams and generate appealing odds.

There is a wide range of popular choices that can be included in bet builders, such as yellow cards, corners, or goalscorers, in addition to the match result. Additionally, player props, which we will delve into below, can also be integrated into bet builders and have gained considerable popularity.

Determining Home and Away Teams in Betting: A Guide

In typical fixture schedules, bookmakers commonly present the home team's name first, followed by the away team, with the option to bet on a draw between the two teams.

Understanding Football Betting: Player Props and Player Statistics

The evolution of the football betting market is evident through the introduction of diverse markets for both Premier League and international matches. These markets, distinct from traditional goalscoring or card markets, offer the opportunity to bet on players achieving specific actions such as shots, tackles, and offsides.

Prop markets, gaining popularity, present unique bets like predicting the number of free kicks, goal kicks, and throw-ins in a match. While the variety of offerings varies among bookmakers, bet365 stands out for its extensive player props.

A recent addition is the option to wager on the number of passes a player makes during a match, providing an intriguing avenue for customers to apply their own research.

Innovative markets, such as individual player tackles and team tackles, have emerged, offering interesting opportunities, especially in a new Premier League season. Bookmakers often use these bets to enhance odds and provide more value to players, but caution is advised regarding the stakes, given the inherent unpredictability of football.

Betting on Football Online: Understanding Match Betting

The simplest form of football betting entails predicting the outcome of a game, specifically whether it will end in a home win, draw, or away win. It's important to note that this prediction pertains to the result after 90 minutes of regular play. If you've placed a bet on the home team to win and they only secure victory after extra time and penalties, you won't receive any winnings as the match outcome is considered a draw for betting purposes.

Guide to Football Betting: Understanding Asian Handicap Betting

An Asian handicap bet involves assigning a "handicap" to your chosen selection, and what sets this type of bet apart is its exclusion of the draw possibility in betting terminology.

Bookmakers assign a plus or minus figure to each team to indicate their respective handicaps. These handicaps can be either whole-goal (e.g., +1 or -2) or half-goal (e.g., +0.5 or -1.5).

To illustrate how each type works, consider a brief example.

Full-Goal Handicap Betting Explained

The numbers assigned to each team are added to or subtracted from their actual score in the match.

For a bet on Manchester United, a win requires them to secure a victory by a minimum two-goal margin. If they draw or lose, the bet is lost. In the case of a one-goal margin win, which is nullified by the -1 handicap, the result is a draw, and the stake is returned.

Opting for Newcastle United means a win when they secure a victory or draw or even lose by just one goal. If they lose by a margin of three goals or more, the bet is lost. If they lose by a two-goal margin, nullified by the +2 handicap, the result is a draw, and the stake is returned.

Choosing a whole-goal handicap bet provides the added security of having your stake returned in certain outcomes.

Half-Goal Handicap Betting Explained

If you place a bet on Manchester United and they secure a victory with a margin of two goals or more, you emerge victorious. However, if they win by just one goal, draw, or suffer a defeat, your bet is unsuccessful.

For a bet on Newcastle United, you win if they lose by only one goal, draw, or secure a victory. If they lose by a margin of two goals or more, your bet is unsuccessful.

Notably, a half-goal handicap bet eradicates the chance of a draw entirely. 

Football Wagering: Understanding European Handicap Betting

The primary distinction between European handicap and Asian handicap betting lies in the inclusion of the draw as a bettable market. Additionally, the absence of a half-goal handicap market sets them apart.

To illustrate, consider the following example:

Manchester United -1, Draw -1, Newcastle United +2

For a bet on Manchester United, success requires a victory by a margin of two goals or more.

Opting for the draw means winning if Manchester United secures a win by a single goal.

Choosing Newcastle United results in a win if they secure a victory, draw, or lose by just one goal.

Guide to Football Betting: Half-Time/Full-Time Wagering

You have the option to place bets on the outcome of either the first half or the second half of a football match, wagering on the home team, away team, or a draw for one or both halves.

This type of bet is particularly attractive to football enthusiasts who perceive certain teams as consistently strong or weak starters or finishers in matches.

Having insights into the starting line-ups and team dynamics, such as the absence of key players due to rest or injury, can provide a significant competitive edge when engaging in this particular bet.

Beginner's Guide to Football Betting: Understanding Double Chance

In double chance betting, you have the opportunity to wager on two out of the three possible outcomes in a match, enhancing your chances of winning. The available combinations include:

1. Home team or draw
2. Away team or draw
3. Home team or away team

This strategy provides added security, ensuring a full payout if either of your chosen combinations is successful. However, the trade-off for this increased security is lower odds compared to the single-match outcome markets.

Accumulators

Accumulators are a highly popular form of football betting, combining multiple selections into a single bet. Their appeal lies in the potential for significant returns with minimal stakes, as the winnings from each successful selection are reinvested in the next one.

