Even the most seasoned football bettors will make mistakes. The key to football betting is to keep things simple. For beginners it is best to avoid complex strategies. The basics are important to understand before starting with complex bets.
It may seem like an obvious tip, but online betting NZ beginners should keep up with what’s going on in the world of football. The more information you have about the sport, the better the betting decisions will be.
A good place to begin is to watch the games, read previews and reports on the matches, stay up to date with any changes in the team or any injuries.
Point Spread
The most popular type of bet in football is the point spread. No matter how strong a particular team may be they will both have the same chance of winning. This type of bet levels the playing field by adjusting the final score of each team in live betting.
Stronger teams will have points deducted while the weaker teams will have points added. Totals bets are the easiest and a bettor needs to predict whether the final score will be lower or higher than a certain number decided by the bookmaker.
Moneyline Bets
Moneyline bets are probably the easiest of all the bets. Bettors must predict which team will be the overall winner.
This is usually a safer option than a point spread even though the payout may be a bit lower, but the risk is also lower.
Futures Betting
Future bets are those placed ahead of time and when it comes to football these are typically placed at the beginning of the football season.
Placing huge amounts of money on futures is not a good idea even though the returns may be good as the odds are usually high. Future bets are difficult to predict and are high risk.
Prop Bets
Prop bets are those types of bets that are not really directly linked to the final outcome of the game. They may be easy yes or no bets with two possible outcomes or they have multiple outcomes.
Some examples include will there be a score in the first or second half, who will score the first goal, which team will score the most points or which team will be the first to score.
These are considered as fun, but are sometimes difficult to predict certain outcomes.
Parlays
Parlays are multiple bets. This means making a single selection as part of one bet.
An example would be to choose three teams and place a bet on all of them using a parlay bet.
If they all three cover the spread then the parlay will be successful. If one is incorrect though, the whole bet is lost.
Teasers and Pleasers
Teasers and pleasers are advanced wagers and are not popular among beginners. These bets can be profitable if used properly.
They are similar to parlays and can only include point spread or total selections. What makes these bets different though is that they involve changing the lines.
