If you consider yourself a modern sports fan, there’s probably a good chance you’ve already participated or at least considered putting down some money on your favorite sports team or your favorite sports event. The betting industry has been growing annually for the last 15 years and that’s probably the reason there are almost no sports events in the world left, you can’t wager on. The possibilities are countless. Anything ranging from the most popular sports in the world like football to amateur table tennis matches in Europe, to Asian dog racing events and women’s basketball games in South America.
1. Understanding the varieties of sports betting
There’s basically a 24-hour cycle of sports betting events throughout the whole year and the bettors have almost an unlimited number of events that they can choose from at any given time. But if you’re just starting, looking at the long list of betting options on leagues and sports that you’ve never even heard about, can be a little bit overwhelming.
2. Pre-match sports betting
So, in the beginning, you need to separate different forms of betting. There are 4 main types of betting that you can participate in. Pre-match sports betting is the most popular and common type in the betting world. It’s the default type of betting in terms of the public and the odds are set and known well ahead before the start of the game or event. Usually, in this particular type of betting, you can choose the winner of the game, exact result, or some number of other proposition bets, that we will get into later on. There are a lot more options to choose from when it comes to the betting markets. If you’re interested in the types of pre-match betting markets that are available to you in most betting sites, you should click here and read more about it.
3. In-play sports betting
The second type of sports betting is called In-play betting or also known as live betting in other words. Here you can find similar betting markets and also extended ones when it comes to prop bets. There are a few key differences between the pre-match betting and the in-play betting. Live betting starts at the very second that the betting event begins and it ends at the final whistle of the ref. The odds in in-play betting are constantly changing according to the situation in the match and the betting odds are never static.
Meaning, if team X is leading 1:0 in the 30th minute of the football game, the odd on team Y will be much higher than at the start of the event. The probability of team Y scoring 2 goals and winning 2:1 is much less likely since team X already has a 1:0 advantage. So in-play betting can be a lot more unpredictable since the market is always rapidly changing, but on the other hand, it offers a lot more action while watching the game live and some bettors also use this type to hedge their pre-match bets.
4. Sports betting against other bettors
In both of the previously mentioned betting types, you are trying to compete against the odds offered by the bookmaker, in other words, you’re placing wagers against the house. But there is also another option, a third option, which gets rarely mentioned. The third type of sports betting is very similar to trading stocks because you are basically betting against other users and hoping to find value on a match before everyone else. The whole system is based on a pre-match betting system, but you always have the option of selling your betting pick to another user for a set price and you don’t even have to wait for the result. Here the odds are initially set by the bookmaker, but the same odds can quite quickly get moved by the bettors placing wagers.
So basically in this third option, the bettors are trying to take advantage of their information about a game before others do. You can imagine that the odds on team X will be much different if their main scorer gets injured and they will lack a lot of scoring power against team Y. So the quicker and the more exact your information about a certain team is, the more money you can make. But also the more people bet on team X, the higher the odds on team Y.
There is no doubt that if you place a good bet very early, you wager can pay off big time. But if you’re just starting out, we wouldn’t recommend putting your money into these markets until you get a very good grip on the odds and how the betting markets work in various sports.
5. Margin trading in sports betting
The last and the most complicated betting option on the market is margin trading. In short, you’re basically looking for a difference in the odds comparing different bookmakers. This is the most complicated type of making money in sports betting since it requires experience and a lot of funds to top up at least 10-15 different bookmakers accounts for the system to work. You also have to deal with the headache of KYC (sending your documents before the account gets activated), for every single bookie, which can take a while. But if you’re able to do everything mentioned above
So, for example, Bookmaker 1 offers 2.10 on team X. Bookmaker 2 offers 2.10 on team Y. If you place bets on sides you can be profitable no matter who wins. By statistical calculation, every odd above 2.00 will give you a profit as it more than doubles your wager, no matter which side wins. So in this type of sports betting, you will have to monitor the odds all the time and you will have to operate with a significant betting bankroll to make this trading approach to the betting market a success.
6. Be smart, use the right approach
As you can see there are a lot of approaches to sports betting. We encourage you to take time with it and don’t start throwing significant amounts of money at it right away. Also, check if you’re eligible for a sign-up bonus and always follow a smart bankroll strategy. Sports betting is a lot more similar to other financial products than you would think. Only with a good strategy and smartly managing your money, you will be able to stay profitable in the long term. Check this website and read some of the information which can be of the great help for you.
