Like any other sport, rugby provides big opportunities for punters to make money from straight match bets to handicap markets. This can appear to be complicated for beginners, but with the right tips, you can always perfect your bets. Check out the following strategies for placing rugby bets.

Handicap betting

Handicap betting is one of the most popular forms of rugby betting on online betting websites such as NetBet Sport. Handicap betting involves picking a winner and the margin by which they win. Bookies establish the points margin depending on what they think will even it out the most.  Therefore, the more difference there is between two playing teams, the bigger the handicap.

For instance, if an Australian team has a -25handicap and the other team a +25handicap, this means that the bookies believe that Australia will win the game, so adding that handicap somewhat evens it out. Therefore, if the other team loses the game by 24points or under, you still win even if you bet on the other team and Australia is the overall winner. To win the bet, the Australian team has to win by more than 26points. Generally, handicap betting allows you to place a winning bet on your team even if they are weak.

Total points

Total points is a common market in rugby betting, so it is something you should learn and get involved in. This is simple as the only thing you have to do is predict if there will be more or fewer points to be scored at the given price. The best way to be perfect at this strategy is to research your teams and how strong their attacks are regarding their scored points in the matches leading up to the big game. It helps you make a better guess.

When using this strategy, consider the team's primary try-scoring players and the weather conditions. For instance, if you always bet on a high scoring match, it is never advisable to do that during wet weather conditions. When rugby is played during rainy weather conditions, the attacking style is usually much tougher, lowering the scoring matches.

Winning margin

You can find better rewards in the winning margin market if you are after better odds. In the winning margin, you make predictions in blocks of five points. For instance, you can support Bath to beat Harlequins by around 16-20points in the Premiership match. This might have prematch odds of 7/1. You win the bet if Bath beats Harlequins by 28-12, which means that Bath has won by 16points. This is the standard winning market.

Then there is the winning margin five-way market. You can use this if you would like to rack up a more regular and modest win since it lets punters make bets on more comprehensive outcomes of some of the matches. For instance, if you had bet on Bath versus Harlequins in the above example, there are more odds of Bath winning against Harlequins by 13points. That is not worse off if Bath is impressive in the previous matches running up to the main game.

The final words

The betting market you choose depends on your choice of games that you want to bet on and again about risk and exposure. It is advisable to research statistics and make lots of comparisons before you decide.