How to bet on Soccer in 2020
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with thousands of teams taking to the field each and every week between professional and amateur level. While it does not rival the major sports in the USA, such as the NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL in terms of popularity it is rapidly growing its profile in the US. This is somewhat helped by the increase in popularity of soccer gambling, with more and more betting sites for soccer popping up. This guide walks you through the ins and outs of placing a soccer bet online.
Soccer betting: The basics
Soccer (also called football in other parts of the world) is massively popular. There are more than 250 million people playing the sports across more than 200 nations. The eleven players on each team are trying to be victorious come the end of the game.
There are many prestigious competitions that take place each season, such as the UEFA Champions League, along with all of the leading domestic leagues such as the La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League. You also have those international tournaments that take place every four years, such as the FIFA World Cup. This sees the best of the best representing their country to be in with a chance of achieving ultimate glory.
For many years now, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have captivated soccer fans across the world. In the US, the MLS (Major League Soccer) is the main domestic league that's in action. It is a great way for home grown talent to develop their skill sets and it also attracts an international player base who help grow the profile of the sport in the US, such as David Beckham.
There are tons of different soccer betting markets for you to consider. Everything from correct score, goalscorer and corner kick markets are available. There are player prop bets and futures betting that will suit any of your needs.
Examples of soccer betting
If you are betting on a football game between Real Madrid and Barcelona, you may be looking at the winning margin of the goals. If the sportsbook sets this win margin at 1.5 goals, this means that for the over/under bet that the winning team has to win by at least two goals in order to cover the over bet. The odds of this happening are +110.
Winning example of soccer betting
If you place $10 on the over portion of this over/under bet and Barcelona win the game by three goals, this means that you win your bet. You will win a profit of $11, as well as get your $10 stake returned to you.
Losing example of soccer betting
If you place an over bet on the over/under market and Real Madrid wins the game by one goal or there is a draw, this means that your bet is a loser and you will not win any return.
Biggest soccer events for betting
There are many massive football events that take place every season or every few years. When they roll around, they attract a lot of attention from bettors, both for futures betting and on a game by game basis. There is mass television coverage for these events.
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup only takes place every four years and is the premium soccer international competition. It sees teams qualify for this tournament with the goal of being crowned as the world champion for the next four years. As this tournament only comes around every four years, it is a special event to get to play in. Many of the game’s best players have managed to win this coveted trophy with their compatriots.
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League is the big European club competition that takes place every season. It sees the best clubs from around the continent come together to battle it out for the ultimate prize. There are qualifying rounds before the group stages of the event. Then there will be a knockout phase featuring the top two teams from each of the groups. These games will take place on a two leg basis, with extra time and penalties being used to separate the ties if needed. The final is one leg and usually takes place on a neutral ground.
Premier League
The English Premier League is the domestic league in England and is seen by many as being the most high profile domestic league in the world. The best players are attracted to these clubs, with a tough battle in place every year. Some of the big teams that are always competing for the title include Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool. There is massive money in the Premier League, with the players earning stunning wages and leaving for record breaking transfer fees.
Placing a bet on soccer: Step-by-Step
To get started placing bets on soccer games, there are some steps that you need to first follow. This will allow you to efficiently get up and running. Here are those easy steps:
- Step 1: Get a sportsbook: You can see the variety of sports betting options available to you in your state by using the Betting Billy state checker tool. You can then start working to narrow this list down into one single option.
- Step 2: Start a new account: You now proceed to create an account with the chosen sportsbook. This is pretty easy to do, with the final step requiring you to provide proof of address and a copy of your photo ID to finish the account creation process.
- Step 3: Make your first: You now need to add money into this new account. You have many different ways to do so and you can often enter a bonus code at this point that will trigger a free bet welcome offer for you to enjoy.
- Step 4: Begin soccer betting: Now you can look at the huge variety of soccer betting markets and figure out what might be a good opportunity. You add this to your betslip and confirm how much you want to wager.
Soccer betting for beginners: How to bet
There are a lot of things to consider with soccer betting. However, oftentimes the best thing to do is just dive in and learn as you go. Here are a few tips that help provide you with a bit of guidance as you start out on this journey.
- Tip 1: Focus on certain games: It is easy to get bogged down and bet on all sorts of different soccer games. It is usually better to focus on one or two leagues and build up your knowledge of those teams and players rather than taking more of a scatter approach.
- Tip 2: Experiment with markets: There are countless betting markets for soccer betting. Some of the bigger games will have hundreds of options. Therefore, you should try out the main types of bets so you know what tools are at your disposal going forward.
- Tip 3: Avoid your favorite team: It is easy to let emotion or bias get in the way of being a profitable bettor. This is why it is usually best to avoid if possible betting on your favorite player or team.
- Tip 4: Obtain bonus offers: Most sportsbooks will run a lot of great promotions, some general and some tailored towards soccer betting. Whatever the case may be, using these offers to your advantage can be a great way to boost your bottom line.
- Tip 5: Get some expert picks: A great way to get an insight into what experienced bettors do with soccer betting is begetting some expert picks. Billy’s List is a free service that allows you to get expert picks sent straight to you. This includes soccer predictions.
Soccer betting for professionals: How to bet
Soccer betting is big business for a lot of people, with significant sums being won by some people on a regular basis. While they have their own distinct approaches, there are some commonalities that you can see between their approaches. Here are a few of the:
- Obtain the highest odds: By always getting the best odds for a given bet, you are doing something easy to instantly increase your profit levels when you have a winning bet. To do so, all you need is an account with all of the leading sportsbooks in your region.
- Learn from mistakes: Experienced bettors are not going to win every single bet that they place. They see losing bets as a learning opportunity seeing what went wrong and what could be changed for future bets.
- Search high and low: Doing proper research is a great way of getting an edge over the sportsbooks. Experienced bettors will look in the most obscure places in their search for a nugget of information that will help with their betting.
Soccer betting: Try it now at one of the top 5 betting sites
There are tons of leading soccer betting sites in the USA today. These cover thousands of games every week, whether you are looking for pre-game or live betting odds markets. Get in on the action today by signing up to one of these sites. The process is seamless, taking just a few minutes before you can be placing bets and potentially profiting.
The bigger tournaments will garner a lot of attention from bettors. In terms of domestic leagues, it is usually the English Premier League that will have the most sports betting action. This is due to its high-profile nature and the enjoyment people in the UK get from sports betting on these games.
This will be dependent on where you are trying to place this wager from. Each state has their own rules. Some will allow you to place bets once you are 18 years old, with the requirement increasing to 21 years old in a lot of cases. You need to check what the rules are currently in your region.
There are not really any restrictions on soccer betting. If there are college games taking place in your state or involving a college team from your area, you may not be able to bet on them. Some states also have rules regarding sports betting on games that involve underage players.
This is not an easy question as it depends on what licensed sportsbooks are open in your state. Some of these sites will have better odds in general for soccer betting, while others might have a better range of markets. There are always pros and cons to be looked at.
