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In the worldwide, gambling interest in soccer has been increasing rapidly in recent years.
While still trailing football, basketball, and baseball in terms of total percentage wagered per annum, Americans are showing more and more interest in both domestic and international soccer gambling.
In this complete guide on how to bet on soccer, we’ll take a deep dive into every aspect of the game and how to bet on it at the best online sportsbooks.
We’ll take you through everything you need to know about how soccer betting works, including:
- All the different kinds of soccer bets and how to make them
- How soccer betting odds and betting lines work and how to read them
- Which soccer leagues offer the best betting action.
You can jump down the page to get to the nitty-gritty of soccer betting or keep reading for a rundown on how soccer gambling is gaining popularity in the US and will soon be legal in lots of states.
How to Read Soccer Betting Odds
Now that you understand what the different bet types are, let’s figure out how to read the odds and payouts.
Odds are a key concept to understand because they show you:
- The likelihood of each outcome
- How much you will win depending on how much you wager
No matter the form of bet you want to make, you are going to see odds in front of each wagering option. In the US the most common style of odds is called American Odds but sometimes you’ll see fractional and decimal odds too. You can convert between them using our handy odds tool.
If you’re betting online you can usually choose the kind of odds you want the site to use.
Successful Soccer Betting Strategies
With so many different kinds of soccer bets, the first thing to do is decide what you are most comfortable betting on and, if you have history, what you have done best at in the past.
The bottom line is, no matter how you approach your soccer betting you need to do your research and planning.
In this section, we’ll give you some broad concepts to get you started learning soccer betting strategy.
Compare Specific Team Matchups
If you can identify where one team has a significant advantage then you might be able to predict either a specific goal scorer or make a wager on that team getting on the board with a goal – in particular in the second half when defenders might be fatigued.
Compare each team’s individual history, how they’ve done against this specific opponent and how they’ve performed in similar situations to the game you’re looking at. These criteria could include whether they’re coming off a win, their recent win/loss record, if they’re playing at home, key players who may or may not be on the roster and tons more.
Analyze all the information you can get your hands on and see if you can spot valuable trends that you can use to guide your betting decisions.
Compare Sites and Shop for Value
This applies to all gambling wagers at all times. It pays to spend time shopping for the best betting lines.
Be patient and diligent enough to see if the same bet you are making is offered at a better price somewhere else. Just like regular shopping, would you spend more on an item if it was available for cheaper next door? Of course not.
The key is being willing to put in the work and compare bets from site to site.
An added benefit of signing up for lots of sites in order to shop for lines is that you’ll be eligible for lots of bonuses and promotions too.
Avoid Personal Bias
Said another way, bet with your brain over your heart.
If you find yourself wagering on what you want to happen more than what you think will happen, you are setting yourself up for a fall. It may work out well in the short term but in the long term it is a recipe for disaster. You want to put your emotions to the side and bet with logic and strategy.
To make a long story short, the real strategy for successful soccer betting is to have a plan based on logic and reason and to verify these notions with data and statistics. You can throw caution to the win and bet blindly but if you want to be successful in the short and long term, our advice is to do your homework and bet with a plan.
