Football Betting Offers - More Ways to Make Bets

In this guide, we’re going to look at the different strategies you can use to make more from your football betting and reveal our recommendations for the top football betting sites.

You will also find that certain football betting sites lend themselves better to different types of betting markets such as Correct Score or Asian Handicap betting. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most popular types of football bet, how you can profit from them and which football betting sites you should be using.

Football Betting Over the Years

As the UK’s national sport, it’s no surprise that football is the most popular sport to bet on. With the last 20 years transforming football clubs into billion-pound companies and seeing the rapid rise of online bookmakers, football betting now attracts more people than ever before.

If you’re old enough to remember football betting before the internet, you will remember restrictions like having to place at least a treble (no single bets) and having to pay tax on either your stake or your winnings. Plus, of course, the inconvenience of actually having to get up, go out of your house and travel to the bookies!

Compare that situation with today: betting on football from the comfort of your own home, betting in-play, watching live streams of games being played all over the world and having your choice of hundreds of different markets to bet on.

Football betting attracts all levels of punter, from the recreational bettors who like to back their hunches, to the professional gamblers who analyse hundreds of prices looking for an opportunity to make some winning bets.

Let’s Start with Some General Tips

Firstly, focus on specific markets or strategies. Test them over a long period of time to see how profitable they are before moving onto something else. You can test several ideas alongside each other, of course, but don’t fall into the trap of jumping from one thing to the next without ever really knowing what works.

By focusing on, say, the under/over 2.5 goals market or specific leagues you will build your expertise far quicker, getting an intuitive feel for mispriced markets and how certain teams are likely to perform.

Secondly, keep accurate betting records. There’s a famous saying, “what you measure, improves”, and it’s certainly true in football betting. Keeping records of your markets, stake sizes and profit/loss has an almost magical effect on your results. You will become more disciplined and spot patterns far easier.

In-Play Football Betting

Betting in-play on football is fast-paced, exciting and offers you the chance to get better odds and win in minutes. Of course, in football betting, there’s a winner and a loser for every bet. To make sure you’re on the winning side more often than not, you need to understand what’s happening when you bet in-play.

With every passing minute, there is less time for goals to be scored. If you’re backing the home side to win or expecting 3 goals or more, the chance of that happening decreases the longer it stays 0-0. The price for those events will increase, meaning you can back at higher odds. This can really work in your favour if you can successfully time your bet just before a goal goes in.

Even though many sportsbooks now offer live football betting and cash out facilities, Betfair is still the number one site for in-play football betting. The ability to place lay bets (betting against something happening) gives you an easy way to take profits as well as making it easier to bet against a draw, for example.

When using a betting exchange, one of the most important aspects to be aware of is the amount of liquidity that is available. For your £50 bet to be accepted (“matched”), there needs to be someone else willing to lay that bet at those odds. You should always be able to get your bet matched when betting on the Premier League but that National League South match? Maybe not. While other betting exchanges continue to improve, the far higher levels of liquidity mean Betfair continues to be the very best site for football betting, especially in-play.

Betting in-play also gives you the chance to trade your bets. This is when you place a bet with the intention of trading out as soon as it goes your way, guaranteeing profits no matter what happens in the rest of the match. For instance, you might back over 2.5 goals at odds of 2.1 then trade out at 1.4 when a goal goes in. Most football betting sites offer a simple cash out button that makes this trade for you.

Scalping is another way to put football betting to good use. Scalping is just trading in and out of a market in a very short period of time: minutes or even seconds. You could back 0-0 at kick-off then trade out after 5 minutes when the price has moved in your favour. Although these trades don’t bring in the big wins, you can repeat them many times over the course of one match, and they soon add up.

Bet Type:

Normal Free Bet (SNR) Free Bet (Stake Returned)

Mode:

Simple Advanced

Back Stake:

£

Back Odds:

%

Lay Odds:

Lay Commis.

%

Part Lay Active?

Part Lay One

Lay Odds

Lay Stake

£

Part Lay Two

Lay Odds

Lay Stake

£

CALCULATE

Betway

Get £30

BET NOW T&C's apply.

