Sports Betting Football Strategy

Making money betting on sports can be tough, but there are a lot of sports bettors who consistently win, and there are even a lot of professional bettors who make a good living off of sports betting. On this page you will find sports betting strategy and tips to help you become one of the winning bettors.

Back & Lay – One of the Best Football Betting Systems This football strategy is all about minimising risk and looking for value. The key to this strategy is a good eye for value and catching bets that you think. Home Sports Betting College Football College Football Betting Strategy College Football Betting Strategy College football season is an incredible time of the year filled with literally thousands of.

Below I talk about the basic sports betting strategies for beginner bettors, but if you are more experienced you can check out the advanced sports betting strategy articles towards the bottom of this page.

The Basics To Sports Betting Strategy

In order to help yourself make money or a profit from sports betting there are a couple of basic strategies or tips you will want to understand and follow. None of these sports betting strategies are secrets by any means, but following them will help you win money betting on sports.

The bettors who don’t follow any of these strategies are often referred to as “squares” and those are the type of bettors that the sportsbooks will make their profits from.

#1 Money Management/Bankroll Management

When you are betting on sports you should always set aside a certain amount of money, which we refer to as your “bankroll”, in which you can afford to lose. Like with any type of gambling, you never want to bet betting on sports with money you cannot afford to lose. Set aside a certain amount of money that you can use for your bankroll for the week, the month, or the season. A general sports betting strategy for money management is to only make bets with 1%-5% of your bankroll. For example, if your bankroll for the NFL season was $1,000 you would be making $10-$50 bets on each NFL game you wanted to bet on. It is also very important that you do not chase your loses with bigger bets. It is common for some sports bettors to be down money and feel in order to win it back they need to increase the size of their bets. This is putting yourself in the wrong mindset and will often lead to you losing even more money. Work with the size of your bankroll, and look to slowly increase it over the length of the season.

Here’s a video going over Bankroll Management strategies for sports betting:

#2 Bet Sober and Don’t Go on Tilt

Although betting while sober seems like common sense, you’d be surprised how many people bet on sports under the influence. Is it a coincidence that the Las Vegas casinos offer free alcoholic drinks while you are gambling? I don’t think so. I don’t want to sound like your mother here, but betting while under the influence will impair your judgement and should definitely be avoided if you want to become a winning sports bettor.

The second part of this tips is “Don’t Go on Tilt”. Going on tilt or “tilting” is a commonly referred to term with poker players and basically means letting your emotions take over, which often leads to bad decisions. If you are angry or upset at something, such as a couple bad beats with your sports bets, you shouldn’t be placing any more bets. Take a break, go for a walk, get your mind clear before you start making anymore sports betting picks.

#3 Do Your Homework

This is maybe the most important sports betting strategy. You will always want to do your research before placing your bets. Although going with your hunch when betting your favorite sport may work some of the time, in the long run it will not lead to you winning money betting on sports. In order to profit from sports betting you will need to research, study, and do your homework for each pick you make. Look at stats, find trends, create sports betting systems, analyze past games – basically do everything you could possibly do to ensure you have value in your pick before you place your wager.

#4 Line Shopping

A very big step to becoming a winning sports bettor is to make sure you are shopping for the best lines. What this means is that you will have to have an account at a couple of different online sportsbooks and when you are ready to make a bet on a certain team or outcome you check the different sportsbooks and find which book is offering the best line for you (this ties in with our advanced how to find max value article). For example, if you are looking to bet on the New England Patriots on a 7 point spread, you would want to check a couple different sportsbooks to see if any of them are offering the Patriots at 6.5 points, or at the very least find the best price you can get them at 7 points at. Over the course of a sport betting season you can win yourself a lot of money from shopping the lines that would otherwise would not be one. Line shopping is definitely one of the best sports betting strategies used by winning sports bettors. To see a list of sportsbooks we recommend signing up for visit our Online Betting Sites section.

