Gambling on football provides a range of gambling opportunities

Many sports gambling fans in Ireland tend to concentrate on major sporting events in the UK, none more so than those of us who enjoy gambling on football. The Premier League and this weekend, the FA Cup are both high on our list of potential football gambling options. The major bookmakers tell us that part of the reason for this is the number of matches now played in the Premier League, and of course the spread of these matches over the week most of which are available live on television. Football is of course also one of the most popular sports in Ireland and the UK, as illustrated by the sports pages of any national newspaper, but we believe there could be another reason for the popularity of gambling on football. Unlike horse racing, which is probably the second most popular sports gambling option, football gambling offers a wide range of gambling opportunities in addition the forecasting the match winner. This weekend for instance has seen two high profile FA Cup matches, with Paddy Power offering odds on all sorts of scenarios during each game. Football gambling fans could bet on which team was winning at half time, or even which team would score the first goal and when. Perhaps you might like to gamble on who would be leading after say 30 minutes, or 60 minutes, or even which half would see the most goals. All of these additional gambling opportunities are encouraged by live streaming of almost every match, and allowing further gambling during the match. There is no doubt that gambling on football provides sports gambling fans with many more gambling options than most other sports, and judging by the increasingly innovative options being offered by the leading online bookmakers, we are enjoying the chance to gamble beyond just picking the winner.