The Beginners Guide to Football Betting Terms
So you want to place a bet on a Football match – but where to start? A player’s first attempt at placing bets can seem a bit overwhelming or just plain confusing. What is an arbitage bet, why is a match now offboard and why is the probability of winning so low but the so odds high?
With all the terms and slang and information out there, placing a successful bet might seem improbable or just too risky. But if you do some basic research (and read this article) you can very quickly get started placing your bets.
So here is a quick explanation of what odds are and how they apply to a bet, and we explain some of the terms used when betting on Football.
May the Odds ever be in your Favour:
The Probability of winning a bet is entirely different from the Odds of winning a bet, but these two are often confused for each other. While the Odds and Probability are similar sounding, their actual application on a bet is very different.
Probability is a number between 0 and 1, with 0 meaning 0% chance an event will occur, and 1 meaning 100% chance the event will occur.
Odds show the ratio of probability of an event happening or not.
This is easily shown using a dice, as the known probability of rolling a six is 16.66%. The odds of you rolling a six, are one in six (six numbers on a dice) and the odds are then calculated as 5/1.
Football betting terms:
Accumulator bet – To win an accumulator, you need a series of individual bets and match results to happen in order to make a profit. These individual bets create the whole accumulator – and if one is lost – all is lost.
Arbitage bet –This bet is simply not putting all your eggs in one basket, so you spread your money across different bookmakers. So you are betting on both opponents playing, at different bookmakers to ensure you get some profit out of the match.
Banker Bet – This bet is usually placed on the known and obvious favourite to win a match which means money in the bank – but not that much.
Fixed Odds bet – The odds for this match have already been placed, so if you win, the profit you make can be guaranteed – your returns will not change.
Inplay Bet – this is simply placing bets while a match is currently in progress
Off board – Bookmakers will take games off the board (no further bets will be placed) if they suspect match fixing
Single bet – This is placing one simple bet on the outcome of a match to make a profit
Spread bets – This bet lets you spread the scoring range that your team wins by, so you can bet that Liverpool will beat Arsenal by less than 2 goals. So if Liverpool beats Arsenal 2-, you have won the bet.
So if you use our quick guide on Football betting, you will quickly be able to start out placing your first bets. But if the odds are still a mystery and the terms are too much, there are loads of betting apps that make placing you’re lucky bet easy and simple.