Types of Betting
1 Head-to-head-betting Head to head betting is perhaps the most traditional form of betting. In head to head betting, you essentially bet on the outcome of the match, win, lose and in the case of football, draw.
1. How does Head to Head betting work? Let's look at an example: Manchester United are playing Liverpool. A bookmaker will offer odds on either side to win or for the match to end in a draw. When you bet on Manchester United, if they win the match, you win the bet. If the match ends in either a draw or a Liverpool victory, you lose the bet. Head to head betting that involves the draw as a third outcome option is also known as 3-way betting. Another sport where 3-way betting is popular is Ice hockey.
Most sports however, only have two possible outcomes. In sports such as tennis, basketball and baseball, you bet on either team to win the match. If the Los Angeles Lakers are playing the Boston Celtics, you can bet that either the Lakers will win or the Celtics will win. As you can see, much of the popularity of head to head betting is derived from its simplistic format. It's an easy and very familiar way for people to bet and an ideal starting point for anybody beginning their journey into sports betting.
2 Over/Under Betting Another and increasingly popular type of betting is Over/Under betting. This form of betting is most commonly associated with the scoring in a given match
1. How does Over/Under betting work? Let's take an example of football: Chelsea are playing Arsenal. Bookmakers will offer odds on whether the match will end with a total of over 2.5 goals scored (I.e 3 goals or more) or end with less than a total of 2.5 goals scored (I.e 2 goals or less). If you bet that the match will end with over 2.5 goals and it ends with 3 goals or more, you win. If it ends with 2 goals or less, bad luck, you've lost your bet.
2. On which sports can I do Over/Under betting?
This type of Over/Under betting has been applied to most sports. You can bet on the number of points in an American football game, a basketball game, a rugby game, the number of goals scored in an ice hockey match, even the total number of games played in a tennis match just to name a few examples. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the type of Over/Under bets. Not only can you now bet on the number of goals scored in a football match, but you can also bet on the number of corner kicks or even the number of yellow cards given. This increase in application has been seen across the full range of sports. For example you can now bet on things such as whether a tennis match will end over or under a certain number of aces served, the number of free throws in a basketball game or even the number of yards gained by a particular player in an American football game. It's fair to say that Over/Under betting is intensely popular and a particular type of betting that some semi or fully professional sports bettors specialise in.
3 Handicap Betting Another increasingly popular form of betting is handicap betting. You may have heard of it under one of its many guises: Asian handicap, Line Betting, Spread Betting or Points Betting.
1. How does handicap betting work?
Whatever you like to call it, the basic concept is simple: Bookmakers make a sporting event an even money contest (50-50 proposition) by adding and subtracting a number of points to and from the competition teams or players. An Example. American football is perhaps the most famous sport in the world for handicap betting. Throughout both the NFL and College football seasons, millions of bettors across the nation and increasingly the world, bet on American football handicaps. So let's say this week the San Francisco 49ers are playing the New York Giants. The bookmakers have made the 49ers a 3.5 point favourite. What does this mean? Well it means that if you bet on the 49ers, they have to win by 4 points or more for you to win your bet. If you bet on the Giants, they can either win or lose by 3 points or less. It is often depicted in this manner: San Francisco 49ers -3.5 vs New York Giants +3.5. It might look confusing, but it's actually quite simple. If you bet on the 49ers, you subtract 3.5 points from their final score (-3.5) and if their score is still greater than the Giants final score, you win the bet. On the other hand, if you bet on the Giants, you add 3.5 points (+3.5) to their final score. If after adding those points the Giants score is greater than the 49ers, you win the bet.
Bookmakers now offer handicap or line betting on a tremendous range of sports not limited to American football but also basketball, baseball, ice hockey, rugby, tennis and of course, football.
4 Asian Handicap Betting Handicap betting is not only popular with American football, but also basketball, baseball, rugby, ice hockey and even football where it is most commonly referred to as Asian handicap betting.
Let's take a look at the different kinds of Asian Handicaps available for football betting.
