Football betting is a form of sports betting in which punters predict the outcome of a match or specific events during the game. For beginners in India, the key first steps are to familiarise themselves with the different types of bets, choose a platform and understand how deposits work. Furthermore, before starting football betting, you should be aware of the risks, know the local legislation and set a budget.
How to bet on football
Find out how bookmakers assess football matches and how betting odds work. Odds reflect the potential winnings for a correct prediction and, at the same time, reflect the bookmaker’s assessment of a specific outcome. Odds indicate the amount you can win by betting on a particular outcome, and also show how likely the bookmakers believe that outcome to be. For example, decimal odds of 2.00 on a stake of ₹100 will yield a total payout of ₹200 (including the stake) if the selection proves correct.
Beginners should start by familiarising themselves with the main markets:
- Match result: indicate whether the home team will win, the match will end in a draw, or the away team will win. This is arguably one of the most popular types of bets in football.
- ‘Over/Under goals’: bet on whether the total number of goals will be over or under a certain threshold, for example 2.5. A bet on ‘over 2.5 goals’ is considered a winner if 3 or more goals are scored during the match.
- ‘Both teams to score’: Bet on whether both teams will score at least one goal each in the match. This betting market focuses exclusively on goals, rather than the final result.
- Double chance: Select two out of the three possible match outcomes, for example, a home win or a draw. The more options you select, the lower the odds tend to be.
- Handicap betting: One of the teams is given a goal handicap to adjust the betting odds. Asian handicaps may include quarter-goal lines and can result in a full or partial refund of the stake.
It is also worth knowing the difference between pre-match and in-play betting. Pre-match odds are available before the match begins, whilst in-play odds change throughout the match in response to goals scored, red cards, injuries and other events.
How to choose a football betting site
Choosing an online platform for football betting is very important. You need to consider not only high odds and welcome bonuses, but also the security of the site, the availability of Indian payment systems, and other factors.
Before registering, bear these five points in mind:
- Legality of operations: You must be familiar with the legislation in your Indian state and check whether the operator is legally authorised to provide these services to you. Online betting regulations may vary depending on the jurisdiction, and using an offshore website is not always legal.
- Licensing and verification: Check the licence information provided by the operator and, if possible, verify it with the relevant regulatory body. Find out who owns the company, its registration details and how to verify your account.
- Deposit and withdrawal terms: find out about transaction limits, processing times and fees (if applicable). The payment methods you can use to top up your account must also be available for withdrawals.
- Comparing odds and markets — for the same match and market, compare the odds, bearing in mind that some providers may apply different settlement rules. A large number of leagues and betting markets does not necessarily mean that a site is more reliable.
Tips for newcomers from India that every beginner should know
It is useful to have a certain level of knowledge about football when watching matches, but knowing all the ins and outs of teams and players does not always guarantee successful predictions. A step-by-step approach to analysing matches will enable readers to learn about the sport and evaluate match information without spending unnecessary money.
- Results from the last five matches (up to 10): take a look at the team’s results from their last five matches, paying attention to the difficulty of their fixtures and whether they were playing at home or away. Just because a team is on a winning streak doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll win their next match.
- Keep an eye on team news: injuries, suspensions and changes to the line-up can have a huge impact on a team’s style of play. Check information from reliable sources and, where possible, make sure that players’ absences have been confirmed.
- Take match statistics into account: possession, shots on target, expected goals and defensive metrics — each provides a different insight into the team. No single statistic can capture everything that happens during a match.
- Take the type of competition into account: national leagues, cup competitions and international cups all have their own unique styles of play. (In some tournaments held over a single season, squad rotation is permitted.)