The Ultimate Guide to Football Betting Strategy

A big mistake that lots of football gamblers make is to try to be an expert on too many different leagues. No-one can master 4-5 different leagues in terms of knowing everything about the teams, stadiums, trends and style of football; so, it’s better to master one, than not master any of the 4-5 you’re betting on.

The same goes for trying to be an expert on too many different betting markets. The odds, research and details of an over/under 2.5 goals market is very different to that of a first goalscorer market so as obvious as it sounds, knowing one market inside out is easier to cash in on, than on several ones.

After doing your research, you decide that Chelsea v Liverpool will definitely be an ‘overs’ bet on the over/under 2.5 goals market. So, you bet at the first bookmaker you have funds in, at any price, right? Wrong. 

The best football betting strategy in this case is to find which bookmaker is offering the highest odds on that particular outcome. If you already have an account with them, so much the better. If you don’t, it may be worth opening an account with them. An over 2.5 goals bet at 2.1 with Bookmaker A is very different to an ‘overs’ bet at 1.8 with Bookmaker B.

Getting ‘best price’ is one reason why it’s worth having numerous betting accounts but it’s not the only one. Other reasons include: some bookies having leagues, betting markets and products that others don’t, such as livestreaming and stats that could help you with your football betting. By having several accounts, the smart money is that one of your accounts will have what you need.

And here’s yet another reason why it pays to have several bookmaker accounts: you’ll get more bonuses to use. Free bets and risk-free bets are good examples of bonuses where you’re using the bookies’ money to place bets rather than your own and the more bonuses you have, the less of your own cash you’re risking.

Wrong prices, where the odds offered are higher than expected, is far more likely to happen on a side market like team corners or player shots on target than the match winner or over/under 2.5 goals. That’s because bookies put more effort into pricing up the most popular markets than the side ones. So, look to the less popular ones to find wrong prices.

This doesn’t just come under the category of the best betting method for football, but for all sports, such as cricket. If you see a price that looks too good to be true, don’t let that get in the way of placing your bet. Strike the bet as soon as you see it and before the bookie slashes the odds on it, when they realise their mistake.

Bookies are ‘on the ball’ when it comes to team news but maybe not as quickly as you! If you find out by whatever means that a player who is normally as defender is playing in midfield that day, you might be getting a bigger price than you normally would. Similarly, a midfielder playing as a defender might be available at good odds to get a booking.

Sorry, but it’s true. Though accas and Bet Builders (BB) are fun to play and can offer big returns when they win from time to time, they’re not your best football betting method. Not only is it the case that there’s often one leg that lets you down when playing them but the house edge on an acca/Bet Builder is applied to all selections in the acca/BB. So, the payouts are actually considerably lower than they should be.