Football is now the a huge part of bookmaker's business mostly due to the vast amount of football now shown on TV. The most popular among punters is the English Premiership because they know so much about the teams, managers and players but with most bookmakers you are able to bet on almost any league anywhere in the world. Is is also possible to bet live games right up until the final whistle.
There are literally dozens and dozens of different markets in which to bet on a football match, from which team will win the first throw in to the number of bookings in the match. The most popular bets are shown below.
The result
Simply a bet on which team will win, the home team, the away team or the draw. This is sometimes known as 12X which comes from the fixed odds coupons the bookies produce every week in which you mark “1” for a home win, “2” for an away win or “X” for the draw.
The double result
This is also known as half-time/full-time betting. It is similar to betting on the result but as well as selecting the match result you have to select the half-time result as well.
There are nine possible outcomes,
Half-Time Full-Time
Home Home
Home Draw
Home Away
Draw Home
Draw Draw
Draw Away
Away Home
Away Draw
Away Away
Correct Score
This is a bet on the final score in the match, e.g. 2-1, 0-1, etc.
First Goal scorer
As it says in the title this is simply a bet on which player will score the first goal in the match. Some bookmakers offer each-way terms which is typically a third of the odds if your selected player scores in the match.
You can also bet on which player will score the last goal in the match. Own goals usually do not count in these markets.
Half-Time Betting
A bet on which team will be leading at half-time.
Draw No Bet
Some bookmakers offer this bet. The odds on each team are shorter than 12X betting but your stake is returned if the match ends in a draw.
Scorecast
This bet offers a big return for a small stake. It is a combination of the correct score bet and the first goal scorer bet.
Over/Under
This has recently become one of the most popular bets. The idea is to predict whether a match will end with more or less than 2.5 goals.
People ask how you can get 2.5 goals but that is the point, you cannot, so there has to be either less than 2.5 goals or more than 2.5 goals so there are only two outcomes – overs or unders.
