Guide to Football Betting Terminology

Betting on football adds a whole new dimension to the beautiful game. It encourages bettors to become totally immersed in the different facets of a match – from goals scored and penalties conceded and won to cards, substitutions and half- and full-time results.

The explosion of football betting worldwide has prompted bookmakers to offer odds on hundreds of different betting markets. That is as it should be but as a newcomer to football betting, the terminology relating to the different bet types can be quite intimidating.

To fully understand our match predictions and betting tips – and to ensure you know exactly what you are doing when you complete a betting slip online – it’s vitally important to have a proper grasp of the terms.

Here is a breakdown of commonly used football betting jargon:

Outright Betting

The outright betting market refers to a bet on a team to win a particular league or tournament – be it the Champions League, Bundesliga, FA Cup, English Premier League or the FIFA World Cup.

Outright betting doesn’t feature prominently in our betting tips as, in the case of the domestic leagues, the winner is often a foregone conclusion based on the points standing on the respective league tables.

Over/Under Football Betting

This is a bet on a predicted outcome being over or under a total specified by the bookmaker. It may be a wager on the number of goals, corners, penalties or cards in a match.

As an example, you can bet on a Europa League fixture between Bayer Leverkusen and Porto ending in +1.5 goals. If two or more goals are scored in the 90 minutes, the bet wins.

You’ll find that the over/under betting market is a favourite of our expert tipsters. The ease in which they can assess the historical goal-scoring capabilities of the respective teams means they can make an informed forecast and feature it in the betting tips.

Double Chance Betting

This is a conventional 1×2 match bet on a win, draw or loss but with one exception – you can bet on two different outcomes at the same time.

In a Champions League fixture between home team Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig, for instance, you can wager on Spurs to win or draw (1x), draw or lose (x2) or win or lose (12).

Double chance is a low risk football betting option with comparatively low odds. It’s also one we recommend to newcomers in our general betting tips.

Even-Way Betting

An even-way bet is a type of outright bet where the betting stake is doubled and split 50/50 on a win and a place.

If, for example, you place an each-way bet on Ghana to win the African Cup of Nations, the bet would be successful if Ghana either triumphed or reached the final. Pay-outs are however higher for the ‘win bet’ than the ‘place bet’.

No Goal No Bet

In this bet, you wager on the team to score the first or last goal in the match. If a game finishes in a draw the bet is voided and the stake returned to you.

It is not an easy market to predict when two teams are particularly closely matched but if one team is much stronger than the other, the no goal no bet wager can be a good bet selection.

However, due to the low odds that are usually offered on the favourite, it rarely features in our betting tips as a value proposition.

Handicap Betting

In handicap betting the bookmakers allocate a one or two goal advantage to one side in a match. You then bet on the team to win, taking the handicap into account.

In a Spanish La Liga match between Mallorca and Real Betis, for instance, you may bet on Mallorca to win with a -1.5 handicap. The bet wins if Mallorca scores two or more goals and loses if the game is a draw or Mallorca only scores once.

Handicap betting does increase the odds when one team is the hot favourite to win. As a result, it can be money maker and occasionally features in our betting tips.

Head to Head Football Betting

With this type of bet you basically wager on a player’s or team’s performance being better than another’s. It could be a bet on Patrick Emrick Aubameyang scoring more goals than Sergio Aguero.

It could also be a bet on CFR Cluj beating Sevilla by a greater margin than Manchester United beating Club Brugge in the Europa League.

Nowadays, the sheer volume of head to head data and statistics makes these kinds of bets slightly easier to call. As with all football betting, however, predicting a winner is not an exact science – and you must be prepared to take the losses along with the wins!