Types of Football Bet

Types of Football Bets

Welcome to the definitive guide to types of football betting! Whether you're a seasoned bettor or a newbie looking to understand the ropes, there's something here for everyone. 

This comprehensive article will introduce you to different types of football bets, their pros, cons, and when to use them.

When you have digested all the information you will be able to take the prices on offer from whichever of the best football betting sites has the biggest odds. 

Below is a list of the most popular types of football bets available. I have added in bracket the abbreviations which you may often see referred to.

• Full Time Result
• Football Accumulator
• Normal Time Definition
• Total Goals, (Under/Over)
• Correct Score (CS)
• Both Teams To Score (BTTS)
• Half time/Full Time (HT/FT)
• First Goal Scorer (FGS)
• Last Goal Scorer (LGS)
• Half Time Result (HTR)
• Draw No Bet (DNB)
• Asian Handicap Betting (AH)
• Scorecast
• Bookings and Discipline
• Bet Builder

Read on for more information on each. 

Full Time Result

The most common football bet is on the match result or 90 minutes result. 

This can be called "WLD" (for win lose draw) "1x2" (being the pool notation for home win, draw and away win).

You are predicting whether the result at the end of normal time will be one of three options - a win for one team, a win for the other team or a draw. 

This WLD type of bet is also the most popular in the OLBG Football Tips Competition. 

Football Accumulator

The Full Time Result sounds straight forward enough which is why many punters put several matches together in a football accumulator  trying to predict the outcome of all of them. 

Don't be greedy as that last one you add will often let you down! 

If you strongly fancy a particular outcome then bet on that one only!

OLBG member The Executioner has written a blog entitled Perms, Plans Or Straight Lines ? with some advice about the best bets to place with multiple selections.

Once you have decided football accumulators is the type of football bet you want to play, then you should ensure you are betting with the best bookmaker for football accumulators. 

There are big differences and that brilliant guide explains which is the best and why.

(N.B) Normal Time Definition For Football Bets

Most football bets are based on what happens in normal time. Normal time excludes extra time and penalties but includes injury time. 

This is also known as the 90 minutes result - when the whistle is blown after 90 minutes and injury time.

Total Goals (Under/Over)

Also known as under/over, typically this is a two option bet on whether there will be more or less than the number of goals quoted. 

Danilo Borges/Portal da Copa copa2014.gov.br Licença Creative Commons Atribuição 3.0, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Normally the bet is more or less than 2.5 goals but you will often see many variations such as 0.5, 1.5, 3.5 and 4.5. 

Again this is at the end of normal time. 

This is quite a popular bet as there are only two outcomes and often it can be possible to predict high and low scoring games yet you don't really have a clue what the score might be.

Nigel Skinner one of our football betting experts wrote a blog that specifically looked at the EPL Over 2.5 Goals Betting and Statistical History. 

Correct Score (CS)

This is predicting the score at the end of normal time. Scores are quoted as "Home Team Score - Away Team Score", so be sure to check you get things the right way around.

There are many possible scorelines for a match, so the odds are high, but the chances of winning are also relatively low. 

The most common scorelines are 1-1, 2,1, 2-0, 1-0. You can see the emphasis on the home side doing well. 

Often, the odds offered by bookmakers on this market are less competitive than some of the other bets, so while a fun bet, it's rarely a good investment.

However, in some cases, there can be value for specific results, as you can see below if you know a team's scoring habits and defensive frailties. 

This OLBG blog championed how to stack correct score odds in your favour.

Both Teams To Score (BTTS)

This is simply a yes or no, when placing the bet. 10 year stats show a pretty even split of outcomes. 

In the 2022-23 EPL season 52% of the 380 games saw both teams scoring. 

Selected firms also offer 

• BTTS First Half 
• BTTS Second Half
• BTTS In Both Halves

This type of bet is often used alongside another:

BTTS and Arsenal to Win. 

Half Time/Full Time (HT/FT)

Also known as "double result" this is a bet on predicting the result at half time and full time in the same bet.

There are nine possible results for the "double result bet". H/H, H/D, H/A, D/H, D/D, D/A, A/H, A/D, A/A.

This can be an interesting bet.

In particular where one team is heavily fancied to win, betting on it to win at half time and full time will give you much better odds than just betting on it to win at full time. 

But it is also riskier and not always sensible to bet a team to do something they don't have to do.

Also for weaker fancies sometimes betting on there to be a draw at half time and then for them to be winning at full time can be popular, especially where there's a fair chance there may not be any goals in the match, hence a 0-0 draw at half time is quite likely. 

If you know the teams who come from behind to win or play safe in the first half and go for it in the second half then you could pick up some good bets using this type of football bet.

OLBG member danbradley thinks that this market now offers better value than 1x2 betting. he explains this in a blog entitled Adding Extra Value To 1X2 Bets: Part 1 - The HT/FT Market.

First Goal Scorer (FGS)

This is pretty much as it sounds - who will score the first goal?

There's an option for No Goalscorer which is if there is no goal scored in normal time. 

The issues with this bet can be: 

1. Own Goals - you need to check the policy of each bookie on this. Usually, they are ignored so the next normal goal counts as the first goal scorer, and if there are no other goals, then bets on "no goalscorer win". 
2. This is one reason why its often better to bet on No Goalscorer than on 0-0 as the odds are regularly the same yet, the first still wins if there's an own goal.
3. Substitutes - if you back Martial to score first for Man Utd but he stays on the subs bench, or comes on after the first goal do you get your money back - usually yes - but check with your bookie.
4. The bookmakers margin can be quite high but in certain circumstances, it could be worthwhile. Make sure you know who the penalty takers are. If you really know your stuff then you could profit.

Each Way First Goal Scorer

The best football betting sites  now offer you the chance to win if your player scores the second or third goal in the match. 

