Sports betting is not just about who will win and who will lose a particular event. In
fact, the outcome 🌜 of the overall event is completely irrelevant when wagering on many
proposition bets such as the yellow and red cards/total 🌜 bookings markets.
Wagering on
yellow and red cards might not seem like an obvious bet choice to new punters, but it
🌜 is a very popular market amongst more seasoned bettors. This is because the statistics
are easy to research, and rules 🌜 are straightforward.
This gives the bettor more of a
sense that they are making an informed decision based on data rather 🌜 than just going on
gut instinct. Of all the stats-friendly markets, betting on cards is one of the easiest
for 🌜 punters to quickly get up to speed on.
Those looking to become knowledgeable about
a particular market can easily find stats 🌜 or keep their own records of cards issued in
their league of choice, or even across multiple leagues. By delving 🌜 deep into these
niche markets, it can sometimes be easier to find high-value bets.
So let’s take a
closer look at 🌜 the choices available in the bookings market.
First Bookings
There are
several ways in which you can bet on yellow and red 🌜 cards. The first, and most simple,
way is to bet on which team will receive the first booking in the 🌜 match.
The odds for
each team to be booked first are usually quite close to EVENS in this market, while the
🌜 odds for no booking at all are typically quite high, often as much as 16/1 such is the
rarity of 🌜 this occurrence. You can find all betting odds explained in our handy
guide.
A much harder bet to predict is which 🌜 player will be booked first, but there are
plenty of hot-headed characters out there who attract action in this market.
This 🌜 bet
can also be attractive if there is a big derby game involving a player with a feisty
reputation. In 🌜 such a situation, the next bet types could also come into play.
Team To
Have A Player Sent Off
Bettors who feel 🌜 that a particular game might get a bit heated
could be tempted to delve into this market. Just predict if 🌜 a team will have a player
sent off at any point in the encounter.
The price you are offered could be 🌜 affected by
many factors such as the team’s reputation, their previous dismissal record and which
team they are facing.
A Specific 🌜 Player To Be Sent Off
Much like the previous bet but
you must name the player who you think is going 🌜 to see red. Certain players are more
likely to get sent off than others and certain games can produce more 🌜 reds than
others.
Identifying the teams, players and head-to-head encounters that are more likely
to draw a dismissal is the key 🌜 to finding value in this market.
Of the players still
active in the game, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos holds the record 🌜 for the highest number
of red cards received with a total of 23 accumulated over a 16 year period.
But
remarkably, 🌜 he has never been sent off while playing for the Spanish national team
despite making 149 appearances.
Having said that, Ramos 🌜 still has a long way to go to
match the record of 46 red cards picked up by retired Colombian 🌜 defensive midfielder
Gerardo Bedoya.
The hot-headed former Millonarios and Santa Fe man was once suspended
for 15 matches for violent conduct 🌜 following an incident in the Bogota derby.
Total
Booking Points
This market is appealing to regular punters because there is no
requirement 🌜 to predict the exact player or team to which the cards will be
issued.
Wagers are simply placed according to the 🌜 overall number of booking points that
will be accumulated in the game.
To bet in this market you need to understand 🌜 the
booking points system. All bookmakers use a points system to allocate values to the
cards.
For example, at 888sport, the 🌜 following point are allocated bookings:
Yellow
card = 10 points
Red card = 25 points
Two yellow cards leading to a red = 🌜 35
points
This makes it easy for bettors to understand and allows markets to be set at
certain benchmarks. Here are 🌜 a few bets that you may be offered in this market:
Over
3.5 booking points
Under 3.5 booking points
Home team Under 1.5 🌜 booking points
Home
team Over 1.5 booking points
Home team Under 1.5 booking points
Home team Over 1.5
booking points
So, for the Premier 🌜 League match between Arsenal and Newcastle in
December, 888sport were offering 5/4 for under 3.5 cards and 11/20 for over 🌜 3.5
cards.
However, Arsenal were 6/4 to receive over 1.5 points, while Newcastle were 1/2
in the same market, suggesting that 🌜 visitors were expected to take up more space in the
referee's book.
Handicap Cards Betting
Handicap betting on cards works the same 🌜 as in
any other soccer handicap market. The bookmaker will give one side an advantage or head
start over the 🌜 other in order to balance any perceived bias between the two.
A team
with a -1 handicap would have to receive 🌜 one booking point just to draw level with the
other team who would start with a +1 handicap. If the 🌜 first team received two more
booking points than the second, the handicap bet would win.
But if they received the
same 🌜 or fewer points, the second team would win. If the first team received one more
point, the points would be 🌜 equal when the handicap is applied resulting in a push
result and stakes would be returned.
The push scenario can be 🌜 avoided with fractional
handicaps. So, one team might have a -0.5 handicap and the other a +0.5. In this
situation, 🌜 a push is not possible as one team would always have the edge over the
other.
For example, if the first 🌜 team (-0.5) gets one more card than the second team
(+0.5) they would have a half point advantage and would 🌜 the bet would. But if they have
the same or fewer points, they would lose once the handicap is applied.
Crunching 🌜 The
Numbers
You can look at stats to help you make a decision. For example, with 18 games
played this season, 🌜 all of Brighton and Hove Albion’s away matches had produced 3.5
booking points or less, while 77.8% of West Ham’s 🌜 away games had produced that number
or higher.
It is also worth noting that some match referees tend to give out 🌜 more
yellow cards per game than others, while some hand out fewer yellows but are more
likely to show red.
These 🌜 kind of discrepancies can be used to help you make your final
decision. So it is important to check which 🌜 man in black will be taking charge of a
game before placing any bets.
By looking at all the numbers and 🌜 also considering other
factors such as card-happy referees, derby matches etc. sharp punters can make accurate
estimations about the total 🌜 number of booking points in a game.
*Odds subject to change
- correct at time of writing*
