There will be 64 games with only 16 of those played simultaneously with 1 other game. There will be huge betting limits and in-play betting on 100s of bet types.
Where to bet
Who has the best odds?
You can see which crypto sportsbook has the best odds for the bet you want to make on our World Cup odds comparison. You can see which sportsbook has the best odds overall on best odds sportsbook rankings at BitOdds.com.
Who has the biggest range of bets?
Of the best crypto sportsbooks, Cloudbet has the biggest range of bets with around 80 different markets per game. For example, you can bet on which half of each team will score more goals in.
Sportsbet is next best with around 50 markets per game including things like betting on the “result” at the 10-minute mark.
Who has the best live betting?
Sportsbet has the best live betting on soccer with an attractive and easy-to-use interface. The live betting features like live scores and “accept odds changes?” work better on Sportsbet than anywhere else.
Who is the best all-round sportsbook?
See our detailed written and video crypto sportsbook reviews for all the top options. We think Sportsbet, Cloudbet and Nitrogen are the best, in that order. For the high rollers, Cloudbet has the biggest bet limits.
World Cup bet types
Apart from the most common sports bet types and the unique soccer bet types, there are a few bet types that are unique to tournament structures like the World Cup.
Knockout stages – team to advance
During the knockout stages make sure you know if you are betting on the result at the end of normal time, which is the standard “Home/Draw/Away” market. Or if you are betting on which team will go through to the next round, which is the “Team to Advance” market.
The team to advance market could be decided by extra time or penalties and the draw is not a possibility.
World Cup tournament winner betting
Betting on a team to win a tournament before it has begun is a classic rookie mistake. You are better off betting on that team to win individual games that would count toward winning the tournament. The tournament winner markets have higher sportsbooks overround which mean less value for you.
If you are right about that team being the eventual champions you have found an edge and betting on individual games gives you more chances to take advantage of your edge and to apply a staking plan to it.
The same applies to “Tournament goals per team” or “Total tournament red cards” or any futures markets of that kind where you can bet on the same thing in individual games.
World Cup betting strategies
A betting strategy is a method of picking selections to bet on and a staking plan of how much to bet on each selection.
How much to stake per bet
You need to be able to survive a bad run. If you’re staking 10% of your bankroll per bet you can only go on a losing streak of 10 bets long before you go bust.
A martingale staking plan has you increase your stakes during a losing streak enough that when you eventually win you recover all the losses. You should have a stop loss if you want to run a martingale.
You can also try a positive progression staking plan which can be seen as an inverse martingale. This is where you increase your stakes during a winning streak to risk a certain % of the streak’s accumulated profit.
Those are staking plans, as for the picks here are a few potential World Cup betting strategies to get you thinking.
Bet the draw
Most people bet on soccer games when they have an opinion on who will win. Sportsbooks make their money on the fact that there are so many draws and so few people backing the draw. With the odds of the draw always over 3.00, you only need to pick 1 in 3 correctly to make a profit!
Bet against a team until they lose
It’s easy to come up with 12 teams that have no chance of winning the World Cup. Just throw in the entire African, Asian and North American confederations. If a team can’t win the World Cup they will have to lose a game (or not advance) at some point. There are 12 winning bets for you right there!
In the rare case that one of the bottom teams goes on to win the whole thing like Greece did in the 2004 Euros, the tournament structure provides a built-in stop loss. The underdogs winning run can only last 7 games long, and then the tournament is over, so there is a limit on how many bets you can lose. You also got 11 winning bets from the other teams you thought could not win.
Bet underdogs until one wins
In all sports betting, the value is more often on the underdog and there is nothing more exciting than outsmarting the market by picking an underdog and watching them get up. With the higher odds you can afford to lose the vast majority of your bets and still make a profit.
Live betting
Live betting on soccer is different from most other sports. Most other sports have built-in breaks in play such as timeouts, change of innings or time between rounds. Soccer only has half-time, which is a great opportunity to bet live in play, but you will also find yourself betting as play is ongoing.
There are a lot of inefficiencies in live markets and therefore a lot of chances to get value bets on and make a profit. Live betting also allows you to trade out of a position you took pre-game as the score changes or a player gets sent off.
How to Profit from Betting on the World Cup
- Follow the points on how to be a winning sports bettor.
- Don’t pay attention to media pundits. They are paid to be entertaining, not accurate.
- Try both pre-game betting and live in-play betting, to find out which suits you better.
- Get the highest possible payout for every bet by using World Cup odds comparisons at BitOdds.com.
- Obviously, bet against England 😉
Will Wood
Author
A pro gambling writer since 2015, immersed in the world of crypto since 2016. I've built up a wealth of knowledge and experience in both crypto gambling and crypto betting, making me one of the most prominent voices in the industry.
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Will Wood