The ideal situation for an Each Way bet is when you fancy a horse to run well, but your not sure it’ll win. The Each Way bet covers your horse to win, put also pays out if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd (and sometimes even 4th place if the race has 16+ horses running).

The Each Way bet is really two bets in one, the first part of the bet covers your horse for winning the race, the second part of the bet covers your horse if it fails to win but manages to finish in 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Because the each way bet has two parts the stake is doubled, so a £5 each way bet actually costs you £10. You can’t bet on a horse each way if the race has less than 5 runners and a race with 5 ~ 7 runners will only pay out on a 2nd place.

It’s also worth noting that you will only get 1/4 or 1/5 of the quoted odds if you horse finishes in 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Which means you shouldn’t back a horse each way unless it’s odds are over 4/1, because you could never win enough to cover your original stake.

Writing out a betting slip for an each way bet is quite simple, I’ve added a picture of a correctly filled in betting slip for you. Click on the image to see a bigger version. You can also view the video below which shows you in detail how to bet each way. A great bookmaker for each way betting is Paddy Power bookmakers, they offer competitive odds, free bets for new customers and sometimes they even pay out on 5th places for big races like the Grand National.

Football betting is only just behind the horses as the nations favorite weekly punt, with most of the money bet going on the Premiership and International matches.

Football betting is never straight forward, you might recognized the face of Mickey Thomas in the picture from the day Wrexham beat Arsenal in the F.A. Cup. Football games have a habit of throwing up strange results when you least expect them. Remember to bet with your head and not your heart…

Match Result

This one’s really simple, you just bet on the team you think will win. Most ‘Match Result’ bets are settled on the result after 90 mins (normal time) plus any injury time added by the ref. Cup games are normally classed as ‘drawn’ if extra time is need to settle the match after the 90 minutes (normal time).

The Double Result

This is sometimes known as a half-time/full-time betting, you must try to predict the match result in the first half and the second half. In total there are nine outcomes on a ‘double result’ when you include the draw. This bet is one for the bookies, stay away from it! On paper it can look easy to predict, believe me it’s not ~ for mug punters only.

Correct Score

Just predict the score of the match, again it sounds simple but it’s not. It’s another bet the bookmakers love… who bets on 6-2? freak results happen more than you’d think. Having said that I did have some good returns betting the ‘correct scores’ on Manchester United and Arsenal games a few years ago. If you can spot a team with a consistent pattern of goal scoring you can land some big money.

First Scorer

You bet on the player you think will score the first goal in a game, it’s a tricky bet to land… but can offer long odds, especially if you bet on defenders and midfield players. It’s important to check the papers/internet to find out the team selection before placing this bet. Has the striker been moved into a midfield holding role? Have the defenders been asked to move up for corners?

Personally I’m not a fan of ‘first scorer’ bets, I think Betfair Bookmakers ‘Anytime Scorer’ offers better value, as it pays out if your player scores anytime during the match. Tote Bookmakers also offer each way betting on first goalscorer bets, it pays a third of the odds for the first three scorers.

Asian Handicaps

Probably the best value bet in football! It takes a while to get your head around the concept, but it’s worth investing the time. What the Asian Handicap does is remove the chance of a football match being drawn. So a cheeky late goal won’t ruin your bet! I’ve written about Asian Handicaps in more detail here.

Scorecast

If you want big returns for little pennies then the scorecast bet is for you. Notoriously difficult to predict but the fantastic odds on offer tempt most football fans at some point. The scorecast is a mix of two bets, a ‘first scorer’ bet and a ‘correct score’ bet. An example would be; Torres to score the first goal and Liverpool to win 2-0. I really should warn you against this bet as it’s another one for the bookies, but I often stick two quid on one at the weekend, so I can’t!

Over/Under Goals

The Over/Under goals bet is a fairly new development in football betting, it works like this: Punters must predict whether a match will have more or fewer than 2.5 goals. I guess the bet should be called ‘Three goals or more’ because that’s what you’re betting on. You can also bet against it happening which would be called ‘Two goals or less’.

Nearly all the big bookmakers now include these bets in their football sections, if you like football betting then Paddy Power Bookmakers is probably your best bet as they have weekly money back specials on football and sometimes they give enhanced odds on specific big matches.

Luck is often regarded as the predominant force in sports betting, but you would be very unwise to rely on it. Yes, some people get lucky a lot, and most people are more than likely going to have a bit of luck when it comes to placing a bet, but it is not something that will get you consistent success and relying on it could lead you into very murky waters! Successful betting relies predominantly on preparation, skill and dedication.

You need to be prepared to take the time necessary and educate yourself in whatever sport or event you intend on placing a bet on. Some people have it easier – for example people who are huge football fans will more than likely have no trouble putting an educated bet on the outcome of a football match or league. They might let their love of a certain team blind them somewhat, but at least they will have an iota of a clue of what they are betting on!

