If you are a beginner in your sports betting adventure, this section will make you familiar with different types of bets. We describe the standard bets 1, X, 2, as well as handicaps, the latter being somewhat more complicated. You will also learn what types of bets you can place with Web bookmakers.
Standard bet (single event bet)
1, X, 2 are the simplest and standard type of bet, used by all bookmakers. It consists in predicting the result of a given event–for instance, the victory of the home team.
| 1 | X | 2 |
| home team wins | tie | team wins |
Double chance/prop bet
If you cannot really decide whether either of the teams wins, you can use the double chance bet, also referred to as prop bet. The picks to select include:
1X (you win as home team wins or there is a tie),
X2 (you win with a tie or away team’s victory),
12 (you win as home team or away team wins, and lose if a tie occurs)
The odds offered for double chance betting are, certainly, much lower than those offered with the single standard pick.
Handicap
In case a contestant or team is a definite favourite of the sports tournament or match, the bookmaker will offer a handicap bet consisting in adding the inferior contestant a specified score or number of goals. Handicap bets have been launched in order to equalise the odds of both teams. In football, you can come across a -1 or + 1 handicap. The former means that the favourite has one goal taken away instantly; the latter is that the losing team has one goal added to the final result.
Asian handicap
This a really interesting method of placing bets on football matches. The system has come (as the name would suggest) from Asia, where it is known as the Hang Cheng. Asian handicaps add advantage to the weaker team. This makes team-oriented odds equal–namely, approx. 2.00 for each. There are two picks to choose only, and you bet on your chosen team with the given handicap. Betting with Asian handicap you moreover gain a chance to have a part of the placed stake returned.
For detailed descriptions of the handicaps, see the section ‘Asian handicaps’.
Exact result
This bet goes with football and tennis games, and is placed in order to predict the exact result (scores in a football match/number of sets in a tennis match). Your bet wins if you have accurately predicted the game’s result. In predicting an accurate result, odds are much higher, amounting, for the most probable result, to 6.00–10.00. It is therefore worthwhile to bet, from time to time, on accurate result, as your prize can be really satisfactory.
1. First half/full time
This bet consists in predicting the result of the first half and full time of the match; for the whole bet to win, both respective picks have to be apt. There are nine possible pick combinations in this type of betting (H standing for home team winning; A = away team wining; = D tie): H/H, H/D, H/A, D/H, D/D, D/A, A/H, A/D, A/A. The odd in this bet is also quite high.
First/last goal scorer
In this bet, predicted is the scorer of the first or last goal, regardless of the team. Your go consists of two autonomous bets, so you have to determine whether you are betting on the first or the last scorer.
The half with more scores
You place your bet on the half of the match featuring more scores.
You will choose from three options: first half, second half, or the same score in both halves.
Tie is ‘no bet’
When betting in this way, you place a bet on the victory of either the first or the last mentioned team. In case of a tie, you receive your stake back from the bookmaker.
First score timing
This bet is based on determining the time interval within which the first goal will be scored. There are specified intervals to choose from; for instance, when betting on 1–10, you predict that a score will appear within the first ten minutes, and so forth.
Novelty bets
Betting with bookmakers is not limited to regular sports betting: part of the bookmaker’s offer is the so-called novelty bets. They are related to interesting current social-and-cultural events. The choice is not enormous, but there is always something to choose from; for example: Who will the Oscar go to, this time? or, Who will win in the present edition of Big Brother? For more prestigious events (Champions League, World/European Championships), additional novelty bets are included in the offer; for instance: Will Eto’o would make a hat-trick in the battle against Chelsea?
The types of bets are clearly multiple. Above, we have described some of them, related to football games. This is not where the story ends, though: there is financial betting, virtual (sports) betting, and more. Always bear in mind that no bookmaker would force you to make up your mind as to the bet you would select, the event(s) you would like to add to your voucher, and so on. You are completely free in your selection of the event, type of bet, and result you bet on. All this makes the betting an increasingly popular form of entertainment. Sports betting is an opportunity for you to check your knowledge, and a means of enhancing your emotion while tracking your favourite sportspersons. When a high prize comes into question and becomes dependent on a single result, since you have made the other picks accurate, your adrenaline will rise up exponentially.
