A Guide to Making a Soccer Bet Online
Soccer is hands down the most popular sport in the world right now and has millions of die-hard fans in Europe, Asia and North America. As you’d expect, finding a trustworthy and reliable sportsbook that features soccer bet online and plenty of soccer markets isn’t all that difficult.
In fact, virtually every online sports book provides customers with the complete coverage of all the important soccer events, such as the World Cup, European Championship or Champions League match. Even fans of domestic leagues shouldn’t have any problems with finding bookmakers that allow them to wager real money on their favorite soccer club.
BEST SOCCER BET ONLINE SITES 2020
- What a moneyline soccer bet online?
- What is Over/Under soccer bet?
- What is a soccer parlay bet?
- What are goal lines bet?
- What are futures soccer bets?
- What are soccer prop bet?
- Soccer bet online FAQs
Soccer Bet Online Types
Moneyline Betting
Betting the moneyline is the most traditional and common wager by soccer fans. The wager is on the result of the match: A home teams win, a draw, or away teams win. Most sportsbooks use $100 as a basis for calculating your payouts. Negative moneylines require you to pay more for a chance to win $100, while positive lines provide you with a chance to win the amount listed on the site by betting $100. Consider the following example:
- Manchester City: -145
- Draw: +240
- Manchester United: +400
In our scenario, City is the favorite – so you’ll have to pay $145 for a shot at winning $100. The draw is less likely, so if you bet $100 on this line, you’re going to win $240 if your prediction was right. Man United is considered the underdog, so betting $100 on that team will result in a $400 payoff if your team actually manages to win the match.
Over/Under Betting
Over/under bets are also known as totals, as your goal is to predict whether the score of both teams will be higher or lower than the total posted by your sports betting site. For example, if the total is set at 2.5 goals, winning an over bet would require both team to score three goals or more. Conversely, winning an under bet would be possible only if the combined score of both team was 2, 1 or 0.
Parlay Betting
Parlays are often referred to as accumulators or multipliers, as they allow you to place a combination wager which is composed out of two or more straight bets. Basic parlays composed out of two and three selections are called doubles and trebles respectively. Keep in mind that placing a parlay is very different from placing each wager separately, as you have to be right on each of your predictions in order to receive a parlay payout.
Goal Lines Betting
Goal Lines are similar to Puck Lines in hockey, Run Lines in Baseball and Point Spreads in football or basketball.
A Goal Line is typically -0.5 goals in soccer, matches with heavy favorites, the Goal Line can be bumped up to a higher number -1.5 or -2.5. For example,
- LA Galaxy -2.5 goals (+110)
- New York Red Bulls +2.5 goals (-120)
If you bet on the Galaxy -2.5 goals, then to win the bet they must win by three goals or more. It you bet on New York +2.5 goals, that means to win the bet New York can win, draw or lose by one or two goals.
- Moneyline
- Goal Totals
- Goal Lines
- Futures
- Prop Bets
- Parlays
Futures Betting
Unlike the bets described above, soccer futures don’t really deal with specific matches. Instead, bettors can wager on the outcome of entire tournaments before the season actually starts. Most sports betting sites allow you to put your money on one of the teams in Premier League, World Cup and European Championship, but as you’d expect the sites that cater to fans of regional soccer leagues are more than likely to offer additional markets.
Proposition Bets
Proposition bets or props are gimmick bets which are hard to classify into any broad category. In most cases, props have nothing to do with the outcome of a game – instead, they allow you to put your money on the performance of specific star players. Other popular props include predicting which team will be the first to score, whether a team will score a goal during the first half and so on. The possibilities are virtually endless, so it should come as no surprise that every major site offers unique props.
What are three tips for learning how to soccer bet online?
This soccer betting guide wouldn’t be complete without some handy pointers for those looking to make soccer bets. Here are a couple of tips to get you started:
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Home field matters – a lot.
Even mediocre teams find a way to win regularly in their home stadium, so if you’re looking to make some safe plays early in your online soccer wagering career, go with the home side for your moneyline and prop bets.
