Ahead of any major international tournament, the average fan looks at the fixtures and, first of all, picks out their own team, who they play and when.

After that – or immediately, if you’re in one of about 170 countries that didn’t make it – the next priority is looking for the titanic clashes, games between two possible winners, teams that seeding should probably have kept apart, where betting at Cloudbet has the sides neck and neck. Games that commentators like to trail as “a real treat for the neutral”. These games are fun to watch, but betting on them can be a headache.

Sometimes though, the games you should look out for are the ones with an obvious underdog. There are no bad teams at this World Cup. Even Qatar, whose hosting of the tournament saw them qualify for the first time, have gained some pedigree in winning the Asian Cup. But in most group games, there is a clear favourite; and sometimes, the confidence the bookmaker has in a favourite can be misplaced.

We’ve looked for World Cup games where the underdog has a real and legitimate chance of winning, and the three best are below…

Portugal vs Ghana, 24th November, Group H

As the first round of group fixtures draws to a close, one of the most iconic players in the World prepares to take to the pitch. But how sharp will he be for this opener? Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t been starting for Manchester United, and that’s unlikely to change significantly between now and late November.

Everything Portugal do goes through him, and that could be a problem against a Ghanaian squad filled with talent and pace. If CR7 takes a moment to get up to his top level, he – and his country – could be in for a deeply frustrating evening in Doha.

Croatia vs Canada, 27th November, Group F

The recent Nations League form displayed by Croatia could mark them out as decent dark horses for the competition, although how dark they can really be having made the final in 2018 is up for debate. On the other hand, their last major tournament outing saw some fairly mediocre performances before they were knocked out in the last 16 by Spain.

Many people will look at Group F, rounded out by Belgium and Morocco, and see the two European sides as obvious qualifiers for the next round. But Croatia, with an ageing team and no world-class striker, could struggle here against an energetic Canada side that will be loved by the neutrals.

Poland vs Argentina, 30th November, Group C

Argentina have finally usurped Brazil as Copa America champions, and will hope to give Leo Messi a World Cup to remember as he (probably) bids farewell to the competition. They definitely have a forgiving group, with Mexico well short of the peak of their powers and Saudi Arabia arguably the least talented side in the tournament.

Poland, who so often flatter to deceive in major competitions, could be a fly in the ointment. The South American side, though skillful further up the pitch, contains more than one defender who could be described as “having a mistake in him”. That’s not what you want when facing Robert Lewandowski, a player of genuine class who wants a big World Cup after previous disappointments.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/8lnbXtxFGZw

For thousands of years people have been drawn to risk and opportunity. Gambling was therefore already very early an exciting thing to do. Long before the invention of slot machines, poker, blackjack and roulette people attended certain sporting and competitive events placing free bets of winners and losers of the competition.

Today the betting and gambling industry is one of the biggest in the world making more money than the entire music and film industry put together. While more and more people get into the business of online casino slot games, enjoying the new opportunities the internet and certain inventions like the new digital cryptocurrencies have brought to the industry, others are more interested in sport events and betting on them.

In the United Kingdom alone the betting industry has reached a value of more that 14.5 billion pounds,  between 2017 and 2018. There is no doubt that the industry has grown a lot since then.

Betting has become more and more popular over the last couple of years. With the industry growing also advertising the whole thing has reached a new point, getting more and more people on board. Nowadays you can not only bet on horse racing but on every kind of sport you can think of.

While the old sentence “The house always wins.” may often still be true, players have found ways to avoid high risks and look for new strategies that increase their chances of winning such as so called “value bets”.

As many people keep on making the same mistakes losing their money, we have put together some simple instructions for finding the best bets with value.

What strategies and odds exist?

People have developed many different strategies and calculations to find the best bet. As betting is about randomness, it is all about the odds. Understanding the basic systems that exist for odds can be crucial to successful betting.

One kind of system is called Decimal Odds or European Odds. This system is mostly used by European, Australian and Canadian bookies. It is a pretty easy system for calculating potential winnings. All you have to do is to multiply your stake by the European odds and then take away your initial stake.

