When you choose to bet on a soccer (or football or futbal or whatever you prefer to call it) game, you have a ton of options when it comes to the types of bets you can make. Most sports bettors are aware that you can bet on the game-winner, but an alarmingly high number of bettors are unaware that is only a small fraction of the bets that you can make. You see, there are actually many different soccer bet types you can make that deal with every facet of the game. If it’s something that can be predicted and quantified, you can probably bet on it somewhere.
Now, you may be asking why this is important? Do you have to learn about all the different types of soccer bets out there or can you just keep it simple and keep picking game winners? Let’s address those two questions really quickly. First, the reason this is important to know is that some of these alternate types of soccer bets are more fitting for the prediction you have. While you could make a game winner bet, there are going to be times where one of the other bet types we’re going to cover today gives you a better chance to win or gives you a chance to make more money on the exact same prediction.
Now, do you have to take advantage of these different types of bets? You certainly do not have to. There is no correlation between the complexity or the diversity of your soccer bets and your potential for success. You can stick to only betting game winners, and as long as you’re continually making bets with value, you’re going to be profitable. But, it’s good to know what your options are so that you give yourself the best chance to win and so you can take advantage of unique predictions when they present themselves.
Let’s take a look at all of the different types of soccer bets that are available for you to choose from.
While we spent the bulk of our intro talking about the unique soccer bets that you may not know about, this wouldn’t be a complete guide if we didn’t address the more common bet types as well. In this section, we’re going to talk about betting on game-winners in soccer. But, we are going to look at three different ways that you can bet on who is going to win that you may not have known exist.
The most common type of soccer game winner bet is the straight up bet. This is often referred to as a ‘to-win’ bet, the moneyline bet, or just the game-winner bet. With this bet, all you have to do is pick which team you think is going to win the upcoming soccer game, and that is it. If the team you picked wins, you win your bet. It does not matter by how many goals they win, if the game finishes in regulation, or how pretty the victory is. As long as the soccer team that you picked to win walks away the winner, you win your bet.
It is important for you to realize that not all moneyline or game winner bets are going to pay out the same profit. The profit you’ll receive will be determined by how likely the team is to win the game and how much money the other sports bettors have bet or not bet on them. The more likely a soccer team is to win and the more money that has been bet on them, the lower the profit you can expect to get if you choose to bet them. The less likely a soccer team is to win and the less money that has been bet on them, the higher the profit you should expect to get with a correct pick.
The sportsbooks goal is to get the right amount of money bet on each team so that they can turn a profit regardless of who wins. This means that they need to encourage more action on the underdogs or less popular pick and discourage action on the favorites or more popular picks. If you’d like to learn a bit more about how these bets work, check out our Moneyline Bets Guide now for all of the important information you need to know.
The double chance bet in soccer is a bet that came about because a lot of soccer games end in ties. Basically, there are three possible outcomes in a soccer game. Outcome one is the first team winning, outcome two is the second team winning, and option three is the game ending in a tie (draw).
With the double chance bet, you get to pick two of the three outcomes to happen. As long as one of those two occurs, you win your bet. Now, this is going to be slightly easier for you to pull off than picking a straight winner, so the payouts will be slightly worse, but your likelihood of winning will be higher. Also, the odds will vary on each of the three choices based on the likelihood and the bets that have come in so far.
The three options will look something like this.
Just to be clear because it does trip some people up, yes, the last option just says that one of the teams is going to win the game. If you place that bet, as long as the game doesn’t end in a tie, you will win your bet.
The next game winner bet in soccer that we want to look at is the Draw No Bet option. With this bet, you will pick one of the two teams to win. If your team wins, you win your bet. But, what is different about this bet is that if there is a draw, your bet is considered a push and your money is refunded to you. In a lot of the other bet types, a draw would be considered a loss unless you selected it. But, with this type of bet, your bet will be a push, and you will get your money back if the game ends in a tie.
The last game-winner type soccer bet that we want to talk about is the spread bet. If you’ve ever bet any other sports before with spread bets, this is going to be very similar. The difference with soccer, though, is that you almost always are going to see multiple spread options instead of just one spread that you have to pick between. You might see lines at 0.5 goals, 1.5 goals, 2.5 goals, 3.5 goals, etc. Each different line is going to have a different payout associated with it based on the likelihood of the occurrence and the bets that have already been made by other bettors.
Now, for those of you that are brand new to spread bets, here’s the short answer of how they work. Spread bets either spot a team goals or take goals away from a team based on how likely they are to win the game. The idea is to level the playing field so that you can bet on which team you think is going to outperform their expectations. This means that you can bet on a team that you expect to lose the game and still win as long as they outperform their expectations. You can also bet on a team that you think is going to win and still lose your bet when they win if they don’t win by enough goals.
In soccer, this becomes unique because instead of just one spread option, you almost always have multiple alternate spreads to choose from. Based on your degree of certainty of the final score, you can make your wagers accordingly.