So if you do not have this love of the sport you want to bet on then you need to make sure you gather information, analyse the facts, and weigh up the probabilities before you make your informed decision about your bet. But make sure that your information comes from sound sources – ‘hot tips’ from friends don’t cut it as expert opinion. Betfair Bookmakers offer free stats on just about any sport you care to mention. It might all sound a bit heavy going, but if you don’t then it is your own money that you are throwing away! The aim of betting is to make a profit! Even if you are as prepared as you possibly could have been, you might still lose – but you will have made the effort and in the long run you will come out a winner.

Always seek out the best odds, as not all sports sites offer the same odds. Betfair Bookmakers and Tote Bookmakers offer some of the best odds online. Know your betting options as there are numerous ways that you can bet on a sporting event or game. A straight bet is a simple and easy bet, whereas a future bet is best for those who have a good knowledge of the event or sport. Always avoid long shots – to be successful at sports betting you are better off not searching for the ultimate instant get-rich-quick bet but steadily bet in a knowledgeable fashion and then hopefully you will get a fair amount of victories. Avoid hunches and ‘good feelings’ that you get about who is going to win or lose, as you will most often find that your intuition is not as good as you thought!

Mange you money and know your limits – never risk more than you can afford to lose. No matter how great a winner you think you are on to, you are still taking a gamble, and things can go wrong! Now go and swot up on the event you want to bet on!

I backed Spurs on Betfair, and even at the point of confirming the bet, I had a little voice in the back of my head saying “Why aren’t you laying Everton instead?”. I ignored the voice, as I’ve done many times before when backing away teams and just thought about the lovely returns I was going to get! With 78 minutes gone my bet was looking in good shape, Spurs had a two goal lead. Now, at this point I should have traded out of the bet in-play. Which simply means I would lay Spurs at lower odds than I backed them for (remember back high, lay low), and make a tidy profit on the difference between the two sets of odds. I didn’t because how could Everton would come back from two goals down with 12 minutes to go. But my original big mistake was backing Spurs to win away in the first place.

Now this isn’t to say the bet was wrong, I just played it wrong. Remember a football match can have three outcomes: Home Win, Away Win and The Draw. When you back a team to win, they must win for you to get a return on the bet. On Betfair Bookmakers you can also ‘Lay’ a team, which means back them not to win. My bet should have been to lay Everton, because that would mean that in the event the match was Drawn (and it was) I’d still win! So take a tip from me, if you think a Premier League team is going to win away, then lay the home team on Betfair Bookmakers ~ After ten years I’ve finally learned my lesson.

Another tip for Jermain Defoe ~ practice your penalty taking before the World Cup starts, you’ve already cost me a packet!

Poor conditions like this will make handling more difficult and kicking a nightmare. Errors will lead to a stop start game and no team will be able to get into a flow.

Don’t back big scores in rugby matches when the weather turns nasty. Also look for unfancied teams against French opposition in the Heineken Cup when the weather turns bad, horrific conditions can be a great leveler.

Strong winds will play havoc with teams that like to kick for territory, depending on the direction of the wind you might also see one team forced to run the ball more than they would like. You can use this to your advance on betting exchanges like Betfair Bookmakers, Betfair have lots in-play markets. It’s much more likely that the team with a strong wind on their backs are going score the next points.

In 2007 Tiger Woods became a father for the first time in June, just before the birth Tiger failed to win the 2007 Masters Tournament with a poor display (for him!) on the final day. By September of 2007 Woods earned his 60th PGA Tour victory at the BMW Championship by shooting a course record 63 in the final round to win by two strokes. He sank a fifty-foot putt in the final round and missed only two fairways on the weekend. He led the field in most birdies for the tournament, and ranked in the top five in driving accuracy, driving distance, putts per round, putts per green, and greens in regulation. Woods finished his 2007 season with a runaway victory at the Tour Championship!

So it seems that the pride new Dads take in their offspring is a real boost for any sportsman or athlete, it’s worth making a note of anyone who’s about to become a Dad for the first time and back him all the way!

Why would anyone back at such short odds? well, many punters see this as ‘buying money’, in other words the 1.01′s are such a sure thing that they can’t lose! But in reality 1.01′s lose more than you’d thing. So if you want to back these 1.01′s (or lay them) follow a few simple rules. Never back a 1.01 in a horse race if there is even a sniff of infringement, alternatively it could be a great lay if you spot something early in the race that you think the stewards won’t like. Backers of Altay at Lingfield lumped on the cash at 1.01, Altay won the race by four lengths, but after a stewards inquiry Altay’s victory was scrubbed for a minor infringement.