I’ve created a line shopping video and posted it on YouTube (seen below):

#5 Avoid Buying Points

Avoid falling into “square” tendencies such as buying favorites down or underdogs up. For example, some bettors always feel the need to buy an NFL favorite of -3.5 down to -2.5. The sportsbooks are smart enough to charge more juice to do this, mathematically making it a bad strategy. The same goes with buying an NFL underdog from +2.5 to +3.5 for example. In 99% of cases I would advise against it. Check out the video I made below about buying points on NFL underdogs.

Other Sports Betting Strategies and Myths

Above are the four main basic strategies you will want to follow in order to become a winning sports bettor, but there are a couple of other tips you can use to help you win money.

For one, you can try following a sports handicapper who is using a proven sports betting system. Be careful of scammers out there though. If they don’t show their past records long term plus proof I would pass, and in most cases I wouldn’t be paying for picks at all.

An old sports betting strategy is to bet on home underdogs. The theory is that teams are usually more inspired to play at home, and they will often not fold if they are down like they may when on the road. Betting home dogs in the past could have made you money, but this isn’t true as much anymore. You can read the current betting market article to learn why.

The last tip I have for you is to try and place your bets at the right time. With lines shifting from the time they are posted to the time the game starts, you will want to get your bet in at the time when you are getting the best price. Predicting line movements is extremely hard but it is worth looking into. Check out the video below that I made titled “When To Place Your Bets”.

Advanced Sports Betting Strategy Articles

» How to Place a Bet
» How to Win at Sports Betting
» Sports Betting Math
» Teaser Betting Strategy
» Prop Betting Strategy
» How to Get Max Value When Betting
» Future Betting Strategy
» NFL Bye Week Betting Strategy
» Parlay Betting Strategy
» Pleaser Betting Strategy
» Sweetheart Teaser Betting Strategy
» Current Betting Market
» How to Research Your Bet
» Mistakes You Need to Avoid
» Things Beginners Need to Know
» Win/Loss vs Value

Betfair.com is the biggest sports betting exchange. In Betfair the players bet against each other and not against the Betfair itself. Because of this, the stakes ratios are higher here than anywhere else. Another difference is that in the betting exchange you can not only buy stakes, but also sell them, which opens up new money earning possibilities – sports trading.

The idea behind it is the same as in the currency, stock and product markets – to buy cheaper and sell at a higher price. The difference is that the ratio is affected by the performance of the team or the sportsman.

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Football is the world’s most popular type of sports. Numerous football games take place every day in various countries of the world. To make the games more interesting, trading exchanges offer to predict the outcomes of the games and place bets on them.

Betfair.com also offers this opportunity, as well as a chance to trade or speculate with the stakes. The aim of the trading is to create a situation when, no matter what the outcome of the match is, you are still the winner. The main goal of sports trading is to create a situation when you are in profits no mater what the outcome is. Let`t get to the point!

Here are are 6 proven and profitable Betfair exchange Football trading strategies:

The simplest football trading strategy

Lay The Draw is the most popular Betfair football trading system. This Strategy is mostly used by beginners. If you apply this strategy to the correct type of match, you are almost guaranteed to profit 100% of the time.

The Strategy

The concept of this strategy is very simple – when a goal is scored in a football match, the prices of all the match outcomes (home win, away win or draw) changes. How it changes depends on many factors such as which team scores the goal and the time of the goal.

In this strategy we are trying to lay the draw before the kick-off, and back it at higher price after goal is scored, therefore securing a great profit.

Before the game: Select match by the following criteria:

• Favorite odds is lower than 2;
• Odds on draw is lower than 4;
• In last 3 games there haven`t been 0-0 draw for none of the teams;
• The favorite team scores more than one goal in match on average;
• Head-to-Head between the teams indicates lots of goal (should be within the last two years);
• The liquidity in the market should be at least 40 000.

In-Play:

• If the favorite team scores first, get out of position and green up;
• If the underdog scores first, use the “Metaltone” strategy: back the draw for 50% initial lay stake and lay the underdog for 75% initial lay stake. If there is an equalizing goal, you can then green up an take an overall profit. If there is no equalizing goal and the underdog wins the match, accept the loss (or in some cases small profit) that is sitting on the underdog team and move on to the next game;
• If still 0-0 when the draw price hits 2.0, “red” up and accept the loss.

