Betting on Soccer

While Canada and the US share a similar lack of success when it comes to the World Cup, that doesn’t mean that betting on the sport should be ignored. In fact, soccer is one of the most popular sports in Canada, and the MLS is slowly growing in popularity. The European arena does seem to have the most popular leagues to place bets on, because they have pretty undeniably the most talented players, but with the massive worldwide popularity of the sport, every bookmaker without exception offers soccer as an option, and they seem to have a game you can bet on every moment of every day happening all over the world. Here are the major bets of this major sport.

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Money Line

The money line bet in soccer is the same as it is with most sports, where you can bet on the team you think will win, and if they do, you are paid out. Unlike with the point spread, where the number of goals scored matters, it’s a straight up bet. The minus (-) symbol is next to the number for the favoured team, and the plus (+) is the symbol for the underdog, and those numbers represent the amount you will win if you place a $100 bet. At an online bookmaker, you can simply click the specific money line and type in the amount you want to bet to see what the payout will be. One of the most unique parts about betting on soccer, and about the sport in general, is the fact that you can bet on a tie. This will have its own money line, and will be dependent on how favourable the favoured team is.

An example of what it would look like:

Manchester United (-315)

Stoke City (+800)

Draw (+425)

Point Spread

A point spread pays out the same way as a money line, and will have the same “-“ and “+” symbols that represent the favoured and underdog team, respectively. However, it evens out the odds considerably in favour of the underdog bet. The favoured team has to win by more than the point spread number, which is called “beating the spread.” If they do, that bet is paid out. If they don’t, it does not. For the underdog team, all they have to do is win or lose by less than the point spread for there to be a payout. For this reason, the payout for the point spread bet for the underdog is always lower in the point spread than it is in the money line, and always higher for the favoured team.

An example of what it would look like:

Manchester United -1½ (-115)

Stoke City +1½ (-110)

Over/Under

Sometimes called “Total” or shortened to “O/U,” the bookmaker will make a guess on how many goal will be scored in total in the game. You can bet that there will be more goals or less goals than the bookmaker’s guess, and if you are correct, you win that payout. You do not need to guess a specific number, just if it will be more or fewer goals scored. An Over/Under bet is also a great side bet to make on top of the money line or point spread bets, but some players only bet on the over under spread for specific games and even in general.

Other Soccer Bets

Soccer is easily one of the most popular sports to bet on in Canada, and it is the most popular sport to bet on worldwide. For this reason, the standard aforementioned bets, while the most common, just don’t cut it sometimes. You can often bet on which players will break records, win trophies, or score hat tricks. You can bet on whether a team will win a major cup, and you can even bet on national teams, not just clubs. In fact, and unsurprisingly, soccer betting is at its height during the World Cup.