• Asian Goal Line Betting Explained
• What Is Goal Line Betting
• Line Betting Example
• Bet365 Goal Line Bet Explained

Have you ever wondered what the different Goal Lines mean?

You can bet on Over/Under 2.5, or Over/Under 2,25 or Over/Under 2. But what are Over 2.5 bets, or even 2.25? There are no half goals! Or quarter goals! It doesn’t seem to make sense. Does it?

Soccer Spreads Explained In terms of this type of betting the line, a goal spread is meant to establish a favorite and an underdog and then draw a handicap to even out the playing field. The goal spreads in soccer are typically small, with a half-goal up to two goals the spread that is seen most often. Manchester United +1.5 (EVEN) The Goal Line in soccer is comparable to a point-spread wager in football. It allows bettors to minimize their risk on heavy money-line prices or even better reward them with generous payouts. In the above example, Barcelona is -1.5 goals (-140) on the Goal Line. A betting line is a form of wagering whereby the bookmaker or sportsbook set gambling odds and determine the favorite and underdog teams in a match. This handicap creates a margin (line) between the two teams, where there are only two outcomes possible.

We will explain what the different Goal Lines signify and after you’ve finished the article you will never be confused again!

Betting on .5 Goals

One of the most common bet types is Over/ Under .5 goals.

Obviously, there is no way for half a goal to be scored in a game. The expression .5 is just an aid to ensure that it is clear on what you are betting.

For example, if you place a bet on Over/Under 2.5 goals, then the .5 is the ‘turning point’. You win if there are at least 3 goals scored, and you lose if the match ends with less than 2 goals scored.

Here’s an example…

If you still have difficulties understanding the concept, here’s another article on the .5 bet: A Brief Introduction to Over Under Goals Betting.

Betting on Goal Lines with Whole Numbers

Bets on whole numbers are often called Goal Lines or Asian Goal Lines. Although, technically, this isn’t correct as all bets described here are ‘goal lines’, but we will be using the term as it’s widely used by punters and bookmakers.

They are somewhat similar to Asian Handicap betting on the 1×2 result. As the name suggests, the possibility of a refund exists if a certain result comes in, in this case the ‘Goal Line’.

Similar to the AH, if the match finishes in a draw result (= ‘goal line’), it’s a “push”. The punter gets their money back. Otherwise, if there are less goals scored than the goal line, the stake is lost, and if more goals are scored, it is a win.

In the above example, if you were to bet on Over 2 Goals then you get your stake back (push) if the final score is exactly 2 goals (e.g. 2-0, 1-1, 0-2).

All the other Goal Lines naturally follow the same pattern.

Betting on .75 Goals or .25 Goals – or – Whole Number, .75 or .25

If the .5 bets are combined with Asian Goal Line bets, then you get .75 or .25 Goals bets. Half of your stake is placed on the .5 bet whilst the other half is placed on the Asian Goal Line bet.

These bets are often shown as either Over 2.25 – or – Over 2, 2.5.

For example, if you place a bet of £20 on Over 2, 2.5 it means that you are placing a split bet. £10 on the 2 Goals Asian Goal Line, and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

If the match finishes…

• with 3 or more goals, then you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 2 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (2 Goals Asian Goal Line), and you will lose the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with less than 2 goals… your entire stake is lost

The same applies to the .75 bets, as shown below:

In this example you place a £20 bet on the Over 2.5, 3 goal line. Again, you would be placing a split bet. £10 on the 3 Goals Asian Goal Line and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

If this match finishes…

• with 4 or more goals, you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 3 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (3 Goals Asian Goal Line), but you will win the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with 2 or less goals… your entire stake is lost

To be honest, I would recommend keeping your hands away from these bets, although it may sound tempting to get half of the stake back. Although these are referred to as being a single bet they are actually two completely different bets rolled into one!

If you do not really understand odds calculation and probabilities, then it is definitely a bet which bookmakers love! They can adjust the pricing as they like, without the average punter fully understanding the maths behind it, ensuring that the mathematical advantage lies with the bookmaker.

Anyway, the silver lining is that it is quite unlikely to be exposed to the temptation as these bets are rarely offered by European bookmakers.

Here is another diagram to demonstrating split bets:

Betting for Profit on Goals

At the end of the day the goal of each punter should be betting for profit. Am I right?

Bookmakers make a living from betting by using maths. They analyse and calculate the chances of an outcome and then price their bets. Of course, they make sure that the mathematical advantage is on their side, just like anyone operating a game of chance (e.g. Casinos).

The punter who relies only on gut feeling does not have a chance against the bookmakers.

However, with Over/Under Goal bets the punter at least has a chance to start understanding the statistics behind the bet. It isn’t too difficult to calculate the probabilities of the various results and number of goals in a game and to then find value bets.

If you are interested in starting to bet for profit, then you should seriously consider buying our Fundamentals of Sports Betting course. For the first volume, we have chosen to write about the Over/Under goal market as this is the easiest betting market to teach the fundamentals of statistics and maths on, without the need to dive deeper into more advanced formulas and concepts. Give it a try!

