Betting on football – markets, tips, and recommended betting sites
On the internet, you have a huge amount of betting options. You can bet on almost every sport you can imagine. The average online bookmaker offers betting on over 50 different sports at the moment.
In Europe, betting on football is most popular, followed by tennis, golf, and rugby. People in the United States prefer to bet on baseball, American football, and basketball. Betting on football is not very popular in the United States (In the US, football is called soccer).
On this page, I am going to tell you all about betting on football. And I am going to give you a few tips to increase your chances of winning with betting on football games.
Why is betting on football so popular?
Football is probably the most popular sport across the world. In Europe it is the number one sport for sure. Leagues like the Premier League and La Liga are very popular in Asia. Millions of people watch the live games on TV or on the internet. Football teams like Liverpool FC, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea FC are super popular by childern in Asia. All those little kids wear the jerseys of their favorite teams. And when they are playing football themself they imagine being one of the super stars like Messi, Ronaldo, Aguero, Zlatan or Hazard.
Bookmakers are offering online betting options since the early 2000’s. With the online betting options it is easy for people to start placing bets on football games or events. People are watching games with friends and during the games they bet on the result or on the goalscorers together. They bet with each other or they open a free account at an online bookmaker and they place bets on the internet. Now it is even possible to open an account at a bookmaker and bet with your mobile phone or tablet. You can bet at any place at any time.
All the betting options at sports venues, in local bookmaker offices and at online bookmakers make things easy. And when things are easy and fun they get popular. It is also a fact that betting on a football game you are watching is exciting and makes the game even better.
A selection of the best websites for betting on football
When you search the internet for bet on football you will find a huge amount of bookmakers. They all offer you a portfolio of betting options. When you join an online bookmaker you receive a bonus from them. Most online bookmakers offer you an amount of free play money or free bets on top of your first deposit. At most websites you can simply double your first deposit amount and collect 1 or 2 free bets.
It is very important to play at reliable bookmakers. There are a few dodgy websites on the internet. And we recommend you to stay away from them because it can cost you a lot of money. Only sign up and make real money deposits at reliable and safe betting websites. With underneath table we try to make things a bit easier for you. In this table you find a selection of the best places to bet on football. And in the table you also see the active bonus you can collect when you join the online bookmaker.
Where can you bet on football?
People across the world are betting on football. They all use different betting options and places where the place their bets. The internet is not the only place where you can bet on football. Betting online is the fastest growing business. The bookmaker offices are seeing a decrease in bets the last few years because the industry is moving to online and mobile solutions. Let me give you an overview of different places where you can bet on football
1. In the stadium or at the ground of a football event
When you visit a football stadium you probably find a few bookmaker booths in the stadium. In England and Germany you can bet on football while you are in the stadium. Normally you can only place bets on the game you are visiting at that moment. When you hit a winning bet you can cash it out after the game.
2. At offline brick bookmaker offices
Here you can place bets on paper or you can ask the employee to place your bets on football games. At bookmaker offices you can pay your bets with cash money or with a credit card.
3. Online bookmakers
At online bookmakers you can open a free account and deposit some real money. You can deposit real money with a bank transfer, a credit card, instant payment options or with E-Wallets. Online bookmakers are available on devices with an internet connection (computer, tablet and mobile phones). You can bet on football at any moment at any place when you have an internet connection.
4. At illegal local bookmakers
Where there is money there is illegal stuff going on. There are local unregistered bookmakers where you can bet on football by sending them a text message or calling them. This illegal bookmaker is the real bookmaker or he is just a guy that accepts the bets for a fee. After you placed your bet the middle man pushes the bet forward to a real illegal bookmaker. You pay your bets after they are settled. When you win you receive your winnings minus the amount you bet on the game.
5. Betting with friends
It is still very popular to bet with friends. Together you are watching a game and you place a bet together with friends. You all pick a score and you all drop an amount of money in the prize pool. When somebody has the correct score he or she gets the full prize pool.
This is how you start with online football betting – 9 easy steps!
It is very simple to start betting on football games and events. When you follow the underneath steps you are up and running within a few minutes. Within a few clicks you are ready to place your first bet on a football game.
- Open a website of an online bookmaker or casino with sports betting. In the table on top of this page you find the best online bookmakers).
- Sign up a free account at the website of your choice. Fill in the sign up form and confirm your account in your email.
- Use your free bet when the website offers you one
- Visit the banking/ cashier in order to transfer money to the website
- Choose the amount you want to deposit and choose your preferred payment method
- Decide if you want to use the available deposit bonus
- Finish your first deposit
- Open the Football betting section and search for interesting bets
- Place your bets and wait for the results of the games you placed your bets on
Betting options when you bet on football games
A few years ago, before it was possible to bet online, you could only place simple match bets. Simple match bets are bets based on results, correct score and bookings. But since the online betting world opened up the bookmakers started to add more and more betting options. Online it is possible to bet on First/ Last goal scorer or you can bet on a player to score and get booked. It is even possible to bet on own goals. It is getting crazier every time with special bets. A few years ago it was possible to place a bet on Suarez to bite a player of the other team.
For new players it could be very hard to know what every bet on football means. I would like to make things a bit easier for you. In the upcoming paragraphs I am going to explain every kind of football bet you find at online bookmakers.
Match Betting 90 Mins
This is the most popular bet of all available bets. And it is also the most simple bet. Choose the team you think who will win and bet some money on it. You can choose the following options
- Home team to win
- Draw
- Away team to win
Match Betting First half or Second Half
With this option you can predict the winner of the first or the second half of the match. Who will win the first half? Who will win the second half? A very simple bet and the score after 45 mins or 90mins counts for this bet. When you bet the home team to win the second half this need needs to score more goals in the second half than the away team.