Half your stake will go on the first goalscorer outright bet and half on the player being the first, second or third scorer. 

You will normally get something like 1/4 the outright odds for the place part of your bet. 

So for example if you bet £10 each way on Saka to score first for England at 16/1, 1/4 odds the first three, and Saka scored the second goal then you would receive £10 x 4/1 = a £50 return. 

As the first goalscorer bet is a good fun bet, the each way version is growing in popularity with bookmakers and punters.

Last Goal Scorer Bets (LGS)

The same as the first goal scorer bets but in reverse. 

Bookmakers normally quote exactly the same odds for a player to score last as score first. If you know your teams and players well then you could take advantage of this bet. 

Half Time Result (HTR)

Same as the full time result but based on the result at half time. 

As you might expect this is the score when the whistle goes, including first-half injury time. 

As with a full time bet, there are three possible outcomes but the draw is much shorter of course.

If you can find a tight encounter where neither team will be taking big risks in the first half you could be onto a good bet for a half time draw. 

Take a look at these Half Time Statistics published on OLBG and maybe do some research for future football seasons.

Draw No Bet (DNB)

This is like a full time result bet other than there is no option for the draw. 

You can bet on either team to win and if its a draw you get your stake back. The downside is that the odds on each team winning are reduced because of this. 

This has the attraction of there being only 2 outcomes to the bet and is often quite an easy bet to call (in theory) - i.e. you're saying "I think Chelsea will win, but I would like a saver on the draw".

For those of us (I include myself in this) who are risk averse this Draw No Bet (DNB) reassures us.

Asian Handicap Betting (AH)

This is a very popular football bet. 

Each team is given a goals handicap and you bet on the match result after that handicap. 

Because of the variations in the handicaps given and the different types of handicap, this can at first appear confusing. 

However, there are good value bets to be found as the bookies margins are often a lot lower than in normal full time betting markets. 

We have devoted a whole lesson to understanding understanding Asian Handicaps. 

Once you have grasped the A/H concept make sure you are using the best bookmaker for Asian handicap betting. 

Scorecast (First Scorer/Correct Score Double)

As the name implies this bet combines the first scorer (of a football match) with the correct score - it is often known as a Scorecast. 

You use to see this bet heavily advertised in the windows of high street bookmakers, it is very popular with the bookies as they know people rarely win on it. 

Remember with this bet you are actually making two predictions - the result and the FGS.

You regularly see Bet Builder specials that include Scorecast and they are popular Free Bet promotions. 

If you are going down the pub and want to invest a pound with the possibility of winning £100+ then Scorecast might be a slightly better option than dropping your pound down the drain!

Otherwise, leave well alone!

Players To Be Shown A Card

Bookings and Sending Offs can alter a game and affect many of the types of bet we have featured above. 

Prices are normally on offer in the big games on:

• A Named Player To Be Shown A Card
• A Named Player To Be Sent Off

Total Booking Points

Many of the leading bookies also offer total booking markets covering the whole of the game. 

Its 10 points for each yellow card and 15 points for each red card 

Normally if a player receives two yellow cards and is consequently shown a red card they receive a total of 35 booking points.

You can place a bet on over or under a number or line created by the individual bookie.

Derby matches are often very popular with the rivalry heightened. 

The betting on bookings blog has some more stats where different european leagues are compared. 

Bet Builder

A football Bet Builder allows you to choose multiple bets from a single market. 

It covers many of the types of bets featured in this blog. 

It normally consist of at least four selected markets. 

You will not be able to choose all the markets, it is only selected markets that have been chosen by the individual bookmaker. 

In certain instances you can mix and match selected bet builder bets across multiple football matches (A multi bet builder). 

It is very popular with those looking for big returns but the more legs you add to your bet builder the bigger the TRUE ODDS actually are. 

N.B A feature is that some bookies will offer you a free bet if just one leg lets you down in selected bet builders. 

You will need to check  if you want to take advantage of this type of promotion.

On OLBG we undertook a deep dive into discovering the best bet builder sites when we analysed the offering from 64 online bookmakers. 

Other Football Bets Available

There are many other football bets available and one of these that a particular OLBG member has had success with is Goal Timings. 

danbradley has explained how he has gained an edge in this market in his blog Adding Extra Value To 1X2 Bets: Part 2 - Goal Timings.

FAQ

Editorial Information

Author Nigel Skinner is a seasoned professional in the sports betting industry with a track record of fostering community engagement and producing valuable content for bettors and sports enthusiasts. The betting school article above has been collated and updated over many years, with sections added when the bookmakers add new types of bets and features. We would like to thank OLBG members who have contributed football blogs that have been linked to from these pages. The article was edited and Published by Steve Madgwick

Nigel Skinner

Blog content manager

Nigel is one of OLBG's senior editors with 19 years of industry experience. Today he specialises in researching and writing about the betting angles to political and mainstream news stories and being the OLBG in-house expert on 'next football manager' betting markets.

Specialist Subjects🔬📚

⚽️👨‍💼 Nigel is an Arsenal fan first and foremost but has an unrivalled knowledge of English football managers at every level. Meticulously putting together our Next Manager articles, Nigel can quite possibly name you every manager of every club in the land, not to mention a pretty good eye for predicting replacements when changes happen. 

📈📊📉 A long-time exchange trader and spread betting fan, Nigel is our go-to for advice on the subjects and uses them daily in his own betting activity. 

🗳️💼 Finally, Nigel loves his politics and [some would say] has an unhealthy interest in the day-to-day events in the UK's political landscape, contributing to all our Political betting content and new pieces.

Responsible Gambling

Please always gamble responsibly, and never spend more than you can afford. 

Football betting markets are volatile and prices can fluctuate numerous times. 

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