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Learn about Asian handicaps.
It’s worth diving into some Asian handicap betting to learn the nuances; if you can identify matchups you feel strongly about, there’s an opportunity to greatly enhance your potential winnings through this fun betting option.
It might seem complicated at first, but Asian handicaps are an incredibly fun way to get action on a soccer game while also taking the draw out of play.
With Asian handicaps, bettors are presented with one or two handicaps, along with soccer odds attached to each. For example, let’s say Liverpool is listed on the Asian handicap at -1.0 and -1.5 against Everton, with odds of 1.55. The odds apply to both scenarios – so if Liverpool win by two or more goals, you would cash both bets at 1.55; if Liverpool wins by one, the first bet is a push (and therefore returned) while the second loses; if Liverpool draws or loses, both bets lose.
It’s worth diving into some Asian handicap betting to learn the nuances; if you can identify matchups you feel strongly about, there’s an opportunity to greatly enhance your potential winnings through this fun betting option.
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The best players are almost always the best players.
The majority of elite teams have one or two superstar scoring options. And there’s plenty of money to be made in selecting these players to score anytime goals, since you’re not bound by when they score – only that they do. Bettors should keep a particularly close eye on elite players in games where their team is heavily favored; those games produce plenty of scoring chances, and by extension, great player prop plays.
Soccer Bet Online Glossary
| Soccer Betting Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Slip / Ticket | another word for bet slip in which your wager is printed on |
| Point Spread | a type of bet where one team must win by a certain amount of points or the other team must lose within a certain number of points. For example in the NFL, Browns (-7) vs Jets (+7) means the Browns must win by more than 7 points to win or the Jets must lose by fewer than 7 points or win outright. If the final score is Browns 28 Jets 21, the bet is a PUSH. |
| Push | a sports betting term for a tie and wagers are returned to the player |
| Moneyline (ML) | another term for an outright win sports bet. When betting the moneyline you believe one of the two teams (or player) will win the event. |
| Point Total (Total) | also know as an Over / Under bet, is one when you must guess whether the total points scored will be over or under a certain number |
| Parlay / Accumulator | a multi-game, multi-event bet, in which 2-or-more wagers must be correct in order for the ticket to cash. Because you are betting on more results to happen successfully, parlay bets often enjoy great odds than single bets. |
| Teaser | similar to a parlay, a teaser contains multiple event bets where the point spread and/or totals can be adjusted by “buying” goals |
| Juice / Vig | is another term for cost of placing a bet and is easier to show an example than define. When you look at a moneyline bet on an oddsboard, it’ll look something like: Man City -145 | Draw +240 | Man U +400 |
| Prop / Proposition Bet – | these typically have to do with a certain player or team achieving a certain goal threshold within an event. An example of a prop bet would be Ronaldo O/U Goals + Assists 0.5 |
| Specials | an off-shoot of prop bets, specials are unique to a certain time frame. For example, who will score more goals this weekend, the Messi or Ronaldo? |
| Goal Line | Goal Lines are like puck lines in NHL, run lines in MLB and points spreads in football and are typically -0.5, which means the favorite needs to win by one-or-more goals. |
| Futures | a wager on a future event and/or outcome (i.e. Man U. will win championship next season) |
| Each way | A type of wager where you can still win if your pick comes in 2nd/3rd/4th depending on various factors; popular in tournament settings |
| Backdoor cover | when one team scores late to cover the spread, but not necessarily change the outcome of the game |
| 1Q/1H/2Q/2H/3Q/4Q | shorthand for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th quarter and 1st and 2nd half bets |
| L5 / L10 | shorthand for last five games, last 10 games |
| Tilting | when you start betting with uncontrollable emotion |
How to Bet on Soccer Online FAQ
All major sportsbooks offer a wide variety of sports betting, but some stand out above others. Here are some things to look out for when deciding which sportsbook is right for you:
- Which sportsbooks offer the best odds? You should be constantly searching for the friendliest odds no matter which sport you play – and while that might mean doing plenty of legwork ahead of time, it is absolutely worth it. Look for the best odds, and take advantage of those odds to maximize your potential winnings.
