It’s a time of year that everyone who loves cricket looks forward to. The IPL is well underway, the English County Cricket season has begun and events like the T20 Blast and Hundred are just around the corner.
With so many brilliant matches to be played almost on a daily basis, there are plenty of bets that you can look to place over the next few months. Here is our ultimate cricket betting guide.
Outright bets
The most common bet across all sports is the outright bet. The outright bet asks you to predict who will win between Team A and Team B. Let’s use the example below of an IPL contest between the Punjab Kings and the Chennai Super Kings.
As you can see above both teams have their odds listed and unlike in football where you can predict the draw, in this example you can only predict if you think Punjab or Chennai will win.
In order to win this bet your chosen team simply has to win. If you back Punjab to win and they do, your bet is a winner. If they were to lose to Chennai, your bet would be a losing one.
An outright bet has been the king of the sports bet due to its simplicity. Often the first bet you see across many different online bookmakers, if you are new to betting it could be a great bet to start with.
In play bets
Over the last few decades there has been a rise in gamblers who specialise solely on betting whilst the action is going on. Known as live betting or in play betting, in play bets differ slightly to outright bets above.
The outright bet market will close just a few minutes before the action is due to take place, whereas in play bets will stay open through the duration of the contest.
There are many different reasons as to why in play betting appeals. Firstly it gives bettors the opportunity to see how a game is panning out.
If for example the favourites are struggling, you will be able to back them at a bigger price than you would have done in a standard outright bet. The odds will often fluctuate depending on what is happening and in some cases, the odds change up to every 30 seconds.
In play betting is fast paced and you need to pick the perfect moment as to when the odds are at their most premium. Hugely popular for a sport like cricket, those wanting to get involved with in play betting will always have plenty of opportunity to do so.
Multiple bets
One of the limitations of placing an outright bet is that the odds can sometimes be small, which means in order to make big returns a large stake has to be placed.
If betting large sums of cash isn’t something you want to do or feel comfortable doing then the best alternative is to place a multiple bet. A multiple bet is when you bet on the outcome of more than one game. You combine these into one bet and in order for your bet to be a winner, each one of your predictions has to be correct.
Let’s take another example of the IPL. In our example we think that the Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Gujarat Titans and the Delhi Capitals will all win their prospective matches. Our bet slip once selected would like the below;
As you can see the odds of all our selections equate to 10.75/1 which means that if you were to place a $10 dollar stake on this bet, you would win over $100.
We mentioned above that in order for this bet to win, every outcome has to come in, therefore if the Knight Riders, Kings and Titans all win but the Capitals lose, your bet would be a loser. There are some bookmakers who will offer you the chance to cash out, therefore you may be able to settle your bet early.
There are different terms for multiple bets depending on how many teams you choose to back.
Double - this is where you just back two teams to win
Treble - this is where you back three teams to win
Fourfold - this is where you back four teams to win
Fivefold - this is where you back five teams to win
Sixfold - this is where you back six teams to win
Accumulator / Parlay - this is the term used for any large bets that have over six teams in it. Accumulators can sometimes see well over ten teams included.
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Game specific bets
All of the bets that we have outlined above are connected to the result, but if you want to place a bet that isn’t linked to the actual result of the game, there are other bets you can place.
Most reputable bookmakers should offer markets that take into account events of the game. These can vary wildly.
A popular bet of this type is how many fours are going to be scored or which team will score the most fours.
In both instances it doesn’t matter which team wins, the most important element is whether your selection hits. If you back the Knight Riders to score the most 4s and they do but go on to lose the match, it doesn’t matter as they have scored the most 4s your bet will win.
If backing the total number of fours, it doesn’t matter which team goes onto win, as long as your prediction of over or under the predetermined amount of 4s hits, your bet will be a winner.
Player specific bets
Most bookmakers have now evolved their offerings to include player specific bets and just like the game specific bets in the section above, these bets often aren’t linked to the result of the game.
Player specific bets can often look like the below;
If wanting to bet on player specific markets, often players will be presented with the option of predicting yes or no, to a list of predetermined questions. They often take the form of ‘Will X player score a fifty?’ Or will ‘Player X score over a certain number of runs.’
Often the odds for this type of bet can be slim but they are offer up a nice alternative from the usual traditional game winning bets.
Tom Gibson
Tom Gibson, 33, possesses a keen interest in cricket combined with expertise in betting. Based in Newcastle, he is well-acquainted with the dynamics of the game and the betting world. With numerous years analyzing cricket matches and odds, Tom offers a unique perspective on the intersection of the sport and betting strategies