Football betting

Football is one of the best-loved sports that has gained an excellent reputation over the years. It is played worldwide, spreading its popularity among people irrespective of age, gender, or nationality. More than 250M people play this game all over the world. That is approximately every 25th person of the population. As for the number of teams, it is about 1,5M and 300K clubs. 

Football is considered to be the most favoured type of sport for gamblers too. This is due to a variety of factors: 

• There are numerous tournaments held all around the world all year round.
• Football is played internationally and is not location specific. 
• There is a domestic cup competition in every country football is played.
• The FIFA World Cup which is the most popular sports event.
• Bookmakers in India provide all possible betting markets on football making gambling more intriguing and attractive. 

Let’s take a look at the largest and most well-known international football events that attract people’s attention worldwide.

Name of the event	When does it take place?	Best Players, teams	Number of teams
The World Cup	Once every four years	Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo	32
European Championship	Every four years	Cristiano Ronaldo; Germany, Spain	24 – 55
The Copa America	Every four years	Lionel Messi; Argentina, Uruguay	10
African Cup of Nations	Every two years	Egypt	24 – 54
The Asian Cup	Every four years	Japan	24 – 47
The CONCACAF Gold Cup	Every two years	Mexico	16
The OFC Nations Cup	Every two years	New Zealand	8

Of course, teams would not be so successful if not the leading and professional players. Here is the list of the most prominent football players over years.

Year	Player	Country
2021	Robert Lewandowski	Poland
2020	Robert Lewandowski	Poland
2019	Lionel Messi	Argentina
2018	Luka Modrić	Croatia
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal
2015	Lionel Messi	Argentina
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal
2012	Lionel Messi	Argentina
2011	Lionel Messi	Argentina

The most widely-spread Football events that people place bets on

You are wondering on which football event to make your bet? Then you must definitely need the names of the most famous tournaments on which you can place your bets. 

The first big event to mention here is of course the World Cup, the largest and most well-known international football competition which is organized by FIFA. Not only football fans but also people who are keen on gambling are looking forward to this big event held once every four years. For about a month people are feeling thrilled watching the greatest event of sports. As for professional gamblers, they follow every single match trying to predict the outcome and making money out of it. 

The next events that most football lovers and gamblers wait for are  AFC Asian Cup, African Cup of Nations, Confederations Cup, and Copa América. Irrespective of country, nationality, or even religion, people who love gambling will never skip these events and the opportunity to try their luck and make a bet. 

Football rules and regulations essential for efficient betting

In case you want to place your bet on any football event, you must definitely be aware of the key features and rules of the game. Otherwise, your betting will be just a try of your luck. So, before gambling, study the main rules of football.  

• It consists of two teams each of them having 11 players. 
• The aim of the game is to capture the opposing team’s goal and keep their own impregnable.
• It is played on a field with natural or artificial grass. The playing field is a marked rectangular square.
• A draw is made before the game starts. The captain of the winning team gets the opportunity to choose the goal or the right to start the game from the center of the field.
• A football game consists of two halves of 45 minutes each. There is a 15-minute break between the halves.
• In the event that the teams have scored the same number of goals after two halves, a tie is recorded. Or extra time can be allocated (in case of Playoff) – two halves of 15 minutes each.

Things to pay attention to before making your bet on football

Betting on sports is not like placing some money and trying your luck with a Slot machine or a fast game. Besides knowing the most successful players, and the biggest football events, a smart gambler must also be very cautious. Particularly, there are some key factors people must pay attention to before placing their bets.

The first thing is undoubtedly the teams that are playing against each other. You must know almost everything about the competing teams and the players. For example:

1. Have they ever competed against each other? If so, what were the results?
2. Who are the most prominent players of the teams?
3. What kind of experience and history do the players have?
4. Where is the event taking place?
5. What are the main peculiarities of this culture?
6. What is the weather forecast? 

The next thing to consider is the odds the bookmaker offers for the event. Football is one of the great sports types that can have various outcomes and numerous situations during the event. Hence bookmakers are able to offer multiple markets with different odds on one event. 