- Which sportsbooks offer the widest range of props? Much of the fun of betting on sports is the sheer number of options available – so it makes sense that you might find more enjoyment with sportsbooks that offer a wider array of prop wagering opportunities. You might not necessarily bet on all of them, but it’s nice to have choices!
- Which sportsbooks offer the best “bells and whistles”? Promotions are a great way to lure bettors to your sportsbook – so don’t be surprised to see a lot more inventiveness in this regard as online sports betting takes a stronger hold in the United States. From enhanced odds to “win back your money if your team loses in penalties” promos, bettors should have plenty of options when it comes to promotions.
It’s a well-worn cliche, but online soccer wagers come in many shapes and sizes. There are, however, a handful of bet types that stand out above the rest in terms of popularity among all kinds of bettors:
The straight moneyline play is probably the simplest, as it rewards bettors simply for selecting the winning team; of course, the more heavily favored the team, the lower the payout is. There’s also the draw to consider; only in cases where one team is an overwhelming favorite is the draw a non-factor. In the majority of online soccer betting matchups, the draw is very much in play.
Bettors also enjoy totals wagers, in which players put money down on whether they believe the teams will combine to score more or fewer points than the pre-set total. This one is popular due to the simplicity of it: Either go above or below the number.
The other most popular play in online soccer wagering, fittingly, combines the first two: the result/total combo. In this wager, bettors select the team they believe will win the game, along with whether the game will go over or under the 2.5-goal threshold. There’s also the option for bettors to select a draw along with the over/under, which usually offers a nice payout no matter the matchup.
This soccer betting guide wouldn’t be complete without some handy suggestions for those players who are new to the soccer wagering game. Here are a couple of tips to get you started:
Home field matters – a lot.
Even mediocre teams find a way to win regularly in their home stadium, so if you’re looking to make some safe plays early in your online soccer wagering career, go with the home side for your moneyline and prop bets.
Learn about Asian handicaps.
It might seem complicated at first, but Asian handicaps are an incredibly fun way to get action on a soccer game while also taking the draw out of play.
With Asian handicaps, bettors are presented with one or two handicaps, along with odds attached to each. For example, let’s say Liverpool is listed on the Asian handicap at -1.0 and -1.5 against Everton, with odds of 1.55. The odds apply to both scenarios – so if Liverpool win by two or more goals, you would cash both bets at 1.55; if Liverpool wins by one, the first bet is a push (and therefore returned) while the second loses; if Liverpool draws or loses, both bets lose.
It’s worth diving into some Asian handicap betting to learn the nuances; if you can identify matchups you feel strongly about, there’s an opportunity to greatly enhance your potential winnings through this fun betting option.
The best players are almost always the best players.
The majority of elite teams have one or two superstar scoring options. And there’s plenty of money to be made in selecting these players to score anytime goals, since you’re not bound by when they score – only that they do. Bettors should keep a particularly close eye on elite players in games where their team is heavily favored; those games produce plenty of scoring chances, and by extension, great player prop plays.
- Which sportsbooks offer the best odds? You should be constantly searching for the friendliest odds no matter which sport you play – and while that might mean doing plenty of legwork ahead of time, it is absolutely worth it. Look for the best odds, and take advantage of those odds to maximize your potential winnings.
- Which sportsbooks offer the widest range of props? Much of the fun of betting on sports is the sheer number of options available – so it makes sense that you might find more enjoyment with sportsbooks that offer a wider array of prop wagering opportunities. You might not necessarily bet on all of them, but it’s nice to have choices!
- Which sportsbooks offer the best “bells and whistles”? Promotions are a great way to lure bettors to your sportsbook – so don’t be surprised to see a lot more inventiveness in this regard as online sports betting takes a stronger hold in the United States. From enhanced odds to “win back your money if your team loses in penalties” promos, bettors should have plenty of options when it comes to promotions.