Results

At odds of 2.5, your lay stake is £44.90

Your liability will be £67.35

If the Bookmaker Bet wins, your overall position will be £12.35

If the Exchange Lay wins, your overall position will be £12.35

Your match rating for this bet is 77.55%

The average odds of all lays is

Underlay

You could lay £36.67
Liability will be £55.01
Bookmaker Bet wins £0.01
Exchange Lay wins £20.16

Standard

You could lay £44.90
Liability will be £67.35
Bookmaker Bet wins £12.35
Exchange Lay wins £12.35

Overlay

You could lay £57.89
Liability will be £86.84
Bookmaker Bet wins £31.84
Exchange Lay wins £0.00

Custom

You could lay £55.00
Liability will be £82.50

Bookmaker bet wins £27.50
Exchange Lay wins £2.75

Min:

Max:

#AD. New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Registration required, T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply.

Win Big with Acca Football Betting Offers

Football accumulator bets have always been popular as they offer the chance for big wins from a relatively small bet. Still, the recent trend of online bookmakers offering bonuses and promotions on football betting accas has increased their popularity even more.

Bookies are always happy to let it be known that one of their customers has won a huge prize from their £2 acca. It’s great publicity and gets more punters to have a go at some long odds accumulator. The truth of the matter is that most accumulators are very poor value. That is, the odds being offered don’t reflect the actual likelihood of all the events winning.

However, if you understand what the odds mean and can take advantage of the various acca football betting offers, you can do very well. Look out for price boosts on your football acca; Paddy Power were offering an extra 20% on any football betting acca with at least five selections last season, for instance. And you can reduce your risk with acca insurance. This gives you a refund if just one of your selections loses. Terms and conditions vary between sportsbooks, so check them carefully.

The Best Football Betting Promotions

Football betting is big business in the UK, and sportsbooks are always coming up with promotions to attract and keep customers. Sign-up offers, price boosts and weekly free bets are all available, and the astute punter can take advantage of these to make some fantastic profits.

Still, it’s important to be selective about the football betting promos that you take part in. Don’t just assume that a price boost is a good deal, for instance. If the odds for each selection don’t reflect the true likelihood of a win, an extra 20% isn’t going to help in the long run.

Some football betting promos require you to place a number of bets on the bookie’s casino to get a free sports bet. Again, if you’re not a regular casino player (and winner), these just aren’t worth it.

And you have to be careful about sign-up deals too. Some sportsbooks offer you a 50% matched deposit but require you to “rollover” the stake + bonus amount 6 times before you can withdraw the bonus and any winnings. If you go for the maximum £100 bonus, you would have to make a total of £1800 (6 x (£200 + £100)) worth of bets before being able to cash out.

Even if you safeguard yourself against losses by laying your football bets at the exchange, you’re still going to lose money with each pair of bets because of the difference between back and lay prices - plus the exchange’s commission. With £1800 of bets, those differences are likely to exceed the £100 bonus.

Still, there are plenty of betting website offers that pay. Most free bet offers can be turned into a payback through matched betting – backing an event with your free bet and laying it off at the exchange. Use a matched betting calculator to work out the amount you should lay off for equal winnings whatever happens in the match.

To make sure you’re not missing out on any football betting promotions, use a separate email account when you register with betting sites. You will find most football betting deals will be emailed to you so having a separate account will help you spot them when they come through.

Keep track of any football betting offers you take advantage of too. Some promotions will issue you a free bet that has to be used within 3 days. If you forget to go back and use it, you’ll miss out on some extra profit.

The Best Sites for Football Betting Offers

While nearly all sportsbooks have football betting promos, some have bigger and better offers more often than the rest. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the sportsbooks which have the best football betting deals.

Betfair

If you don’t already have an account with Betfair, sign up now! The biggest and best betting exchange in the world offers live streaming, hundreds of markets, fantastic liquidity, and gives you the chance to lay off bets that you’ve made elsewhere.

On top of that, Betfair also offers some great football betting deals. Firstly, there’s the sign-up offer for new customers. This is a £20 risk-free bet on the exchange (any sport). If your bet loses, Betfair will refund the £20 as cash.