That means that if the odds stand at 2.75 for the team that you chose to bet on and you bet 20 pounds, you multiply 2.75 with your stake of 20 getting 55 and subtract the initial stake of 20 pounds, which leaves you with 35. That means you would make 35 pounds profit if your bet is right or lose all your 20 pounds if not.

Another system is called American Odds, that is obviously it is used by mostly North Americans. At first sight this system looks pretty confusing but it is still pretty helpful. The idea here is that the odds are represented by the amount of money you must bet in order to win 100 dollars if the odds have a minus symbol.

A plus symbol means that the number represents your profit if you bet 100 dollars. In an example of Trabzonspor playing against Diyarbakırspor with Trabzonspor having odds of -175 and Diyarbakırspor +700 and you bet on Trabzonspor, you must bet 175 dollars to make 100 dollars profit. If you bet on Diyarbakırspor betting 100 dollars will bring you additional 700 dollars in case of winning.

That may seem confusing but it is important to understand those systems in order to get an overview over what is happening to your money.

What are value bets?

Now we should talk about what are value bets and how to find them. The idea is easy. You try to find a wager at favorable odds that will offer you an advantage over the bookmaker. Do not forget that you not only play against the odds but also always against the bookie. But some have found ways to beat the bookies systematically.

A “value” bet is something you have if the likelihood of an event happening is significantly higher than what the bookmaker’s odds indicate. That sounds like a dream of course, but there is a way to find those opportunities.

For instance, the oddsmaker is giving Diyarbakırspor 2.50 to defeat Rizespor. This event’s suggested chance of happening is 100/2.50 – 40. In other words, the oddsmaker predicts that Diyarbakırspor will win the game 40% of the time. If Diyarbakırspor has a 45% probability of winning, you have an advantage since the “actual” odds should be 100/45 = 2.22.

Long-term financial gain is possible if you continuously place bets at odds of 2.50 while the correct odds are 2.22. If you play right you will have a great opportunity to increase your chances and actually win.

How to find value bets?

Now that we found out what value bets actually are and stated that they exist, we just have to find a way to identify and find them.

The key here is simply knowledge. To know a lot about the sport, the teams, the players and the history of the past events will give you the tools to know better than the bookie.  Specializing is the best way to begin sports betting. It’s a good idea to specialize in leagues and competitions that you are already familiar with in particular. You will be able to apply what you have learned to other leagues and tournaments once you have built your sense of betting value by concentrating on leagues you are familiar with. Prior to starting to diversify your portfolio, stick to what you know best.

Specializing in specific sports or leagues is a smart idea, at least at the start of your betting career. And it’s a good idea to do it in a league or sport you are already familiar with. If for example you are into football in Turkey and follow what is going on in the first league, you should start betting here.

If your main knowledge is about Hockey and you follow the British National Hockey League that is the right place to start. The more you know about the match that is about to happen and all its participants, the more sure you can be about its odds. As soon as you see the bookie got it wrong, you bet and win.

British Champions Days at Ascot is one of the highlights of the year in horse racing in the UK. It is the end-of-the-season championship on the Flat calendar, so it often includes many of the leading horses from their respective divisions.

Here is a look at the best tips for this year’s meeting at the Berkshire racecourse.

Stradivarius, the Value in Long Distance Cup

There has been very little between Trueshan, Kyprios, and Stradivarius this season in the stayers’ division. Arguably the horse who has been the unluckiest of the three is the latter. He found traffic in running the Ascot Gold Cup, while in the Goodwood Cup, he went down by just a neck.

🥊 A glorious @Goodwood_Races Cup!!

The three big guns fight out a thriller with Kyprios seeing off the gallant Stradivarius & Trueshan for @Ballydoyle & Ryan Moore

🏆 G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup
🏆 G1 Ascot Gold Cup
🏆 G3 Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes
🏆 Listed Vintage Crop Stakes pic.twitter.com/iZJ3yTUwrO

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 26, 2022

Despite having consistent form in 2022, Stradivarius can be backed at 6/1 for the British Champions Long Distance Cup. He is likely to be one of the best horse racing tips for the card, as the former winner remains at the top of his game.

The eight-year-old did not enter the Doncaster Cup at the St Leger Festival this season. He should go into British Champions Day relatively fresh, for what could be the final assignment of his illustrious career.