You will often see 1.01′s on Betfair Bookmakers if a horse gets a big lead in a race, it’s worth remembering that if it’s a steeple chase or hurdle, tired horse can make silly mistakes at the last fence. Even when there’s no fence, horses do the strangest things, remember Devon Loch ~ You’ve been warned!

Shirt Number betting is where you bet on the sum of the shirt numbers from the players who score the match goals. Recently his has become quite popular, it’s a good way to get a bet on a game if you’re not sure who’s gonna win…

Let’s say that in an Arsenal V Man Utd game, the shirt spread is set at 27-30 by the bookmaker. You bet on whether the goals in the match will be scored by players wearing shirt numbers that add up to either less than 27 combined on their shirts or more than 30. If you thought it would be a high scoring game and bet more than 30, if the game was 1 – 1 draw with both Arshavin and Giggs on the score sheet then you would win because Giggs wears shirt number 11 and Arshavin 23 which makes a total of  34.

This is not an easy market to make money on so you really need to do your homework first. Some squads have high shirt numbers and others have strikers with relatively low numbers so make sure you know who’s playing, what number they are wearing and weight it up against the spread that’s on offer.

Shirt Number betting means that not only do you have to correctly predict the score of the match but also the goal scorers which can be tricky with teams that share the goal scoring responsibility amongst a few different players. But if you feel that a game will be low-scoring and the spread is set high at 27-30 then it may be worth going for.

There are a couple of tips for Shirt Number betting though. Firstly, if you’re new to this type of betting then go small with the bets. Finally look out for line-ups where regular goal scorers have high shirt numbers – this can work in your favour if the spread is high. Betfair bookmakers have shirt number betting on all Premier League games if you wanna try it out.

There is plenty at stake in the game already, as Madrid go into the match holding a slim lead in the title race over the Catalan club after 11 matches. Ronaldo returns to the Madrid side after a two month absence with an ankle injury.

Latest prices on Betfair Bookmakers show Barcelona trading at 1.92 with Real Madrid available at 4.2 and the draw 4.0. Seems like an incredible price on Real, but the big stars of Madrid suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Barca last year when they were beaten 6-2 in the Bernabeu. Both sides have world class players who could turn a game in a heartbeat, so maybe the safest bet is to sit back and enjoy the show!

The ‘spread’ is set by the bookmaker usually on a points system such as the following: winner = 60 points, runner-up = 40 points, 3rd = 30 points, 4th = 20 points, 5th = 10 points, 6th = 5 points. All others = 0. So the Chelsea ‘spread’ is set by the bookmaker at 58 – 59 points. Remember these are not league points but an arbitrary way of gauging the likelihood of the individual chances of a team’s success in the same way traditional odds represent a teams chances of winning.

As you can imagine Chelsea are clear favorites to win the league this year so if you wanted to back Chelsea to win the league you need to bet above the 58 – 59 spread. If you think Chelsea may fall apart in the latter stages of the season then you bet under the 58-59 spread. So how do you win money and how much?

This is when spread betting can get a little complicated. Let’s say Chelsea goes on to win the league, they will get awarded the maximum 60 points by the bookmakers spread system and you have bet above the spread at £10 you would win £10! This is because you effectively bet £10 per point over 59 points so your maximum win could only be by 1pt.

Now let’s say that you had bet Chelsea ‘Under’ the spread of 58-59 points. Try very hard to imagine Chelsea losing 10 games on the trot and finishing 4th in the League. They would be awarded 20 points on the bookmakers spread system for finishing in this position. The difference between the original bookmakers spread at 58-59 and the 20 points they ended up with is 38. Take that 38 and multiply it by your original stake for your winnings. In this case your £10 would net you £380.

Of course this type of betting can also work against you. Using the example above, had you bet ‘Over’ the 58-59, believing that Chelsea would romp home in top position then you would be liable to a substantial loss. How? Well take the 58-59 points at which they were originally placed, take away the 20 points that they ended up on and you are left with 38. Unlike the outcome above, you now owe £380. This is opposed to just losing your £10 stake like you would in regular fixed odds betting.

Spread betting can be highly profitable, but it comes with a large element of risk. You could lose more than your original stake! There are ways to limit your risk as spread betting companies allow you a ‘Stop Loss’ option when placing a bet. This means you can set a limit on how much you could lose; this also effects how much you could win too. When new to spread betting try to avoid betting on sports with large spread liabilities such as the cricket games. Also keep your stakes low. A £5 bet in the traditional bookmakers would not be considered a big bet but in spread betting a £5 bet could open you up to serious loses depending on the markets.

Spread betting is often used as a tax efficient way for some people to bet on the movements of the stock market, without the hassle and tax problems of actually buying and selling shares. There are some specialist companies that provide this service, www.igindex.co.uk being the major one in the United Kingdom, you can however have a traditional fixed bet on financial markets with Bet On Markets and Betfair Bookmakers also offer financial market bets.