The third thing to bear in your mind is the margin. In case you do not know what it is, you must definitely search for some more detailed information on it. But what is more important to know is that margin is the profit of the bookmaker. In other words, the bookmakers’ margins are their guaranteed earnings, a certain percentage, which bookmakers charge on each bet. Depending on the company bookmakers may have different percentages of margin. But it usually ranks from 4 – 10%. Since the formation of the odds depends on two main factors – the probability of the event outcome (P) and bookmaker margin (M), the higher the margin is the lower player’s outcome may be.

So before picking up on whose website to place a bet on, make sure you are aware of the company’s margin. 

Another thing you should definitely do as a player is to compare the odds different bookmakers offer on the same event. Choose the one that will bring you more possible win. 

The fifth thing you may take advantage of as a player is the cashout feature. CashOut feature provides an opportunity for the players to receive a certain amount for the made bet before it is settled and regardless of the bet’s outcome. The amount of cashout money is usually calculated based on the initial and current coefficient. A certain percentage approximately 10% might be taken from the money if the player uses this feature. It is a kind of insurance for players that they will not lose their money. And what is more surprising and pleasing for players is the fact that they can gain more money than they have betted. It may happen when the coefficient is changed. 

Last but not least, offer your own markets and odds on your preferred event, if the bookmaker has not offered it on the website. The bookmaker will analyze your offer and accept it if it is found reasonable. 

Check out the benefits of Betway.

What else should you know about football betting? 

Figuring out all things mentioned below you also should know about the types of bet slips that exist. In general, you can create three types of coupons – oridinar (single), multi and system. In a single coupon, you have only one bet. As for the multi-bet is concerned, here you may have multiple bets and in case all bets win, the odds of all events will be multiplied and you will win a greater amount of money than if you have created separate bet slips. So this will increase the amount of your possible win. But be sure what events to make your bets on. If one of the events included in the multi-bet is lost, the whole coupon will be considered lost. 

The third type of bet is system which is a combination of a certain number of multi-bets. Here depending on the conditions and parameters set the player may still win if some of the bets in the coupon are lost. 

Types of bets to make on football matches

In football matches bets are accepted on regular time unless otherwise is specified by the provider in the program. There are numerous types of bets a  player can make. And here are the most widely-spread ones:

Result: it is offered to predict, which team will be the match winner. The following betting options are available:

• Win 1: victory of team 1.
• Win 2: victory of team 2.  
• X: the match ends in a draw.

Double chance: it is offered to predict two match outcomes simultaneously, and if one of the outcomes is predicted correctly, the bet will be calculated as won. The following betting options are available:  

• 1X: the match ends with either team 1 victory or a draw.
• 12: the match ends with the victory of either team 1 or team 2.
• X2: the match ends with either victory of team 2 or a draw.

Draw no bet: It is offered to predict one of the teams’ victory; however, if the match ends in a draw, the bet will be refunded. The following betting options are available:

• Team 1: the match ends with team 1 victory. In case of a draw, the bet will be refunded.
• Team 2: the match ends with team 2 victory. In case of a draw, the bet will be refunded.

Total: it is offered to predict if the total number of scored goals will be over or under the selected value of bet argument. The following betting options are available.

Total over: the number of goals must exceed the selected value of bet argument. In case the total number of goals and value the bet argument coincide, the bet is refunded.

The example:

The bet: total over (3). In this bet, “3” is the bet argument. Therefore, for the bet to be won, the total number of goals scored in the match must be over 3. In case the total number of goals equals to 3, the bet will be refunded.

Total under: the number of goals must be lower than the selected value of bet argument. In case the total number of goals and value the bet argument coincide, the bet will be refunded.

The example:

The bet: total under (3). In this bet, “3” is the bet argument. Therefore, for the bet to be won, the total number of goals scored in the match must be lower than 3. If the total number of goals equals 3, the bet will be refunded.

To sum up, we can definitely say that football is one of the best-loved games for those who like predicting the outcome of the event and getting money for it. If you are sure you have studied the main points of football betting, go ahead and make your first bet on a football event.