bets on football

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802900200666226522.post-49674443080648006582007-09-14T15:49:00.000-07:002007-09-14T15:51:55.262-07:00bets on football<a href="http://www.enterbet.com/">bets on football</a> bets on footballFOOTBALL BETS - COMMON MISTAKES A perfect example of why so many sports bettors lose in the long run occurred this past weekend. It's one of the most common mistakes made by amateur bettors and touts. (Most touts ARE amateurs). Situations like this happen week in and week out during the course of an NFL and College Football season. Aspiring professional handicappers take note. The situation I am referring to happened on the NC ST vs. Virginia Tech game this past weekend. Seems the entire world was on NC ST. Wiseguys, touts, and everyone in between. Technically, they were all correct with their handicapping. NC ST was the right side. NC ST was a solid play this past week. Unfortunately, the majority of those who played NC ST, lost. The wiseguys took down the money and the squares made another donation. Not unusual and actually par for the course in sports betting. Virginia Tech won the game 20-16. The line was Va Tech -3.5 or worse all over the place on Saturday when most players made their bets. The game however, opened up at Va Tech -6 and then -5.5 or -5 in most spots. The super sharp took +6. The rest of the sharps took the 5.5's and the 5's. Guys in the middle somewhere may have gotten the 4.5's and the 4's. In total, those with +4 or better probably made up less than 5% of the total number of players who bet on NC ST. The rest, the weekend warriors, those who blindly follow the tv touts or other commercial handicappers, all played NC ST +3.5 and took it on the chin. This happens because the tout, or the amateur sports bettor makes all the right moves up until the time he places his bet. He correctly handicaps the football game and pegs NC ST has a solid play. In the touts case, his clients expect his games to be released at a set time each week. Say 5 pm on a Friday night. So the tout releases his plays on Friday, without any consideration to what the line is now compared to what it was. (By the way, anyone who makes all their selections at the same time every week, will lose over time. That's fantasy land stuff and just one of the many reasons why most touts lose.) The do it yourself weekend warrior does this because out of habit, he plays all his games just before kickoff. Why part with his money sooner than he has to, right? If your buddy told you that Best Buy had a kick ass computer on sale which he just bought for $1500 bucks, and you walked into the store and just before you paid, they slapped a new price tag on the PC of $2000, would you still buy the computer? I hope not. You'd probably scream and yell and ask to see the manager and if they wouldn't budge on the price you would probably go elsewhere. So why in the world are you willing to get screwed on your football bets?? If I owned a book, I would gather up the names of all my customers who bet NC ST +3.5 and offer them 50% bonuses all year round. Because it would only be a matter of time before I had all of their money with those betting habits. Don't bang your fist on the table and say damn, I'm just unlucky. I lost that game by a friggin half point! Bang your fist on the table and say damn! I'm an idiot! I lost that game by a half point because I played the game at a bad number! When you see a pointspread, think of $$$$. If you want to buy a half point on a game, the book charges you, right? Each half point you buy costs you another 10 cents. If you see a game at 3.5 that was 6, that's 50 cents tacked on to the 10 cents or -110 you are already laying. Would you lay -160 on a game that should be -110 ??? That's what you are doing when you take +3.5 on a game that you could have taken +6. Let this be a lesson for you in line value. It's more important than handicapping and picking winners. After all, a monkey could flip a coin and hit at least 50% : ) Good Luck this week and go get those good numbers!!!!! Football Bets There are a growing number of different things you can bet on for a football match. Below we take a look at some of the most popular and explain how they work. One of the key parts of being a successful punter is to know EXACTLY what you are betting on. Normal Time - Definition Pretty much all the bets described below are based on what happens in "Normal Time". Normal time excludes extra time, but includes injury time. Sometimes people confusingly refer to the 90 minutes result to make it clear that it excludes extra time, but this would almost always still mean goals in injury time would count irrespective of the time of goal (e.g. 91 mins etc). Full Time Result (1X2 ) (WLD) The most common and obvious one. Can be called all sorts of things like "WLD" (for win lose draw) "1x2" (being the pool notation for home win, draw and away win) and more You are basically predicting whether the result at the end of normal time will be one of 3 options - a win for one team, a win for the other team or a draw. Total Goals /(Under/Over)Also known as under/over, typically this is a 2 option bet on whether there will be more than 2.5 goals or less than 2.5 goals. Again this is at the end of normal time. This is quite a popular bet as there are only two outcomes and often it can be possible to predict high and low scoring games yet you don't really have a clue what the score might be. Correct Score /(CS) This is predicting the score at the end of normal time. Scores are quotes as "Home Team Score - Away Team Score" so be sure to check you get things the right way down. Obviously there are all sorts of possible scorelines for a match so the odds can be quite high but also the chances of winning quite low. Often the odds offered by bookmakers