I have a confession to make – football isn’t really all that interesting to me. Please, please, hold those torches and pitchforks for just a moment, let me explain. To me, football is just 20 guys running around a field passing a ball around to each other. That’s mostly it. And sure, you could argue that there are some REALLY intense moments when the ball is by one of the goals, But those moments amount to a mere fraction of the total match time of over 90 minutes. What can I say? I know some people love the game of cat and mouse that goes on throughout the game, but it’s just not for me, personally. However, what if I told you that I’ve found a way to hack my brain and stay on the edge of my seat throughout the whole 90 minutes despite my feelings for them? There’s no lie, no hoax, no deceit! That method exists, and I call it sports betting.
Sports betting?
Yep, sports betting! It’s essentially exactly what it sounds like – you make a monetary bet with a bookmaker (be they physical or online) about a match at hand. The bet can be anything, including, but not limited to, the outcome of the match, who will score first, when will the first goal be scored, etc. Once the match is done, if you lose, the bookie gets to keep whatever money you gave them. If you win, you get your money back plus a little something extra. How much extra you get depends on how likely the team you were betting on was to win, with the lesser probability bringing higher rewards. For example, if there is a match in the World Cup between, say, Germany and Bulgaria, betting on Germany isn’t going to bring you that much profits if you win, because everyone and their mother knows that Germany generally has the better team (remember 7-1? Classic!). But if you bet on Bulgaria, and they pull off some sort of miracle, you’ll get paid a lot more money than usual. So you see how someone with an intimate knowledge of how each team functions would have a significant advantage over someone who only knows their general strengths and weaknesses.
Is that where football stats come into play?
You bet! Ha, see what I did there? Anyway, most people who bet do so out of instinct – with their heart, and not with their head. “Oh, I love this team, I’m gonna bet on them in this game!”, says the average bettor, and then wonders why he lost all his money. The odds are good, the team was great, so what happened? Well, if Mr. Average had done his research properly, he would’ve seen that the team he was betting on lost the last three times they played against their opponent, and not only that – they’ve been pretty hit-or-miss with their recent games. Combine that with the fact that the team usually loses when they’re playing away from home, and the match in question is played on their opponent’s ground, and you suddenly have a much clearer picture on why Mr. Average lost his hard-earned money despite supporting his team.
Wow, you can learn all that from just football stats?
All that and more. Depending on how detailed you like your stats, you can see anything from how many half-time scores each team has scored in either their complete history or in their recent one, when they scored the most goals per 15 minute margins, as well as more obvious stuff like who they lost to (and won against) and when. I believe the advantage to having that much information available to you should be quite obvious. It’s a bit like cheating, though I’d compare it more to using a strategy guide for a videogame as opposed to just playing with your gut feelings and instincts. Which one do you think is going to allow you to win more?
So what’s the benefit of playing? Do I get some sort of bonus
Well, the obvious benefit is that you’re trying to win yourself some money by using the football knowledge you’ve got (or just your unbelievable luck). Certain bookmakers use a percentage of their profits to support the teams (for example, if the bookie made $100 from bets on Manchester United, they might throw in $2-3 to the team as an added bonus, or a consolation prize), so if the one you’re betting at operates like that your bets will also help support your favourite teams, though not a lot of bookies do this sort of thing, and when they do it’s usually for smaller league teams that have struck some sort of deal with them. But they’re not the only ones getting bonuses – you get some too! You need to check the promotions for each individual bookmaker, but practically all of them offer something along the lines of doubling your first bet for free, or giving you your money back if the game ends 0-0, that sort of thing. I could speak about bonuses all day, but since this is neither the time or the place, I’d like to direct you to a site specifically about the best betting bonuses here.
Time to put my math skills into place and construct a complex algorithm to calculate who I should bet on!
Whoa, slow down there, partner! You should always remember that football stats are just that – statistics. Raw data. There’s no computer that can tell you exactly what they mean – you are that computer, and it’s up to you to interpret the data to make an educated choice. Let’s say Team A has lost against team B the last 5 times they played. Does that mean you should bet on Team B? Well, a deeper look into the data reveals that Team A has actually won the last few games they played, while Team B isn’t doing so hot. So, who are you supposed to bet on? Only you can decide! Deciphering football stats may look like an exact science, but it’s really not. At the end of the day, you’re the one who is making the bet, and that gives you the exclusive rights to place it however you see fit. Don’t let the stats control you. Think of yourself as a king and the stats – as your royal advisers. Now go place some bets, Your Majesty!