The calculator can also work out bets which are placed ‘each way’ you will need to click on the ‘each way’ tab to activate this. You can also work out multiple bets using the calculator, just enter the second bet odds into the ‘bet 2′ row. Remember to click the ‘double’ button to work out 2 bets and the treble button to work out 3 bets etc. Finally, the bet calculator is designed to give you a good idea of how much you could win on a bet. It will not be 100% accurate – it may well round up or round down some winnings.

Here’s a couple of tips for using the bet calculator.

• Enter the amount you’re going to bet into the ‘stake’ box.
• Only enter whole numbers in the ‘Your Stake’ box:- like 4, 10, 16 if you enter 12.50 the calculator will just round it up or down anyway.
• Now you’ll need to enter the odds you are going to get from the bookies, lets say the odds are 10/1 – In the two boxes next to the ‘bet 1′ text, enter 10 in the first box and 1 in the next box along
• Your winnings are displayed when you click the orange ‘calculate’ button
• The bet calculator will automatically add your stake back into your winnings

If you need to learn more about odds and gambling in general then I recommend you visit the Wizard Of Odds.

The Game Hunter makes no claims or warranties to the accuracy of the calculator. If you get the calculator in your eyes rinse immediately with cold water. Serving suggestion only. Objects may appear closer in the mirror than they actually are. Your home is at risk if you do not keep up the repayments on your mortgage or other loans secured on it. No animals were harmed in the making of this bet calculator – I think that covers all the legal stuff!

In any football game there can only be 3 outcomes to the match. A side can either win, lose or draw, Asian punters only like to bet on sporting events which have a solid outcomes:- A team either wins or loses.

To attract bets on football games from the far east a system had to be developed which would effectively remove the possibility of a game being drawn and create a betting interest in games where the two teams are completely mismatched.

Football is one of the few sports in the world where a draw is a fairly common outcome. With traditional fixed odds, draws are treated as an additional outcome to the game. In other words, bettors lose when they place a wager on either team to win and the game is drawn. With Asian Handicaps, however, the chance for a draw is eliminated by use of a handicap that forces a winner. This creates a situation where each team has a 50-50 chance of winning.

The way of doing this is to ‘handicap’ a team. In the same way horses are handicapped with extra weight in the saddles, so football teams can also be handicapped too. Now if you’re thinking the players run around with bars of lead in their boots then you’re mistaken! the way of handicapping a team is much simpler – you just give the team they are playing against a 1.5 or 2.5 goal head start. The .5 makes a draw impossible, as no team can score half a goal!

Take a look at this example: Chelsea are playing Chester City at home in the FA CUP 4th Round, normally you couldn’t get a decent bet on this game. Chelsea’s odds would be so low that it wouldn’t make it worthwhile betting on them and Chester’s chances of actually winning the game are remote to say the least. But with the Asian Handicaps this game becomes far more interesting. Chelsea are expected to beat Chester City so the bookmakers have set the handicap on Chester City at +2.5, effectively Chelsea are 2.5 goals down before the game has kicked off. So if you want to back Chelsea they will need to win by 3 clear goals. Alternatively you could back Chester if you think they can avoid defeat by 2 clear goals or less. So there you have it, a simple run down of a typical Asian Handicap football bet. The bets can get more complicated especially if two teams are fairly well matched, but I will get into that another time.

If you are interested in placing Asian Handicap bets, then the following bookmakers offer them on Premiership and most European League games. Paddy Power Bookmakers, Betfair Bookmakers and Ladbrokes Bookmaker.

The amount of money you can win is determined by the bookmaker at the time you place the bet. If you bet £10 on Manchester United to beat Liverpool at 2/1, you would win £20, plus you will get back your original £10 stake, giving you a return of £30. The maximum you can lose on a fixed odds bet is your original stake which in this case would be £10. You can add two or more fixed odds bets to build what is known as an ‘accumulator’. These accumulators come in many forms. 2x bets are known as ‘doubles’ and 3x bets are ‘triples’.

In horse racing it is common to have large accumulator bets such as a ‘Trixie’ which is a full-cover multiple bet made up of three selections for different races. It consists of three doubles and one treble. You have to win a minimum of two selections to receive a return.

If that sounds complicated then take a look at a ‘Super Yankee’ bet. A Super Yankee is a full-cover multiple bet made up of 5 selections in different races. A Super Yankee is made up of 26 bets – 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 fourfolds and 1 accumulator. You have to win a minimum of two selections to receive a return.

Accumulators are popular due to the fact that they can yield big returns for very low stakes as the money you win on one race or match is then added to the stake on the next and so on and so on. Although these bets can be tempting to the punters the bookmakers love them as they’re very hard to win.