Updated: 18/01/2024

Football Betting Guide

Updated: 18/01/2024

Without doubt the world’s most popular sport, football is arguably one of the most prevalent to bet on too!

Whether it’s general 90-minute betting, accumulators or outright betting, the options for bookie customers are endless.

In this beginner’s guide to betting on football, find out what punters are placing wagers on every weekend.

How to understand football betting

It isn’t as straight forward as you may think to place a bet, especially given the abundance of betting markets available for football fans.

So, to help you out, here’s a popular bet guide for you to get to grips with the ins and outs of how football betting works… fast!

90 Minute Betting

Whether it’s placing your cash on a certain side to win, or a specific player to score within the allotted time, 90-minute betting is simply placing a wager on something to happen during the game, excluding extra time or penalties.

Handicap

A handicap bet is worth taking when there’s a clear favourite to win. You simply bet on a team to win by one than more goal. If you bet on a team to win, but they have a handicap of -1, your side would have to win by two goals.
If they have a -2 handicap, they’d have to win by three goals and so on.

Half-time/Full-Time

Full-time betting is another form of 90-minute betting, where your bet has the full 90 minutes to come to fruition.

However, when you’re betting on a half-time outcome, then you’ll find out whether your wager is successful or not within 45 minutes.

Half-time betting odds are usually larger, when it comes to markets such as both teams to score, over 1.5 goals, corners taken or booking points.

First half and second half betting markets are also available with multiple UK bookmakers.

Scorecast

Another type that includes betting on an individual player, scorecasts are when you predict the player to score the first goal in the contest as well as correctly guessing the final score.

A thing to remember is that if the player you choose doesn’t participate, the odds on the bet will be altered, so only the correct score will stand, rather than voiding your bet altogether.

Wincast

With Wincast bets, you have to choose which player will score during the contest and the match result.

Accumulators

Accumulators are quite possibly the most popular betting type around, and this is because they offer the best odds.

These types of bets are simple to get to grips with. All you need to do is choose a market you want to bet on, such as scoring under/over 3.5 goals.

When you’ve selected your market, you can gamble on multiple games in one joint bet, with all the odds accumulating to provide you with a better chance of winning big.

Football betting explained

When you’re getting a grasp of betting, there are some things you need to know to eliminate any confusion.

Many punters like to place bets on a player’s individual performance, such as whether they’ll score, be carded, or provide an assist.

If this player doesn’t end up getting on the pitch, then bets become void.

When placing a bet on the first goal scorer and an own goal is scored, your bet will rollover to the second scorer.

It’s also important to know that if a game is postponed, most UK betting sites will wait a full day or apply the ’24-hour rule’, before waiting to void your bet.

If you want to know how football betting works, visit our free bets page to find out about the best promotions around so you can win big!

Contributor

Matthew Glazier

Matthew Glazier

As former Head of Marketing at Bet365, Matthew Glazier has a wealth of experience in the betting industry. He continues to provide dynamic content for a range of websites and specializes particularly in football and golf, all the while supporting his beloved Tranmere Rovers.

Interests: Sports Betting, Odds and Probability, Football