Wigan should soar into the 2018/19 Championship season full of confidence after vanquishing all comers in League One during the previous campaign.
Newly promoted teams typically enjoy a strong start to the season as the winning mentality carries over and they often claim some impressive scalps.
Latics fans could therefore be tempted by the prospect of a cheeky flutter or two on Paul Cook’s men as they bid to secure consecutive promotions and return to the top flight of English football.
It helps therefore to have an idea of what sort of markets you can bet on, so we have compiled a handy sports betting guide to aid you:
Futures betting
Football fans love to bet on which team will win the division before the season begins and bookmakers are already offering a market on this. Stoke are the favourites to win the Championship in 2018/19 after dropping down from the top flight. They are priced at 7/1 to win the trophy, and this means you earn winnings of £7 for every £1 you stake.
Wigan are all the way out at 33/1, and punters might be tempted by that after watching the Latics beat Man City, Bournemouth and West Ham last season. There is a separate market for winning promotion to the Premiership, and that allows the team to finish first, second or win the play-offs.
Once again Stoke are 5/2 favourites, while Wigan are 11/1. The bookmakers are not predicting a relegation battle for the Latics, as they are all the way out at 9/1 to go down, below 11 teams in the market. If it all goes the way the bookies have predicted, Wigan will finish mid-table, but the beauty of football is that anything can happen.
Moneyline betting
The most common type of bet is a straight wager on the result (win, lose or draw). Let’s say Wigan are at home to Nottingham Forest. The Latics would be the slight favourites and you could expect to see odds of 7/10 on a home win. This means for every £1 you wager, you win 70p.
When you win a bet, you also get your stake back, so you would be returned £1.70. The away team, Forest, might be around 11/8. This means that for every £8 you bet, you win £11. A £1 bet at 11/8 would give you £1.38 in winnings (plus your £1 back), giving you £2.38 if Forest pulled off an upset. The draw might be 3/1. It helps to analyse each team’s home and away form before placing a bet.
Handicap betting
In some games, you can find decent value in backing the team you fancy to win. But if it looks like a mismatch, the odds are often too low to bother with. Let’s say Wigan are up against Rotherham at home, you might see odds of 1/4 on the Latics to win. A £1 bet would give you just £1.25, which seems to low to justify the risk. In instance you can find greater value by giving the team you fancy a handicap.
If you go Wigan -1, the Latics would have to win by two clear goals, but you would enjoy much more attractive odds. You can also bet on things like Wigan to win to nil, Wigan to win at half-time and full-time, Wigan to win and over 2.5 goals, Wigan to win and under 4.5 goals and Wigan to win and both teams to score. All of these options give you more appealing odds.
Specials betting
Within a game you can also bet on all manner of special events that do not necessarily affect the outcome of the result. Total goals, total cards, total corners, first goalscorer, last goalscorer, anytime goalscorer and half-time result are all very popular markets.
The concept is always the same: you stake a sum of money, and if you win you get your winnings and your stake back, but if you lose you get nothing. Best of luck!
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