The return of the Premier League is just a couple of weeks away and for many that means that it’s not too long until they place their first accumulator of the season on a Saturday morning.
Whether you head down the betting shop to make your selections or take advantage of the offers available online, there’s no doubting that online betting has made sports betting even more accessible to fans
However, you need to make sure you choose a reliable operator and for the best Premier League betting sites check out Bestbettingsites.com
How To Understand the Odds
At the most basic level sports books will provide the odds for each team to win and for a draw. In the UK these are most often displayed as fractions. Let’s look at an example game, a match between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Here are the odds you would see when looking to place your bet:
Aston Villa to win: 7/1
Manchester United to win: 4/7
Draw: 3/1
The bookmakers will have calculated these odds based on how well the teams have been playing and what happened in their previous meetings. Based on these odds they are giving Manchester United a 63% chance of victory, which is pretty high. But what do the odds mean for your money?
The number on the left tells you what you can expect to win if you bet the number on the right. So, a £10 bet on Aston Villa to win could see you win £70 and your original stake back – so a total of £80. But a £10 bet on Manchester United won’t be nearly as profitable, netting you a profit of only £5.71 (and your original £10 back).
Odds vs Probability
You should have noticed by now that the higher the probability of something happening, the lower the odds you’ll get. This is how the sports books keep in business; relying on bettors to chase the excitement of a big win over the steady accumulation of smaller victories. If you want to turn a steady profit, then betting on the obvious winner should see you slowly increasing your bank balance. Of course, upsets to happen, such as when Leicester won the Premier League on their first season up from relegation in 2016. Some sports books offered odds as high as 5000/1 before a game had even been played, and for many fans that was well worth a punt.
Flexible Odds
Of course, over the length of a season, things change. Teams over/under perform, transfers are made, and surprise upsets happen. Bookies are constantly updating their odds, so the prices on offer at the start of the season will not be the same as those offered midway through. If you’re tempted to risk a small bet on an outlying team, make sure you do it at the start in order to get the best price – it won’t make any difference to your chances of winning, but it will make sure you get the biggest prize pot.
Advanced Betting Strategies
Placing a bet on the winner isn’t the only way you can wager your money on a game. Nowadays you can get odds on everything, from the number of corners taken to who will be the next manager to get fired. If you’re seriously into the stats, then placing a number of these side bets can be a satisfying way to show off your skills.
One of the most popular bets offered today is known as an accumulator bet, and it offers fantastic returns if you can correctly predict multiple outcomes. This can be a riskier strategy, because you need all your predictions to come true in order to see any winnings, but any winnings will roll over and increase your subsequent bets – meaning you can walk away with hundreds if you’re right. You can also cash out your accumulator for smaller winnings if a result is not going your way, as long as it’s before the game ends.
Conclusion
Betting can be fun, but don’t expect to make millions from one match. If you understand the way that odds and probabilities are used to predict outcomes you can make much more informed decisions about where to put your money.