Both Teams to score (90 mins, First half, Second half)
When you think both teams are going to score a goal I recommend you to use this bet. You can bet on both teams to score in the full 90 minutes. The odds of this bet are relative low. But you can also decide to bet on both teams to score in the first or second half. In that case both teams have to score in the half you bet on. The odds for this bet are higher than the 90 mins bet. This bet only has a Yes or no betting option.
Goal Scorer 90 mins
This is one of my favorite bet on football options because you can select some high odds. There are multiple betting options when you want to predict the goal scores in 90 minutes. Choose from the following options
- 1st Goal Scorer
- Last Goal Scorer
- Anytime Goal Scorer
- Player to score 2 or more goals
- Player to score a hat-trick
- Both halves – Player has to score in both halves
You can make this bet as hard as you want. It is possible to place a low stake bet on a player that is unlikely to score (high odds). Or you can place a high stake bet on the favorite player to score a goal. When you choose “Anytime Goal Scorer” the odds are lower than you choose first or last goal scorer. The first goal scorer bet is the most popular one. Normally I choose a defender that gets forward with free kicks and corner kicks. Odds on defenders are often high and they are very good at scoring goals with their head.
To Win and Both teams to score – 90 mins
Choose this bet When you think that a certain team is going to win a game and both teams will score a goal within the 90 minutes. this could be an interesting bet when you bet on the team that is not the favorite team to win the game. The odds can be very high with this betting option.
Total Goals – Over/ under – 90 mins / First half or Second Half
This bet looks like a complicated bet. But in fact it is a very easy bet when you know how it works. Over/ Under bets are available in different variants. You can bet on the number of goals in 90 minutes, in the first half or in the second half. And you can bet on over under 1,5 goals, 2,5 goals, 3,5 goals or 4,5 goals. In the underneath screen you see how an over/ under bet looks like (This is a champions league game between Barcelona and Chelsea).
When you think there are going to be more than 2,5 goals during this game you need to bet on the 1.615 odd. Over 2.5 goals means a game needs to have at least 3 goals in 90 minutes. When the final score is 2-1 for Barcelona you will win the best. When the score is 2-0 for Barcelona you will not win the bet (under 2.5 goals scored).
As you can see the odds on First half or second half bets are much higher. Of course it is harder to score 3 goals in one half than in 90 minutes.
Scorecast – 90 mins
This is a nice betting options because you can choose your own scorecast. Every scorecast will give you different odds. At the scorecast bet you need to choose a goal scorer and the final score. The odds check calculates your final odds. When you choose a player that scores a lot of goals in combination with the favorite team to win, your odds are pretty low. But when you choose a defender to score and the favorite team to win your odds are much higher.
This is a nice bet because the minimum odds start around 20x your bet. So you can win interesting amounts of money when you predict the correct score and goal scorer. Keep notice that the player you choose at least has to score one of the goals. And the final score has to be correct.
Half Time/ Full Time – 90 mins
Predict the half time and full time winner. There are 9 betting options. I will use the Barcelona against Chelsea game in this example. When you think Barcelona is going to win the first half and the game you need to bet on Barcelona/ Barcelona. The odds for this bet are the lowest (2,10) possible because Barcelona is favorite to win the game. You can also bet on Chelsea leading the game at half time and the game ending in a draw. In that case the odds are higher (23x your bet amount).
The highest odds are always the favorite theam to lead at half time and the under dog to win the game. At this game the odds are 43x the amount you bet.
Match Action Bets – 90 mins
This is a nice bet. The chance you are going to win this bet are not very high because you have to predict 3 match actions. Based on your choices you get the odds. You have to predict the following action.
- Goals – Less or More than a certain amount of goals
- Corners – Less or More than a certain amount of corners
- Yellow Cards – Less or more than a certain amount of corners
You can play with the odds when you change one of the match actions. It is up to you what bet you are going to settle.
Match Result & Over/ Under – To win and Total Goals – 90 mins
Predict the team who is going to win the game. And predict the total amount of goals scored during the game. when you think Barcelona is going to win and there are going to be 3 goals you need to bet on “Barcelona – Over 2.5 goals”. In this example your odds are 2x the amount you bet on it.
Betting tips – Increase your winning chances
There are no winning guarantees when you bet on football. But there are a few simple tips that can increase your chances of winning. You can read all the tips on our sports betting tips page or you can read the summary underneath.
- Choose a reliable bookmaker with good odds. The bookmakers on our website are safe and reliable
- Only play with money you can miss. Never use money you need for your daily life
- Try to avoid emotional gaming. Normally when you get emotional or when you are emotional attracted you will lose
- When you are new at a bookmaker use an available bonus. With the welcome bonuses you can gather extra betting money
- Take winnings when you have them. Be a patient gambler. It feels nice to cash out some winnings now and than
- Start betting on football teams and competitions you know and follow
- Try to start with simple bets. Try a few low odds bets. Gather some winnings and get used to the website of the bookmaker before you play with higher stakes
- Bet on football games you are watching on TV or the ones you are visiting in the stadium
- Try to follow a few tipster websites on social media. Tipster websites know exactly which players are injured
- Always start with small bets
- Only bet on single bets. Do not add extra bets to your bet slip. The more bets you add the lower the chance you win the bet.
Bet on football now and collect some interesting betting offers
After reading the information on this page you are ready to start betting on football matches. All the bookmakers on our website offer you betting offers when you join them through our website. Sign up your free account at any of the recommended brands now to score some free bets!
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