1. The -0.5 or +0.5 Handicap Team A (-0,5) vs Team B (+0,5). Team A in this example is considered the favourite to win, which is reflected in Team B's +0.5 advantage. +0.5 simply means that Team B is rewarded half a goal at the conclusion of the match. If the match is a draw, Team B will then be the winner since they end the match with half a goal more than Team A. If you put your money on Team B you will benefit from two possible outcomes: Team B win or draws, you win. Another way of expressing this is Team A needs to win for your bet to lose.
2. The Over / under Handicap When two teams are likely to draw, the 0 handicap express that if your team wins, so does your bet. Asian Handicaps were largely created to eliminate a draw as an available option, so if the match is a draw, your stake is returned just as if the bet never happened.
3. The 1 Handicap This handicap works just like a 0.5 handicap. But when the handicap is 1 it means one of the teams is given a 1 goal advantage. Team A is in this case a bigger favourite thus rewarded a -1 handicap. If your money is on Team B, Team A needs to win by two goals or more for you to lose. Remember that a 1-0 win to Team A equals a draw, which is still a result in your favour since a defeat with just one goal means you get your stake refunded. When you bet on Team B (+1) the possible outcomes look like this: Team B wins
You win.
Team B draws
You win (the kicker is the 1 goal handicap advantage.)
Team B loses by one goal
Your stake is refunded
Team B loses by more than one goal
You lose the bet
4. The 1.5 Handicap Betting on Team B, the handicap is this time +1.5: Team B wins
You win
Team B draws
You win
Team B loses by one
You win
Team B loses by two or more
You lose
5. Split Asian Handicaps / Quarter Asian Handicaps Compared to other sports, soccer is a relatively low-scoring affair. Thus it didn't take the bookies long to diversify the available handicaps even more, and offer split bets, that are also known as “quarter Asians�. If you bet on these handicaps, your initial stake is divided equally among two Asian handicaps. Bets will for example be expressed in this manner:
Team B +0 and +0.5.
In this example, half your stake is placed on the +0 option, and the other on +0.5. Thus your returns depending on the end result look like this: Team B wins
your whole bet wins.
Team B draws
half of your stake is refunded (the +0 part), the other half is returned as a winning bet.
Thus you win half of what you would have won if Team B actually had won the match. Team B loses
you lose your whole stake.
Often the +0/+0.5 betting option is referred to as +0.25, as this is straight in the middle of both values. That's why bets like these are also called “quarter Asians.�. There is another variant of this, like the Team B -0.25 option (equalling -0 and -0.5). In this case the different outcomes play out like this for your bet: Team B wins
your whole bet wins.
Team B draws
you lose half your stake.
Team B loses
you lose your whole stake.
As you can see, there are many layers of complexity to Asian handicap betting that can make it both an exciting and intriguing way to bet.
5 In-Play Betting With the rise of the internet, came the rise of In-Play betting. Although it hasn't quite reached its peak yet in terms of global popularity, it has quickly ascended within Europe with many professional punters in the UK now operating as full-time 'traders', much like stock brokers playing the stock exchange.
1. How does In-Play betting work? Traders will bet in and out of the market while a match is in running. Many will study the tendencies of particular teams to determine at what stage of the match they should bet on them and what stage of the match they should bet on their opposition. As goals or points are scored, the odds on who will win the match change. Typically betting is suspended and all bets are cleared once a score takes place. Then once play resumes, betting recommences and the traders will trade their position, looking to sure up profit no matter what the outcome.
2. Where can you bet on sports In-Play? In-play betting is perhaps most popular on the betting exchanges such as Betfair and Betdaq. However with its increased popularity, most bookmakers now offer some form of in-play wagering and do so on a wide range of sports, with football, tennis and cricket being perhaps the three most popular sports to bet on in-play.
