Choose Your Perfect Bet

Modern bookmakers have unlimited imagination and creativity, which translates into a large number of the most varied types of bets offered. It is not easy for beginners to figure it all out, their eyes are running up, and the fear of making a mistake by inexperience increases. We can assure you that after studying this article you will become an expert in deciphering bets, you will know how this or that outcome is indicated and under what conditions a bet will be winning or losing.

In general, according to the types of bets, you can create a whole encyclopedia, but we tried to create a short, accessible and understandable guide for beginner betters, with which everyone can learn the most basic betting variations in bookmakers in a short period of time.

Types of bets

The most important thing for a beginner is to familiarize himself with the betting types in the betting shops, which are also called the types of outcomes. There are a lot of types of bets and their number can differ significantly in the action line of different bookmakers. Let’s sort the most popular among players.

The main outcome – Home, X, Away

Old as a world bet, where you need to choose one of three possible outcomes of the match: Home – the victory of the first team, X – a draw, Away – the victory of the second participant. In some sports, such as tennis, a draw is impossible, so the main outcome is represented only by Home and Away.

Example of the main outcome: the player puts Away for the match Athletic – Valencia. The bet will be winning only if Valencia wins in this fight with any account. If Athletic wins or the game ends in a draw, then the loss.

Double Chance – 1X, 12, X2

This type is similar to the previous one, only it is less risky, since two of the three main outcomes of the match (Home, X, Away) will bring profit to the player. 1X – the first player’s failure to win, 12 – the victory of one of the teams, X2 – the failure of the second team.

An example of a double chance: we bet on 1X in the match PSG – Real. To win this bet, it is necessary that PSG did not lose. That is, we will be satisfied with the victory of PSG, and a draw in the match. Loss will only be in one case – the victory of Real.

Total over or under

Total – the overall performance of the match. Total in football means the number of goals scored by both teams, in basketball – the number of points, tennis – played games, hockey – abandoned pucks.

An example of total over/under: the player bet on Over (3.5) in the Arsenal-Benfica match. To win this bet, it is necessary for two teams to score more than 3.5 goals, and since there is no half goal, it takes 4 or more goals. In the event that the match will be less than 3.5 goals, that is, 3 or less, the bet will lose.

There are also integer totals, their peculiarity is that besides winning and losing a return is still possible. For example, Under (3.0) – total Under three goals. When there are 4 or more goals – a loss, 2 or less – a gain, and exactly three scored goals – a return of the bet with a odd of 1.00.

Individual Total

This view is similar to the previous one with the only difference that it is necessary to predict not the overall performance of the match, but the number of goals scored by any one team.

An example of an individual total: we bet Away Over (1.5) for the Chelsea – Manchester City match. This bet is deciphered as an individual total second more than 1.5 goals. In simple words, we bet that Manchester City will score more than 1.5 goals, that is, 2 or more.

Asian handicap

One of the most popular types of betting in bookmakers, allowing you to bet on any team with a certain handicap, which can be both positive and negative. Bet wins when, taking into account the odds chosen, the team wins.

An example of Asian handicap: the better puts Home (-1) on the Deportivo – Betis meeting. In this case, Home (-1) means a bet on the victory of Deportivo with a handicap minus one ball. If Deportivo wins with a difference of two or more goals – winning, Deportivo’s one goal win – return, draw or Bet is victory – losing the bet.

Suppose the match ended with a score of 2:0. Taking into account the odds, the final result will be 1:0, since the handicap is taken from the Deportivo heads. It turns out a victory, it means that the bet won. And if the score was 2:1, then after adding the odds would get 1:1 and a return.

Handicap – an integer when the value of the handicap is an integer, as in the example. And it can be non-integer – Home (-1.5), Away (+2.5), Away (+1.5) and so on. There is also a zero handicap – Home (0) or Home (0). Calculated as any integer.

Time Match

Bets on the outcome of the first half and match. Such a bet consists of two parts – the result of the 1st half and the result of the fight as a whole. Consequently, wins only in the case of correct prediction of the outcome of the first half and the match.

Example of a time match: a player bets on X/Home in the match Valencia – Getafe. X/Home stands for draw in the first half and Home in the match. Thus, the better will get a profit if the first half of the meeting ends in a draw, but Valencia will win the fight.

In online bookmakers you will find many other types of bets, but it makes no sense to sort them out, because they are intuitive – an accurate score, both teams will score, a goal in the first half and so on. There are many so-called combined bets, including two types of bets in one, for example, Home + Over (2.5) – the victory of the first team and the total Over 2.5 goals in the match.