on this market are not as competitive as some of the others so while a fun bet, its rarely a good investment. However in some cases there can be value for certain results such as betting on a 0-0. Half Time / Full Time (HT/FT)Also known as "double result" this is a bet on predicting the result at half time and full time in the same bet. Lets take a match between Liverpool and Chelsea. There are 9 possible results for the "double result bet". At half time there are 3 possibilities - it could be a draw, Liverpool winning or Chelsea winning. Then for each of these there are the same three possibilities at full time. Consequently the option are quoted like below in the form: "Half time result - Full time result" e.g. Liverpool - Draw means Liverpool winning at half time and a draw at full time This can be an interesting bet. In particular where one team is heavily fancied to win, betting on it to win at half time and full time will give you much better odds than just betting on it to win at full time (but of course its also more risky!) Also for weaker fancies sometimes betting on there to be a draw at half time and then for them to be winning at full time can be popular, especially where there's a fair chance there may not be any goals in the match and hence a 0-0 draw at half time is quite likely. First Goal Scorer (FGS)This is pretty much as it sounds - who will score the first goal. There's an option for "no goal scorer" which is if there is no goal scored in "normal time". The only issues can be with 1. Own Goals - you need to check the policy of each bookie on this. Often they are ignored so the next normal goal counts as the first goal scorer, and if there are no other goals, then bets on "no goal scorer win". This is one reason why its often better to bet on "no goal scorer" than on "0-0" as the odds are regularly the same yet, the first still wins if there's an own goal. 2. Substitutes - if you back Baros to score first for Liverpool but he stays on the subs bench, or comes on after the first goal do you get your money back - usually yes - but check with your bookie. This is rarely a good value bet (bookies margins on this can be as much as 20%) but in certain circumstances it could be worthwhile. Make sure you know who the penalty takers are. Half Time Result (HTR) Same as the Full time result but based on the result at Half Time. As you might expect this is the score when the whistle goes, including first half injury time. This is an interesting variation on the full time result bet, with obviously the draw being a shorter price. Sometimes identifying matches that will be draws at half time in particular can be easy (or easier than for full time!) Draw No Bet (DNB)This is like a full time result bet other than there is no option for the draw. You can bet on either team to win and if its a draw you get your stake back. The downside is that the odds on each team winning are reduced because of this. This has the attraction of there being only 2 outcomes to the bet and is often quite an easy bet to call (in theory) - i.e. your saying "I think Chelsea will win, but Id like a saver on the draw". Asian Handicap Betting (AH) This is a very popular football bet. Basically each team is given a goals handicap and you bet on the match result after that handicap The bets are structured so that there are only 2 options to chose from, and up to 5 scenarios depending on the handicap quoted and the final result you lose all your stake you lose half your stake you get your stake back you win on half your stake and get the other half of your stake back you win on all your stake Don't be fooled by those wily bookies! Given half a chance they'll trick you into placing football bets you haven't even heard of, let alone want to bet on. Former bookmaker Malcolm Boyle highlights five of the worst-value football bets and reveals why you should avoid them at all costs. Check out our free bets section here It wasn't long ago that bookies were legally banned from enticing punters into shops with window advertisements. They couldn't even play a radio in the shop in case it encouraged people to dance! Anything goes these days - which is dangerous for punters as it means the bookies have ample opportunity to tempt you into bets that are a complete waste of time. They're only offering sweets these days because competition is so fierce. That's why there are so many unusual and deeply unprofitable (for you) bets out there on every street corner and betting web site. Most betting adverts are for football markets - young people seem less interested in horse racing and more interested in football, so bookies try to lure punters into the shop on a diet of banner headlines and football prices. But which are the most dangerous bets? We've come up with a list of five footie wagers that smart punters will avoid - do so, and your betting bank balance will look a lot healthier! 1. FIRST GOALSCORER This scenario isn't as bad as it used to be because of all the team line-up news presented by the media - at least that gives you a clear indication of which players will be on the pitch when the game kicks off. If you have to place a bet in this sector, however, only do so when the teams have been confirmed an hour before the match in question. Unclaimed betting slips up and down the land via 'non-runners' in the first-goalscorer sector would fill your car on an annual basis. Even if you do bet just before kick-off, the percentages are stacked against you as prices have been compiled several days in advance of the match. Unlike punters, bookies will never take a chance and the odds on offer confirm the fact this is a bad market to play. How do you predict who will be the first player to find the net? What are the factors to bear in mind? Even though certain players, like strikers, are likely to net more than their share of first goals, it's impossible to select a player with any degree of confidence. Layers will be wise to players in form and price up the strikers accordingly. The only area where you might score the occasional hit is via dead-ball strikes from lesser-known players at the likes of Southampton, Norwich City and Birmingham City. The bookies may be unaware of all the free-kick specialists at such clubs, but does this slight glimmer of hope render a first goalscorer bet good value? No! Consider how many ways there are for a team to score a first goal, remember the fact that you are hoping the opposition haven't already scored, and you'll see that there are too many uncertainties to play this wager seriously. 