Beginner’s Guide to Football Betting: Research, Analyse, Then Place Your Bet

Tips

Sports betting and football betting in particular can be a lot of fun. If approached in the correct manner, it can also prove to be quite a lucrative pastime. Outcomes in football are one of the hardest things to predict in sports, however, with the right research and preparation, you can increase your chances of placing winning bets exponentially.

Beginner’s Guide to Football Betting: The Smart Approach, Tips, and More!

The Smart Approach: 5 Things You Should Do Before Placing Your Bet

1. Research

This is the golden rule of football betting. It might sound obvious, but the more research you do about a particular match, the greater your chances will be of picking out a winning selection. Examples of pre-game research include checking out the recent form of the respective teams, analysing their injury lists, seeing how they generally perform home/away and assessing whether or not they have a good overall record in this fixture historically. There are many important game-changing factors and variables, all of which are worth evaluating.

2. Drop Your Bias

Everyone has a favourite team, but wanting your side to win is not a good enough reason to place a bet on them. Before making your betting selection, it’s important to drop any bias and leave your loyalties aside. That way you have a better chance of making an objective, intelligent bet. Betting is about making money at the end of the day.

3. Choose the Bookie with the Best Odds

This may seem like a no-brainer, but many inexperienced bettors tend to stick with their favourite bookmaker or the one they are most familiar with. The smarter punter uses odds comparison services to compare odds and offers across a high number of bookies, therefore enabling them to pick the price that will return the most money for their selection. If you are going to win, then why not win big?

4. Don’t Get Greedy!

Any win is a good win when betting on football. There can sometimes be a temptation to back a long shot simply because the return on your stake is potentially higher. However, odds are priced long for a reason. Many good accumulators are ruined in this way, with bettors adding too many selections to their betting slip.

5. Manage Your Expectations

Remember, gambling is supposed to be fun. You win some, you lose some. It’s important to never bet with money that you can’t afford to lose. If you are betting with money that should have gone on bills, then you’re doing it wrong! If you win, great. If you lose, that’s OK too, brush yourself off and go again.

Football Betting Systems: Do They Work?

In short, no. Despite their promises and claims, no system in the world can predict with 100% certainty what is going to happen in any given game. The unpredictability of football is what makes it the world’s most popular sport. Incidentally, that’s also the reason why it’s the favourite market with bookmakers. There are tonnes of premium betting systems out there with bells and whistles that will try to convince you that they can make you stacks of cash but don’t get drawn in. It’s better to trust your own research, analysis, and instincts. Chances are your win percentage will be similar to the “pros”.

Things You Should Know Before Placing Your First Bet

OK, so you’ve done your pre-game research and you’re ready to place your first bet. It’s important to familiarize yourself with betting terminology before jumping straight in. There are many free resources and informational guides (including this site) that will walk you through the different betting terms and jargon. Take your time to read through them before attempting to place your first bet.

In terms of placing the bet itself, luckily, bookmakers have made this an extremely straightforward process. Football is usually the first sport listed on a bookie’s website and if you click the “football” option, you’ll be taken to a page with listings of fixtures from different leagues around the world. When you find the game you want to bet on, simply click it and you’ll be brought to a new page with all the betting options and markets for that match.

Take your time and make sure you pick the correct desired selection. From there, clicking your pick will add it to your virtual betting slip. It’s that easy.