Football betting is a much-loved form of recreation for millions of fans over the globe. Apart from being a wonderful source of fun, betting on football matches from different local leagues and championships has the potential to bring substantial profits.
However, winning from sports betting on a consistent basis is not a walk in the park. As many punters can imagine, making winning bets largely depends on identifying the most lucrative betting opportunities. Other than the talent for spotting advantageous and well-timed prospects, bettors should have unwavering self-discipline.
GuidelinesIn the current article, we will explore several guidelines for discerning the best betting opportunities, along with the ability to combine them and utilize them accordingly, when the proper opportunities arise.
Guidelines for Finding Betting Opportunities and Making Winning Bets
In view of the great diversity of sportsbooks available for 24/7 betting, punters have the opportunity to be far more meticulous in their choice of online suppliers, football leagues, and betting markets. There are several guiding principles that bettors may follow to identify the best betting opportunities.
Using Odds Comparison Websites
The first step along the process of finding the best betting opportunities is using odds comparison sites. Such online resources can be very beneficial for your sports betting endeavors. Basically, they compare the leading bookmakers’ odds offered on certain sports events.
As far as football is concerned, odds comparison websites often offer the option to find the best betting opportunities by searching through the most popular forthcoming events. These could be matches from the English Premier League, the French League One, or the Champions League, for example.
Yet another search option available to bettors is by betting market. They may pick among the possible choices including match result markets, Over/Under bets, Handicaps, Both teams to score, Double Chance, and Draw no bet, among others. Punters are also able to compare the various Bet Builder offers by the listed sportsbooks, as well as their enhanced odds promotions.
In the table below, we have shown a comparison between the odds for a Premier League match, Liverpool vs Watford, across several leading sportsbooks.
| Win Market | Bet365 | Paddy Power | William Hill | 888sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 1.13 | 1.08 | 1.11 | 1.11 |
| Draw | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Watford | 23 | 21 | 21 | 19.5 |
Spotting Betting Value
Another important skill necessary for finding the best betting opportunities and making long-term profits from football betting is being able to spot value betting situations. If you are new to sports betting, you may have already heard experienced punters refer to ‘the value’. The odds of value bets are higher than what our objective assessment of the football match suggests.
A typical example would be an underdog that has been priced at odds of 6.5, instead of a more likely price of 4.5, manifesting the real probability. In other words, getting value from your bets is finding better than the true odds on a sports event or a team.
Bookmakers are by no means faultless and despite their expertise, they may very often be in a situation where they have overlooked the odds for certain niche markets.
Betting on Accumulators
Both novice and experienced bettors are tempted by the lucrative betting opportunities offered by Accumulator bets. By combining multiple selections (up to 20 selections with most online sportsbooks) into an accumulator bet, punters stand a chance of generating far more substantial profits from smaller stakes in comparison to single bets.
While these opportunities may seem quite attractive, bettors should take into consideration two important things. Firstly, due to their nature, accumulator bets entail higher risk, and secondly, many sportsbooks offer the so-called Accumulator insurance offers. The latter is a promotion providing bettors with insurance against the higher risk associated with accumulator bets.
As per the terms and conditions of most sportsbooks, if one of the selections from your accumulator bet fails you, and the rest are winning, then a portion of your stake is returned in the form of free bets, bonuses, or money. Although the opportunity for enhanced winnings from accumulator bets is quite tempting, it should comply with your betting budget.
In the table below, punters may review an indicative correlation between the number of selections and the enhancement of the odds expressed in percentages.
| Accumulator Type | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| 4 selections | 7.50% |
| 8 selections | 25.00% |
| 12 selections | 55.00% |
| 14 selections and upwards | 70.00% |
Live Betting Opportunities
There is hardly a football bettor who is not aware of the great opportunities that in-play betting offers. Its popularity is constantly increasing and is definitely well-deserved. Betting every single time on favorites might be perceived by some sports betting aficionados as the proper strategy to follow in the long term, but from a value betting perspective, it is not.
Live betting markets may play the role of the “golden mean” in such situations. More often than not, the in-play odds for favorites are better than the pre-match ones, as they reflect the twists and turns of football clashes in real-time.
A suitable example for such a scenario would be a favorite priced at 1.25 at the game’s kick-off, who fails to score an early goal. Sportsbooks will consequently give a higher price (compared to the original one) to reflect the actual circumstances in the match.
Signing Up to Multiple Sportsbooks
Nowadays, diehard fans of football are lost for choice when it comes to selecting the best betting brand. Instead of sticking to just one reputable betting platform, they are advised to create multiple accounts so that they can compare odds and offers firsthand and choose the most competitive ones.
In view of the fierce competition within the sports betting industry, reputable betting brands typically offer some unique features to keep their customers engaged and to stand out from the crowd. By signing up for multiple sportsbooks, punters get to enjoy and explore diverse features and make the most of their betting experience.
Arbitrage Betting
When it comes to making consistent profits from sports betting, many experienced punters would recommend examining the benefits of arbitrage betting. It is exactly here that our suggestions for using odds comparison sites and signing up for multiple sportsbooks come in handy.
It is common knowledge that interactive bookmakers have alternative views on the odds of a particular football event. Usually, the deviation in prices is not considerable. Nevertheless, every once in a while, especially on fixtures featuring equally-matched contenders, bettors can spot opportunities for a sure profit.
An arbitrage betting chance arises when punters place bets with different sportsbooks to cover all the possible outcomes of a sports event. To extract better value from arbitrage betting, they need to identify the sportsbooks offering the highest odds available for each of the outcomes.
Bettors should note that although arbitrage betting is not illegal it is frowned upon by bookmakers and could be the reason for canceled bets.
Ultimately, arbitrage betting features small profits and nonexistent risk when we consider individual bets. However, this betting system has the potential to maximize your bankroll in the long run.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, many sports betting fans lose money, once in a while. This is a well-known fact and yet it should not sound disheartening. Making consistent profits from sports betting is surely not an easy feat but after all, it is not impossible. There are certain tips and guidelines you can put to practice to boost your chances of unlocking new opportunities, maximizing your profits, and ultimately, enhancing your betting experience.