About My Soccer Betting Listings:
Why is my list so short? I only list the sites that I consider to be the best for
Canadians. Would it really make sense for me to research twenty betting companies
and then rank them one through 20? Would you sign up with sportsbook number 18?
Of course not!
This is why I keep things simple. If a company doesn’t measure up against my Canadian
perspective, they don’t get listed.
Why might a site fail to get listed? A poor record of withholding bettor funds or
placing limits on the accounts of winning players, not offering Canadian Dollar wagering
or not offering mobile betting.
Each listed site has satisfied my review criteria, but there are differences in their
service offerings, so read the reviews and choose based on your own preferences and
requirements, not a bogus rating scheme. If you like to shop for the best odds,
it might make sense to register with more than one so that you can maximise your
winnings.
Different ways to bet on soccer
When you use an online sportsbook to bet on soccer, there are numerous ways to lay
your stake. You don’t need to just bet on winners or draws. Below, I note where
each bet type is available.
Moneyline or 1 x 2 odds - These are your standard winner and draw picks. “1” always
represents the home team winner odds, “2” always represents the away team winner
odds and “x” represents the odds for a draw. Avalaible with all listed sites.
Asian Lines (Handicap) - As the name suggests, Asian lines are popular with Asian
players - mainly because there are no draws to select. Every game gets a unique
line defined by the sportsbook. Here is an example of an from a recent English Premier
League match between Chelsea and Everton. The line is Chelsea -1 goal paying 1.95.
Everton is +1 goal paying 1.95. What does this mean? Here’s how William Hill explains
the Handicap: “Bet on Chelsea. You win 1.95 if Chelsea win the match by 2 or more
goals. If Chelsea wins by exaclty 1 goal, your stake is returned. Your entire stake
is lost if Everton win or the game is drawn”. If your were to bet on Everton, your
handicap would be described as follows: Bet on Everton. You win 1.95 if Everton
win or draw the match. If Chelsea wins by one goal, your stake is refunded. Your
entire stake is lost if Chelsea wins by 2 or more goals.”
Each game is handicapped on its own merits just as each NFL or NBA game has a spread
uniquely set by the bookmaker with regard to the teams in each given match. If you’d
like to explore Asian Lines (aka Handicap) a little further, both William Hill and
Pinnacle Sports offer this type of soccer bet. Bodog calls this the “Alternate Line”.
Pinnacle.
Futures - If you are interested in long term bets like “who might get relegated?”
or “who will win La Liga?” or “will Manchester United finish in the top four spots
of the league?” These are popular futures betting markets soccer bets and are available
in a wide variety at Bodog, Sports Interaction and William Hill.
Goals Over / Under - Very simply you bet whether the game will go over or under a
defined amount of goals in the match. This is oftentimes set at 2.5 goals.
Draw No Bet - Sportsbooks offer this type of soccer bet to allow players to hedge
their bets. Odds are lower but there is much higher chance for success. Double
Chance allows you to select any two of the three possible outcomes as follows: Home
Win or Draw, Visitor Win or Draw, Home Win or Visitor Win. Available at William Hill,
and Sports Interaction.
Double Chance - Sportsbooks offer odds for each soccer match where the draw is taken
out of the potential outcome so you just bet on one team or the other to win. If
the result of the match is a draw, your stake is returned in full, hence the term
Draw No Bet. This type of soccer bet greatly simplifies your choices from one-in-three
to one-in-two. While the odds are slightly reduced from the typical 1x2 odds, you'll
have fewer headaches from bad beat results. When included as part of a parlay or
combination bet, a draw merely cancels the drawn game from the equation leaving your
other picks intact. So one drawn game in a 3-game parlay actually becomes a two-game
parlay. Available at William Hill and Sports Interaction.
Parlays (combination bets) - If you are familiar with the provincial sports lottery
games you will be familiar with parlays. This is where you select outcomes for multiple
games and the odds of each game are multiplied together for a potentially high payout.
When you get them all right, you win. Some sportsbooks incorporate “bet accumulators”
with their parlay bets whereby your odds go even higher with each added match that
you add to the parlay bet over and above the actual match odds. Available with all
sites listed.
Half-time / Full-time betting - Sports Interaction offers this for all matches. This
is where you select the outcome at halftime and at fulltime. There are always a
total of 9 combinations to choose from.