Asian Goal Line bets are not to be confused with Asian Handicap bets. The Asian Goal Line betting market offers punters the chance to make predictions on the amount of goals happening in the game. This type of bet is also referred to as Alternative Goal Lines.

What is an Asian Goal Line bet?

The difference between an Asian Goal Line bet and a regular goal line bet (like Over/Under 2.5 goals) is that the Asian Goal Line offers the chance at stake refunds.

It also offers quarter and half goal options along with the full goal options for a lot more variety and specialised betting.

How does an Asian Goal Line bet work?

For a given football match you make a prediction about the number of goals that are going to happen in it. For example, this could be Over 1. It does not matter which teams score the goals in the game, nor is the outcome of the match is relevant at all. Just the number of goals.

So if the game was to end in a 2-0 scoreline for one of the teams for example, the Asian Goal Line bet of Over 1.0 would win because the goals in the game was more than the prediction. If the game had ended in a 0-0 draw for example, then the bet would have lost as the prediction would not have been covered.

But what if the scoreline had been 1-0 which matches the number of goals in your initial prediction (Over 1.0)? Well the bet did not go over 1 goal and neither did it go under. So that means that a stake refund would be issued (a Push).

Under or over 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 goals explained

The advent of quarter and half goals add a whole new dimension to betting when it comes to Asian Goal Lines. What is the purpose of them? It is all about intervals.

Half Goals

A half goal will naturally be found as the interval between two whole goals. For example, an Over 1.5 goals option is sat between Over 1 and Over 2 options. The simple thing about half goal Asian Goal Line bets is that they eliminate the draw option. So no refund would be issued because no team is going to score half of a goal on the pitch. So if you backed Over 1.5 goals, then only two outcomes are in play, you either win (Over) or lose (Under).

Quarter Goals

In between a whole goal and a half goal option sits a quarter goal. For example, between Over 1 Goal and Over 1.5 Goals is the Over 1.25 Goals option. The quarter goal option splits a stake between the two bets either side of it.

If you place a £10 stake on Over 1.25 Goals, then £5 goes to the Over 1 Goal bet and the other £5 goes to the Over 1.5 Goal bet.

If there was only one goal in the game it means that a Push is created on the Over 1 Goal part of the bet (so a stake refund) but the stake on the 1.5 goal bet is lost totally. Therefore, in total, the bet is a half loss.

Full Goals

Any full goal Asian Goal Line bet is simply a matter of winning, losing or getting the full stake back if the goals in the game match the selected number of goals in your bet.

Asian Goal Line Chart / Table

Here is a chart of Asian Goal Line options and the results that would happen in different situations. Note that at online sportsbooks, it is common to see Asian Goal Lines (aka Alternative Goal Lines) presented purely in numerical value and so for reference, see the final column in the chart.

A winning example of an Asian Goal Line bet in football

So going into a game between Everton and Crystal Palace, you think that the game is going to be a high scoring affair. Both teams are scoring well and neither have been proficient at taking clean sheets.

Therefore, you back over 1.75 goals in the game. This is a quarter goal Asian Goal Line bet. Half the stake goes on Over 1.5 and half on Over 2 goals. The game ends in a 2-1 win for Everton for a total of three goals in the game.

So the basic outcome is that the three goals easily covered the Over 1.75 Goals option that you had backed to happen. The bet wins in its entirety.

Losing example of an Asian Goal Line bet in football

In the Everton v Crystal Palace game, you instead go Under 1.5 goals, because you think it is just going to be a boring, low key game. The game ends up being a 1-1 draw at the end of the day.

Again the result doesn’t matter at all, it is about the goals scored. The two goals that were scored beat the prediction that you had made that there would be under 1.5 goals. So the bet lost, there is no stake refund.

Asian Goal Line strategy

A basic strategy for Asian Goal Line betting is about looking for the opportunities that the quarter goals present. Instead of looking at for example Over 1.5 Goals, if you cut that down to go to Over 1.25 Goals then it creates a situation where you will only lose half of your stake if just one goal is scored in the game. It is small way to try and give a little bit of extra coverage to a bet.

Asian Goal Line Betting Explained

If one goal scored in a game where the Over 1.5 goals bet is played, you get nothing back. So it is digging into those smaller margins of options. Similarly, the quarter goals can be used to offer coverage when it comes to backing Under options. For example, Under 1.25 goals would at least create a half-win if there was just the one goal was scored.

What Is Goal Line Betting

How to place an Asian Goal Line bet on Bet365?

Line Betting Example

At some bookmakers, you will see the Asian Goal Lines being called Alternative Goal Lines. It is the same thing and they are interchangeable. At Bet365, browse to a specific match and go to the top menu for that game and click on Asian Lines.

Bet365 Goal Line Bet Explained

The fourth market down on the page is the Alternative Goal Line Market. You can just expand the market to see all the options that they have available. The odds are presented in numerical values in two columns and then you have the option to back a goal line under or over.