How to Bet on Sports: Best Online Sports Betting Tips

Online sports betting can be fun and lucrative, provided you know exactly what you are doing. The trick is to familiarise yourself with the different types of sports betting, the terms and the odds.

Understanding the odds is at the heart of online sports betting. When you get to grips with the odds you can calculate probability, determine potential pay-outs and find true betting value. Finding value is essentially finding the odds that are higher than what they really should be, based on the relative probability of a particular outcome occurring.

It is an elusive quest for bettors who do not get the innate importance of the de-facto betting tips that come directly from the bookies… and by that we mean the odds, of course.

Types of Online Sports Betting

Before we get into the betting tips that are designed to help you improve your online sports betting win-loss ratio, here is a breakdown of the different ways you can bet on sports:

Fixed-Odds Betting

Fixed odds betting is the traditional form of betting. Bookmakers offer fixed odds on an aspect of a match, bout, or league. If the bet wins, you are paid out according to the odds.

This is the type of online sports betting that you can find right there. It is the oldest and most prevalent form of betting on football, tennis, boxing or any other sport for that matter.

Spread Betting

Spread betting is a comparatively recent phenomenon and entails betting on whether a specific outcome will be under or over the bookmaker’s spread.

The most common form of spread betting is wagering on the difference between the scores of two teams being less than or greater than the value specified by the bookies.

In practical terms the over/under goals market in football is an example of spread betting. Your task is to bet on whether the total goals in the match will be less or greater than 1.00, 1.5, 2.00, 2.5 and so on.

Live Betting

Live or in-play betting is exactly the same as fixed-odds betting, with one exception – you can bet after the kick-off and continue betting throughout the match.

The live markets in online sports betting are more plentiful. Apart from having access to 1×2, outright and correct score odds, you can bet on the next player to score, get a red or yellow card or miss a penalty.

In the case of live betting, match predictions and betting tips are often redundant as you have the benefit of watching the action unfold before you place a bet.

Exchange Betting

Exchange betting is becoming increasingly popular as it effectively cuts out the middle man. Betting exchanges are basically trading platforms for sports bets where punters wager directly against each other on the same predicted outcome – be it Real Madrid to win La Liga or Eden Hazard to score the most goals in the match.

There is no restriction to bet size and provided you can find one or more punters to oppose your bet, you are good to go. If your bet wins, the bettors who opposed you, pay you out and the exchange simply takes a slice as commission.

Right, those are some of the most prevalent forms of online sports betting and all have their unique quirks and pros and cons.

Notwithstanding how you choose to bet on the English Premier League, the Coppa Italia, the Champions League or the Euro Championship, here are a few betting tips to get you started:

Best Betting Tips for Online Sports Bettors

The key to betting on sports is discipline. In the online ecosystem, it is incredibly easy to get carried away. You don’t have to visit a main street bookmaker to get your wagers away. You can also conveniently transfer money into your betting account once your bankroll has gone bust.

That means it really is easy to spend more money on bad bets… and that is not what online sports betting is all about. Having a set daily, weekly or monthly budget is the first step in the right direction. Limiting your betting stake to a reasonable amount is the next.

Make sure you have a betting strategy before you start betting, this will keep your bank balance in check and help you make educated betting options.

Be Prepared: Maximise Your Win Rate

Online sports betting isn’t an exact science but there are plenty of ways to maximise your win rate. Take the time to research the players, teams and leagues you intending betting on.

Read as many match reviews and predictions by as many different sources as you can. Learn how to calculate probability and pay-outs from the odds.

Last but not least, check out the betting tips by the expert pundits and search for value in just one or two niche markets. That way you will be prepared to bet like a pro.