Everything you need to know about betting on Fantasy Premier League

The popularity of Fantasy Premier League shows no sign of waning so it was perhaps inevitable that betting companies would latch on to it sooner rather than later.

In this article we will look at the types of wagers that you might be able to place, where you can place such wagers and how you can improve your chances of making a profit from your bets.

Types of bets

Betting sites can be difficult to navigate if you are not familiar with betting parlance so let’s look at some of the different type of wagers that you might be able to place a bet on.

Fantasy H2H Matchups

This is where two players oppose each other in a matchup (or game) and ‘money line’ odds are offered about each participant scoring more fantasy points than his rival. So, for example, a gameweek matchup might feature Mo Salah versus Sergio Aguero. If the latter goes on to accumulate the most points then wagers on Aguero will be graded as winning bets while wagers on Salah would be losers. If both players hit the same score then bets are settled as a ‘push’ (money returned to the punter).

However, it is not just the money line that might be available. A handicap (or spread) such as Salah (-1.5 points) might also be offered. In this scenario, Salah would have to score at least 2 points more than Aguero, otherwise bets placed on Aguero (+1.5) would be deemed winners.

The total number of points gained by both players might also be offered as an Over/Under (e.g. Over/Under 14.5 points) in addition to lines for each individual player, sometimes referred to as team totals (e.g. Salah Over/Under 8.5 points, Aguero Over/Under 7.5 points). In these instances, wagers can be placed on any of the various outcomes.

Outrights/Futures

Rather than just focusing on two players, outright markets will list a group of players. A good example would be ‘Highest scoring defender in Gameweek 5’.

Not every defender will be listed of course, so wagers will be settled according to points scored by the players that are in the group offered. If two or more accrue the same number of points then dead heat rules will come into play with the stake being split accordingly.

Prop bets/Exotics

Wagers don’t necessarily have to be restricted to a single gameweek either. BetOnline offered a number of novelty bets at the start of the season where you could wager on the number of times that Harry Kane would hit maximum bonus points, while the number of dream team appearances Paul Pogba might make was also among the featured markets.

Where can you bet on Fantasy Premier League?

In addition to the aforementioned BetOnline, a number of other bookmakers have also been dipping their toes into those murky FPL waters. William Hill have been offering outright markets on the various playing positions, while Norsk Tipping have been catering for Norwegian clients. Australian bookmaker BetEasy has also entered the fray while Russian bookie BetCity is also offering fantasy matchups. It should be noted that the latter uses a ‘local’ results source though instead of the Official Fantasy Premier League website.

It’s also worth noting that fantasy sports specialists’ FanTeam offer a number of same-game matchups, cross-game matchups and player totals in their sportsbook section.

How to win at Fantasy Premier League betting?

Try to choose a bookmaker that has attractive ‘margins’. You wouldn’t bet ‘heads’ in a coin toss at 1/2 (1.5 in decimal odds , -200 in US prices) so work out how much juice the company has factored into their prices.

The big advantage you have is that this is still a niche product and these are the sort of markets that can be exploited. If you have access to a prediction model or the ability to produce your own then you could easily find that you are more accurate at estimating the expected number of points for the players in question. If there are notable discrepancies take advantage!

Of course, the bookmakers are likely to get more skilled at setting their odds as time progresses so make hay while the sun shines!