While sports betting has always been popular — with the history of sports bookmakers stretching back at least as far as the 1790s — the rise of online gambling has introduced a new generation to the fun and excitement of betting on live sports.
Nowadays, the online sports betting industry is booming. With operating revenues and player numbers hitting new all-time highs in recent months and years, thousands of sports fans across the country are setting up accounts and betting for the first time.
For novice online betting fans just getting started, however, placing a wager can often be a daunting task. With so much information to take on board and jargon to get used to, betting on Gaelic football matches can often turn into quite an ordeal!
This doesn’t need to be the case, however. With these difficulties in mind, in this short article, we will give you a high-level beginner’s overview to betting on football.
If you want to place better wagers and to improve your chances of hitting the jackpot, keep reading!
Know who the ‘favourite’ and the ‘underdogs’ are
When oddsmakers release a betting line for a particular match, they will identify one team as a ‘favourite’ to win and the other as the ‘underdog’. This is usually represented with either a minus or a plus sign beside the team’s name, with the number indicating just how much of a favourite or underdog they are.
When selecting who to place your bet on, make sure to pay attention to this rating!
Know the different bet types
When betting on live sports, it is also incredibly important to know the different betting options that are available to you.
Although many punters will simply place a ‘match bet’ — that is, a bet where you pick the overall outcome of the match — this is only one type of bet among many others.
The other types of bets you can place include point spread bets, totals bets and a range of other outcome prop bets. These will all vary in the odds they offer, so be sure to take advantage of what’s on offer to maximise your potential winnings!
Get to grips with bet builders
If you really want to maximise your potential winnings, bet builders are a great way of betting on football.
Bet builders and multipliers are essentially accumulators where bettors select a number of different outcomes on events as part of one wager. Payouts will be made in accordance with whatever outcome bets are predicted accurately.
Bet builders and accumulators are particularly popular in tournaments, where you can string together a few wagers to maximise your payout.
Have fun with in-play betting
As the name suggests, in-play betting involves making a bet on the outcome of an event during the event itself. In the context of sports betting, this would involve selecting what you think the outcome of the game will be while the game itself is underway.
In-play betting is an engaging and incredibly exciting form of sports betting, although the odds on offer tend to be less lucrative than those locked in further in advance.
Know your sport
If you really want to take your sports betting to the next level, we recommend selecting one or a handful of sports to focus on. By focusing on a smaller selection of sports, or even one specific Gaelic soccer team, it will be much easier to keep up with all the latest news. This information will prove to be a vital source when you are planning out your wagers.
Don’t be afraid to shop around
As online sports betting has gotten more and more popular, there has been an influx of new betting platforms to choose from. While more choice is undoubtedly a good thing for punters, not all platforms are created equally. There can often be quite significant differences between the platforms in terms of what sports they cover, how competitive the odds are, what welcome bonuses they offer and whether they have a mobile app.
It is important to shop around and to do your research before committing to a platform. This will ensure that you get the best deal to suit your specific needs!
Develop discipline
Another important trait to develop as you get into sports betting is self-discipline.
Although sports betting is a fun pastime enjoyed by millions across the world, it is ultimately a hobby that is enjoyed best in moderation. It is important to develop healthy gambling habits from early on.
Of these habits, arguably the most important is learning how to stick to a budget. Set yourself a daily or weekly budget and try to not go beyond it — even when you are winning! This will ensure that you stay within your means and won’t get sucked into placing unwise wagers.