Betting Systems: Which One to Choose?

If you want to win more often and lose less, you can start by using a betting system. Betting systems can be used at both online casino & sportsbook sites and will help you get a clear idea of what to expect when trying your luck. If you have no idea what these systems are, don’t worry – below we list and briefly explain the most commonly used ones.

Fixed Odds Betting

We can say that this is the “default” option. Many players unwittingly become part of the fixed odds betting system. In its simplest form, this means that you bet on a certain outcome, and if you win this bet, the bookmaker pays you according to the odds it has determined. If you lose… well, you lose your money – that’s all. This system is called “fixed” because you are betting on a fixed outcome with fixed odds, meaning you know exactly what needs to happen to win and exactly how much you will win. Bookmakers express this system in different odds formats. For example:

• 7/1: This means you will get 7 units for every 1 unit you deposit. If you place 10 EUR/USD on a bet with these odds and win, you will be paid 80 EUR/USD. Of this, 10 EUR/USD is your initial bet, and 70 EUR/USD is your profit.
• 00: For every 1 unit wagered, you will be paid 4 units. If you place 100 EUR/USD on such a bet and win, the payout will be 400 EUR/USD. However, this figure includes your initial bet, so the payout actually consists of 100 EUR/USD initial bet + 300 EUR/USD net profit.
• +200 / – 300: If odds start with a plus, it shows how much you will earn when you deposit 100 EUR/USD. In the +200 example, for a bet of 100 EUR/USD, you will win 200 EUR/USD. If odds start with a minus, it indicates how much you have to deposit to win 100 EUR/USD. In the example of -300, you will need to bet 300 EUR/USD to win 100 EUR/USD.

Fixed odds may be the default option, but it is possible to make it very advantageous by searching for “value” bets. This is the general name for situations where the bookmaker does not offer the odds that should be. So, for example, if a team that is seen as certain to win offered odds of 2.00 instead of 1.00, you’ve found a value bet. It’s not very common, but it offers incredible earning potential.

Matched Betting

This is a term that means placing two different bets on two different outcomes. As a very simple example, we can show placing two bets for a team to both win and lose. Inevitably, the result will be one of these two outcomes, and you’ll get paid anyway for making a wager for both. Of course, things don’t work that simple in real life: bookmakers meticulously control their odds to prevent this. However, it is still sometimes possible to take advantage of matched betting using different bookmakers. To give a simple example:

• In a bookmaker, you place a bet of 10 EUR/USD that Team A will win. Bookmaker offers 2.50 odds for this outcome. So, if you win, you will get paid 25 EUR/USD.
• In another bookmaker, you place a bet of 10 EUR/USD that Team A will lose. Bookmaker offers 3.00 odds for this outcome, so if you win, the payout will be 30 EUR/USD.
• You have spent a total of 20 EUR so far. However, whichever of these outcomes occurs, it is certain that you will receive at least 25 EUR/USD payment. So, your net profit will be 5 EUR/USD.

Spread Betting

This basically works like fixed-odds betting: if the outcome you bet comes true, you get a payout based on the odds set by the bookmaker. But the hallmark of fixed-odds betting was that it was clear exactly what it took to win – for example, if you bet that Team A will score a goal, it’s pretty clear what the winning condition is. In spread betting, bets are placed on a certain “winning range”. For example, you can bet that Team A will win the match by a margin of 2 goals. If Team A wins the match by just one goal difference, you still get a payout, but it will be lower. Likewise, if the goal difference is 3, you will still be eligible for a payout. Spread betting generally offers lower odds and is therefore often used in parlay betting.

Parlay Betting

This is because parlay betting can offer much higher payouts. This means betting on multiple outcomes at once. For example, you place a single bet that three different teams will win their respective games. This is a very risky type of bet because even if only one of these teams loses, you lose the entire bet. But if you win, the payout will be extremely high.