If spread bets are new to you and you’d like a full explanation of how they work, we have a guide specifically made for you. Check out our Spread Bets Guide now, and we will break all of this down for you in a much easier to understand manner. This is a must-read for anyone who is going to be betting soccer spread bets as we cover the basics as well as some of the theory and strategies you need to win these bets.
The next category of soccer bets that we want to talk about are the half time wagers. These are actually the exact same bets we covered in the last section, except they are just for half of the game. So, let’s say that you pick a team to win the first half. As long as they are ahead by the end of the first 45 minutes and added time, you will win your bet! The rules and parameters are identical to the selections above, except they are just for half of the game.
Now, you can also make half time wagers on soccer games on the second half. This is where some people get tripped up, but it really isn’t that confusing if you break it down. Let’s say that Manchester United is playing Arsenal in an upcoming soccer game. Let’s say that you think Manchester United is going to come out flat in the first half, but they are going to close the game by dominating the second half. You could make a regular to-win bet on them, but you’re not positive they are going to win the game. You’re just sure they are going to outperform in the second half. This is where making a bet on them to win the second half would come into play.
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et’s say the game goes as you expected. Arsenal comes out and leads the first half 3-0. The second half plays out as you expected and Manchester United scores 2 goals and ends up losing the game 3-2. If you had made a regular game-long to-win bet on Manchester United, you would have lost. But, if you had made a second half bet on them to win the second half, you would have won! The second half bet assumes that the second half is its own separate game. So, even though the actual scoreboard showed 3-0 to start the second half, the score for this wager was effectively 0-0.
You can make these bets before the soccer game starts or sometimes you are able to make them during halftime. But, be careful if you’re making them during halftime because there will be the to-win bet for the entire game being offered as well. A lot of times you will see the half-time wager bet we’re talking about referred to as a ‘second half new game bet’ or something like that to prevent confusion. It should be pretty self-explanatory, but just make sure you’re clear on what you’re betting on before you place your wager.
Another popular category of soccer bets are the totals bets. Now, typically, when someone talks about a soccer total, they are talking about the total score bet. But, there are a lot of other totals types bets that you can make on a soccer game. Sometimes these bets will be in a totals section, but most of the time every totals bet other than the score will be in the prop bets section. We’re covering prop bets in a later section, but we felt it was best to cover them here as it would be easier for you to understand.
As we mentioned already, the most popular totals bet in soccer is a totals bet on the score. Another term for this bet is the over/under, and it refers to the total cumulative number of goals scored by both teams. The online sportsbook will give you a line, and you can bet on whether there will be more or fewer goals scored then that line.
If you’ve ever bet over/under or totals bets in other sports, this is the exact same thing. The only difference with soccer is that again, you will probably have multiple alternate totals lines pretty much anywhere that you choose to bet.
Let’s take a quick example of what this would look like. Let’s say that you decide an upcoming game is going to be high scoring. You see that there is an over/under totals line of 5.5 goals. You decide that you want to bet the over. As long as the total number of goals scored in the game is greater than 5.5, you’ll win your bet! It does not matter if one team wins the game 6-0 or the final score is 3-3, or 4-4, or 8-2, or whatever. As long as when you add up the goals (3+3, 4+4, 8+2, etc.) it’s over 5.5, then you win your over bet!
If you’d like to learn more about totals bets, check out our dedicated Totals Bets Guide where we break down all the information you need to fully understand this type of bet. We also give some nice tips on how to approach these bets that should help you out.
Another popular totals bet that you can make on a game (depending on where you are betting) is how many yellow cards will be issued during the game. The sportsbook will set a line on how many cards they think will be issued, and you get to bet on whether you think it will be more or fewer than that number. These work the exact same way as the totals where it does not matter which team gets the yellows or when they happen or anything like that. As long as you pick the right side of the number, you are a winner.
Just as a caveat, there are going to be some instances where the sportsbook might also let you bet on the total number of yellow cards for each team individually. Usually, we’ve seen it as the total only, but there are some instances where they will break it down team by team (and usually offer the total for both teams as well). Just keep an eye out and make sure you’re making the wager that you actually want to make.
The other popular totals bet that you will see in a game is how many corner kicks there will be. The sportsbook will set a line, and you will get to pick which side of the number you think there will actually be. Typically, this totals number when offered will just be on the total number for both teams. We’ve yet to see it broken down team by team, but it could happen. Pretty much anything that can be quantified can be placed as a wager by a sportsbook depending on how much action they want to offer. Higher profile soccer games will have a lot more options, so keep your eyes peeled to ensure you’re not making a wager you don’t want to make.
These are just a few of the different soccer totals bets that you can make. The actual list of bets we’ve seen offered is pretty endless. Basically, if there is something that can be counted during a soccer game, it can be a totals bet. Some sportsbooks are going to offer a ton of different totals bets, while some will have a limited selection. You should be able to bet the score total pretty much anywhere, but the other options we mentioned and the ones we didn’t will be solely dependent on what the sportsbook wants to offer. If you are looking for a lot of options here, make sure you read our section on where to find these bets as we’ll talk about where to look for more options.
