Bookies, especially online, are having to deal with higher competition than ever, especially as online betting makes sports betting so easy and accessible with many more markets on offer.
To grab punter’s attention, they’re creating markets that are perhaps a little more complicated, but no one moans when they win.
The Betfair and BetVictor sites, in particular, have introduced something pretty astonishing, called Man of the Match betting.
The issue with most bets is that it’s obvious if it’s going to be a winner, or not. And you usually know why. If you’re betting that both teams will score a goal, and they don’t, you lose your bet. It’s pretty simple, either the event happens, or it doesn’t. You win, or lose. It’s pretty binary. Man of the match betting, though, is a little more interesting.
What is Man of the Match betting?
It’s a cool market offered by both BetVictor and Betfair for the most part. The bet does what it says on the tin. You can put a stake next to the man you think will be named man of the match by whoscored.com. This bet can feel a little chaotic because it’s so uncertain until the very end of the match. It’s very subjective, and that’s what makes you bite your nails. Who you think deserves it might not be who gets it.
Luckily, whoscored.com doesn’t have feelings. They have statistics. If you disagree with it, tough. It doesn’t matter what you think, what Sky Sports think, or your mates in the pub. Once it’s decided by whoscored.com, it’s final.
What makes whoscored.com so special?
Whoscored.com works on a unique algorithm that produces accurate statistics for all players as the match unfolds. The number-crunching in the background really is quite something and nothing the average Joe could hope to understand. It basically reviews their impact on the game, either negative or positive. They’ll be marked for things like successful passes or assists, or equally fouls, etc.
Whoscored.com gets data from Opta, which is the Godfather of data suppliers. Updates happen twice a minute and Opta will spend 5 minutes post-match reviewing things. Ten minutes after the whistle has blown, Whoscored announce the man of the match. All players start on a rating of 6, but the range is from 0-10. Their final number depends on their match performance. This is what the bet works off.
Filter Past Results
You can see what players within a team have previously been named. You can see when it happened at home or away, over a whole season. You can filter by competition too if you think a given player is better at Champions League games than any other.
MOTM betting, in all honesty, isn’t something new. Paddy Power offers something similar but they rely on Sky Sports to name the man. Betfair and BetVictor are the only two who rely on whoscored.com for the data. So, they’re the only two relying solely on data, rather than gut feeling. It doesn’t give punters any assistance in predicting the right name, but you can be 100% sure that it’s been chosen fairly.
Any tips for a good bet?
Sometimes players don’t earn themselves a high enough rating to be named. You might not cast them aside altogether, but you’d have to have some steely confidence that they were going to do something special on the pitch.
Always do your homework on the team. You should watch the press conference, typically the day before a match and listen to what the manager hsa to say. Some won’t give a lot away but others will at least tell you if a star player is coming out to play. You can usually read between the lines when they don’t explicitly say something if you’re a loyal fan and already have an idea of what’s going on at the club.
Listen to what the fans say and do some googling of recent sports media. You can get a good sense of squad predictions. You can look into how a specific man has performed in the past against a particular team in their recent game. Don’t just go with the long odds because they’re set that way for a reason. There’s so much information you can tap into to make sure your bet is a likely one.
Which format offers the best odds?
As it’s been said, there are only two main bookies so it’s simple comparing their odds.
You simply have to compare and go with the one that either has a bonus offer for a new account that you can use in conjunction with your bet to get the most out of it, or go with the one you find easier to use. To answer this question, it doesn’t matter, go with your own preference (and the bigger bonus offer for a new account).
What terms and conditions should I be aware of?
What is it we’re told? Always read the label.
There are a few things to keep in mind. If you put a bet on a player and they then don’t go on to play, this counts as a non-runner so your stake will be refunded. If, however, they’re sat on the bench until the final few minutes when they’re subbed in and they get all of 4 minutes in the spotlight, that’s just bad luck. Maybe they’d be the best 4 minutes of football ever seen? If they stay on the bench, or they’re not even part of the squad at all and they’re at home watching the game on telly, that’s not your fault and you’ll get a refund.
Dead Heat Rules
Be aware of dead heat rules. It’s not impossible to have two players be named in one game. This could be down to the fact that there are various companies with slightly different metrics, measuring players for the same outcome. Dead heat rules will apply when one of the players you’ve placed a bet on is named. Your stake, sadly, will be halved (or worse, if more than 2 are named), then multiplied by the odds.
Also, it’s worth checking out which authority determines the man. Some rely on a particular broadcaster like Sky Sports, ITV or BT Sports (which will help you with the bet too, if you watch the content leading up to matches).
Summary
Man of the match bets is a niche kind of sports gambling option that can win you a big bonus if the odds are good and you’ve done your research. If you follow a specific team you’ll have an idea of the man to put your stake against in a given game. If you regularly follow an entire football league and love to watch all the matches then you’ll have good knowledge on who to base your bet. Football has a lot of bets to offer during a single game, let alone the whole league.
Choosing one man of the match in a single game is a dream for the avoid sports betting and football fans, especially if paired with a bonus offer for a new account which enables them to win big online.