But what about existing customers? Betfair offer a loyalty programme with various benefits such as different levels of commission and regular free bets. Sometimes weekly, sometimes more frequently, these free bets are issued when you place a qualifying bet during a specified 3 day period. The amount of the free bet varies depending on the offer and loyalty tier but should be at least £10. Place a £10 qualifying bet and get another £10 bet free. In practice, you can usually withdraw this £10 bet as cash too.

bet365

If Betfair is the best exchange for football betting, then bet365 is the top sportsbook. They offer some of the best prices, live streaming, a cash out facility, a wide range of markets and fantastic football betting promos.

Their sign-up promotion is generous with up to £100 in “bet credits”. bet365 will match your first deposit in bet credits so deposit the full £100 if you can. Terms and conditions apply, and this offer is strictly for players aged 18 and over.

bet365 reward existing customers, too, with some of the best football betting offers in the UK. Make sure you check bet365’s promotional emails, so you don’t miss out on one of these highly profitable football betting deals.

One of their best offers is the regular in-play football betting promo, usually issued for a big Premier League/Champions League match. The way it works is you have to place a bet of up to £50 in the pre-match market; this allows you to place a bet of the same size in-play with this bet being risk-free. If the in-play bet wins you keep the winnings but, if it loses, bet365 will refund your stake to you.

This makes it possible for you to lay off your pre-match bet at the exchange, then use matched betting principles for your in-play bet. To make it easier to find close odds between the sportsbook and exchange in-play, place your second bet during the half-time break when the odds will be moving less.

bet365 offer this football betting deal fairly regularly so it can really add a lot to your bottom line. Be sure to place other bets with them if you want to keep receiving these offers (which you should). They have been known to exclude customers from this promotion if people only bet when there’s a promotion to be had.

bet365 continue to raise the bar with new football betting offers such as their “Bore Draw Money Back” deal which refunds losing bets on selected markets for any football match that ends 0-0. These bets have to be placed pre-match and only apply to the Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time and Scorecast markets.

bet365 also offer the best acca football betting offer in the UK with a bonus of up to 100% for accumulators on selected leagues. You need to pick at least 3 selections, with the bonus amount increasing with the number of folds in the acca bet. There’s a 5% bonus on trebles while you need to pick at least a 14-fold to get the full 100%. Again, terms and conditions apply.

William Hill

William Hill are another bookie with great football betting deals. First up is their “Golden Goal” promotion. Back a team to win in 90 minutes and you get paid out on the win as long as they score first (of course, if they don’t score first but go on to win, your bet still wins). That means that if your team scores first but the game ends 1-1, you still get paid out as though they had won!

This football betting offer was on for the entire 2019/20 season but only applies to select matches so keep an eye out for the next qualifying game. There’s a maximum of £25 to be paid out in winnings if your team scores first but doesn’t win. Note that that’s “winnings” not “stake”.

William Hill have their own acca football betting offer with their “Bet Boost”. Create an acca of 3 or more selections and stake a maximum of £20 and you’re eligible. Just hit the “Bet Boost - Acca” button on your bet slip to get the improved odds. This can be done once per day.

The Verdict

Taking advantage of the best football betting promotions can have a huge effect on your overall profitability. Free bets, boosted prices, bet insurance… they all lead to either bigger profits or reduced risk.

We’ve identified the three of the best betting site offers, but there are many, many other sportsbooks online offering their own promotions. Be careful to check the terms and conditions to make sure you’re going to benefit from them but, if everything looks good, fill your boots!

With bonuses on every aspect of football betting, from individual matches to accumulators and picking the next Premier League champions, there are hundreds of promos to profit from over the course of the season.

It can help to use a web wallet such as Skrill to move money around from one bookmaker to another. The rapid transfer times save you having to wait 3 days for a withdrawal to show in your bank account before you can bet with it at another sportsbook. Keep a record of the football betting promotions you’re involved in, and you can’t really go wrong.

• basketball
• greyhound racing
• tennis
• horse racing
• boxing
• cricket