Football Predictions

BET ABC Back / Lay

Lay bets can only be placed with betting exchanges, such as Betfair. However, we take a look how you can make lay bets with other providers. Back bets can be placed with every book-maker and betting exchange.

Back bets are the “normal” type of bets, i.e. you bet on the occurrence of a score. Let´s take a soccer game as example: Here you have the possibility to bet on home win, away win or draw. Doing so you have already made a back bet.

Lay bets can only be placed with betting exchanges, because here you bet against the occurrence of an event. Generally speaking, you bet against the home win. However, it becomes more interesting if there are more than 3 possible outcomes, for instance, precise final scores or victory bets. With no book-maker, for example, you can bet that Newcastle United will not become English champion. However, this is possible with a lay bet. In order to check out lay bets you best register with Betfair.

Some lay bets can be converted into a back bet. Let`s have an example:
Lay = betting AGAINST an event, e.g. lay home team or lay 1 = betting on the DEFEAT of the home team or betting that the game ends in a draw OR betting on the victory of the away team. Therefore, lay 1 is equal to the double chance X2 or (often with better odds) to the Asian handicap + 0.5 on the away team.
Lay 1 = Back X2 = Back 2 AH+0.5
When winning the lay bet: turnover = wager
When losing the lay bet: loss = wager * odds – wager

Hence, there is an easy formula to convert lay into back odds or vice versa:

Lay odds/ (lay odds – 1) = back odds
Back odds/ (back odds – 1) = lay odds

This means that lay odds of 3.5 are equal to back odds of 1.40.
For a risk of 100 Euro on a 1.40 back you obtain 40 net profit.
In order to make the conversion easier the betting calculator includes a back-lay converter.

However, this means as well that there is a higher risk with lay bets. When placing a lay bet with Betfair, you only contribute the amount the opponent (called holder) bets. Therefore, you contribute 40 Euro but you have to hold a risk of 100 Euro because if the holder wins you have to pay him 100 Euro. If you win you will get your 40 Euro.

The sport bet forecast can be made with Betfair as well. There are even three possibilities for the double chance bets. You can made the forecast, for example, as a lay bet or you take the double chance by putting the sport bet forecast on both outcomes. Both results must end up with the same score. The third and last option to do the soccer game forecast with Betfair is the Asian handicap. You can read more about this in another article of our betting ABC.

Bet ABC AHCAsian Handicap Bets

Asian Handicaps are mostly Football Prediction bets, whereby one of the opposing parties starts their face-off with a handicap. The term has gained a lot of popularity over the last few years. The specialty of the Asian Handicap lies in the fact that unlike to ’normal‘ Handicap Bets in case of a possible draw you’ll get your stake refunded.
Contrary to the usual handicap bets the range here differs from one quarter goal to several goals. Those can vary from half or third to even quarter goals.

The term Asian Handicap is ordinarily used for Football Prediction betting systems but is sometimes used in other sports as well. It was originated by a journalist named Joe Saumarez Smith. In November 1998 the Indonesian bookmaker Joe Phan asked him to translate this Result Prediction method formerly known as ‚hang cheng betting‘ by bookmakers in Asia.

Basically Asian Handicaps cut both ways for bookmakers. The upside is the fact that the risk for bookmakers minimizes because trading with the party is simplified and the amount of wagering can be balanced on each side of the match. This gives bookmakers the chance to take bigger positions on major matches.
The downside with this particular Result Prediction gamble lies for bookmakers within the lower margin offerings. Those do not contribute such significant profits as for example the 1X2 system does.

A lot of the matches stand with a handicap of one half (½ ) or even a quarter (¼ ) intervals, while a quarter bet is the most difficult. Nevertheless in both cases a push is not an option, because a half-goal can not be scored.

In a quarter handicap bet the wager will be split into the next two quarter intervals. If the wagerer bets on Team A ¼ and loses his bet the whole wager is lost. If the match ends in a draw, half the bet is seen as won and the wagerer gets back half his stake multiplied with the given rate. If he wins his bet the wagerer will get his stake refunded multiplied with the given rate.

A ½ Asian Handicap on the home team for instance is just the same as a DC1/0 bet which is described in this encyclopedia as well. On top of that the full Asian bet is almost the same as the ½ Asian Handicap. With the 0 Asian Handicap the wagerer gets back his full stake in case of a draw.

1X2 Bets

It is common in Europe in Football Prediction Bets to write the home team first, this is in stark contrast to the american habit of writing the home team last. In a european 1X2 Football Prediction Bet the 1 stands for a victory of the home team, the X stands for a tie and the 2 stands for a victory of the visiting team. The result prediction is only given for one of the three options.
If the customer is using different betting systems it is adviseable to look closely which denomination is used, the american or the european way of 1X2 bets.
On this website the Euopean Standard is used.

A few examples.
The customer wants to bet that the home team is winning. He therefor bets on 1.
The customer predicts that it will be a tie. He therefor bets on X.
The customer predicts that the visiting team will win. He therefor bets on 2.
A loss occurs if any of the other two possibilities occurs.

Double Chance Bets

This betting system has a lower payout rate but a higher chance of winning than the 1X2 Football Prediction system. The result prediction in this system is given for two of the three possible instances (1 for a win of the home team, X for a tie and 2 for a win of the visiting team in the european denomination). For example of a result prediction the customer wants to bet on „The home team will win OR it will be a tie“. In the 1X2 betting system the customer can only bet on one possibility of the two choices.
In the Double Chance Bet system the customer can bet on both results at the same time. A loss only occurs if the third chance is picked.

A few examples.
The customer predicts that the home team will win or it will be a tie. He therefor bets on 1X. A loss occurs on a victory of the visiting team.
The customer predicts that the foreign team will win or it will be a tie. He therefor bets on X2. A loss occurs on the victory of the home team.
The customer predicts that the home or the foreign team will win. He therefor bets on 12. A loss occurs on a tie.