Football is the most popular sport in the world and it offers terrific opportunity to make money, from sportsbooks with propositions on specific play and outcomes on matches on their web sites and betting shops daily.

As a matter of fact, you only need to hit 53% of your bets to break even or hit above 56% of your bet to make a large sum of money and smile to the bank.

The most commonly placed bet on football is a bet on the team that will win, followed by a bet on the goal lines, which is betting on whether the total goals scored in the game will be over or under a certain threshold.
 
In practice, for a typical match the sportsbook designate odds for each side based on the teams match up, implied probability of winning the game, and also for the match ending a draw.

The odds tells you how much money you would win in case your bet wins and also how the sportsbook weighs the likelihood of an outcome.  
In other words, the odds gives you an indication of the value of the bet.

To determine what the odds are, the sportsbook use advance mathematics, scientific formulas, and computer algorithms as well as what is known as power ratings.

Power rating is a statistical representation of how strong a team is compared to an opponent, with the better or stronger team ranked higher, and given a lower odds, while the weaker team is ranked lower, and consequently given a higher odds.
 
There are different ways odds are expressed.
                                                                                               
In practice, the three common formats used are:
 
American/moneyline odds 

Which are indicated by symbols such as +220 and -180.
 
European/Decimal odds
 
Which are represented by a numerical value such as 1.56.
 
British/Fractional odds

Which are expressed in the form of fractions like 1/2.

American/moneyline odds

The money line odds are the default betting odds used by sportsbook in America and are represented by a plus (+) or minus (-) sign in front of a number.

A number with negative sign means that a team is the favorite, while a number with positive sign means that the team is the underdog.

Also an American money line odds with the number with negative sign indicate the amount one needs to wager to win $100, while the number with positive sign indicate the amount one would win for every $100 staked.

An example of what the typical American odds/money line looks like for a match between Man United and Everton is thus.

• Man United (-145) I Tie (+350) I Everton (+195)
 
In this scenario, Man United at -145 is favored to win, while Everton is the underdog at +190, and at the same time the odds for a draw is +195. 
It’s important to note that the American odds are centered around winning $100.

So if you’re betting a -200 favorite, you need to risk $200 to win $100, or any fraction of that, forexample - $20 to win $10, or $2 to win $1, etc.

If you’re betting a +200 underdog, you will win 2X your money for every dollar wagered, forexample $100 to win $200, $10 to win $20, $1 to win $2, etc.

This means that you don’t need to actually wager $100, as this can be scaled up or down.

Consequently, with a -145 odds on the favorite it means you will risk $145 to win $100 from the sportsbook.

While with a +350 odds on the underdog it means you risk $100 to win $350.
 
If the odds are -110, which is a common number for a bet, it means you would need to bet $110 to win $100.

At the same time when you see a negative number such as the -150, this means that you will need to bet $150 in order to win $100.
 
Also when you bet $100 on the +210 underdog, your bet will return $310  which is a profit of $210.

What you need to remember is that for negative odds, the number is equal to how much you have to bet to get back $100.

While on positive odds, the number shows how much you’ll get back on a winning $100 bet.

To figure out how much you will win base on your bet, there are basic formulas you can use.

The formulas vary slightly depending on whether you are betting on a favorite or an underdog. 

Favorite Method :
 
Win Amount * ((-1 * Moneyline) / 100)

Underdog Method:
Wager *  (Moneyline / 100)

European/Decimal odds

Decimal odds are considered to be the most straightforward and easy to understand.

The decimal odds represent the amount a bettor wins for every $1 wagered as well as the total return, not just the profit like American and fractional odds.

An example of how decimal odds are displayed for a match between Man United vs Everton is thus:

1      Tie       2
1.45  I  3.2  I  4.5

With this betting odds, bettors who place bet on Man United would win 1.45 times the amount they bet, if Man United happens to win the match, while bettors who place bet on Everton would win 4.5 times the amount they place on Everton, and bettors who place a bet on the match to end as draw would win 3.2 times the amount they bet.

At the same time, this means that if a bettor bets on either of the teams to win, with the match ending in a draw they lose their bet.

Also the higher the decimal odds, the greater the potential return for a winning bet.

British/Fractional odds

British fractional odds are usually displayed as two numbers separated by a trailing slash.
 
They represent the ratio of the amount you will win to the amount staked.

A typical example of what the fractional odds look like for a match between Man United vs Everton is thus:
2/1 Man United 3/1 Everton 4/1

With the above listing bettors who bet $10 on Man United will win $20, if Man United wins, while bettors who back Everton would win $40 for every $10 staked, if Everton wins and bettors who bet on the match to end as draw would win $30 for every $10 staked.

This also means that if a bettor bets on a team to win and the match end's up as a draw, they lose their bet.

In practice, when the sportsbooks release a betting line on a game, the first thing they do is decide which team should be the favorite and which should be the underdog.

The favorite is the team that is more likely to win the game, while the underdog is the team that is expected to lose.

When the odds are released right up until the game time, they usually move this numbers, as a result of new information, such as a new weather forecast or injury update and money flow into each side.

In practice, when a side starts to receive a greater chunk of the money being wagered, the sportsbooks consequently adjust the odds so that they can make a profit regardless of the outcome of the match.

For instance in a three outcome bet, if bettors bet heavily on outcome A, the sportsbooks consequently reduces the odds on outcome A, and subsequently increases the odds on outcome B or C, while keeping their profit margin relatively stable, by simply calibrating the odds, so that the sum of their implied probability slightly exceed 100%.