Alcohol Free to Have More Sprinting Glory

Four-time Group One winner Alcohol Free had a lot of success over the sprint distances in the early stages of her career. Most of her runs since then have come over 1m, which has meant she has bumped into Baaeed on a few occasions.

The four-year-old filly dropped back to 6f in the July Cup at Newmarket on her penultimate outing and she showed all her speed, prevailing in a strong field that included Naval Crown, Perfect Power, and Creative Force.

Andrew Balding’s runner is the highest rated runner in the British Champions Sprint Stakes, yet she will be receiving 3lb from the opposite sex in the race. At 6/1 in the betting, she represents the bet for the 6f contest.

Classy Inspiral Can End the Season on a High

John and Thady Gosden’s filly Inspiral ended last season as the leading two-year-old filly. An injury meant she made a belated return to action in 2022, missing the Classics at Newmarket and Epsom.

Oh wow! Inspiral is amazing in the Coronation Stakes under @FrankieDettori! #RoyalAscot @CPStudOfficial pic.twitter.com/rzr1hJVdNd

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 17, 2022

The daughter of Frankel made up for missing the Oaks by prevailing in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot by just under five lengths. It was one of the most striking performances of the season so far by a filly.

Defeat followed at Newmarket in the Falmouth Stakes, but she soon bounced back in France, landing the Group One Prix Jacques Le Marois under the hands of her regular pilot Frankie Dettori.

Inspiral is the 5/2 favourite for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes where she will be taking on the opposite sex once again. The talented filly will not need to worry about Baaeed, who looks set to run in the Champions Stakes, so this is a good opportunity for her to add to her tally.

British Champions Day takes place on Saturday, 15th October. There will be six races across the afternoon at Ascot.

For many football fans, the knockout stages of the World Cup are where it gets exciting. Each game pits one top team against another, and a team that wins in the last sixteen is suddenly just a couple of games away from the final.

We’ve seen enough weird sporting results in the last few years to know that anything can happen in a one-off game, so of course this stage of the tournament is interesting. But for others, there’s nothing to beat the group stage. And before you chuckle at that idea, bear in mind a few points.

While World Cup betting is on a knife-edge when only the best teams are left in, the underestimated joy of a global football tournament is seeing teams you’re not used to watching.

The group stage is also when there is the most football to watch: up to four games a day, which is heaven for many fans. And there is always the Group of Death. That one group which, however it pans out, is going to bring bad news for a team that should really be in the tournament longer. Looking at the 2022 World Cup betting, which group is that this time around?

Group B?

Some pundits have named this as the Group of Death, and let’s be blunt: we’re not convinced. England need to get past Wales, the USA and Iran in this group. While the meeting with Wales throws up some regional rivalry and the massive complication that is Gareth Bale in a Wales shirt, anyone betting on the World Cup accepts that England should have enough about them to win that game.

The USA national team is not bad, but by the middling standards of past USMNTs it’s far from the best. As for Iran, they are blessed with some highly gifted individuals, but the squad is beset by disharmony and the national FA tried to sack the coach in July to the displeasure of half the squad. They then reinstated him, to the displeasure of the other half. Group of Death? Nah.

Group F?

This is a little more interesting. Belgium and Croatia were third and second respectively in Russia four years ago, and both will feel that they could have won the whole thing with a bit more luck.

Reasonable analysis and the odds here at in2bet.com.cy, however, suggest that both sides have fallen back a little in the last four years and could be vulnerable. Canada cut a dash through CONCACAF qualifying, leaving the USA and Mexico in their wake, and won’t make life comfortable for anyone, Morocco, meanwhile, may be tipped to end up bottom of the group, but the presence of players such as Amine Harit and Achraf Hakimi makes them a dangerous opponent.

Group E

We’re just going to say it: this is the Group of Death. This is particularly bad news for Japan, who will probably be one of its two victims. There are plenty of talented players in the Japanese squad – as any Celtic fan will tell you.

However, they will face Germany, Spain and Costa Rica in this group. That’s two of the last three winners and favourites in World Cup 2022 betting, plus a Costa Rican side which always shows up at the finals. The winner of this group is rewarded with a last-16 game against the runners-up of the group above, so congratulations to anyone in Groups A through D; you’ve definitely got the easier half of the draw.