Here’s a quick glimpse into the main rules that come into play on football betting, but bear in mind that this is only a glimpse. If you want to find out more about the ins and outs of the rules and regulations then click on the page and have a proper look.
This is the rule that I was talking about the introduction, with the key thing of note being that most bets on football matches are valid for the 90 minutes plus stoppage time of a normal match, unless otherwise specified. It’s reasonably self-explanatory, but a bet on the Correct Score will only be valid for normal time and not extra-time or penalties, whilst a bet on the ‘To Qualify’ market will mean at the end of such periods.
Dead heats in betting are more commonly associated with the likes of horse racing, but they can happen. Say you’ve bet on a footballer to finish as the Top Scorer in a competition and they end up doing so but tied with 3 other players. That would be a dead heat and your bet will be settled accordingly.
Some bets can have maximum payout rules applied to them, meaning that you’ll only be able to be paid back a certain amount of money regardless of your stake and the odds. Different bookmakers have different maximum payout rules and the differ all of the time, so make sure you find out your bookie of choice’s rule before betting.
The main market that own goals are relevant for is the Goalscorer markets, with the main point being that they don’t count towards First Goalscorer etc type bets. They do count for ‘Correct Score’ markets, however, so do check out the rules employed by the bookmaker you tend to use.
There are countless reasons why matches might end up being abandoned, but the main thing you’ll want to know is what happens to any bets you’ve placed. The answer is that it depends on what happens to the match and what type of bet you’ve put on, which I explain in detail here.
There’s a difference between an abandoned match and one that’s been postponed, but the notion of wanting to known what happens to your bet still applies. I attempt to answer that particular question here.
The majority of people who bet on football will have a solid idea of the types of bets that they’re able to place with bookmakers, but not everyone will know that bookies that their own rules and regulations that come into play when you placed said bets. Stick a Correct Score wager on a cup match, for example, and you might think that that bet is valid even if the game goes to extra-time, but it’s not.