Football Betting Guide
Football is, without doubt, the most popular sport in the world, with hundreds of millions of fans all around the globe. In recent years, football has become more and more popular in India, especially since the introduction of the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2013.
On this page, we will take a closer look at how betting on football works. We will also guide all the different types of bets there are on football and go through how to sign up for a sportsbook. We also look at where you find the betting site with the best odds and then conclude with a short FAQ about football betting.
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How to bet on football
Football is by far the most popular sport to bet on worldwide, but it’s not close to the powerhouse of Cricket betting in India. Many betting sites have a vast selection of odds for football and offer odds on leagues and competitions in countries worldwide, from big football countries such as England, Spain and Italy to smaller football countries like Thailand, Zambia and Paraguay.
If you are interested in the Indian Super League, then a good tip is to choose a betting site that focuses on the Indian market. This way, you get better coverage for Indian football and also avoid payment issues.
Types of bets on football
Nowadays you can bet on almost anything in a football match. When it comes to games in the english Premier League or Champions League it is not uncommon with over 300 different markets or betting alternatives for one single game. Here’s a guide to the different types of bets that are common in football betting:
- Full Time – The most common type of bet where you bet on either:
– Win for the home side (1)
– Draw (X)
– Win for the away side (2) - Total Goals – In this case you bet on how many goals that are scored in the game. You bet on if the number of scored goals are over or under a certain number, like for example over or under 2,5 goals. If you think there will be 2 goals or less, you bet on under 2,5 goals. If you think there will be 3 goals or more, you bet on over 2,5 goals. You can often also bet on how many goals each team scores separately and how many goals are scored in each half.
- Double Chance – Here you bet on two results at the same time, 1X, 12 or X2. Not very high odds, on the other hand there’s a better chance of winning.
- Correct Score – You bet on the exact score, for example 1-0, 1-2, 3-2, 4-4 or 5-0. The return can be pretty good if you bet on the right score.
- Both Team To Score – This one is easy. You bet if both team score in the match, YES or NO.
- Half Time – Many times you can bet on the half time result and often also total goals, correct score, both team to score and double chance.
- Half Time/Full Time – Here you bet on the result in half time and full time. Both must be correct for you to win.
- Corners – In this case you bet on how many corners there will be in the game. Somtimes it’s also possible to bet on the number of corners for each team and which team that will be awarded the most corners.
- Cards – Pretty much the same as corners just that you bet on cards instead. You can bet on the total number of cards, number of cards for each team, first team to be given a card and if there will be any red cards given.
- 3-Way Handicap – This is a very common form of betting, in which you are betting on the result if one of the teams starts with an advantage, such as 1-0 or 2-0.
- Match Events – This is a pretty fun one as you bet on whether certain scenarios will play out during the game. It can be things such as if any of the teams will win to nil, if any of the teams will win after being behind and which team is to score the first goal.
- Player Markets – In many games you can bet on the performance of individual players, such as goalscorers. Sometimes you can also bet on which player to score the first and last goal and also if any player will score more than one goal.
- Scorecast – This one is pretty hard, as you bet on a player to score a certain goal in the game, like 1-0, 2-1 or 2-2. But if you are right your return will be pretty good.
- Wincast – This is a double bet where you bet on both a goalscorer in the game and the result.
- Outright bets – These are bets that take place over a longer time period, for example a whole tournament or season. A common outright bet is to bet on who’s gonna win a certain league or tournament, like the Indian Super League, english Premier League or the World Cup. There are also outright bets on individual players, for example who will be the best goalscorer in Premier League.
How to sign up for a sportsbook
If you wanna bet online you need to create an account for a sportsbook, which is quite easy actually. Here is a quick guide on how to sign up for a sportsbook, let’s say Campeonbet:
- Start by going to Campeon.bet and click on “Register”.
- Choose your username and password and click next.
- Fill out your information and click register.
- Choose your bonus and make your deposit.
- You can now start betting on Campeonbet.
Where do I find the betting site with the best odds?
This is a question that is quite hard to answer since there is not one single betting site that always has the best odds for every game. Even the best odds for different results in the same game can differ from site to site. Let’s look at an example:
Mumbai City FC–East Bengal Club 01/12/2020
| Betting site | 1 | X | 2 |
| 10Cric | 1.90 | 3.20 | 3.80 |
| Betway | 1.90 | 3.30 | 3.75 |
Here we see that the odds differ quite a bit. Both sites have the same odds for Mumbai City FC to win, but Betway has the best odds for draw and 10Cric has the best odds for East Bengal Club to win.
Because of this it’s always a good idea to check the odds with different betting sites before you place your bet. Especially since one site can have the best odds for one outcome, but not for another.
Tips for finding the best odds for football
- Check the odds with different betting sites.
- Check-in and see how the odds are developing over time as they can change quite a bit due to certain events in the teams, such as injuries.
- Use comparison sites for odds.
What kind of odds do you wanna bet on?
As mentioned before, nowadays there is so much more to bet on than just the result at full time. On big games in the Premier League and Champions League there is almost nothing you can’t bet on. Sometimes the number of markets for one single game can exceed 400.
