Betting on football (or soccer) is also enormously popular. There are numerous websites and online betting exchanges offering both the novice and experienced punters football betting tips.
Many punters use the money line to place wagers at fixed odds. One advantage of this system is that the figures can tell you how much money you need to risk in order to win a certain amount. A hypothetical money line could be:
Team Black +200
Team Red– 180
The plus sign (+) means that Team Black is the underdog and that if they win, you stand to make $200 for every $100 bet. Team Red, on the other hand is the favourite (indicated by the minus sign). Those who back this team will risk $180 for every $100 earned. Naturally, the stakes are higher for the underdogs. It is also worth a mention that even though the money line is calculated using 100s, this doesn’t mean you need to bet such large sums.
Betting totals or on the goal line is a straightforward stake in the number of goals scored in a match. Most bookies will offer the choice between total numbers of collective goals, the number scored in one half or the amount scored by a particular team. This kind of betting is normally coupled with over/under conditions.
Spread betting (or point spread) is also on a goal line and requires a greater level of accuracy than fixed odds because you bet on how much a team wins by. In other words, if the spread between two teams is 1.5 the favoured team needs to win by at least two goals for its backers to win their bets. Those who wager on the other team will cash in if their team wins or if the favourites win by less than two goals. The decimal eliminates the possibility of a draw.
Prop betting is usually waged on any feature of the match other than the final outcome. Prop bets can be on anything from the number of yellow cards in a game to the number of goals scored by a particular player.