If you’re looking to have a bit of fun with the football on a Saturday, we all have our go-to markets. The Premier League, and other top divisions, are usually part of this.
Unfortunately, if we’re looking to turn betting into more than a hobby, this doesn’t usually present many value opportunities. Sure, you will find odds with ease, but they will usually be grossly in favor of the bookmaker. You will plug your odds into a bet calculator, but when the returns are pitted against the perceived likelihood, over the long-term you’re destined to lose out.
This is why it is crucial to search high and low for untapped markets, that can reveal odds that are more sided towards the punter. Sure, these are not overly common, but if you can place your attention on these value opportunities you will see your chances of long-term success rise considerably.
Today’s piece will now take a look at some of the markets you can turn to.
It’s not all about the Premier League
As we have already alluded to, you can sometimes become brainwashed to only link sports betting and the Premier League. After all, this is the division that attracts the bulk of the money.
However, with so much money flowing into Premier League bets, it means that bookmakers place significant attention on it. They invest huge amounts of time ensuring that each market falling within England’s top division has accurate odds, on their terms. Ultimately, it’s very difficult to extract many value bets from these games.
It means you have to think outside the box. Non-league football might not be glamorous, but bookmakers don’t invest as much in pruning the odds. Ultimately, there are many more opportunities to profit.
It’s not all about football
On the flip side, it’s not all about football. This might be one of the most popular sports from a sports betting perspective, but there are more.
As an example, table tennis might not be a favorite, but it can again draw value bets that are just not possible with so-called mainstream sports. Browse through different sports and find something that you have an interest in but isn’t overly popular.
Check abroad
Whether or not you decide to stick with football, or switch to a less popular sport, another option that lends itself to value bets are the markets abroad.
Again, these might not be glamorous, but checking in an obscure league on the other side of the world will open up a range of value opportunities. Bookmakers do not have the resources to fine-tune every single odd in every market they appear in and while computer algorithms will help them to some extent, there will be opportunities in these foreign markets that you just would not come across had you been betting on home soil.
The more granular you can go with this approach the better. For example, rather than betting on a win, lose or draw, what about something even more specific like the number of corners? Again, these markets are far too intricate for a lot of bookmakers to spend time progressing through and value bets will arise.
