Introduction to online sports betting
Any avid sports fan will say that his favorite sport brings a whole new aspect to his life. The excitement, the drama, it’s all part of the fun. That excitement factor can be taken to the next level when there’s more than your emotions at stake. As you guessed by […]

Any avid sports fan will say that his favorite sport brings a whole new aspect to his life. The excitement, the drama, it’s all part of the fun. That excitement factor can be taken to the next level when there’s more than your emotions at stake. As you guessed by the title, we’re talking about sports betting.

Assuming you can draw the line between fun and pure gambling; sports betting can be used as a harmless addition to the thrill of watching your favorite team play.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and its popularity in the USA is escalating with each passing day. Therefore, it’s no secret that soccer dominates the sports betting industry far and wide, which is why we’ll focus on it as you read below.

The Basics

Say you’re new to the whole sports betting deal. You must’ve heard of other people doing it at one point in time, but for some reason it never piqued your interest. We’ll make sure to cover the basics below.

Online sports betting has been on a massive rise for the past decade. In fact, it is a multibillion dollar industry. This led to the establishment of many online sportsbooks/bookmakers.

Online sportsbooks work in the same way as any physical betting outlet, but with the added factors of convenience and flexibility. The greatest incentive for any player to join an online sportsbook is the nigh limitless array of bonuses at your disposal.

Every sportsbook will look to attract, and keep, new players by offering a welcome bonus. This type of bonus usually matches your initial deposit by 100% up to $100. The extra money serves as a great incentive for any player, and because the bonus sums are quite generous, you can only take advantage of it once per bookmaker, excluding varying special promotions.

If you’re thinking that all of that is too difficult to keep track of, worry not, there are websites that gather all the data in one place for the convenience of users. Take a glance at this soccer bonus listing at sportsbetting24.com, and you will see what I mean.

Bookmakers keep offering new bonuses to players purely because of the ever-increasing competition. This is a great benefit to players, meaning there will always be something extra for you to claim as you progress on your online betting endeavors.

How to bet on soccer

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s talk about what you will do after you’ve claimed a bonus by making a deposit at your preferred bookmaker.

Every person should be familiar with betting on the outcome of a match (home team win, draw, away team win); this is the standard 1X2 system.

Handicap

As in most other sports, Handicap Betting is arguably the most commonly used betting market, and for good reason too. Betting with handicap allows you to even the playing field, especially when there’s a significantly stronger team facing a weaker side.

As an example, let’s say Chelsea and Watford are playing, where Chelsea are the obvious favorites. Betting on Chelsea (-2) in this match would give you greater odds, but it gives a virtual two goal advantage to the opposition – Watford.

As a result, Chelsea would need to win the match with a three goal difference or higher. In the case of Chelsea winning by a two goal margin, when you factor in the handicap the result would be a virtual 0-0, rendering your bet a losing one.

Over/Under

Over/under betting refers to the total number of goals at fulltime or halftime. The betting markets allow you to bet from as low as Over 0.5 goals (very low odds) to as high as Over 7.5 goals and more (very high odds). Obviously you’ll look for some middle ground here, depending on the teams in question.

This type of betting is popular because it’s not that hard to deduct the approximate number of goals in a given match. This doesn’t mean that it’s risk free, far from it, but it’s less of a guessing game when compared to other markets.

As an example, soccer teams in Italy are known for scoring less goals overall, due to their defensive play styles. Soccer teams from the Netherlands, on the other hand, are quite well-known for averaging over 2.5 goals per match on average.

More betting markets

Both teams to score, both teams to score & Over 2.5, correct score, double chance (1X, X2) and many more types of bets are available to you when placing money on soccer matches. You’ll surely have a clearer image and begin to form a deeper understanding after you’ve visited a certain online bookmaker.

To sum it up

As a beginner, you should refer to the basics we’ve covered above when placing your first bet on your favorite team. As you progress further by gaining experience, you can experiment and combine a variety of bets in order to multiply your potential winnings.

Keep in mind to take everything in moderation, and look at betting for what it’s best used – its entertainment value.

Good luck and have fun.