TL;DR
- Rugby wagering involves understanding result markets and handicap betting for predicting outcomes.
- Fractional odds like 5/1 mean a £5 profit for every £1 wagered, plus your stake back.
- Accumulators combine multiple bets for higher returns, but all selections must win.
- Prop bets focus on player or team statistics, while futures bets are on future tournament winners.
rugby, a truly thrilling global sport, has also gradually risen in popularity for wagering, especially as the new Champions Cup season is slated to commence in early December.
Annually, competitions such as the Six Nations, the Rugby Championship, and Super Rugby are held, alongside domestic leagues in England and France, and the United Rugby Championship, featuring clubs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and South Africa.
The World Cup occurs every four years (e.g., 2027, 2031), and so does the British and Irish Lions tour (e.g., 2025, 2029) to one of the Southern Hemisphere countries: New Zealand, Australia, or South Africa. The Women's World Cup final is also scheduled for this weekend.
Curious about becoming one of the many rugby enthusiasts who now place bets? This guide covers all you need to know, including key matches, how to interpret odds, various bet types, and additional details.
A comprehensive online guide for novices on how to place wagers on rugby.
Grasping Rugby wagering probabilities
Understanding rugby betting odds is crucial, and they're quite simple once you grasp the two fundamental terms:
- Result Market
- Handicap betting
These are the odds set by bookmakers regarding the likely outcome of a game, encompassing wins, losses, or ties, as well as the projected point differential.
Beyond these fundamental methods, numerous other rugby betting possibilities exist, which we'll explore shortly.
MORE: How to read and understand betting odds
Result Market
In rugby betting, results markets are straightforward: they represent the value, typically shown as a decimal or fraction depending on the odds format you're viewing (check out our full guide to understanding odds here), allocated to each team participating in a game.
This figure indicates each team's probability of winning the contest, including the possibility of a draw. When individuals place bets on the outright victor of a game, they are engaging with the win market or result.
When odds are described as 'short,' it generally indicates the favored team's chances, meaning the side sportsbooks anticipate will emerge victorious. Conversely, 'longer' odds, signified by a higher number, correspond to the underdog, or the team with a lesser probability of winning the contest.
Rugby gamblers will consistently receive a smaller return on a successful wager with lesser odds, and gain a larger profit from a winning bet's payout when the odds are higher.
Rugby frequently features unbalanced contests, even within significant competitions. Betting on the win market lets wagerers select outright victors, while simultaneously permitting bookmakers to cap their exposure to heavily favored teams.
How to read rugby odds
Understanding rugby odds is straightforward. The U.K. Most frequently employs fractional odds, which are presented as a ratio, for instance, 5/1 (said as five to one).
To clarify, this signifies that for each £1 wagered, a £5 profit is attainable. Consequently, a £10 wager on a 5/1 selection that wins would result in a £60 payout, which includes your initial £10 stake.
In rugby, imagine you're considering a wager on England defeating France on Paddy Power. Should England be favored at 2/1 odds, this indicates you'd receive double your investment for each £1 wagered. A successful bet would also result in the return of your initial stake.
Should you believe France will achieve the upset, a £10 wager on them at odds of 4/1 would yield a £40 profit if they succeed.
Rugby Handicap betting
Oddsmakers also utilize the handicap method to establish rugby match odds. This involves oddsmakers evaluating each team in a contest, taking into account their respective strengths, weaknesses, and other relevant elements, and then assigning a 'handicap value' that forecasts the margin of victory for the favored team.
Handicap betting exchanges the odds for winning with the possibility of winning by a specific margin. You can wager on a team to possess a simulated lead, achieved by adding or subtracting points from their final tally. This is indicated by a plus (+) or minus (–) symbol preceding the odds on the bookmaker's platform.
Therefore, a positive handicap in a rugby game would grant one side a simulated lead, perhaps of +10 points.
In a rugby game, a negative handicap would impose a virtual deficit on one side, such as -10 points.
After the game concludes, the bookmaker will adjust the actual match score by either adding or subtracting the handicap to ascertain if your wager was successful.
Regarding the hypothetical England-France game, England could be offered with a -10 point handicap at odds of 11/10.
Should England defeat France by a margin exceeding 10 points, your wager is successful. If England wins, but their lead is 10 points or fewer, your bet is lost.
Accumulator betting in rugby
Rugby accumulators have seen a surge in popularity for betting lately. Essentially, these 'accas' let punters merge several individual wagers (legs) into a single substantial bet, aiming for a significantly higher potential return. The probability of success is reduced since every single bet within the accumulator needs to be correct for the bet to yield any winnings at all. Consequently, the possible payout is amplified.
Accumulators require bettors to link just two selections, though typically the most favored accas include between three and five legs. As bettors increase the number of combined wagers on their bet slip, their risk escalates, consequently leading to a larger potential payout.
Sportsbooks typically allow bettors to add between two and 12 matches in accumulators.
Figuring out an accumulator payout
Having grasped the definition of an accumulator, or 'acca', and the method for placing such a bet, we'll now briefly outline the process for determining an acca bet's value.
After determining the probabilities for each contest or wager, simply divide the total return by the wager sum and include a starting unit stake of 1.
Let’s imagine a £10 accumulator bet on these match-ups:
England to beat France (4/6)
Ireland to beat Wales (7/5)
Scotland to beat Wales (11/8)
Those odds can be broken down like this:
England: 4/6 means £4 payout for every £6 staked + 1 = 1.67
Ireland: 7/5 means £7 payout for every £5 staked + 1 = 2.4
Scotland: 11/8 means £11 payout for every £8 staked + 1 = 2.38
Each of those three numbers we calculated is your multiplier. Now, just multiply those numbers to get your accumulator odds. 1.67 x 2.62 x 1.83 = 9.53904.
