The ultimate soccer betting guide

Today we’ll discuss what are the basic bet types in soccer, how can you develop a soccer betting strategy and why math is so important in soccer betting.

Starting from soccer’s worldwide popularity it comes as no surprise that it is the biggest sport in terms of the bet volume at Pinnacle. When it comes to soccer betting some bettors can benefit from guidance, taking into account the hundreds of matches you can bet on every week and countless available markets for each match.

How to Bet on Soccer

In a soccer match, two teams of 11 players are competing. Taken that a match takes place on a 45-90m x 90-120m pitch and lasts 90 minutes (two 45-minute halves) unless the competition requires extra-time (two 15-minute halves) or penalties to decide the match.

To win the match the teams have to score more goals than the opponents so the aim is pretty much simple and clear. Now, in terms of betting, there are various ways and markets to look at and many different outcomes to bet on that aren’t just decided by the result of a match.

Basic Bet Types

There are three most common bet types in soccer betting that are similar to those you will find in most other sports. The match outcome (1×2) is equivalent to the Money Line in baseball betting, while Totals and Handicap in soccer betting are the same as others.

1×2

This betting refers to the match outcome, so a home win (1), a draw (X) or an away win (2) are the three available options.

Handicap

The Handicap betting is similar to predicting the outcome of the match, but it involves a goal “handicap” applied by the bookmaker to counter the recognized difference in abilities between the two teams. In the 1×2 market, the favorites will give a negative handicap to overcome, while the underdog will have a positive advantage. So now, for a handicap bet to win, the team that has the negative handicap must win or lose by a smaller margin than the handicap figure.

Totals

Totals betting in soccer has to do with betting on whether the number of goals scored will be over or under a figure set by the bookmaker. It has nothing to do with winning the match.

 

Other Available Markets

Once bettors understand the basics of betting they can easily transfer from pre-game betting to live soccer betting. There are also other available betting markets like placing bets on how many corners will be awarded in a game, and cards betting which is based on the total number of cards given to both sides.

In addition to markets that are evolving are who will score the most goals in a competition, how many points an individual team will win over an entire season and which team will get relegated.

 

Developing a Soccer Betting Strategy

Knowing what kind of form a team is in if they have any injuries, what kind of tactics they will employ in a match is just a process of developing the needed soccer betting strategy. This is the most basic knowledge bettors will need to build if they want to make money from soccer betting.

There is one starting point that bettors use, and that’s by analyzing home-field advantage. They are using this strategy to calculate their odds to compare against those produced by the bookmaker.

The historical performances and past statistics are a huge helper when it comes to soccer betting, and can provide an edge in soccer betting. No matter what you are trying to bet on, or to predict a draw this data can certainly be used to your advantage.

Why is Math important in Soccer Betting

If you want to know how the game works, the application of mathematics in soccer can truly help improve that understanding and ultimately how to make more efficient betting decisions. A basic grasp of math is essential to you if you want to make money from betting. One of the many reasons why this is the real deal is that math can be used to calculate whether you should place a bet or not, as well as how much you should stake per bet. Math can also help improve your chances of making a profit in other ways.

Here we are at Double chance betting now. This one involves betting on multiple outcomes within the same match. It provides you with a profit for another match outcome – either a draw or the opposition win, while it may reduce the amount of profit you would make for simply betting on a team to win.

There are the Poisson distributions, a slightly more advanced formula that can be used to translate mean averages into a probability for variable outcomes across a distribution – that’s such as the score of a soccer match. So, using the application of mathematical principles and data can help bettors to calculate their probability.

Just be wary of soccer betting tipsters, because there are plenty out there who claim to have a winning formula. Learn how to measure tipster performance before buying into their success.

Making profit from betting on soccer takes time, patience and effort, so following tipsters or self-proclaimed “experts” might seem like the easiest option but trust us, it won’t be worthwhile when it comes to the long run.