A Score Grid visualization of this football trading strategy

Socrates strategy is a variation of the Aristotle and Clint strategies. It is designed to maximize profits and reduce the losses and does not require a lot of in play management.

Why this strategy works?

Using exact match selection criteria as in the Aristotle and Clint strategies, the Socrates becomes a simple trading strategy for beginners to implement. We take our positions in the market at the start of the match and only need to make any moves if the score is 0-0, or 1-0 after 60 minutes. Because of its simplicity it is possible to trade multiple matches at the same time.

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The edge in this strategy lies in the selection of right matches, the probability of teams scoring over 2.5 goals and how often these teams play a match where Both Teams are scoring a goal.

In this trade we are looking to win in two markets – Both Teams To Score and over 2.5 goals market to maximize our winnings.

In matches where one side scores 6 goals are often a consolation goal to loosing team which would give us double win.

How this strategy is played?

We are looking for football matches where the odds of Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 goals markets are over 1.80.

In this strategy bets are placed pre-match. Let’s look at example, using 100 euro stake:

• € 40 back bet on Both Teams To Score YES market at odds of 1.80 or more;
• € 40 back bet on over 2.5 goals market at odds of 1.80 or more;
• € 8 back bet on Correct Score 0-0;
• € 12 back bet on Correct Score 1-1.

Correct score grid visualization of Socrates Betfair trading strategy

Bets and odds for Socrates strategy implementation

In the images above you can see a Correct score visualization of outcomes of this strategy. As we can see, the ROI if the bet lands is almost 50%, which is quite a lot.

You do not have to do any adjustments, unless the scoreline is 0-0 or 1-0 after 60 played minutes.

If the scoreline is 0-0 at 60 minute mark, green up 0-0 scoreline and scratch 1-1 scoreline. You will also have to take a hedged red on over/under 2.5 goals and Both Teams To Score markets.

If the scoreline is 1-0 then green up 1-1 scoreline, and make a scratch trade on over 2.5 goals market and take a loss onBoth Teams To Score market.

Any other scoreline will give us an edge in this trade. If the scoreline does not change until 80 minutes then we need to take a look at it and make some adjustment if needed.

At that moment we can exit the trade or stay in it with a hope of win on 1-1 scoreline, over 2.5 or Both Teams To Score. Ideal would be a win in both markets – Over 2.5 goals and BTTS.

What can go wrong?

The downside in this strategy is 0-0 scoreline or two goals scored by one team. We can take an extra insurance position on 0-0 for a winnings of € 50. We can also take a small cover on 2-0 scoreline by backing 2-0 and 3-0 when the score is 1-0.

This is one of the most popular trading strategy on Betfair exchange. Over/Under 2.5 goals market is right next to the Match odds market in terms of liquidity. This Betfair trading strategy is based on teams scoring Over 2.5 goals and that happens a lot!

The strategy

Using this strategy we will use two markets Over/under 2.5 goals market and Correct score market for cover.

Under 2.5 means, we’d expect 2 or less goals

Over 2.5 means, we need to see at least 3 goals in the match.

This strategy is low-risk, because if the favorite scores at least 1 goal, we will be at non-lose point or scratch. Then we will have to wait only for 2 more goals for profit. But this strategy is not for newbies at it requires certain ability to adapt and trade in two different markets at the same time.

Before the game

• Look for games where there is a favorite priced 1.4-1.7;
• Odds on over 2.5 goals are 1.7 or higher

Bets

• Back bet on over 2.5
• Back bets on Correct scores 1-0, 2-0, 1-1. These bets must cover losses on Over/Under 2.5 goals market.

