Football and Soccer Betting Online

Any European sports betting site out there will carry football betting as one of the top sports they have.  The popularity from the UK and abroad has made it an extremely popular sport to bet on as well.  The great thing about the sport is that there are tons of games all around the world including the FIFA championships that people love to bet on.   The sport is becoming so huge that teams and professional leagues such as the MLS has been created in the North American market.  Successful betting can be tough but those who are willing to do the research or are really big football fans really can make some good money.  This article will focus on the types of odds and bets one can place on the game of football.  Also discussed are the major events that people love to bet on and some history and facts of the sport.

Best Online Bookmakers for Football (Soccer) Betting

Football Bets (Soccer Bets)

Here we will discuss how football betting odds work and some of the types of bets one can place when betting on football matches.  The first type of bet one can make on football and on that is very popular is the straight up bet discussed below.

Straight Up Bet: This bet is a very straight forward wager, as it is a wager on what team will win.  The odds will be listed to each team in either a decimal or fraction form depending on the sports books.  See the example below for how to wager a straight up bet.

Arsenal -300
Tie +300
Manchester United +500

If you were to bet on Arsenal you would have to wager $3 for every $1 to win.  The negative numbers indicate that this team is the favourite to win and you will not get as much for a win unless you bet a lot of money on the match.  On the other hand if you were to bet on Manchester United they you will get 5 times the amount of money you put down on them to win.  They pay 5 to 1 odds and the plus sign means that they are not the favourite to win.  Same goes with the tie.  Bettors will get a payout of 3 to 1, for every dollar bet on a tie game.  Teams with negatives are the favourite to win as the teams with positive numbers pay out much higher.  The next football bet is called a Spread Bet.

Spread Betting: When someone places a wager on a spread, it means that they are not betting on who will win the match but rather what the difference in the scores will be.  For instance if there is a spread of 1.5 for Manchester to beat Arsenal in the above example then the bettor will win if Manchester wins by over 1.5 points or 2 goals.  The team could still lose by one point and the bettor will still win the wager as well.

Football Score Totals: Also known as a over/under bet, this is a bet that tries to predict what the score will be in the game no matter who wins or loses.  If the point is set at 2 then the one would wager on whether the score will be higher then two or not.  You can bet over or under the point to win.

First Scorer: This is a pretty self-explanatory bet and basically in this wager you are betting on who will score first in a specific football match.  The odds pay quite well in this bet since as you can imagine it’s not the easiest thing to predict during play.

Prop Betting: this is a type of bet that a sports bettor will make so that there are other items in a football match that one can wager on.  The types of bets are up to each individual online sports book but can range from how many yellow cards will be called or how many penalty kicks there will be.  These bets are fun to pair up with a straight up bet because even if your team is losing you can still win your money back with a fun prop bet.  Now that you know some of the online betting wagers we will now discuss some of the biggest sporting events out there to bet on.

Major Football Events

Below is a list of some of the most popular Football tournaments that happen each year:

World Cup Football: The FIFA World Cup is the most watched and anticipated football matches in the world. Billions of individuals come out to support their team as countries go head to head to compete for the highest of all football titles.

Olympics Football: The Summer Olympics are another place to bet and watch the world’s best teams battle it out for gold medals.

League Cup Football: Where ninety two teams of the world’s top teams get to participate. The winner will qualify for the European-wide UEFA Cup.

UEFA Champions League: This is where the top clubs in Europe battle it our for top spot.

UEFA Europa League Final: A very popular European club competition, though it is considered second in importance to the Champion’s League.

Above are some of the most bet on sports for football with the online sports books that are promoted on this site.  There are still tons of other matches one can bet on with the sites.  The amount of games that are available with the UK sports books are phenomenal and they also carry all kinds of other sporting events as well.

Football Betting Tips

As this sport of betting on football matches is very popular, bettors are always looking for an edge before betting on a certain team.  Even though its hard to pick the winning team there are a few things one can do to help their cause and their bank account:

1. Do your homework.  With all the information out there you can use the sports books to help guide your betting by looking at the odds.  Also be sure to follow your team’s website and use Google to get up to date injury and weather reports.
2. Take out the emotions from betting.  Its hard to bet against your favourite team but you have to make sure you know you are betting on the right team as it will cost you money if your betting on a team you like for the sake of betting.

No matter what online sports book you choose there will be lots of choice to bet on games and even more then a regular bookie.  Check out our William Hill Review for some of the best online football betting out there.  Good Luck!

Football History and Facts

1. Glasgow Celtic was the first team to win the European Cup.
2. Manchester United is the most supported club in Britain.
3. Alex Ferguson is the only manager to have won the Scottish and English titles.
4. Brazil has won the most world cups and the first came in 1970.
5. Linfield is the largest team in Northern Ireland.
6. MLS is a league that was created in the USA and Canada to promote soccer in North America.
7. David Beckham was the first big name to land in the USA to play for the LA Galaxy.