Jumping into a single bet for football betting is common practice, even among the most seasoned of bettors. More often than not, it is the match outright in football betting that gets the most attention for single wagers.
But the match outright market is not always the greatest in terms of value for bettors. Reading stats from your favourite competition, like the UEFA Champions League, La Liga or any of the popular English tiers from the Premier League to League Two odds are needed for any type of bet.
But without getting into the riskier realms of multi-bets like accumulators, what are instead, some of the best variations of the single bet for football betting? Here are our top three recommendations for branching out beyond picking a single match winner.
Asian Handicaps
This is a skilled market that takes the common handicap format and enhances it. Asian handicap provides more nuanced options like quarter and three-quarter balls (goals) and it’s through that, which punters can really grab an edge.
Because the fractioned options such as -0.5, -1.5, +0.5, +1.5, etc exist, then Asian handicap betting provides a tremendous amount of strategy flexibility. Given that pro bettors are likely to be heavily loaded up on team analysis, it allows for more specific betting opportunities, in the search for value odds.
Arbitrage Betting Opportunities
Played with single bets, arbitrage betting is something that more seasoned bettors can start sliding into. The big lure of arbitrage betting is that each of the possible outcomes for a particular match outright is covered.
That’s done by playing the odds at different bookmakers, and a way to target some guaranteed profit from football betting. This can be a time-intensive approach to wagering, but one that pro bettors are likely to find quite an appealing challenge.
At a simple level, an arbitrage bet plays on the variance in odds on a market between different bookmakers. It could be playing a bet on a home win at one bookmaker and then covering the Draw/Away Win with a bet at another if the odds fall right.
The right odds and stake calculations have to come into play to make an arbitrage bet work. But it is not going to be there for every match. Arbitrage betting calculators can certainly help in this regard to save time.
But when it falls right, arbitrage eliminates the reliance on a particular outcome in a fixture happening. There’s no prediction involved as you are playing all sides of the market based on odds, not predictions. This also helps with managing the bankroll as it averts risk.
Take It In-Play
This is perhaps where the best variation of the single bet can be used for football betting. Live betting still employs the same principles of making a selection, like a match-winner. But doing so in the live arena while a match is being played, changes the entire dynamic.
A new factor of timing is now intertwined with the odds. Bettors have to calculate when the best time during the match is to back a selection? Is it when they are drawing, or immediately after the team has fallen behind in the match, but with plenty of time left to recover from the situation?
Some great strategies can be played through live betting, which is the best way to really utilise single bets in football. Like the Over/Under 1.5 Goals strategy, where you simply wait for as long as possible with the scoreline at 0-0 before making the wager.
Summary
There’s not too much need to vary from playing single bets, as they are a staple of every bettor’s arsenal. To advance along in online sports betting, it’s just exploring the different ways to use them.
There are countless ways that could be done and the above is just a selection of such advancements. All bettors should find their own way, and create their own preferred betting strategies to get the most enjoyment.
