Football Betting With Bitcoin

Biggest Events in Football

Football is the most popular sport in existence, with more than 4 billion followers around the globe. The biggest stage of all is the World Cup, where the greatest players in the world meet the dreamers of the smaller nations in a competition that comes around once every four years. The greatest match of this biggest competition – the World Cup Final – always attracts a momentous audience. In 2014, no fewer than 700 million tuned in to watch Germany edge Argentina 1-0 and deny Lionel Messi his first World Cup winner’s medal.

It’s easy to see why the World Cup is the most popular event in football. Not only does it attract the best players in the world, but it involves a massive 210 countries, tracing back to the qualifications rounds. This gives a lot of people a sense of investment in the competition, and when a smaller team begins to build some momentum the whole world takes note. One study speculated that sports bets on the World Cup account for over £1bn in money wagered. Or, for all you Bitcoin enthusiasts, around 175,000BTC at the time of writing.

It’s not the only big event in football, though. The Champions League takes place every year. To qualify, teams must win their regional top division, or finish in the top few slots in selected countries. A group stage then leads to a knockout stage for the last 16 teams, with the final taking place in a randomly selected country. Last year, UK broadcaster BT Sports paid a whopping £1.2bn to secure the rights to show Champions League football. That speaks volumes about how huge the game is.

Each country has their own top division as well as a number of lower leagues, where teams aim to progress up the ranks and reach the top. La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany) and Serie A (Italy) are among the most popular football leagues in the world, but none compare to England’s Premier League. Home to teams such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, the Premier League commands an average attendance of over 35,000 people per game.

Such is the interest of football in England that even the second-tier league, the Football League Championship, outranks the top tier of other European countries in terms of attendance. It’s also possible to bet on all of these leagues at a range of sportsbooks which accept BTC. But you may have to wait a while until BTC is accepted in exchange for tickets.

There are even massive footballing events off the pitch. In addition to charity events and other campaigns, there are also a number of annual awards ceremonies where the best players, and teams, of the year receive recognition. One of the most well-known is the Ballon d’or, despite having being split into two awards and renamed. The award is for one player who is deemed to be the best in the world. Voting takes place all over the world, with the manager and captain of each nation earning one vote each, along with a panel of international journalists. Global superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have each claimed five of the prestigious awards. Such is the popularity of football than you can even place a bet on who will win the award, with the former two usually being the odds-on favourites.

Most Popular Bets on Football

There are numerous ways to bet on football, and plenty of popular bets too, regardless of whether you’re using fiat or Bitcoin to bet.

Until recent years, the most popular way to bet on football was in advance of the game. There are hundreds of variations that can be wagered on a single game or a number of games, but some of the most straightforward are also the most popular. Here are few of the tried-and-tested favourite football bets:

• Correct score – Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this bet focuses on predicting the exact score in the match. High-scoring bets, such as 4-3 to one team, will pay off handsomely. More common results, like 0-0 or 1-0, will have more modest odds but are more likely to pay off. If you’re betting on a cup game, such as a World Cup knockout stage match, note that these bets only count for 90 minutes of play plus stoppages. So, if you place a bet of 1-0 and the match ends 0-0 after 90 minutes, it is classed as a losing bet – even if the final result is 1-0 after extra time.
• First goal scorer – If you’re not sure what the final score will be, but you fancy an in-form player to bag the first goal, this is the perfect bet for you. Defenders usually have the highest odds, so any towering centre backs that like to get in the box could be a good shout. Strikers traditionally have the shortest odds, so if it looks like a team’s talisman could be injured, you might find better value in the attacking midfielders. You should also check out the sportsbook’s terms and conditions, as there are different rules on how an own goal affects this bet. Often, your bet will be refunded, or it will be the next goal scorer who is declared the first goal scorer for the purposes of the bet.
• Accumulator – A favourite for discussions over a full English and a cuppa on a Saturday morning, accumulators are the Holy Grail of every football fan across the land. Place a prediction of home win, away win or draw for as many matches as you like, and watch the odds rack up quickly. The catch is that you’ll need every result to come in for the bet to be classed as a win. This can lead to ecstasy or heartache at a last-minute equaliser in the 93rd.
• Outright markets – For those who are willing to be a little more patient, outright bets are also very popular. This could be a season-long bet on something like which team will win the league, or which player will be top goal scorer in a certain league. You can also place these bets midway through the season, although the odds are frequently updated to reflect the current status. So, betting on Manchester City to win the league when they’re already 15 points clear is unlikely to land you a huge windfall.

Did You Know?

There are only nine players who have scored for six different Premier League clubs: Nicolas Anelka, Nick Barmby, Craig Bellamy, Marcus Bent, Andy Cole, Peter Crouch, Les Ferdinand, and Robbie Keane.

Only one player has scored in the Manchester, Merseyside and Glasgow derbies: Andrei Kanchelskis.

Brazil have won the World Cup five times, but there’s only one team they’ve played four times and never beaten: Norway.

Only four teams have ever won the English top tier three times in a row: Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal…and Huddersfield.

Football Betting Strategy

Many fans tend to bet with their hearts, not their heads. Fans may bet on their own team because they want them to win, or they might bet on an unlikely outcome because of a gut feeling. Though this may be fun, it goes without saying that it’s a surefire way to lose money.

But there are plenty of opportunities to make money from betting on football, and a whole lot of different strategies. One of these is the Martingale system. This involves placing a bet of a certain amount – let’s say £5. If you win, you place £5 on your next bet, banking the profit. If you lose, your subsequent bet should be worth £10. This covers your losses from the previous bet.

The downside is that, if you go on a long losing streak, you could end up in a situation where you run out of money. It’s a system that can also be applied to some casino sports, such as roulette. The Fibonacci method is also similar in its approach, increasing your stake in each part of the sequence with the next bet’s winnings.

While it may be appealing to bet on outsiders and underdogs at long odds, you are much more likely to win by betting on a hot favourite. If Manchester United draw Guiseley A.F.C. in the FA Cup, the romantic in you might want the latter to win – but an objective view tells you it will very, very rarely happen. With this in mind, some customers choose to place very large bets on very likely outcomes. The odds in such bets are very short and the returns are small, while one bad result can be very costly. However, many customers make a very successful return from this method.

A system known as back and lay is another popular option. This is a method where a bet is placed at relatively high odds. Once the odds are lowered, the bet is either cashed out or a counter bet is placed to guarantee a profit.

For instance, let’s say Manchester City are playing West Bromwich Albion. The away team can be backed at odds of 14/1 to win. The bettor places a wager of £10 on them to win at 14/1, and early in the first half West Brom take the lead. One option is for the punter to cash out for an easy, albeit small, profit. The other is to now place bets on a Man City win and draw at increased odds. With the correct weighting of each bet, a profit can be guaranteed no matter what the result is.

If you’re new to a sportsbook, the welcome bonuses can be used very lucratively too. Let’s say three different sports betting sites each offer a £50 free sign-up bonus for new customers. An upcoming game of Chelsea vs Arsenal shows that both teams have the exact same odds of 11/10, with the draw at 3/2. Placing a £50 bet on each of the three options guarantees you a profit.

Verdict

By now, you probably have a pretty good idea on what type of football bets are available, where you can use Bitcoin to place a bet, and what strategy you can use to make the most of your bets.

Ready to get started? Why not check out one of our hand-picked sports betting sites below? All of them accept BTC for deposits and have extensive football betting markets.

Cloudbet