As of the time of this writing, most of the top European soccer leagues, including the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga, have been concluded. But the football calendar never runs dry; several domestic leagues and international leagues are still on-going, with many others expected to begin soon, like the highly-anticipated Euro 2016 set to kick off in June. So, in short, there always be plenty of soccer lines action to enjoy at nearly every time of the year. But to join this fraternity of soccer aficionados and enjoy the fun and profits that come with staking in the soccer lines, you’ll first have to know the basics of soccer betting, which revolve around the three types of soccer bets–win, lose and tie odds. Here is a brief explanation of the meaning of these types of bets and their application in sportsbooks that offer soccer betting lines.
Soccer Betting Win, Lose or Tie Odds Explained
Preliminarily, it is worth noting that bets placed on soccer games are ONLY decided in regulation time, with penalty shootouts and periods of extra time dealt with separately. The regulation time, however, includes any minutes added by the referee after the two 45-minute halves either due to injuries or any stoppages in the course of the game. Another note is that soccer odds can be represented as Fractional Odds (i.e. 10/6), Decimal Odds (i.e. 1.95) or the common American Odds (i.e. -150).
As far as the real betting is concerned in soccer, every better usually has three options to choose from; Team X winning, Team Y winning, or Both Teams ending the game in a Draw. If you bet on either of the teams to win the game and the match ends in a stalemate, you lose the wager. Similarly, if you placed a bet for a draw result and the game ends in either a win for team X or Y, you lose the wager.
Below are examples of how the soccer odds of a game can appear, depending on house style used by a sportsbook:
- Leicester City -160
- Draw +230
- Manchester United +270
- Leicester City 1/6
- Draw 2/3
- Manchester United 2/7
- Leicester City 1.60
- Draw 2.30
- Manchester United 2.70
Remarkably, many sportsbooks today offer variations or customized odds on top of the win, lose and draw options. For example, rather than the 1 (usually used to represent home win), 2 (away win) or X (draw) options, you can find a site that offers additional betting options such as 1/2 (meaning home or away win), 1 or X (home win or draw), 2 or X (road win or draw). Such customized odds give bettors a double chance to win on bets they aren’t sure about betting on one specific result, though with reduced winning value compared to the usual 1, 2 or X options.
Other Options For Wagering on Soccer Games
If you are not a fan of the basic win, lose and draw options in soccer betting, you can always opt for alternatives such as half-time scores, total goals scored, goal handicapping, and prop bets (soccer specials) such as expected goal-scorer in a game, whether or not a goalkeeper will keep a clean sheet, or whether or not the game will go to extra time, among others.
Now that you know the basics of how to bet on the win, lose and draw soccer options, as well as other alternatives you can go for in the soccer lines to increase your profits; don’t miss out on our regular game analysis and predictions about top soccer matches across the world. And, of course, always feel free to place your wagers in our soccer betting lines.
