The two most popular sports in the United Kingdom are horse racing and football.
No weekend is complete for most who follow the sport before they have placed a weekend accumulator on the latest football action or bet on a runner at one of the many horse racing meetings taking place across the weekend.
Betting on both sports is incredibly popular, but there are key differences when it comes to wagering on the action on the pitch and race course.
Selection Of Markets
Both football and horse racing are among the most popular betting options available at sportsbooks in the United Kingdom and Scotland, as highlighted by the extensive range of markets offered to those looking to wager on the sports.
However, football surpasses racing in terms of the sheer number of top-rated casinos available, with bettors able to bet on common markets such as the full-time result, both teams to score, and over/under total goals.
Additionally, a variety of unique bets can be constructed when wagering on football, such as selecting a player to score a goal or assist or predicting whether a higher number of cards will be issued to one team.
There aren’t as many bets available when wagering on horse racing, as most sportsbooks are limited to the race winner, place, and forecast betting markets.
Bet Types
While the majority of bets that punters will use across both sports are singles, there is a difference in opinion when it comes to the multiple options available.
Accumulators are popular across both sports, with football fans able to build a bet of a number of selections that must win.
When using this type for horse racing, many look to include at most four selections, as it is typically hard enough to predict one winning runner correctly.
However, the most popular horse racing multiple types is a Lucky 15, which consists of 15 possible bets from four selections.
This bet covers all possible singles, doubles, trebles and the four-fold from the horse involved.
This is typically the most popular as it allows insurance on selections should just one leg let you down.
However, bettors will still need at least two winners from a Lucky 15 to pick up profit.
In-Play Betting
Betting in-play during live events has grown enormously in popularity following the esteemed success achieved by online sportsbooks.
Football offers a number of engaging in-play betting opportunities, allowing bettors to wager on the player to score the next goal, the team to win the next corner, and whether there will be a foul or a throw-in over the next five minutes.
Horse racing doesn’t offer the sheer number of in-play betting opportunities, but wagers can be placed on the winning runner after the race has started.
However, this can often be tricky, as the odds in horse racing while wagering in play will alter drastically throughout the race, which means that you will need to act quickly if you see a runner that you like.
Adds Entertainment
Betting on both sports adds tremendous excitement to watching live sports, and this is a considerable similarity both football and horse racing share.
Football fans can get closer to the action when betting on the sport, as they can wager money on their instincts about how a potential match might unfold.
Meanwhile, betting on horse racing can add huge entertainment to a day of watching the best equine stars compete, and few feelings come close to backing winners in some of the most prestigious races on the calendar, including the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Epsom Derby.
