Online Soccer Betting
Soccer is hands down the most popular sport in the world right now and has millions of die-hard fans in Europe, Asia and America. As you’d expect, finding a trustworthy and reliable online sports betting book that offers plenty of soccer markets isn’t all that hard.
In fact, virtually every major network site boasts of providing its customers with the complete coverage of all the important events, such as the World Cup or European Championship. Even fans of local leagues shouldn’t have any problems with finding numerous bookmakers that allow them to wager real money on their favorite teams – and if that wasn’t enough, most of them offer exciting welcome bonuses, which are pretty much guaranteed to provide you with a smooth start.
BEST ONLINE SOCCER BETTING SITES 2019
Soccer Online Betting Guide
Money Line Betting
Betting the money line is also referred to as a 1×2 wager in soccer. When you place this kind of a bet, your goal is to predict whether the match will end in a draw – and if not, which team will end up winning the game. Most sites use $100 as a basis for calculating your payouts. Negative money lines 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:
Cardiff: -145
Draw: +240
Fulham: +400
In our scenario, Cardiff 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. Fulham 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 objective 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, 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. Please note that unlike in other team-based sports, such as basketball, over/under bets in soccer aren’t really luck based and can actually become a great source of income with a proper handicapping effort.
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. For example, if you place an accumulator bet composed out of four 1×2 wagers, but only three of your teams win, your money will simply stay with the site. As you’d expect, parlays pay better than other types of bets, which makes them best suited for veteran bettors and people who enjoy high-risk, high-reward action.
Futures Betting
Unlike all the types of bets that were described above, soccer futures don’t really deal with specific matches. Instead, bettors have to 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 leagues are more than likely to offer additional markets. The odds on soccer futures are almost always fantastic even on clear favorites due to the fact that bets of this kind require a long-term commitment. Quite obviously, predicting which team is going to win a high-profile tournament isn’t exactly easy, so in most cases you should expect at least 10:1 when betting on one of the favorites and about 500:1 or better when betting on the underdog. Please note that when soccer futures are offered for less popular leagues, the odds tend to be significantly lower, which is why most people prefer to wager on the outcome of major events.
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. If you enjoy placing wagers of this kind, you should definitely give the prop bet section a look before setting up your account.
Popular Prop Bets
For the majority of marquee domestic and international soccer matches, bettors are treated to an abundance of prop bet options. In some cases, you’ll have more than 100 different prop bets to choose from – and they range from the simple (even or odd number of total goals scored) to the complex (half-time result combined with whether both teams will score).
Here are five of the most popular, entertaining or intriguing prop bet types to consider:
- Half-time/full-time result: This prop forces bettors to choose the correct team to lead at the half, and combine that with the final result (or the result through 90 minutes for games where extra time or penalty kicks are a possibility.) For example, let’s say Liverpool are hosting Everton, and you believe the heavily favored Reds will dominate. You could opt for the Liverpool-Liverpool half-time/full-time play, which pays at a considerably better rate than a simple Liverpool win.
- Alternate total: The overwhelming majority of soccer matches come with a built-in goal total of 2.5, with oddsmakers setting the odds for the under and over based on how high- or low-scoring they believe the game will be. Of course, players aren’t limited to that magic number, either; if they think the game will be a high-scoring affair, they can opt for higher totals. Here’s a sample breakdown of odds based on totals other than 2.5:
- Player to score the first goal: Player props are all the rage across many different sports, and could very well see a shift in betting interest as sportsbooks continue to produce creative player props. This one is among the simplest of all: choose which player you think will open the scoring. Since most teams rely on only three or four different players to score the majority of their goals, connecting on the opening scorer isn’t as challenging as it would be for an NHL game.
- Draw No Bet: Soccer is the one major professional sport that sees more than its share of draws – and that can be frustrating, since most bettors lean toward one team or another when making their moneyline wagers. The “Draw No Bet” feature removes the tie as a possible loss: Instead, if the game ends in a draw, the bettor recoups his or her initial investment.
- There is, however, a downside: The odds for both the favorite and the underdog are much lower in this instance.
- Clean sheet: Shutouts! Shutouts!! Shutouts!!! Soccer features a lot of them in a given season or tournament – and while casual spectators might be turned off by the shortage of goals, they do create intriguing betting opportunities. Betting on a team to keep the opposition off the scoreboard doesn’t just allow for alternatives to straight moneyline plays, they also force people to cheer for defense – and who doesn’t like that?
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose a sportsbook for betting on soccer?
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.
What is the most popular way to bet on soccer online?
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.
What are three tips for learning to bet on soccer?
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.