Soccer betting can be one of the most profitable sports betting options, or one of the toughest sports to bet on. There are multiple leagues in multiple countries, as well as multiple different ways to bet on soccer. The main focus is typically on International Soccer, whether it be friendlies, yearly tournaments, or the World Cup. Soccer is considered to be the most popular sport in the world, which some people throughout the United States disagree with. Soccer games are run in two 45 minute halves, with a halftime in between. Soccer is most popular in Europe, where some of the best players in the world typically end up playing for club teams. Big sports bettors who watch sports throughout the world, know probably the most about soccer over any other sport; mainly due to the large number of leagues and teams that play. The MLS (Major League Soccer) is a United States based soccer league, and has grown in popularity recently. The MLS season typically runs from March to November, with each team playing 34 total games.
Soccer Odds and Betting Types
The bets offered on soccer typically depend on the game. You’ll of course always get your standard betting options, but if it is the World Cup; you’ll get more betting options on the bigger games. The main type of bet offered is a straight bet. Straight betting in soccer is just picking which team you think will win the game; with the odds being adjusted by which team is favored. The thing to remember with straight betting in soccer, is that if you want to place a straight bet, sometimes a team can be heavy favorites and offer odds of up to -800 or even more. An example of a straight bet though, is if the Brazil national team is playing Germany, the odds for betting Brazil may be -180, while betting Germany would be something around +140. While straight betting is typically the more popular bet offered in soccer, it’s not always necessarily the best bet.
Another type of bet offered is the spread bet. Spread betting in soccer works a little different than most sports. The line is normally set at -1.5 and +1.5, but if a team is a big favorite it can vary up to -2.5 or even -3.5 in rare occasions. The odds are adjusted based on which team is favored still, so if a team is a fairly big favorite and the line is only -1.5, you’ll get better odds to bet the line than betting straight; but your odds still won’t be excellent in taking the bet. Soccer betting offers spread bets specifically for situations where one team is a heavy favorite over another, and you can get the better odds for it. An example of a spread bet is if you’re betting on the Mexico national team against the United States national team, and the game is set at a pick (even money on either side), the -1.5 for Mexico would offer odds of around +180, and betting the USA +1.5 would be -200. This means that since it’s unlikely that Mexico will win by 2 goals, you’re going to get better odds on that bet.
Now totals in soccer betting can be tough to bet on. Total betting is set up to where you have the projected goals for the game, and bet if it will go over that number, or under it. Over/unders typically range from about 1.5 (very rarely) to 3.5 (also rare), and are typically set at 2.5. The times that they’re set at 1.5 are when you have two very, very strong defensive teams, and when you have it set at 3.5 is when you typically have one team who is a heavy favorite over an under matched team. A good example of a total bet, is if you have Australia vs. New Zealand and the total is set at 2.5; if you bet the over the line may be +130 and the under may be -125. This means that the under is the popular pick and the way that the game is predicted to go.
The final type of soccer betting that is typically offered is the prop bet. Prop bets are typically offered in big World Cup games, or other big International games. If the World Cup Final is set, and both teams have been decided; you’ll probably get multiple different options on things like “first player to score”, “when the first goal will happen” (first 10 minutes, first 20 minutes, etc), and bets along those lines. Prop bets’ odds normally vary quite a bit, and in options like “first player to score” you’ll get quite a few options on that bet. For example, if you like a specific player to score first in the game, you can place the bet and get very good odds on it. So if Netherlands is playing Italy, you’ll get about 7 or 8 players listed with odds ranging on average from about +400 to +1500 depending on the player and how they’ve been playing. Prop bets can be some of the most interesting and profitable betting options on the board, but they’re also very easy to get overwhelmed by.
Major Soccer Events to Bet On
The biggest event in soccer betting to bet on, is the World Cup. The World Cup happens every 4 years and rotates the country that it takes place in. The World Cup features the top 32 teams in the world playing in different groups of four teams each, with the top two from each group advancing to the final 16. From there it is a head to head tournament with the winner of each game advancing on. The betting options open up quite a bit during the World Cup, mainly due to the large interest that it draws from all over. The World Cup is where you’ll find the bulk of player props and game props, and you even get options during it to bet on which teams will advance out of each group, with odds varying. The toughest part about betting on the World Cup can be all of the games and bets that are offered throughout the month. There are typically 4 games per day, with different betting options on each game.
Soccer Betting Tips and Betting Strategy
As previously mentioned, soccer betting can be the most profitable or the hardest sport to bet on. The most important thing to start off with, is to know the teams that you’re betting on. Since there are so many teams around the world that are constantly playing; you may get into a spot of wanting to bet on teams that you don’t know, which is a bad idea. Always research the teams you bet, and also make sure that you stay with teams you know so that you can follow their tendencies and how they’ve played as of late. Another important thing to remember, is to pick and choose prop bets during the World Cup. There may be a ton of prop bets offered out there, but you don’t win any awards for betting a ton of props. You’d be better off researching your props carefully and betting on just a few of them. The main thing to remember though is to manage your bankroll, and don’t bet too much on something that you don’t really know about. If you manage your bankroll and bet smart, you’ll be fine when soccer betting!
Betting the Premier League
There can be little doubt that the English Premier League is currently the most exciting and closely followed league in the world. While in previous incarnations, the English top-flight football league may have lagged behind both the Spanish and Italian versions, since its rebirth as the Premier League in 1992 the English league has increasingly attracted all the top names–both players and managers–making it the number one domestic football competition on the planet.