That final figure is 9.5, indicating your returns would amount to £8.50 for each pound wagered on that specific accumulator. In simpler terms, your £10 stake has now become an £85 payout.
If you dislike mathematics or simply wish to avoid the hassle of manually computing your accumulator odds repeatedly, rest assured. The majority of sports betting platforms handle this task for you, and numerous independent acca calculators are readily available online.
Betting on rugby player statistics and prop bets
Betting on rugby props, which focus on team or player statistics, has gained significant traction. These wagers let you predict whether a team or player will exceed or fall short of a specific statistical mark, the point difference in a game, halftime outcomes, and other possibilities.
You can bet over/under team props on all sorts of statistics, including total points, total tries.
Regarding participants, wagers can be placed on individuals to score first tries, to score tries at any point during the game, and on the total points accumulated by a specific player, typically the designated goal kicker.
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Rugby futures betting
A different enjoyable way to wager on rugby involves the futures market, enabling enthusiasts to bet on the occurrence of future events. Rugby aficionados have the option to make futures wagers on teams securing victories in upcoming tournaments.
Common rugby betting terminology includes phrases like "handicap betting," where a team is given a virtual lead or deficit to level the playing field. "Outright winner" refers to betting on the team that will win the entire tournament or competition. "First try scorer" is a popular bet on which player will score the opening try of a match. "Correct score" involves predicting the exact final score of a game. "In-play betting" allows wagers to be placed while a match is in progress, with odds constantly updating.
- Action – Any wager, or any bet you have on any match.
- Bonus – Funds or free bets rewarded or gifted via promotions run by a sportsbook.
- Book/Bookmaker – A sportsbook, AKA an establishment that accepts bets on the outcome of sports events.
- Favourite – "Betting the favourite" is putting money on the projected winner.
- Cover – This occurs when the favored team surpasses the specified point margin or when the underdog's defeat falls short of the required points, or if they achieve victory.
- Underdog – The team projected to lose, always getting points and usually yielding plus odds.
- Futures – Wagers made on a future event's result, such as an award, championship, or scoring title.
- Handicapper – Someone who studies and bets on sporting events.
- Handle – Total amount of bets taken on a sporting event.
- Hold – The percentage amount the sportsbook makes.
- Hedging – Placing a wager on the opposing team or side to your initial bet, aiming to either secure a middle outcome or lessen the risk of your first bet.
- Hook – A half-point, used by sportsbooks to avoid a push (no betting win or loss).
- Laying the Price – To bet the favourite by laying odds.
- Limit – The maximum wager accepted by the sportsbook on a particular loffering.
- Long shot – A team heavily expected to lose.
- Outright bet – A bet on the straight-up winner of a game, underdog or favourite.
- Over/Under (total) bet – A bet that applies to the final score/total points in a given contest.
- Acca/Accumulator – A parlay combines multiple wagers into one; all individual bets must be successful for the overall parlay to pay out.
- Price – The odds of a game or wager.
- Prop bet – A bet placed on whether a particular occurrence will or won't take place during a game, often concerning statistics. For instance: Will Maro Itoje cross the try line during the game? Will a red card be issued in the match?
- Spread bet – This wager is based on the projected difference in scores between the competing teams. A negative sign (-) signifies the favored team, while a positive sign (+) denotes the underdog.
Commonly asked questions about placing bets on rugby matches
Rugby betting: what do +/- mean?
In rugby wagering, the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols denote either the point spread or the betting odds when employing American odds. These symbols also signify if a handicap is essentially augmenting or diminishing a player's or duo's total match score.
Odds
As a tournament progresses, favorites typically see their odds shorten, unless the competition is too close to predict with multiple players having low odds. Conversely, teams with a lesser chance of winning will have extended odds.
Rugby betting: what's a unit?
In sports wagering, a unit serves as a metric for bet size. Its primary purpose stems from the varying bankrolls of individuals, with a unit representing a percentage of one's total betting funds. Typically, a single unit equates to 1% of a bankroll, though this proportion can differ among bettors.
Rugby gamblers, particularly novices, ought to set aside bankrolls. Always wager within your financial limits and with sums you can afford to lose.
For instance, if your bankroll is £1,000, a single unit would represent £10, or 1%. Consequently, if someone places three units on a bet through a sports betting app, that amounts to a £30 wager. When an individual suggests betting 3-5 units on a particular wager, they're indicating a high degree of confidence in its likelihood of winning.
The 2-5 rule in betting suggests that for every five bets you make, two should be considered "safe" or low-risk, while the remaining three can be higher-risk or "speculative" bets.
Numerous bankroll management theories are available, leaving you to determine which approach or strategy suits you best. The Kelly Criterion, also known as the 2-5 rule, advises that gamblers should not wager more than 2-5 percent of their total funds on any single bet.
When kicking off the football season with a £500 bankroll, the 2-5 rule suggests your maximum wager shouldn't exceed £25. Your bet amounts would then shrink in proportion to your bankroll's decline.
A strong return on investment (ROI) in rugby betting is generally considered to be anything above 10%.
A seasoned bettor would agree that doubling your stake is a favorable outcome. Some, however, opt for less risky bets with smaller returns, aiming for a profit of 10 percent or 20 percent. Individual preferences vary, much like the size of each person's betting fund.