Bets on Correct score market looks like this

As we can see if score turns 1-0 we cant lose anymore as next possible scores are covered (1-1, 2-0) and other possible scores are over 2.5 goals which means profit. If the favourite scores first goal early in the game, we can exit the trade with profit without waiting the game to end. If the odds on over 2.5 goals are higher, we can make a small bet on 0-2 in favor to underdog.

Correct score grid example of over 2.5 goals trading strategy on Betfair

Correct score grid view is one of the ways how to see the full picture of Betfair trading strategies. There is a software called Betpractice ScoreGrid, where you can see on which scorelines you will win and on which loose.

In this example you can see that if the favorite team scores a goal, then we have guaranteed a scratch trade. The only dangerous results are 0-0, 0-1 and 0-2, which are quite unlikely to happen. If wee look at the ROI figures for this football trade, then it is only 18% if there is over 2.5 goals in the match.

What can go wrong?

Of course scoreline 0-0 is the worst, where we loose all our bets in both markets. Therefore if you are watching the game and favorite is not at the best form and score at the halftime is 0-0 it is advised to leave the markets with a loss. Another option is to place a bet from the potential profit on scoreline 0-0. The odds on 0-0 will be shortened to about 4.0. By doing this, the only dangerous scoreline will be 0-1 in favor to underdog.

Summary

Over 2.5 goals is a great strategy for games where you are expecting goals. By the way, you only need one goal for strong favorite and you are in the safe spot! The potential profit is not huge – about 30% of the liability, but if you choose the right games, you will be in long term profits!

The Aristotle trading strategy is Over 2.5 goals market Football trading strategy with insurance positions in correct score market and Under 1.5 goals market.

Why this strategy works?

By doing a statistical research on the probability of over 2.5 goals scored in a football game and entering the market when the odds of over 2.5 goals are in our side.

How this strategy is played?

We’re looking for matches where there is a good statistical chance of both teams scoring, yet a price on over 2.5 goals of at least @1.90 (ideally higher). Where the price of over 2.5 is lower than @1.7 there is no value for us so we must wait to get involved.

In this strategy bets are placed pre-match. Let’s look at example, using 100 euro stake:

• € 58 (or 58% of the stake) back bet on Over 2.5 goals;
• € 14 (or 14% of the stake) back bet on 1-1;
• € 28 (or 28% of the stake) back bet on under 1.5 goals.

This is how pre-match bets on Aristotle trading strategy looks like

In the Correct Score grid above you can see how pr-game bets looks on this strategy. As you will have to implement moves in play, we can not calculate the probable ROI of this trade.

What Is The Best Sports Betting Strategy

If there will be no goals scored early in the game, the odds of under 1.5 goals market will lower – that will create a profit to cover some of the potential loss on over 2.5 goals which, logically will be moving against us.

From the 23th minute of the game we should green ip Under 1.5 goals market as the first goals statistically are scored from the 24th minute of a match most often.

When the first goal is scored, a part of liability from over 2.5 goals market can be removed, and when the second goal is scored we can already hedge out for a profit.

If the underdog team scores the first goal we can place a lay bet off half our stake on 1-1 in order to reduce our liability on other scores to € 7.

If the result becomes 1-1 we can then lay off one more time for around € 25 to create a scratch on 1-1 and € 20 on all other scorelines.

When a football match goes as expected we can get a solid return of 20-80% of invested money.

Match Selection criteria:

If you want to make money on Betfair Football markets, then you will need to match the right football games with the right trading strategies.

To select the games for this strategy we use following criteria:

• Home team: Average goals scored, conceded, combined average, percentage of Over 2.5 goal games, percentage of Under 2.5, strength of attack and defense
• Away team: Average goals scored, conceded, combined average, percentage of Over 2.5 goal games, percentage of Under 2.5, strength of attack and defense

Then the combined average score and the probability of over 2.5 goals is calculated

In match-ups where the calculated probably is more than 60% we will have a qualified game for trading and will look for odds of the right value to recommend a trade.

What can go wrong?

A dreaded 0-0 draw will make us loos all our stake. We can make an insurance bet on 0-0 or Under 0.5 goal markets for a half of our stake.