Recently, bets for statistics also became popular, which often go in separate sections of the line of bookmakers. If we talk about football, these are bets on yellow cards, offsides, shots on target, possession of the ball, fouls and much more.

Types of bookmaker bets

Depending on the number of outcomes and conditions for calculating the bet in betting shops are divided into ordinars, expresses and systems. Sometimes there are other species, but we will not consider them because of their low popularity and non-proliferation.

Ordinar

Bet on the outcome of one match. The result of the bet depends solely on the outcome of a single sporting event, and the winnings are calculated as the product of the outcome odds and the amount of the set money.

Example of an ordinar game: a player bet $100 on Over (2.5) in a match between Roma and Lazio with odds of 1.95. If three or more goals are scored in the match, the bet will play and the gain will be $195, where $95 – the net profit.

Express

Bet on the outcome of two or more matches. Such a bet consists of several ordinars, and the total odds are formed as a result of multiplying the odds of all outcomes in the coupon.

Example of an express: a better puts 10 dollars on an express of three events, which included Home for the match Borussia – Hertha with a factor of 2.00, Home for Marseille – Lyon with a factor of 2.50 and X2 for Liverpool – Leicester with a factor of 1.80. The final ratio will be 9.00, because 2.00 × 2.50 × 1.80 = 9.00. If all three outcomes are predicted correctly, the player will win $90. But if at least one does not play, the whole bet will be losing and the better will lose his $10.

System

An advanced version of express. With the help of bets, the system can form a specified number of combinations of express bets from selected outcomes. The peculiarity of the system is that if one or several events do not play, the player will receive his winnings.

An example of a system: we put 30 dollars on a system of 2 out of 3 dimensions — such a dimension means that three outcomes are chosen, and two express events will be included in each express. We have chosen to bet Home for the match Borussia – Hertha with a factor of 2.00, Home for Marseille – Lyon with a factor of 2.50 and X2 for Liverpool – Leicester with a factor of 1.80.

Automatically bookmaker generates all possible combinations, that is, three. The first one includes Borussia – Hertha and Marseille – Lyon, the second express includes Borussia – Hertha and Liverpool – Leicester. And the third consists of Marseille – Lyon and Liverpool – Leicester. A total of $30 was delivered to the system, and therefore each of the three expresses accounts for $10.

Imagine that the first two matches were played, and the third lost – the X2 bet on the duel between Liverpool and Leicester. It turns out that the second and third expresses of the system are lost, and the first one is winning. The odds of this express are 2.00 × 2.50 = 5.00. It brings us a prize of 50 dollars. The net profit will be $20, since 50 – 30 = 20.

Betting pre-match and live bookmakers

You can bet in online betting shops both before the start of a sporting event, and during the game in real time. Bets before the start of the match are called pre-match, and betting after the start of the match is called live betting. There is no fundamental difference between them; in live mode, the same bets are usually offered which were in line before the start of the match.

Example of a live bet: the player is watching the meeting Barcelona – Atletico, there is the 50th minute, the score is 0:0. Barcelona dominates and creates many moments, the better analyzes what they see and decides to put on Home at a factor of 1.75 in live, although before the start of the fight for a win, Barcelona was offered by bookmakers 1.45.

Long-term and short-term bets

There is also a classification by the duration of the calculation of the result of a bet. Short-term betting – a bet, the result of which becomes known at the end of the match. This group includes all the bets considered in the first paragraph: the main outcome, double chance, total, time-match, handicaps and the rest.

Long-term bets are wagers that are calculated on the basis of several matches or a whole tournament. The simplest of them are the stakes on the passage of teams to the next stage following the results of a two-game standoff, for example, in the Champions League. More complex (and longer) – bets on the winner of the tournament, the best scorer of the championship.

An example of a long-term bet: a player bets on a victory for Juventus in the Italian Championship before the start of the season or after a certain number of rounds played. The better will receive his bet only after the completion of the championship, or if Juventus issues gold medals ahead of schedule. So, if a bet is made in August, then the result of this bet must be waited until May.

And finally, let’s summarize the material. Initially, we became familiar with the types of bets that answer the question “what to bet on?” Further, the types of bets that answer the question “how to bet?” were considered. After that, we studied the difference between live and pre-match bets, we give an answer to the question “when to bet?” And last but not least, we learned about long-term and short-term bets that answer the question “how long to wait?”