This small gap in odds is what’s called juice or vigorish, it’s essentially the tax a sportsbook charges for taking your action.

Also in practice, odds at when bets are placed are used for payouts on winning wagers.

Type of Soccer bets

Apart from betting on a team to win in a match or to bet on a draw, there are many other variations of betting propositions you can bet on such as:
 
• Double chance bet 
• Over/Under bet 
• Double result bet 
• Correct score bet
• First/Last scorer bet 
• First scorer/Correct score double bet 
• Handicap bet

Double Chance Bet

A Double Chance bet is a type of bet that gives you two chances to win by covering two of the three possible outcomes in a match. 
With a double chance bet, you can bet on one team to win or for the game to end in a draw.
 
This means that if you place a double chance bet on the home team to win or for the match to end in a draw, your bet will win if the home team wins or if the match ends in a draw. 

The possible outcomes of a double chance bet are typically: 
• Home team win or draw 
• Away team win or draw
• Home team win or away team win
 
This type of bet offers lower odds compared to traditional win-draw-win betting, but it also reduces your risk, as you are covering two outcomes instead of just one.

Over/Under Bet

An Over/Under bet is a wager against a number that represents the total number of goals scored in a game.

The bettor bets whether more or fewer goals than that total number will be scored.

If he thinks more goals will be scored he bets on the over, and if he thinks there will fewer goals scored, he bets on the under.
Typically, the sportsbooks place odds on different total number of goals in a match, with odds relating to the probability of the match ending below and above this number of goals.
 
Let’s say the final scores of a match is 2-1, and the total numbers of goals is 3.
If he bets on over 2.5 he wins, and if he bets on under 2.5 he loses.
  
Double Result Bet

A Double Result bet also known as Half-Time/Full-Time bet involves  betting on the result of the game at both half-time and full-time.

This means that you are predicting the outcome of the game both at half-time and at the end of the match. 
                                                                                              
The possible outcomes are typically:
• Home team winning both halves
• Away team winning both halves
• Home team winning first half
• Away team winning second half
• Away team winning first half, home team winning second half 

For instance, in a match between Man United and Arsenal, this involves betting on the team that would win at half time, and the team that would win at full time.
 
Correct Score Bet

A Correct Score bet involves betting on what the actual score of a match will be.

Usually, there are different odds designated for the possible outcomes to bet on.

For instance, in a match between Everton versus Liverpool, it's very common to see the sportsbooks quoting odds such as:

7/2 on Everton to win 1 – 0
7/1 on Everton to win 2 – 0
8/1 on Liverpool to win 1 - 0
12/1 on Liverpool to win 2 - 0

What this translates to from the odds on Liverpool to beat Everton 2 - 0 at home, is that they have a much smaller chance, hence the odds are higher and indeed the odds to win by any score, are greater. 

First/Last Scorer Bet

A First Scorer/Last Scorer bet is a type of bet where you are betting on which player will score the first or last goal of the match. 

This type of bet adds an extra layer of excitement to soccer betting, as you are not just betting on the outcome of the game, but also on specific events within the match.

With a first scorer bet, you are betting on which player will score the first goal of the match. 
With a last scorer bet, you are betting on which player will score the last goal of the match.
 
If the player you bet on scores the first or last goal of the game, you win the bet, regardless of the outcome of the match. If no goal is scored, or if an own goal is scored first or last, then the bet is void.

It's important to keep in mind that odds for First Scorer/Last Scorer bets are typically higher than traditional win-draw-win betting, as it is harder to predict individual events within a game than the outcome of the game itself.

Typically, the sportsbooks designate odds on the players they expect to take part in a match, with odds relating to their ability to find the net, and bettors are given the opportunity to bet on who scores the first or last goal.

First Scorer/Correct Score Double Bet

A First Scorer/Correct Score Double bet is a type of bet where you are betting on two specific events within a match: the first scorer and the correct score.

With a First Scorer bet, you are betting on which player will score the first goal of the match. 
                                                                                               
With a Correct Score bet, you are betting on the exact score of the match at full-time.

By combining these two bets into a First Scorer/Correct Score Double, you are essentially making two separate bets that are linked together. 
To win the bet, both predictions must be correct.
 
If either one of your predictions is incorrect, the bet is lost.

This type of bet is considered to be a higher-risk bet, as it requires correctly predicting two specific events within a match.

However, the potential payout is also higher compared to traditional  win-draw-win betting, as you are betting on two outcomes instead of just one.

Handicap Bet

A Handicap bet involves given an advantage or disadvantage to the underdog or favorite team.
 
This means that a handicap is added or subtracted to the final score of the team you bet on, to determine the winning bet. 
The handicap can be in the form of a whole number (e.g. +1, -1) or a half number (e.g. +0.5, -0.5).

For example, an handicap of 0 : 1, translates to giving an away team one -goal advantage before the match starts, and this requires the home team giving the handicap to win with more than one margin for the bet to win.

Very well, apart from betting on a single proposition, you can also bet on multiple propositions in a single wager known as parleys.

Parlays involves making multiple bets in a single wager, with a win needed for each bet in order for the overall wager to be considered a win. 

This way, each win inside a parlay garners a higher payout than if a bettor placed all those wagers separately.

Parlay bets are popular because everyone dreams of turning a little bit of cash into a big payday.