In this Betfair football trading strategy we are looking for a strong home side and odds of Over 2.5 goals market of 1.90 or more (ideally – 2.00 to 2.10) and Under 1.5 goals market is 3.60 or more.

The ideal scenario in this strategy is that both teams scores a goal, perfectly the game ends with 2-1 or 2-2.

You should also look in H2H statistics for recent games that has had goals and 1-1 games.

Bets in this strategy are placed before the game starts.

This trading strategy similar to the Aristotle strategy as the returns are 20 to 80% return if the game goes our way.

How this strategy is played:

In this strategy bets are placed pre-match. Let’s look at example, using 100 euro stake:

• € 60 back bet on Over 2.5 goals market;
• € 10 back bet on Correct score 1-1 (sometimes you may split 1-1 and 2-0 to favorite and stake 50-50);
• € 10 back bet on Under 1.5 goals market;
• € 20 back bet on Correct Scores 2-1 and 2-2 (you may back only 2-2, if both sides are evenly strong).

In Clint football strategy the over of 2.5 goals market should be at least 1.90. In some games, where the Scoreline 2-0 seems quite possible you can split the 1-1 and 2-0 Correct score cover bets.

Correct score grid example of The Clint Betfair trading strategy

As you can see in Correct score grid example above, the most dangerous scores in this strategy are 2-0 and 0-2. If the result becomes 1-1 at some point of the game, then we are in a really comfortable trading position as the maximum loss is only 10% of our stake, but probable profit is 200%.

This strategy can be very profitable if you can choose the right games to trade!

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Usually Over/Under bets are placed on 2.5 goals market. This Betfair trading strategy is based on Over 1.5 goals market, which is a more reliable market to place bets, because you will need only two goals in the game to win this bet.

The strategy

In this strategy we will be trading Football under 1.5 goals market.

Under 1.5 goals means, that there will be 0 or 1 goals,

Over 1.5 goals means, that there needs to be 2 or more goals scored in the match.

In this strategy the bets are placed only when the game has started or in-play, but never before the game.

The odds of Under 1.5 goals market tends to raise fast.

On average the odds for Over 1.5 goals are 1.30 or more before the match.

That is not enough to make a profit in long term. That is why you should not enter the market before the game. Sit back and just observe the match. Each minute without a goal will raise the odds.

After 15 minutes in the game, the odds should be at about 1.45.

After 30 minutes in the game the odds should be about 1.70 and if the first half will be goalless the odds usually will rise to 2.0 or more.

And that is what we are looking for! At this time we are going to place our bet.

You can place your bet in the 40. minute of the game if you want or you can wait till the half time. The later you will place your bet, the bigger your profits will be.

When the goal will be scored, the odds will drop significantly, usually back to 1.50 or less, if the goal will be scored till the 60th minute of the game. Then we can immediately trade out for an overall profit.

The time of the first goal will determine the profits. If the first goal will be scored between 46th and 55th minute then profits should be around 50% of bet amount. And it happens regularly!

In this strategy we are looking to place our bets after 30th minute of the game ,remember that.

After this time have passed without goals, check the odds of Over 1.5 goals market and if they are 1.50 or more make your bet.

For extra security, you can also check the in-play statistics.

If the last matches of teams have gone over 2.5 goals for both sides or at least the home side, make a bet.

If the goal is scored in the first 10 minutes of the game, this strategy is not suitable anymore.

Summary

This is a great universal betting strategy. The only minus is that you will have to follow the games – you’ll have to watch the games on your mobile phone or in some live-stream or at least keep an eye of live-scores and that will take a lot of time.

Recap of this strategy:

• Bet on over 1,5 goals market instead of 2,5 goals;
• Analyze games and bet only on the games that are predicted for over 2,5 goals;
• Do not place bets until the odds for Over 1,5 goals are at least1,50 or more;
• If the goal is scored till 60 minutes of the game, after you have placed a bet, you will make profit if you green up. You can also leave the bet and wait for one more goal.

Sports Betting Football Strategy Against