Besides the result at full time you can also bet on correct result, number of goals, corners, cards and goalscorers.
Let’s take a look at an example where we bet on the number of goals in a game in the Indian Super League.
Mumbai City FC–East Bengal Club 01/12/2020 (Odds from Betway)
| Total goals | Odds |
| Over 1.5 | 1.30 |
| Over 2.5 | 1.90 |
| Over 3.5 | 3.20 |
| Over 4.5 | 5.75 |
Over 1.5 goal means two goals or more in the game; over 2.5 means three goals or more. As we can see, the odds for two goals or more are quite low since it is quite common with at least two goals in a football game. On the other hand, five goals or more are not very common, while the odds for over 4.5 goals are quite high.
Many betting sites allow you to build your own bet slip, which means that you can combine multiple bets from the same game or different games in any way you like. This way, it is also easier for you to get the odds in your favour.
Injuries/suspensions
When betting on football it’s very important to know about injuries and suspensions. Especially when betting on teams where one player plays a big role. Injuries and suspensions can for that reason be of big importance.
If for example Leicesters Jamie Vardy, who was the best goalscorer in Premier League 2019/20, were to be injured for a longer period that would probably effect Leicesters performance a lot. They would most likely not be able to compete in the top 4.
Since the match schedule for many teams in the top leagues, such as Premier League, Serie A and La Liga, is quite tight it is not uncommon for players to be injured. Because of this, it is important to make research before the game to see if any players are missing. This way it is also easier to make good decisions when placing bets.
“Cash Out”
Many betting sites offer something called “Cash Out” when using livebetting, which means that you can secure your winnings before the game is over. This way you are also able to avoid many losses over time. On the other hand the winnings when using “Cash Out” become a bit smaller, but it’s better then having big losses.
Let’s take a look at an example to see how Cash Out works:
- You have bet 1 000 Rupees for Hyderabad FC to win against Jamshedpur FC and the odds are 2.15. With 10 minutes left Hyderabad leads 2-1. You now have the option to “cash out” your game at the odds 1.65, which means that you can secure your winnings and bring home 650 Rupees.
You can of course choose to wait five minutes for the odds to increase a little bit, but in that case there’s also the risk that Jamshedpur scores and then you most likely lose 1 000 Rupees.
A good tip is always not to become greedy for a slightly bigger win. You can compare it to the stock market, where a broker sees a stock rise and rise, but waits to sell in hope of making even more money, just to see the stock dropping to a lower price than the buying price.
It’s really necessary to be rational when using Cash Out and not let your feelings take over.
In the long run your profit will increase more if you use Cash Out rather than wait for a bigger win on a single game.
Match schedule
Since the match schedule for the biggest teams often are quite tight they tend to have different line-ups depending on league and tournament.
In for example english football, teams like Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United often play with substitutes in the League Cup. This can sometimes lead to big teams, such as the above mentioned, losing to teams they normally would have beat. It’s also common for big teams to let key players rest before important games in the big European tournaments like Champions League and Europa League.
Therefore it’s important to try to foresee which line-up the team will play with before placing a bet. Doing so you can avoid placing bad bets and also losses.
Odds for international championships
International championships like the World Cup, European Championship or the Asian Cup are always the most exciting since there usually are a lot more surprises than in regular leagues and tournaments. Two examples of upsets in big international championships are of course Greece’s victory in the Euro 2004 and Iraq’s victory in the 2007 Asian Cup, where they defeated Saudi Arabia in the final.
Tradition
When it comes to big international championships, like the World Cup, tradition plays a big part. Sometimes a big team can be quite mediocre in the group stage and a totally different team in the knockout stage. Then there are certain teams that always have a tough time against certain other teams. England, for example, are always having a tough time against Germany in the World Cup and the European Championships.
Friendly games before the championship
Before a big championship every team plays two or three friendly games. The results in these games are almost always of less importance. Generally they don’t say anything about the outcome of the following championship.
The first game
The first game in a championship is often of great importance as it often sets the tone for the whole tournament. That’s why it is always a good idea to look to the results in the first games.
The squad
Which players that participate in the championships are of course of great importance. If one team lacks one or maybe two key players this can be the difference between advancing to the knockout stage or going home after the group stage. If a player gets injured or gets a suspension during the tournament, that can also mean a lot.
FAQ
A good tip is to look around on a number of betting sites before deciding which one to sign up for. When choosing a betting site it’s also good to know what you look for. Some sites maybe have a better coverage for European leagues while other focus more on Indian football.
If you want help with finding a betting site for football we have a list of the best betting sites for football on this site.
Officially, online betting is not legal in India, but since the law does not regulate online betting, it’s not illegal either. It’s kind of a grey area. Also, the view on online betting differs from state to state. Some states have a much more liberal view on betting than other Indian states. Scroll down on our homepage, and you’ll find more information about the Indian Casino/Gambling legislation.
Yes, winnings from lotteries and betting are taxable by around 30% according to Indian law.
Go to a betting site, register and then you can start placing your bets.