3. Things to consider before becoming an In-Play bettor It should be noted however, that in-play betting isn't something for those just starting out in betting. It takes a great deal of experience with those particular markets in order to be successful long-term. But if you have rich insight into a particular sport it can be tremendously rewarding. A way of approaching the discipline is starting out with small stakes. Even if you have some expertise in betting it is recommended that you start out slow. Also keep in mind that betting on real time or live events might sound like you are betting on events that are taking place right now. But some broadcasts are transmitted with a small delay. This means that someone physically present at an event can have a huge advantage because they actually see things before you do. E.g. a person standing at the horse track sees that the favourite has suddenly fallen way behind will in some cases have four seconds to sell bets in the time gap before the TV signal reaches your telly. Therefore you may want to start out betting on events that are not subject to make or break incidents. Lastly, a common mistake made by In play betting rookies is forgetting to withdraw bet offers. If no one matches your bet, make an immediately retreat. Leaving an unmatched bet on the market will mean easy money for someone else since the market sometimes moves very quickly, leaving your bet up for grabs. In-Play betting is a new and exciting way of betting. If you're a sharp experienced bettor, it's a great way of make consistent and frequent profits.
6 Each Way Betting
Each way betting, commonly referred to as EW, has been very popular with punters for many decades typically with horse racing.
1. What is an Each-Way bet? Placing a bet each-way means that you are placing an equal amount on that horse to win or come a place, usually 2nd or 3rd. So for example, if you have placed a ÂŁ10 each-way on a horse in a particular race, it means that you have placed ÂŁ10 on the horse to win and ÂŁ10 on the horse to run a place.
2. Why is Each-Way betting so popular? Why this form of betting is so popular is because should your horse fail to win, so long as it comes a place, you will typically win enough back to cover your initial stake. So in some ways its a form of safety betting.
3. What odds will you receive for your place bet? The odds for the place bet is usually 1/5 of the odds for a win, sometimes 1/4. An Example So let's say for example a horse is 11.00 to win a race (10 to 1).
Unfortunately for you, your horse doesn't win. But fortunately it runs 3rd. You've put £10 each-way on that horse. Receiving 1/5 the win odds for a place will see you get odds of 3.00 (2 to 1) for the £10 place portion of your each-way wager. This will give you a full return of £30. After we deduct our total stake of £20 (£10 each-way) you have made a profit of £10. Not bad going for a horse that didn't even win. And just imagine had your horse won! You can see why each-way betting is so popular.
7 Multiples They go by a number of different names: Combo bets, Coupons, Multi-Bets. Whatever you like to call them, they are an incredibly popular way to bet, especially amongst casual punters who are looking for an interest in the weekend's football action.
1. What is a multi-bet? Essentially a multi-bet consists of two or more selections often referred to as 'legs'. The number of selections made can vary although most bookmakers have limits on the number of legs you can include in any given multi as well as the total amount that can be paid out on a multibet. A two leg multi-bet is often referred to as a 'double', a three-leg multi a 'treble' and a four-leg multi a 'quady'.
2. How are the odds for a multi-bet calculated? It's rather quite simple. The odds for each leg are multiplied into the next. So if you have a double where the first selection is odds of 2.00 and the second selection is odds of 1.50, the odds you will receive for your multi-bet is 2.00 multiplied by 1.50, which equals 3.00. So let's look at a real world example: You have bet on four Premier League matches. You've taken Manchester United to win at odds of 1.75, Chelsea to win at odds of 1.90, Liverpool to win at 2.20 with Arsenal and Tottenham to play draw at odds of 3.40. So what odds will you receive for your 4 leg selection? Simple.
1.75 x 1.90 x 2.20 x 3.40.
Your odds?
24.87.
Nice price!
3. A word of caution on placing multi-bets. While multi-bets hold the promise of handsome odds, they should be treated with caution. Why?
Because with every leg you add to your bet, you multiply the value in those odds. If you have found true value in each of your selections, the value of your bet multiplies with each of the those selections. However, if your selections do not offer value, your multi-bet is best not made. It is terrible value. So place multiples with some consideration. If you're found genuine value, they are a great way to play to enhance that value.