Hi all, I figured I should add some color to my soccer strategy so y'all might join in on the fun for the remaining couple weeks of the most popular sporting event in the world!
I expect totals are understood, but there's some nuance to the spreads in this sport since goals are so difficult to achieve.
Today, South Korea were +1.75 vs Brazil at the close. You may have seen South Korea +1.5, +2 on a sportsbook odds page, any time you see a comma in soccer that means you are getting half your wager on each side of the comma.
So, South Korea +1.5 plays as you'd expect based on other sports, while +2 does the same as well. The interesting part is if Korea had lost 4-2 today instead of the 4-1 final, you would have been refunded 1/2 of your risk since the Korea +2 wager would have pushed (4-4 in this score example) while the +1.5 lost (4-3.5).
The most relevant to my plays is the quarter line, often displayed as pk, +1/2 which translates to half your bet at pick 'em and half at +1/2 so when Croatia draws Belgium 0-0 you win the +1/2 half (0.5-0) and push the pick 'em (0-0).
Any questions? Please don't hesitate to comment here or slide in my Twitter DMs @thereal_gwarner
Have had an awesome 32-20 tournament so far, got a big card tomorrow starting at 10am ET if you want to join while you work (c'mon nobody wants to work anyway!)