Basic World Cup betting guide

Basic World Cup betting guide

By Michael Gales May 14, 2014

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This basic World Cup betting guide informs anyone who is new betting what the World Cup betting options are.  We’ll introduce the most basic match bet types such as 1X2, Handicaps, Totals and more tournament focused markets Pinnacle Sports offer on the World Cup.

1X2 World Cup betting

The 1X2 markets are the most common for bettors and are the simplest way for a punter to understand the cost of a bet. 1X2 betting is also known as three-way betting, and simply refers to betting on a home win, a draw or an away win.

This format relates to standard competitions, however as this is betting on the World Cup all teams will be playing at a neutral venue – apart from hosts Brazil – so it refers to the teams allocated by FIFA as the home or away team.

By betting on the 1X2 World Cup markets bettors are ultimately betting on who will win the match in 90 minutes – In the knockout stages this line will not include extra time or penalties.

1X2 World Cup betting example: Brazil vs. Croatia

1X2 Market

Odds

Return (including 10 stake)

Profit

1. Brazil

1.324*

13.24

3.24

2. Croatia

12.110*

121.10

111.10

X Draw

5.340*

53.40

43.30

If you staked 10 on Brazil to win, you would win 13.24 – although that would include your initial 10 stake. Therefore your profit would be 3.24. You would win nothing if Brazil lost or the game ended in a draw.

Once bettors are familiar with 1X2 markets the next step is to understand how the value in 1X2 odds varies across bookmakers, therefore impacting a bettors potential winnings. Click here to read how to calculate margins on 1X2 markets.

Handicap World Cup betting

Bettors may consider betting on the handicap when one team is heavily favoured over their opponents, such as the opening game between Brazil and Croatia. To counter the perceived bias in ability, bookmakers offer a handicap to level the playing field. The handicap bet also eliminates the possibility of losing if a game ends in a draw after 90 minutes.

The handicap is factored into the final score to determine the game’s outcome for the purpose of the bet (which might be different from the actual result).

Handicap World Cup betting example: Brazil vs. Croatia

Handicap Market

Odds

Return (including 10 stake)

Profit

Brazil -1.5

1.990*

19.90

9.90

Croatia +1.25

1.935*

19.35

9.35

If the result ended 1-0 to Brazil, bets on the hosts wouldn’t be enough to cover the handicap as the final result including handicaps would be Brazil -0.5 Croatia +0.5 – therefore Croatia would have covered the handicap.

For certain World Cup games the handicap can appear as a split such as “+1 & +1.5 or “-1 & -1.5. This effectively takes your stake and effectively places two handicap bets – one at each option. Therefore you can win both bets, just one, or lose both.

Click here for a more in-depth look at soccer handicaps.

Totals World Cup betting

The Totals market is another alternative way to bet on the World Cup. The focus is not on finding the winner of a particular game, but predicting game variables such as the number of goals in the game or how many bookings will be shown.

Bettors must decide if the total number of goals/bookings for a game will be either OVER or UNDER the bookmakers’ assessment of the game.

Totals World Cup betting example: Brazil vs. Croatia

Totals Market

Odds

Return (including 10 stake)

Profit

Over 2.5 goals

1.840*

18.40

8.40

Under 2.5 goals

2.060*

20.60

10.60

If a punter bet 10 on the game to be over 2.5 goals – and the result was 2-1 (a total of three goals) they would make a return of 18.40 (8.40 profit), while they would have won nothing had they bet on the goals total to be under 2.5.

Accumulators, Parlays and Multiples

An accumulator (also known as a parlay or multiples) is a combination of two or more picks on one or more games.

To win your bet, you must correctly predict all of your selections. The more games you select, the higher the odds increase and the bigger the potential win if all of your selections are correct.

You can bet on an accumulator on the 1X2, Handicap and Totals markets.

Outrights & Game specific World Cup betting

There are a number of World Cup outright and game specific markets for punters to bet on during the event.

Group stage:

Bettors can bet on the outcome of each group at the World Cup. Markets are offered so you can bet on a team to win their group or advance from the group to the knockout stage.

Outright markets:

Outright markets offer bettors the opportunity to bet on something other than the game outcome.

World Cup & Confederation winner:

Bettors simply bet on the team to lift the World Cup, reading this article will help in that quest. In addition to betting on the winning nation, punters can bet on the winning Confederation – UEFA, CONMEBOL, CAF, CONCACAF or AFC.

Golden Boot winner:

Betting on the Golden Boot winner – the World Cup top goal scorer – can prove profitable with previous winners returning very long odds. However when betting on this market punters should be aware of the rules.

If there is more than one player with the same amount of goals scored, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has contributed the most assists (as judged by FIFA). If there is still more than one player, the winner is the player who has played the least amount of time. And remember goals scored in a penalty shootout don’t count towards the Golden Boot winner. Read this article for an insight into World Cup Golden Boot betting.

Game markets:

Pinnacle Sports also offer numerous markets on each individual game during the World Cup. These can range from who will progress – different from 1X2 odds as this includes extra time and penalties – whether or not a player will score, how many booking, or corners might occur, or whether or not their will be a red card.

Click here for the latest World Cup odds.

 

*Odds subject to change

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