Scorecast & Wincast Bets
Football is one of the biggest betting sports there is, be that measured in terms of the value of bets placed on it, the number of people who wager on it regularly, the range of promotions the bookies offer or the number of markets on offer. When it comes to the different markets available for football betting, the sheer number of options – as many as 200 on big games – can be overwhelming, but scorecast betting remains one of the most popular bets around.
Here we take a look at exactly what scorecast betting is, why it exists, and what it makes it so popular. We’ve also got a couple of little tips when it comes to the strategy to employ when indulging in scorecast betting.
What is Scorecast Betting?
A scorecast is simply a bet on which player will score first and what the full time correct score will be. In a sense it is two bets rolled into one, a little like the “Match result and both teams to score” market, and it is classed as one single bet, as opposed to a double, for reasons we will explain later.
A scorecast bet involves, therefore, making two selections on one bet and most bookies allow you to choose your selections via a dropdown box for both parts of the bet. As such, in a game between Liverpool and Tottenham, you might decide that you fancy James Milner to score first and Liverpool to win 2-1. You would select these options from the first goalscorer and correct score dropdowns respectively and then the bookie would confirm the odds.
In order for your bet to win you need both parts of the bet to be successful, such that if Liverpool won 2-1 but Milner didn’t score first, your returns are zero. Similarly, if the former Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Man City midfielder did open the scoring but his side won 3-1, again you would lose your entire stake.
Wincast Bets
The bulk of this article focuses on scorecasts. However there is a very similar bet called a wincast which involves picking the match result along with the first goalscorer. So instead of selecting the correct score and first goalscorer you're predicting which team will win (or if it will be a draw) along with the first goalscorer. This is a less common form of the scorecast format and not offered by all bookmakers.
Who Offers Wincast Bets?
Whilst most British bookies offer scorecasts on a wide range of matches, less bookmakers offer odds on wincasts. Or if they do it's hidden in a coupon that's burried so deep in the site it's nearly impossible to find and those that do tend to offer them on less fixtures. Nevertheless, it is a market favoured by some punters and can be found at the following betting sites:
BetVictor - If available on a match you'll find this beneath the scorecast section of the fixture under the heading "Player to Score and Team to Win - 90 Mins". Click here to visit BetVictor.
Other Scorecast-Style Bets
As mentioned briefly above, there are a number of other related bets which are even less commonly found:
Anytime Scorecast - Exactly like a regular scorecast except instead of betting on the first goalscorer, you're betting on a player to score anytime (anytime goalscorer).
First Half Scorecast - Same as a standard scorecast, except you're betting on the score at half time rather than the 90 minute result.
Timecast - Finally we have the timecast where you predict the first goalscorer as well as the time the goal will be scored. An interesting bet that's not as hard as it sounds thanks to the time being split into blocks (such 1 to 20, 21 to 45, 46+).
Where available, you'll find these bets near the scorecast betting section of a match.
Why is a Scorecast Not a Double?
When placing an online or mobile bet the bookies’ software should not allow you to place a double on a first goalscorer and a correct score combination. For example, if England are playing Germany and you think Thomas Muller will score first and Germany will win 1-0, you can select those options separately at odds of 4/1 and 6/1 respectively. If this was a double, a £10 bet would return a very handsome £350, paying out at a massive 34/1. However, if you select those two options via the scorecast market you will find the odds are well shy of that – just 16/1 for a return of £170, less than half what the double would pay out.
This may seem unfair and you may think the bookies should allow you to place the bet as a double, or that the scorecast is actually a bad value bet where the bookmaker is trying to pay at lower odds than they should. However, this is not the case, simply because these two separate bets are what is called related contingencies. There is a little more about this concept in our discussion of accumulators and multiples betting but in essence this means that one part of the bet affects the probability of the other.
Where the result of one selection contributes either fully or in part to the outcome of another selection within the bet, these are classed as related contingencies and as such they cannot be combined as a double where the odds are effectively multiplied. Rather than two separate bets you have one overall outcome with odds that must be calculated separately.
