Sports betting has become one of the most important hobbies of the world industry, and for good reason!

More than 8 billion euros have been in 2022 only in France, and 150 billions in the world.

Sports fans around the world love to put their knowledge to the test and try to earn money while following their favorite teams.

With the exponential development of online gaming platforms, it has now become easier than ever to bet.

At Bet2Invest, we want to help you as much as possible to master this environment.

And faced with the incalculable number of possibilities available to you, it seems necessary to make a small point about the different betting options on which you can play.

Simple bets

1. Final result betting (also called “Money Line”)

This is the simplest and most common bet among experienced tipsters.

It consists of playing on the final result of a sporting event. In this type of bet, the bettor chooses which team or which player will win the match or event.

The odds associated with each team reflect the probabilities estimated by the bookmakers.

2. EUROPEAN handicaps (+0.5 / -0.5, etc):

To make betting more “fair” when a match is unbalanced, bookmakers offer bets with handicaps.

The favorite team is given a negative handicap, while the underdog team is given a positive handicap.

The goal is to equalize the chances on each side, and to estimate the real gap that lies between two teams/players.

We will discuss later in this article the Asian handicaps which are available on the International market and which are a little more advanced.

3. Bets on total points/games (over/under)

Here the punter is betting on the combined total points/games scored by the two teams/players at the end of a match.

The bookmaker sets what is called a “cut”, and the bettor chooses whether the actual goal/points total will be above (over) or below (under) this figure.

4. Live Betting

Live betting is growing in popularity. They allow bettors to bet on a match in progress.

Odds change in real time as the match progresses. This provides bettors with an interactive experience and the ability to react to match events as they unfold.

Be careful though, LIVE bets should only be played on international bookmakers in 95% of cases. In many countries, national bookmakers take huge margins, sometimes as high as 20%, making long-term profitability almost impossible.

5. Long Term Bets

Long term bets are wagers placed on sporting events that will occur later in the season.

This can include bets on the league championship, the winner of a tournament or the best player of the season for example.

As it is long term bets, it usually reduce the impact of variance.

6. Special bets (props)

Special bets, also called "props" or "exotic" bets, focus on specific events that occur during a match.

For example, betting on the first goalscorer, the number of corners, the red cards, etc. in football, the aces in tennis or the “player perf” in basketball.

Multiple bets

7. System bets

System bets involve combining several selections into a single bet. Combinations can be more complex, such as Trixie, Yankee, Heinz, etc.

These systems offer some protection by allowing bettors to win a portion of the total sum even if not all selections are winning.

8. Combined bets

Combined bets consist of accumulating several selections in a single bet. All selections must be correct to win.

This can lead to bigger payouts, but the risk is higher because just one wrong selection can cause the bet to lose.

In conclusion, sports betting offers a wealth of options for sports fans. However, it is essential to gamble responsibly and to remember that gambling should remain entertainment.

If you spread yourself too thinly on the different types of bets, you could expose yourself a little too much financially, and try to catch up your losses later, which is not good.

By understanding the different types of bets and specializing, you should improve your chances of success.

Small aside on the Asian handicap now:

Asian Handicap (AH), is a fairly popular form of betting.

AH was developed in Asia, hence its name, and has become widely adopted around the world due to its “safe” status for bettors.

The basic idea behind Asian Handicap is to give a virtual advantage or virtual handicap to a team before the match starts, so that the outcome of the bet is determined despite the difference in strength between the teams.

It is commonly used for sporting events where a team or player is a clear favorite over the opponent.

The AH offers fractional handicaps to provide multiple winning opportunities for bettors.

There are mainly two types of Asian Handicap:

1. Whole Number Asian Handicap

In this variant, the handicaps are whole numbers, such as -1, +1, -2, +2, etc.

For example, if you bet on a team with a handicap of -1, this means that this team must win by at least two goals for your bet to win.

If the team wins by only one goal, the bet is refunded, and if it draws or loses, the bet is lost.

2. Asian Handicap Quarter Goal

This is where AH gets more interesting. In this type of HA, handicaps include quarter goals, like -0.25, +0.25, -0.75, +0.75, etc.

These fractional handicaps create a situation where half of your bet is placed on one handicap and the other half on a different handicap.

For example, if you bet on a team with a handicap of -0.75, this means that half of your bet is placed on a handicap of -0.5 and the other half on a handicap of -1.

If the team wins by two or more goals, both sides of the bet win. If the team draws, you will lose half of your stake and the other half will be refunded. If the team loses, you will lose the whole bet.

I warned you, it's not necessarily easy to understand, but we thought of you, so all the details of the AH are available right here!

Despite its “safe” side, the Asian Handicap, as with any type of bet, exposes you to a certain risk, and it is not easier to win on AH than on other types of predictions.

It is essential to understand and master the specific rules of HA and to bet responsibly in all cases.