In addition, the betting interest that the Premier league now attracts is in line with the quality of matches and excitement that this competition regularly delivers. Indeed, the money involved in the Premier League that boasts top stars such as Wayne Rooney, Mario Balotelli and Fernando Torres is now massive.
Naturally, on a domestic level the Premier League is head and shoulders above the rest. Every club is desperate to break into it and clubs throughout the Championship in addition to those in League One are ploughing as much money into their teams in order to do just that.
Of course, since its inception, the Premier has been largely dominated by the so called `big four`–Manchester Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool (although the latter have never actually won it). These are the teams that tend to represent the country in the Champions League competition and thereby remain the best known English clubs throughout the world. By extension then, these clubs tend to attract the majority of the betting.
However, all the other clubs in the league aside from the big four also play their part in contributing to the quality and excitement of the league and interest is not necessarily limited to who is going to win it. Indeed, one of the most exciting aspects of betting is centred around the question of who will occupy the top four places. This is especially true of more recent seasons as a few clubs have now caught the big four up to a certain extent, making the top four positions not as clear cut as in previous seasons.
History of European Football
Where exactly did the game of football originate? Some people suggest that it was invented by the Han Dynasty in China in the second century BC, while others will trace it back to Japan, where a game called Kemari was invented some 600 years later and is still played to this day.
It is sometimes claimed that the game was invented in Europe, it`s early incarnations being the Greek game of Episkyros or the Roman game of Harpastum, which remained popular for around 800 years and which the Roman Empire took with them to Britain.
Then there is Britain of course or, more specifically England, which considers itself to be the home of football because it was the place where the modern game was codified back in 1863.
The game of football had been played in England for centuries, usually on holy days in rural towns and villages and was eventually espoused by the country`s leading public schools in the 19th century.
However, each school`s version of the game differed from others, with Eton`s `wall game` being poles apart from the version of football played at Rugby. And so, in 1863, representatives from 12 clubs and schools met to set down a set of unified rules, leading to the creation of the Football League, the sport`s first governing body.
Within the next ten years, the FA Cup was born, the inaugural winners being Wanderers, who beat Royal Engineers in the first ever final. The first official international match was played when Scotland and England fought out a game that ended in a 0-0 draw.
Although international matches were regularly played between England and Scotland, no games were played against countries outside of Britain until England`s tour of Central Europe in 1908, a full four years after the inception of FIFA, world football`s governing body.
The sport continued to grow in popularity during the latter part of the 19th century and professionalism was legalised in 1885. The Football League was eventually formed in 1888, with 12 founder members taking part.
In 1892 the Football League absorbed the rival Football Alliance and this brought in the introduction of a new second division. The 20th century saw a third and then a fourth professional division added.
International football continued to grow and the first ever FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, the hosts becoming the tournament`s inaugural winners.
A cross-European club competition was then formalised during the 1950s and Real Madrid became the first winners of the European Cup, beating Stade Reims in the first European Cup Final, held in Paris in 1956.
The next big shake-up of the English game did not happen until 1992-93 season, when the Premier League was formed, a breakaway league of the 22 top-flight clubs of the time. Of these 22 clubs, there were only three clubs that were also founder members of the Football League.
Those clubs were Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Everton and all three teams still play top-flight football at their historic grounds of Villa Park, Ewood Park and Goodison Park respectively.
Bet Types for Premier League (European Football)
There are three main kinds of bet you can place on football games. The first is the result bet. This is where you wager whether a particular team will win, lose or draw their next match. You can also place a bet on what the exact score will be at the end of the game. This attracts higher odds than a simple results bet because there is a significantly lower chance of your prediction being correct.
The final type of bet involves attempting to predict the number of particular incidents that take place during a match such as corners, red cards, penalties or free kicks. The odds for these bets are usually higher still because whatever figure you come up with is going to be a complete guess based on nothing more than your own intuition.
Other bets include who will end up getting relegated in addition to how the newly promoted clubs will fair in their attempts to stay in the top flight for another season. In addition, the betting is not restricted to the clubs themselves as individual players are also a betting concern on a regular basis. For example, who will end up the league`s top scorer is always a favourite bet and there are certainly always plenty of candidates for this particular competition.
Many bookmakers offer a huge variety of weird and wonderful bets around the issue of match incidents which are in reality little more than a ploy to attract more punters. For example, you can bet on what the total of all the shirt numbers of all the players taking corners during a game. Another bet involves taking the number of free kicks in the first half and multiplying it by the number of free kicks in the second half.
The great thing about match incident bets is that they sustain interest until the final whistle. While a correct score bet can be lost in the first minutes of a game and a win bet can seem like a lost cause if the other team gets too far ahead, match incidents mean your chances of winning remain alive until the very end of play.
The majority of such bets are placed on a simple fixed odds basis with a set payout for the winner. In recent years, however, spread betting has also become a growth market. This is a system where a points handicap is awarded to the stronger team and bets are placed on whether the team will lose by more than the handicap. The risks are higher – you can actually lose more than your original stake – but so are the rewards.
Premiership Betting Strategy
As with all forms of betting, doing your research is essential if you want to be in with a chance of winning. Thanks to the internet, a wealth of information about past performances and match incidents is available at your fingertips. With a little patience, you can identify which teams have a pattern of playing badly at which grounds, which referees give out the most yellow cards or which players leave a team significantly weaker if they are absent for a match or two.
Fortunately, there now exists plenty of websites that can make your betting experience not only much simpler but also, more often than not, more likely to be successful. Combine your live football viewing with some online betting to ensure your Premier League experience reaches maximum excitement and earn yourself some extra cash at the same time.