If we refer back to our “Muller to score first and Germany to win 1-0” scorecast, it’s obvious that if Muller does indeed score first, that automatically implies that 1-0 is a more likely correct score than it otherwise would have been. At the very least, the fact that Muller has opened the scoring means that any score with a German “nil” is automatically impossible.
As such, once Muller has scored first, the true and fair odds of Germany winning 1-0 are significantly shorter than the initially quoted price of 6/1. 6/1 was the price when the game was 0-0, but with Germany leading, by definition, by 1-0, the odds are effectively much shorter, hence the scorecast odds and market reflect this.
Advantages of Scorecast Betting
When we say “advantages of scorecast betting”, what we really mean is to assess why this particular market is so popular. There are two main reasons why football betting fans love to have a scorecast punt and the most obvious of those is that it offers the chance of a sizeable return with only a small stake. Because you are predicting two separate outcomes, both of which in themselves are typically priced at relatively long odds, the overall odds of a scorecast can easily add up to something of a very significant level.
Going back to our game between international rivals Germany and England, whilst the 1-0/Muller scorecast delivers a chunky 16/1 return, tweaking those selections just slightly can see a huge increase in the odds. If we stick with a German win but opt instead for Harry Kane to score first, and increase the German win to3-1, those odds become a massive 135/1! That means that just a 50p stake will return £68!
The other great thing about a scorecast bet is that it gives you an interest in the game right from kick-off, as you wait with bated breath for the first leg of your wager to come in. Then, at the other end of the match, once you’ve landed the first goalscorer (FGS) half of the gamble you have the tension and excitement of waiting for your correct score prediction to be proved accurate. A bet on the correct score will only ever get exciting towards the end of the game (if it’s still alive by that point), whilst an FGS bet is settled as soon as the first goal goes in, but with a scorecast you get the best of both worlds.
Scorecast Tips
As alluded to above, scorecast bets are invariably available to back at lengthy odds but before you pile in, note that this is a reflection of the difficulty in actually landing them. Getting the first scorer is hard enough, as is correctly predicting the full time score, so clearly getting both legs of a scorecast correct is no mean feat.
However, we’ve got a few useful scorecast strategy tips that might just help you out. Essentially these are really just betting tips and ideas for the two separate legs of the bet, so if you’re an expert on correct score betting and/or FGS betting, you’ll probably be familiar with our advice.
Correct Score
When choosing your correct score it’s well worth noting that the vast majority of games fall within a small range of score options. The precise figures vary from league to league and year to year but as a general rule, in not far shy of 90% of games, neither side will score three goals. If you’re a fan of “Lawro’s Predictions”, his aversion to ever predicting above three doesn’t look so silly now! This is well worth noting when it comes to your correct score predictions, with 1-1 and a 2-1 home win the most likely scores from a purely statistical perspective.
However, you’re not betting on EVERY game in history, you are, of course, betting on one particular game and this is where research comes into it. Is a goalkeeper injured? Are lots of attacking players injured or likely to be rested? Would a draw be a good result for both sides? Factors such as these are crucial when it comes to picking the correct score and if you can put the time in there is unquestionably value to be had.
First Goal Scorer
When it comes to the FGS section of a scorecast, perhaps your best shot at value is by taking advantage of changes in formation or set-piece responsibilities. When the bookies price up these markets they don’t tend to do too much research, with fairly standard historical starts enough to set odds for most players.
However, this means the experienced and savvy scorecast expert or FGS betting geek may be able to take advantage. Is a full back now playing as a winger, or a winger as a striker? Has the striker who missed a penalty last week been taken off penalty duty and been replaced by a centre back? Does a team have a midfielder playing in a slightly different role, higher up the pitch and also now taking the majority of direct free-kicks?
Factors such as these can mean that a player who should be priced at odds of 8/1 in the FGS betting might be available at double that. This then has the knock-on effect that including them as your first scorer option in a scorecast can lead to massive value and with just a little luck, a bumper payout!