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A Punter-friendly guide to longer odds betting

A Punter-friendly guide to longer odds betting

When betting on sports, punters aim to win. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, the sense of satisfaction is immense. However, when you land a longer odds win, that satisfaction is multiplied a great deal!

Longer odds, big price or high odds winners are rare. That is why the odds on the outcome is considerably higher than those selections which are far more likely to occur. Punters dream of landing a bigger odds win, but is there a way you can improve your chances of landing these bets a little more frequently?

In this post, we are going to look at betting on the longer odds selections. What to do, what not to do, how to find the best available odds and we’ll finish with a look at longer odds betting in football. Let’s begin with a look at what we consider longer odds bets.

What are considered longer odds bets?

When Leicester City won the Premier League title in the 2015/16 season, they were odds of 5000/1 with some bookmakers to win the league at the start of the season. This is an extreme example of a longer odds bet. These odds are so well remembered because bets like this are very rare.

So, while 5,000/1 is a very long odds bet, most punters also consider longer odds bets that include considerably lower odds.For many punters, longer odds bets include pretty much any bet of odds of 3/1 or greater. 

That may seem like a low price, but odds of 3/1 suggest only a 25% chance of winning based on the implied winning percentage of that bet. The odds of 4/1 are just a 20% implied percentage chance of winning. So, when we say longer odds bets, we include many bets of different odds. Which bets are included depends on the market being bet on.

Market Context for Longer Odds Bets

The term longer odds isn’t just dependent on the value of the odds offered. The odds should also be viewed in the context of the market you are betting on. For example, if you are betting on the Grand National horse race winner, the shortest price on a horse is usually around 5/1 or 6/1. So longer odds selections in that race are usually judged as being greater than 16/1.

But, if you are betting on the number of games that will be played in a tennis set, only limited options are available (six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve or thirteen). In these situations, the longer odds options may well be much shorter price, such as 2/1 or 3/1,

So as you can see, the market on which you are betting is also important in determining whether your selection is longer odds for that particular bet.

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Is there a sensible strategy for longer odds betting?

Yes. Longer odds betting does require careful consideration and a strategy. Otherwise, you will find that the losses quickly start to accumulate and your account start to empty. Some simple tips to follow as a strategy for betting on longer odds selections include:

  • Always remember longer odds are market context dependent. What is longer odds in one market, may not be in another. 
  • Place more of the lower-priced longer odds bets as opposed to the very high-priced longer odds bets. 
  • Carefully research your longer odds bets before making them. The question you need to ask is that does this selection have a realistic chance of success?
  • Decrease the size of your bet the longer the odds of your selection. 
  • Have realistic expectations of bet success. A 100/1 bet has an implied percentage chance of success of just 1%. That doesn’t mean one win in a hundred similar bets. It means it has a 1% chance of success in every single 100/1 bet you make. 
  • Make use of each-way markets where possible. Although this will double your stake, each way betting is far more flexible and can offer excellent returns on longer odds bets. 

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Getting the best ddds for outsider betting

One key aspect when betting on longer odds selections is the importance of getting the best odds available on your bet. For short-priced selections, you may find a point or two difference from one bookmaker to the next. The difference between the two sets of odds can mean you will get a few Euros or Pounds more for your win with one bookmaker than another.

However, for longer odds selections, the differences can be far greater. One bookmaker may offer your long odds selection at 16/1, but another may offer 25/1 on that same selection. The difference in that in terms of total return, for a £10 bet, could be as much as £90. 

For very long odds bet, the differences can be even greater. In the example above of Leicester winning the league. Some bookmakers had Leicester as maximum odds of 1000/1. Others had 3,000/1 and a few had 5,000/1. If you’d have taken the lower odds on offer with a £10 bet, you’d have won £1010 in total returns. Compared to £5,010 for backing the highest price available.

As such, having multiple betting accounts with reliable bookmakers and comparing prices for longer odds selections is arguably the best way to get the best value when betting on them. 

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Longer Odds Bets In Football

Some of the higher odds bets you can make for football betting include:

  • Outright tournament winners
  • Leading Goalscorer
  • First/Last Goalscorer
  • Correct Score
  • Scorecast (First Goalscorer & Correct Score combined bet)
  • Next manager to be sacked. 
  • Next manager of a stated football club.
  • Betting on a red card being awarded in the game.
  • Bet Builder or Football Accumulator bets
  • A named player to score two or more goals, or a hat-trick. 

Remember, at SportyTrader, we have a fantastic selection of football betting predictions throughout the season, covering a massive selection of matches. Our team of experts can help guide you to the best value bets—including some higher-priced options!

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