English Premier League / MLS

Any big soccer bettors here? I'm heading out next week, but my main sports (football, basketball) are on hiatus. I don't really bet MLB, can't force myself to watch those games for that long.

I'm a fan of soccer, but no good at betting it. I realized we'll be there for EPL's opening weekend and there are some MLS games in the offering as well. Wondered if anyone had any tips there, I always like to sit at the book and bet on games and play VP while I watch. This is just a bad time to go as there isn't much to play, unless you're into MLB.

Any tips appreciated!

 

I live in Ireland - I'm a big fan of the Premier League.
I've not yet looked at the opening weekend's games, but I could probably give you a few teams to win. Though it's a competitive enough league, so there can sometimes be upsets.

Do you know what bets are available in Vegas? Here we can bet on pretty much anything relating to the game. (number of corner kicks etc I think you guys call them props bets)
I like to bet on things like both teams to score a goal, there being 3 goals or more in the game, and on a player to score anytime.

 

I've bet sides, spreads and totals in soccer before. I'm not a big prop bettor at the casino simply because I'm casually watching the game while gambling generally and keeping track of corners, bookings, etc is a bit too much after a few drinks. At home I would.

My favorite bets are totals, I'm just about 50/50 at it, so was hoping someone could help get me over the hump for my upcoming trip.

I've had mixed success at EPL, for the reason you state, its so competitive, and I'm not good at keeping up with the nuances of the game and lineups that a really good sports bettor in that league would need to in order to win consistently.

 

Yeah, I like the over 2.5 goals bet (3 goals or more) because you are hoping for goals.

betting.betfair.com has good tips on their website (I assume it is accessible from the US)

I'll try to remember to post some bets up here on the Friday before the games, but with it being the start of the season it's hard to know the form of the average teams.

 

I'll only have a bet if I'm at the game (Southampton) and then only a Fiver's worth on a couple of longer odds bets (final score and/or last scorer to prolong the excitement to the final whistle).

 

West Ham to win Arsenal away on opening week is money in the bank. Come on you Irons!

 

As far as what bets are available:
Despite the growing popularity of soccer/football over here, it is still very much a niche sport. I’ve seen the betting sheets you’ll get in England for a game…you won’t get anything CLOSE to that here! You’ll be able to bet on the winner (or draw) of an individual match and make a futures bet on who will win the championship. If it’s an international match in tournament form (or Champion’s League) you can often bet on which team will advance (in addition to betting win/lose/draw).

Tips:
I’m not good with sports bets. But I thought Man U at 9/2 was a decent value for Premier League Champ. But Chelsea is probably the much smarter, if much more boring, bet at 7/5. I’m an Arsenal fan. But even at 4-1, I wouldn’t be tempted unless Wenger dusts the cobwebs off the checkbook. (These were the odds at Wynn as of Saturday...feel free to ask for others, I snapped a pic of the EPL Champ sheet.)

 

come on you Gunners!!


(lol, sorry)

 

If Vegas offered it would guys bet it? Or is it not worth the effort of compiling the odds.
William Hill is a big UK book, and they are the company behind a few of the Vegas sportsbooks. Surely they could just take the odds their UK guys are offering on all these various markets.

 

We'll see about that.

 

I've thought the same thing. I suppose that they want each individual book - or at least the Vegas market - to be profitable on its own. And with the minuscule volume many of these bets would get, a few big bets that pay off could really hit the bottom line.

I think another big issue is the time difference. Here in the Eastern Time Zone it isn't too bad. But in Vegas, the early games start at like 4 am. For me at least, it just isn't any fun betting on games I won't be watching.