2. LAST GOALSCORER The bookies dreamed up this nice little earner - for them, not you - a few years ago and many of the rules explained in the first-goalscorer bet also apply here. The starting line-up isn't so important, as different players will be on the pitch at the end because of substitutions. This makes the bet even more difficult to call - how do you know whom the coach will bring off, send on from the bench, or who might get injured during the game? If you must play this wager, consider defenders first and foremost, because they at least represent some sort of value for money. While defenders tend to go forward for corners and free kicks throughout a match, the scenario is extenuated as the game approaches its final minutes if your team is losing. So if you're on a defender whose team are trying to scramble back into the game, you at least get a fighting chance. Strikers are a complete no-no - they are substituted more often than defenders, and their prices nearly always represent poor value. Do you want to be on a 4/1 striker in the closing minutes, or a 33/1 defender? The second - but better still, ignore this market altogether. 3. HALF-TIME/FULL-TIME You have to admire the downright aggression of bookmakers, because in this bet the layers are asking you to name not one result, but two! As if correctly predicting the outcome of a football match wasn't difficult enough, here you have to estimate which team will be ahead at half-time and full-time. What adds insult to injury is that bookies potentially gain more profit by laying these bets, having already made your job twice as difficult in the process. Taking average prices across the board, a team that's 6/4 to win a game actually becomes a 5/4 chance when adding up the percentages via the three options open to punters betting on the same team when in the half-time/full-time markets (lose at half-time, win at full-time, draw at half-time, win at full-time, win at halftime, win at full-time). The scenario becomes even worse for firmer favourites - a team that's offered at 1/3 to win a match can be as short as 1/6 in this three-way scenario. The price for the 'win-win' scenario is roughly 4/6, the 'draw-win' is often priced up around 7/2, whilst 28/1 is on offer for a team to be behind at half-time but come through to win the game at 90 minutes. The combined percentages add up to a price of 1/6, so ignore this sector for the health of your wallet. 4. FIXED-ODDS SHIRT NUMBERS This is football bingo. Fixed-odds companies are beginning to offer punters bets on shirt numbers in the following format: 'Have a bet on tonight's match, and if your player gets sent off, we'll refund you a pound for every figure on his back - so if a player wearing number seven ets sent off, punters will receive £7 to their account...' This is simply ridiculous. The bookies are just trying to trick you into placing a bet on tonight's game that you probably wouldn't have otherwise placed. Such wagers completely overlook basic betting principles of looking for value and studying the form book or trends. It's a lottery - avoid it at all costs. 5. SECTIONS LISTS A crooked smile twists across my ageing face every time I look at this scenario. I smile because I simply cannot understand how punters keep falling for such a blindingly obvious trap created by the bookmakers, for the bookmakers. Punters are asked to predict the outcome of a minimum of one match out of six in each of five sections of matches, pre-determined by the bookie. You need all your bets to come in to win, and based on the best prices available, the bookmakers will tell you to 'select one team from each section for minimal odds of 13/2, two teams from each section for 68/1 and three teams from each section for 690/1!' Accumulators involving so many teams really are a complete and utter waste of money. I've lost count of the number of red lines I've crossed through these bets when I managed betting shops - the odds are stacked against you. It's a bet devised by the bookmaker, so that automatically means it offers poor value. Also, to make matters worse, a lot of punters treat the bet as an afterthought - they place their normal weekend bets and then have a go at the section list bet for a bit of added value. Added value? They're pouring money down the drain. It's a merely a marketing scam - so don't be fooled! <a href="http://www.enterbet.com/">http://www.enterbet.com</a> <ul><li><div align="left">Football Bets, Monday Night Football, bets, Football. Monday Night Football, by football and sports bettors. Football betting odds and gambling lines, sports wagering, NCAA Football - NFL.</div></li><li><div align="left">College Football. Bet Football and football betting. College Football Betting, nfl bets, where to bet football, nfl betting, how to win betting football. </div></li><li><div align="left">Football, NFL, Monday Night FootballFootball betting, odds comparison, college football tips and football, Straight football bets.</div></li></ul>football bettinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04764354479745848244noreply@blogger.com