So, you want to get into UK football betting and want some helpful advice on how best to approach this particular form of wagering?
Well, you have come to the right place!
But before we start talking about wagering, let’s first ensure you get yourself set up correctly. Many betting sites offer welcome offers for new customers which can offer you additional benefits when you sign up. Check out the current Welcome Offer at bet365 Sport for a fine example of one great value offer!
So when you sign up, remember to claim your welcome bonus when you join and/or deposit into your account for the first time!
So with your new account funded and a bonus in place, let’s start looking at some simple strategies to help you get started betting on UK football.
Beginners Football Betting Strategy - Responsible Gambling
Before we even place a bet, there is a key part of your betting strategy to understand. That is the concept and practicality of safer, responsible gambling.
It is relatively easy to remember some of the key aspects to gambling responsibly. Ten of the simplest to remember are:
- Only bet with money you can afford to lose.
- Never chase your losses.
- Budget for your football betting and stick to that budget.
- Use free on-site tools such as deposit limits, time-outs and activity reminders to ensure you don’t spend too much time betting.
- Betting should always be enjoyable. The moment it is not, you should stop.
- Never bet when angry or emotional.
- Stick to the markets and sports that you have good innate knowledge about.
- Research your bets to help you pick the markets and selections to back and those to avoid.
- Have realistic expectations; you are not going to win every bet!
- Be open and honest with friends and family about your bets and betting habits.
Formulating a healthy, sensible, safe and responsible attitude to all forms of betting is the foundation for building a healthy football betting strategy!
UK Football Betting Strategies for Beginners
Now it’s time for the strategies you should look to use when you first start betting on UK football. Let’s take a look at ten simple strategies to follow to ease you into betting on soccer in the UK.
1. Bet from a position of knowledge.
UK Football comprises of many teams at many levels and in many competitions. It is likely that your knowledge may be focussed on one team, or one division in particular. So bet from that position of knowledge and you’ll find that you make better judged bets straightaway. So if you are a Tranmere Rovers fan and only pay attention to League Two, bet on that, rather than having a bet on a Championship game between two sides you know little about.
2. Browse before you bet!
Don’t rush to place your first bet on a market. By taking your time and browsing around the different markets available for the teams, games and markets you are interested in, you may well find a better value option compared to that first bet you were eager to place. Remember, you can add selections to your bet slip and then delete them from it before you place the bet - a great strategy for keeping tabs on the bets you are most interested in.
3. Research your bet!
In our view, the best strategy any beginner can learn is to research their potential bet. Use stats pages, form details, league tables and any other data you can find to research your potential bets. You’d be surprised at how often the data either corroborates your potential bet, or contradicts it. Research can help you identify whether the bet you plan to place has a good chance of winning, or whether the data suggests there is a different option available.
4. Don’t bet all your budget at once.
Budget management is a key skill that every bettor needs. Even if you only have a small initial bankroll, don’t be tempted to bet it all on your first betting session. Hold back a good proportion of your deposit for another day. Bet small amounts to begin with and as you feel more confident, and hopefully improve, then start to increase the stakes but only to an amount you are comfortable betting with and try not to wipe out your budget in a single session.
5. Try different types of bets.
Betting should be fun, so try different type of bets. Start with a standard win bet, then try each way betting and betting on an accumulator (or ‘acca’). Once you are familiar with how these work, you can then move on to other types of betting, such as futures betting or In-Play, and other betting types such as Full Cover Bets, Handicap betting and similar.
6. Bet on markets with fewer potential outcomes.
Remember, the more possible outcomes for a bet, the trickier it is to pick the right one. That’s simple mathematics. Toss a coin, it can be heads or tails. Roll a single standard dice, you can land any number from one to six. Which one are you likely to pick correctly for most often? The coin toss! It is the same with betting. Look for markets with just two to six possible outcomes. They are easier to pick a winner from compared to a market, such as the correct score, which can have ten to twenty feasible options.
7. Use smaller stakes for longer odds bets.
If you love the thrill of long odds bets, then you are one of many beginners that enjoy this form of betting! But remember, the reason these bets are longer odds is that they stand only a slim chance of success. Therefore adjust your stake size downwards from your usual bet. You’ll still win a good amount of money if the bet comes in, but more importantly, your losses will be much smaller in the likely event it does not.
8. If you win, withdraw the money!
A great tip for beginners is to withdraw some of the cash you win when betting. Using this cash for additional treats for you and your friends and family allows you to treat others when enjoying betting success. This promotes a far more positive mindset and gets you into good habits of not solely depositing cash to spend, but withdrawing cash to use for other fun activities with those close to you.
9. Use on-site tools such as Bet Builders, Edit Bet or Cash Out options wisely.
Top UK betting sites will have a range of tools customers can use to place certain types of bets, or edit or cash out their bets while in running. Bet Builder tools can be useful to help a beginner learn about different types of bets and how they can be combined. The Edit Bet and Cash Out options are useful to know about, but the key strategic element in using them is knowing when to use them and when not to use them. For example, you don’t want to rush to edit a bet, only to change what proved to be a winning selection into a losing one. Similarly, you don’t want to cash out a bet early if the bet goes on to win big, but conversely, if your bet is at risk of losing, cashing out can help you at least claw back some of your stake.
10. Take full advantage of any free-to-play games or promotions for UK football.
Many betting sites now offer a range of features, promotions or even free-to-play games alongside their standard UK football betting markets. Many of these bonuses can offer a new player additional opportunities to earn free bets, or even cash prizes to help boost their account. Some promotions may require a deposit and a particular type of bet, but free-to-play games are usually completely free to participate in and can be enjoyed every week of the UK football season.
Hopefully this strategy guide will help you get set up betting responsibly and safely on UK football, and perhaps even picking a winner or two to enjoy! Good luck and welcome to the wonderful, weird and sometimes wacky world of UK football betting!