Football betting got a major boost thanks to the month-long festival of the FIFA World Cup 2022, as there was a flood of football betting offers appearing at all the best betting sites in Nigeria. For many punters it was a good starting point – they grabbed the best offers like odds boosts and free bets, but also they pulled into World Cup betting strategies.
Betting strategies are a big part of football betting in general. But where do you start with pulling one together? Here are some tips:
Get Some Tools
Before jumping into football betting, we suggest getting some tools:
Odds Comparison Tool
Bet Calculator
Matched Bet Calculator
Sportsbook Account
Betting Exchange Account for lay bet options
Matched Betting With a Free Bet
Welcome bonus offers on the best betting sites can be used in a strategy called Matched Betting. Many bookmakers credit a free bet for signing up. An example is the BoyleSports Bet £10 Get £20 in free bets promo.
For Matched Betting, you could back England to win a match at 1.5 odds at BoyleSports with a £10 stake (enough to qualify for the welcome bonus).
Then visit a betting exchange like Betfair and lay England (i.e. England NOT to win) at 1.7. The stake for the lay bet is calculated with a Matched Bet Calculator, as it can be tricky to figure out.
The basic premise of a Matched Bet is that whatever the match outcome is, you will be ahead. You will initially stand to lose a little bit in this example (around £1), but the £20 in free bets from the BoyleSports sign-up offer will be credited.
Matched Bet Example:
Back England at 1.5 Fixed Odds with £10
Lay England at 1.7 with £8.82 (liability £6.17)
No matter the outcome of the match, you will lose £1.18 (not calculating for commission)
The advantage is that it’s better than betting a straight £10 single to trigger the free bet bonus and seeing that initial stake lose.
Betting With a Free Bet
A matched bet situation could actually be staked with a free bet bonus. It may be worth considering playing slightly longer odds, as it’s sort of a free spin of the wheel as the free bet stake value is not returned.
Matched Betting is a good practice to get into, with or without free bets. Start small to get a feel for things and work your way up to a full-blown strategy.
Over/Under Goals
The Over/Under 2.5 goals line doesn’t give a lot of leeway in terms of odds for punters. An over 2.5 goals pick has a 50/50 chance of happening, so odds aren’t going to waver far from even money (although it will a bit because of bookmaker margins).
The more patient you can be before placing an Over 2.5 Goals bet on a game that you believe is going to be above the line, is a strategy to consider. Placing that bet 20 minutes into a match when it is still 0-0, is going to offer much better odds.
Lay the Underdog
For example, it’s Portugal vs Uruguay at the World Cup, and 3/1 pre-match underdogs Uruguay have opened the scoring after 20 minutes. There’s still plenty of time for Portugal to rescue the situation.
But laying Uruguay, who could be into even money just after the goal, would be an option (more so if you’d already backed Portugal in the match outright). Live markets have their biggest reactions right after a goal, that’s the time to strike.
Accumulator Win Bonuses
A football betting strategy could be building an acca. While big accas are not for the faint-hearted, smaller ones are reasonable for match favourite picks. Look for Acca Win Bonuses like the one at Betiton which pays out up to a 77% acca win bonus.
Be Open Minded
Be open-minded when it comes to forming a football betting strategy. Use your knowledge to form one, and that could be through studying stats to finding gems in alternative markets like Corners Totals or 1st Half BTTS picks. A strategy can be anything. Note that would be very wary of systems like the Martingale or the Labouchere which can be beasts of bigger risks.
Do research when choosing your betting partner. Compare conditions offered by several bookies, read reviews to make an informed decision. And you can always use the info published on expert platforms such as Match.Center, to get the most important facts about all reliable and trustworthy bookmakers.
Alternative Football Betting Markets
Corners Total
Double Chance
Draw No Bet
Asian Handicaps
HT Draw
Both Teams To Score
Match Result & Both Teams To Score
Bankroll
While we have shown some ways of using betting strategies to help bet on football betting, there is no fit-all solution. Build one out of your betting preferences. Use markets and teams that you know. Read the news. Read stats.
One final tip for football betting strategies is to remember the bankroll. That’s the backbone. There’s no point in planning bets for the day and then blowing all your bankroll with an emotional in-play bet that grabs your fancy.
