Soccer Betting Guide
This is the Definitive Betting Brain Guide to Gambling on All Soccer Markets and was written to give bettors a complete understanding to betting on soccer.
Soccer is a sport that is growing in popularity in the US year on year, with interest in the US National team at an all-time high, and MLS increasingly making inroads onto the sports pages. Interest in top European soccer games, including the English Premier League, is also on the rise. This surge in the game has meant that gambling on soccer is now increasingly featured by sportsbooks, and here is a guide to the main markets on offer for each game.
Soccer Betting – The Money Line
This is the most popular bet on soccer, and you are simply trying to predict the result of the game. Unlike many other sports, betting the money line on soccer has three separate outcomes, with the draw on offer as well as both teams. Here is an example:
Seattle Sounders +135
LA Galaxy +210
Draw +230
Here by backing any of the three outcomes for $100, you’ll make a profit of $135 if the Sounders win, $210 if the Galaxy win, and $230 if the match is a draw. In soccer, money line bets are for regulation time, so bets will be settled at the end of the second half, even if a game does have extra time.
Soccer Betting – The Point Spread
In general a point spread bet is designed to give each team a 50/50 chance of winning, and points will be taken off the favorite team to achieve this. With the scarcity of goals in soccer, taking a goal, or even half a goal from a favorite will change the odds dramatically – so you may see a variety of odds on offer. Here is an example:
Germany -0.5 +140
France +0.5 -160
In this game, Germany were actually favorites, however once the point spread of half a goal was added, France became favorites. In this game, if you placed a bet on Germany for $100, you’d make a profit of $140. To win the bet Germany has to win by more than half a goal (effectively just win the game). A bet of $160 on France will see you profit to the tune of $100, here the half a goal added meaning that France win either if they win, or the game is a draw.
Soccer Betting – Totals
Here you’re betting on the total amount of goals in the game. On many occasions this line will be set at 2.5, although this can vary. Here is an example:
Over 2.5 goals +130
Under 2.5 goals -150
Here, you’ll win $130 for your $100 stake if you correctly pick under 2.5, and win $100 for your $150 stake if you correctly pick over 2.5.
In all of the above markets, sportsbooks offer odds relative to $100. This doesn’t mean that you have to place bets of this size – the choice is yours, and if you bet less or more, you’ll be paid out on a pro rata basis.
Soccer Betting – Prop Betting
On many games you’ll find a good variety of prop betting. This takes the form of both team and individual player prop bets.
Some of the most popular team prop bets are betting on the correct score of the game, which team will be winning at half-time and full-time, whether both teams will score, which team will have the most corners or which team will score first. This is just a small selection, as some matches will feature many more bet types.
The most popular player prop bets are on the goal scorers. The bets on offer will include the first goal scorer, the last goal scorer, whether or not a player will score, or whether a player will score two, or even three.
A prop bet that covers both the team and the player is a ‘scorecast’ – where you have to correctly predict the correct score and the scorer of the first goal. This is a tough bet to get right, but the odds on offer are very large.
Soccer Betting – Futures
Futures bets are on longer term markets, which in soccer will generally be based on outright competitions. For example, you’ll be able to place a wager on the eventual MLS Champions, the Premier League Champions, the UEFA Champions League winners and the winners of the World Cup. All of these bets will be available both before these competitions start and throughout the season.