The inherent risk in accumulators is that all selected bets must win for the bettor to receive the substantial payout. Some bookmakers, like William Hill, offer accumulator insurance, ensuring that if one selection (with a minimum of five selections) fails, the bettor receives their stake back as a free bet.

For instance, if you identify four teams with even-money odds to win, placing £1 on each team in four separate bets would result in a total return of £8. In contrast, a £1 accumulator on all four teams winning at even money would magnify the return: the £2 from the first team's win would be placed on the second team, doubling the return to £4, and this process would repeat for the remaining teams, resulting in a total return of £16. The attractiveness of accumulators becomes evident when considering higher odds, such as 2/1, where the return could reach £81 for all four teams.

Correct score/Scorecast/Wincast

A correct score bet involves predicting the final score of a match, considering that this prediction holds for 90 minutes, even in cup ties that may extend to extra time and/or penalties. While correct score bets often offer attractive odds, accurately predicting the exact score is a challenging task.

A Scorecast is a type of bet that combines selecting a goalscorer with predicting the correct score. For instance, you could bet on Harry Kane to score and England to win 2-0. The odds for such bets are higher as they involve predicting two outcomes. Some bookmakers may allow you to specify whether the goalscorer in a Scorecast should be the first, last, or at any time during the match.

On the other hand, a Wincast is similar to a Scorecast but focuses on selecting a goalscorer and predicting the overall outcome of the match rather than the exact score. For example, it could be Harry Kane to score and England to win. The odds for a Wincast are not as high as a Scorecast since predicting the match outcome is considered easier than predicting the specific scoreline.

Betting on Goal Scorers: Understanding the Options

This type of bet involves predicting a specific player to score during a match and is a straightforward method of engaging in football betting.

Various outcomes can be wagered on, such as predicting your chosen player to be the first or last goal scorer in the match or to score at any time during the game. The odds for a player to score at any time are typically lower due to the higher likelihood of it happening.

Betfred offers an appealing promotion called Double Delight and Hat-Trick Heaven, where odds are doubled or tripled if your initial goalscorer selection scores twice or achieves a hat-trick in selected games.

These bets are often favorable when a player is in good form or if a team is significantly superior to their opponents, increasing the likelihood of a player finding the back of the net.

You have the flexibility to select any of the 22 players on the pitch, and bookmakers frequently provide enticing offers alongside popular goalscoring markets, adjusting promotions based on the progress of specific fixtures.

Over and Under betting

This type of bet focuses on predicting the total number of occurrences of a specific event (such as goals, corners, or yellow cards) during a match, and it stands out as one of the most popular options offered by many bookmakers.

Bookmakers set a baseline number for an event in a match, and bettors can wager on whether the actual number will exceed (over) or fall below (under) that baseline. The baseline is always a fractional number, ensuring that the outcome will be either over or under, as it is impossible to have a fraction of an event (e.g., half a goal or half a corner).

For example, if a bookmaker sets the market for over or under 10.5 corners in a match, a bet on over wins if 11 or more corners are awarded, but loses if the total number of corners is 10 or fewer. Conversely, a bet on under wins if there are fewer than 10 corners and loses if the total reaches 11 or more.

Identifying Value in Football Betting: A Guide

Even with thorough research and a solid understanding of a game, there is always the potential for unexpected outcomes. However, embracing this unpredictability is part of the allure of football, highlighting the importance of relying on one's knowledge when engaging in football betting.

To enhance the chances of success, especially for newcomers, it is advisable to start with simpler bets like match outcomes or goalscorer markets, or opt for lower-risk options such as draw no bet or double chance. Placing bets on familiar markets reduces the risk of financial losses, with research and knowledge serving as pivotal factors in identifying value.

Punters can leverage free statistical resources to gain insights into more specific prop markets provided by various bookmakers, such as the number of shots on target a player might take. For example, a football enthusiast regularly following Premier League matches might find greater success by focusing on bets within the top English flight rather than venturing into unfamiliar matches and leagues worldwide.

Once a selection is made, maximizing value becomes essential. The results from the 2022 UK Bookmaker Awards category for football odds, determined by data specialists, can provide valuable insights to aid in this pursuit. More information about the awards can be found on their official website. 

What is the top football prediction website?

Daily, we provide punters with a bet of the day, typically featuring odds around even money, chosen based on thorough analysis and deemed to have the highest probability of winning.

Betting on Football: Common Questions Answered
What is the simplest type of bet?

In football, the most uncomplicated betting market is the match result. Essentially, you have the option to support either team for a victory or bet on a draw, with the ultimate outcome of the game determining the success of your wager.

What is the optimal choice for football betting?

Regrettably, there is no straightforward solution in football betting. Similar to other forms of wagering, there are no assured winners. Instead, it is prudent to analyze the odds and team form thoroughly before making your individual selection, along with utilizing this comprehensive guide.

Strategies for Successful Betting

There's no fail-safe method for consistently winning football bets. Instead, it's essential to consider a multitude of factors before making your selection. The inherent unpredictability of the sport is what makes it exciting, and as such, there are no absolute guarantees in football betting.