How to make money betting on soccer
Any article on betting should begin with a responsible caveat. Making money on betting can sometimes mean knowing when to stop and walk away. If you have made a profit, then do something else that means you enjoy your earnings. Chasing a bigger win, or worse, chasing your losses, can result in hard earned wages flushing into the pockets of bookies. There are no guarantees in football betting.
With the normal “when the fun stops, stop” warning out the way, let’s look to some practical tips for making money from gambling on football. There are plenty of people out there who have sensible systems for making a net profit – let’s share some of the secrets.
Understand the odds and the bets
Before you begin, you need a basic grasp of how the bets work and what the odds mean. First, some sites will publish odds as a fraction such as 2/1, while some sites will use decimals, such as 2.00. You also need to know that these odds can change in the lead up to a match. If a market is popular, then the bookie may choose to narrow the odds, decreasing the value of the bet you have made. You need to consider if you should fix your bet at the odds offered at the time of making a bet. Be aware; a bookie may do the opposite too – if a market is not proving popular with punters.
If you are undertaking a spread bet, make sure you know what this means and how you will win. The same with an accumulator bet, look to see if the sportsbook offers insurance against losses in one or more matches in an ACCA and other guarantees that may mean you can return your stake at least.
Look for value
Always backing the favourites will ultimately end in a loss. The bookies are smart, and they calculate prices in the knowledge that they will come out on top with such a system. The favourites rarely always win and if they do then your return is low.
Instead, it would be best if you searched for value. You need to use your knowledge and intuition to find the bet where the bookie seems to be offering better odds than they should. You might lose, but if you are right, then your returns are going to be higher. Spreading your bets across many matches and choosing those matches where you believe the odds are generous will equate to a net profit in the end. You will suffer some losses. However, you are looking to make money – not to always win. The gambler who needs to always win will always be disappointed – and quite poor!
Most professional gamblers tend to look for odds of 2.00 or better. If you constantly bet on odds of 2.00, then you only need to win 51% of the time to earn yourself a profit. The best sports gamblers know when to risk 3.0 or 4.0. Remember at odds of 4.0; you would only need to win 26% of the time for your winnings to be in the positive. Making a 4.0 bet may be risky and should be done with a knowledge of the game, the players, and the context. It should also be done while applying maths, where you are hedging your bets and covering your losses from the start.
Our most important advice: set yourself a bank limit for the weekend of football betting. Allocate a sum of money that you are going to spread across markets. When you have reached this bank limit stop and wait for the results to come in. You should then count the wins and losses, check your profit, before moving on to another set of bets in the future.
Pundits don’t know it all
Slavishly following the advice of a tipster might seem like an easy route to a profit, but not all tipsters are equal. A lot of online tip sites are marketing affiliates who are looking for you to click on links to make them a profit. They may know very little about sport but write with enough conviction to make you feel like they are making a mint. However, the trade they are plying is online marketing and not online betting. Therefore, you are earning them money with your clicks, and they may not be offering you the best advice on your bet.