The FIFA World Cup is nearly here. After years of discussion and debate and months of qualifying matches, we’re nearly ready for the big event.
Starting on November 21st, 32 teams will meet in Qatar to begin their battle to become the World Cup Champions. Across eight venues in five host cities, the teams will face each other in the initial Group stages and then progress through the knockout stages. On December 18th, the final match will decide it all.
For Americans, sports betting is still a fairly new activity. Legalization has been progressing across the country since 2018. For the last few years, sports betting has been growing in popularity, especially with American football.
Betting on the NFL had a jump start to get into this prime position as Fantasy Football has been a very popular activity that wasn’t restricted by the same betting laws. Another reason that betting on the NFL is so popular is that most sportsbooks offer bonuses and special promotions.
While betting on football dominates the US market, betting on soccer has the same position in most other betting markets. The 2022 Super Bowl was many people’s introduction to sports betting, the World Cup is another exciting opportunity to get started with sports betting.
For new bettors, the entire process can be a bit overwhelming. Everything from choosing a sportsbook to reading odds to understanding the different types of bets can seem like a foreign language, or a bit too close to math for those of us who struggled with the subject in school.
This guide is for new bettors, and those who might be a bit rusty, to help make sense of all the different aspects of sports betting. It aims to provide a solid understanding of the basics so that anyone can bet on the World Cup with confidence.
Choosing a sportsbook
Selecting the right sportsbook for your needs doesn’t have to be a daunting process. The essential first step is to figure out which sportsbooks are licensed where you live. Depending on the state or country, this can narrow your choices down significantly.
Next, see what odds are being offered. Every sportsbook should offer odds on the World Cup, but not every sportsbook will set their odds the same. Each oddsmaker follows their own formulas and gets different tips. Find a sportsbook with odds that will benefit you depending on how you’re betting.
Once you’ve narrowed your list down – consider what promotions and welcome bonuses are being offered. Things like no deposit betting, free first bet and risk-free betting can make the entire experience a bit more relaxing.
How to read odds
The most important thing to know about reading odds is that there are three different ways for them to be displayed. Most of the major sportsbooks allow you to toggle between them, so you really only need to memorize one.
The three formats are fractional (British-style), decimal and moneyline (American-style). The first two are fairly self-explanatory, with fractional odds being written as fractions and decimal odds being written as a number with a decimal.
Moneyline odds are bit less obvious, but you are probably familiar with how they look. These odds have a plus or negative sign in front of the number. They typically range from 100-1000, though long odds can go higher if there is one team that is a real underdog. A negative indicates the team that is expected to win, while a positive is the opposite.
Moneyline odds with a negative show you how much you would need to bet to win $100. Odds with a positive show what you will win for every $100 that you bet. When the outcome of a match is almost too close to call, the moneyline odds look very similar.
Let’s take the UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid as an example. Heading into the match, Liverpool were the favorites to win by a slight margin. When looking at a sportsbook, most had Liverpool at around -150. It wasn’t a huge edge, but it was there.
Types of bets
There are many different types of bets that you can place – especially on a major tournament. The most basic kind of bet is a single-event bet. This is where you bet on the outcome of one match. In the case of the World Cup opening day, for example, this could be a bet on Wales to beat the United States.
This kind of betting is simple and fun for a one-off bet – it’s a great place to start for beginners. Over the course of a long tournament, however, it can feel a bit repetitive. There are other types of bets that require a bit more knowledge.
A parlay bet, also known as an accumulator bet in the United Kingdom, is one of these more complicated bets. Each parlay bet is made up of a series of single-event bets. In order for a parlay bet to pay out, each of the bets that make it up have to be winners as well.
Parlay bets are risky because one wrong call can cause you to lose everything, even if all your other bets came through. Due to this added risk, some sportsbooks offer a form of betting insurance that allows you to replace one bet if it goes wrong with a new bet, without it effecting your overall bet.
On the other hand, parlay bets can be incredibly rewarding when they do pay out. This isn’t just in financial terms. The bragging rights that go along with having picked three or more winners in a row are top notch.
Prop bets are a bit different, but they allow you to be creative and have a bit of fun with it. These are particularly fun if you know a lot about the teams, players and coaches, but don’t have an emotional attachment to any of the teams playing.
Prop bets are all about what’s happening on the field, not about the overall outcome. They can range from the serious, such as who will score first or how many yellow cards will be given, to the silly, such as what color the Gatorade is.
At the World Cup in 2014, one of the most ridiculous prop bets was that Luis Suárez would bite someone. There were 167 people who took that bet from a Norwegian sportsbook and were happy to see it pay out.
Hopefully this guide has given you all the info you need to get started betting. The countdown to the FIFA World Cup 2022 continues!