If you’re feeling like a real soccer betting wizard, you can get involved with the exact score bets. These are extremely challenging to hit, but as you might expect, the payouts you’ll receive make up for the difficulty. With this bet, all you have to do is select what you think the exact final score of the game is. We say “all you have to do” like it’s something easy, but in reality, it requires a lot.
You need to not only get the exact score correct, but you need to know which team is going to score what. You aren’t just going to bet that the final score will be 1-0; you’ll have to say the final score will be Manchester United 1 and Arsenal 0. Yes, it’s tough, but if you have a really strong prediction about a game and you’re right, you will be rewarded handsomely.
A very popular soccer bet is the soccer futures bet. This is a wager where you bet on something that is not going to be decided by one game. Basically, this would be a bet on what team you think is going to win a tournament or what team you think is going to be the end of season champion. You can make these bets at the beginning of the season or the tournament, but you can also make them at any point during the season or the tournament.
Typically, people make them earlier on as they can get much better odds on a team to win and turn a better profit. The odds will be set based on the likelihood of the team winning as well as the money that is bet on each team. As teams become more likely to win the championship or tournament, the odds will become less in your favor (you get paid less). As they become less likely to win, the odds will become more enticing to try and draw in more action.
If you’d like to learn more about how futures bets, check out our Futures Sports Bet Guide now. Also, if you’re making a futures bet on a soccer team that is a huge underdog, you may want to read our Hedging Sports Bets Guide as it’s a popular practice to lock up profits when your team is doing well. It’s not something you have to do, but we find that most sports bettors love to hedge late in the season to lock up some guaranteed profits.
The last category of soccer bets that we want to talk about today are Prop bets. Prop bets are wagers where something is proposed to happen, and you get to decide whether it is going to occur or not. We’ve covered a few prop bets already in the earlier sections, but we’re going to look at some of the other soccer prop bet options you’re going to have.
This is a prop bet where you get to bet on which team is going to score first. It doesn’t matter which team wins the game or when the first goal is scored. If you select the team that scores the first goal correctly, you win this soccer prop bet.
This soccer prop is very similar to the last one we just mentioned. The difference here, though, as you might expect, is that you’re betting on which team will be the last to score a goal. Again, it does not matter if that last goal comes in the first five minutes or in added time. It also does not matter if that goal is important or if it helps a team win the game. All you are betting on is which team is going to score the last goal of the game.
Typically, this is a soccer prop bet where you are betting on whether this is going to happen or not. Your options are usually going to be ‘Yes’ or ’No’, and there will be varying payouts on each side of the bet. If you bet Yes and there is a red card presented, you win the bet. It doesn’t matter if there is one presented or there are a bunch booked; all you care about is whether there is at least one or not.
There are also a host of soccer props available for individual players. These are things like betting on which player will be the first to score, how many goals a player might have in a game, and pretty much any other individual stat that can be easily quantified within a game. While these can be tougher to get correct at times, they are a great place for you to find a lot of value because the betting market will be small and most people betting these wagers have no idea what they’re doing. This is going to result in a lot of line movement and often in the wrong direction.
We’ve covered most of the most popular soccer prop bets that you’re going to see offered at various sportsbook across the world and the web. But, these are not all of the props that you’re going to see. Basically, it just comes down to the level and volume of action that a particular book wants to offer. The more that an online sportsbook caters to soccer bettors and the higher the profile game is, the more you should expect to see in the props department.
Not all of the soccer bets we’ve outlined here are going to be available everywhere that you go to bet. Depending on the nature of the game and where you choose to bet, you may have access to all of these options or just a few of them. Let’s take a look at where and when you’re going to see more sports betting options available.
If you’re looking to bet on a higher profile game, you’re probably going to see more soccer bets available across the board. This is the case with games like major rivalries, championship games, or major games like World Cup games. Sportsbooks know that there is going to be a bigger desire for action on these events, so they are much more inclined to offer more options.
Secondly, if you’re betting in a country or at an online site in a country that soccer is a huge sport, you’re going to see a lot more options. Companies know their clients well, and if they know they have a lot of soccer fans, then they are going to focus on offering a lot of soccer action. This is something we heavily take into account when analyzing the soccer betting sites that we recommend to you.
The last thing we want to go over to close out this soccer betting guide is something that we did already touch on during the introduction of the guide. There is no correlation between the complexity of the bets you choose or the variety of the bets you choose and your chances of winning. Just because you selected more complex bets or you vary your bets does not mean you stand any better chance of making money. The odds don’t magically get better or anything like that.
Can you make more money by varying your bets? Yes! But, you can’t just be varying them for the sake of having a diversified betting portfolio. You need to be choosing different bets because they are a better fit for the predictions you have. You can crush the books and be a profit monster by only picking game winners and never utilizing the other types of bets we covered today. You can also crush it by using all or a mix of them.
The point we’re trying to make is don’t let someone convince you that you need to take a more complex or diversified approach to making your soccer bets. As long as you are making the best type of bet possible that gives you the most value, you’re going to be a winner!
