Betting School

The vast array of guides, information and articles at our Betting School are great resources to utilise to make you a better bettor! Here we let you know why it’s important to read these pieces to gain knowledge which can be used when punting on football. 

Betting Odds Explained

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

The mainstay of any bettor should be understanding odds and how bookmakers go about pricing things up. Ultimately the key to being a successful punter in the long term is finding value bets and price is king.  

There are options for how people want to see odds on bookmaker websites. Fractional odds can be more confusing for fairly inexperienced bettors so the ability to view odds in a decimal format can be a big help. 

Card Markets

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

There are a variety of factors to consider when punting in the card and bookings market. One main one is to review the referee in charge of the match, some are more lenient than others and if you can see a clear trend in the record of an official then targeting them can be a great place to start.  

You can also often get best price on card markets as soon as they go live so it’s worth refreshing on the bookmaker apps or website to make sure you can garner the maximum value. 

Team Profit and Loss

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

Just because a team wins most weeks doesn’t mean they’ll be the most profitable to back. In fact, the likes of Manchester City or Bayern Munich may often rank in the bottom half for profitability simply because their odds are so short almost every game. Seeing which teams are the most profitable per level stake will help you pinpoint who can outperform their odds in future games. 

Betting on the Betfair Exchange Market

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

Knowing how the exchange works and the differences between it and the sportsbook is crucial for punters who want to get involved. On the exchange you can accept bets from other bettors, if you offer Chelsea to beat Everton at 8/11 and you get matched then you bet is on. If Chelsea lose then you have to pay out but if they don’t win you’ll win the stake from the other bettor. Understanding liability when on the exchange is a must. 

Guide to betting on Player Shots

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

The player props market is an ever-growing sector of the industry but punters who are new to these bets have to understand how these are settled. Shot bets specifically should be fairly self-explanatory but shots on target bets do have rules around them. If a defender who blocks a shot that would be going on target that will NOT go down as a shot on target, it has to be saved by the goalkeeper or blocked by someone behind the goalkeeper. 

Often the player tackles market is one that confuses punters, the bookmakers go down on what Opta classify as a tackle, you can check these in-play on various bookmaker websites and places like Sofascore or WhoScored. 

Guide to goalscorer betting

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

Goalscorer betting has always been popular but there’s more to view than just a list of top goalscorers and the depth of research can help you find value in the market. One player could have scored 4 in his last 5 and therefore have a lot of focus on him from the punters because of that, but if they were goals from distance or low xG chances, the sustainability of that run has to be questioned. 

However, if they’re high probability chances it shows that the player is getting into great positions where they have a high chance of scoring. You can check player xG on apps such as Infogol and Opta – The Analyst. 

Asian Handicap betting explained

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

More and more bettors are taking bets on the asian handicap lines rather than your more traditional win-draw-win market. It’s easy to see why given the layers of insurance you can get on the asian lines but it’s often overlooked by punters because of how confusing it all looks.  

However, once you’ve got to grips with how it works it’s very easy to understand so familiarising yourself with asian handicaps can be a major plus point to have in your repertoire.  

Guide to betting on corners 

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

Corner markets are an oddity in the industry but some people have seemed to have a fair bit of joy betting on corners. You can look at the raw corner data but to get a better sense of whether a high corner count is going to be regular occurrence then you need to look into team playing styles and how often they get into the final third and take shots.  

A side who like to attack down the wings and get their full backs overlapping tend to be good for corner backers, as are sides who take plenty of shots which can lead to saves or deflections behind. You also have to consider the effect that in-play game state will have on team corners. If a team is 2-0 up they may sit off and on the flip side, if they’re 2-0 down they will likely commit more bodies forward which could lead to more corners. In play corner betting is therefore a canny way to play this market. 

Guide to picking an accumulator

Why’s it important to familiarise yourself with this market? 

Everyone enjoys a weekend accumulator with the possibility of a big win but how to go about picking one is a well talked about factor in the industry. Many tend to throw in plenty of short odds favourites but being able to supplement 3 or 4 well fancied sides with a couple at bigger odds will give you more bang for your buck. Even in picking an accumulator you should not always ignore the value aspect, in fact the more value picks you have in an accumulator will only increase the actual value of the bet.