Pros and Cons of Future Bets

When you get into wagering on UK betting websites, you will quickly discover there are numerous types of sports bets you can place. It can be hard to know which types of wagers you should take and which types you should avoid, especially if you are new to sports betting. That is why I am doing a series on the pros and cons of different types of bets.

Catch up on the series so far:

• Pros and Cons of Straight Bets
• Pros and Cons of Teaser Bets
• Pros and Cons of Parlay Bets

Now I want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of future bets!

What Is a Future Bet?

While I do not want to focus too much on definitions in this series, I do want to go over what a future (also known as outright) bet is. While many of the wagers that you place are either in-play or right before a scheduled event, a future bet is one that is placed relatively far in advance. It could be weeks or even months before the match. In fact, often times it is a bet on the outcome of an entire season. This is why it is most common for future bets to be placed on annual sporting events.

If you want to learn more about future bets, read the Types of Sports Bets: Future Bets and Propositions article. I also discuss proposition bets, which are closely related.

Pros of Future Bets

There are a few good reasons to consider sports betting futures:

1. If you have a really good reason to believe that a certain team is going to pull off a victory for the season, then you can get a really high payout. Obviously the further in advance you place your wager, the riskier that wager is, and the more you can potentially win if you are right.

2. You may be able to lock in an outstanding value. All odds are final with future bets. So even if the odds fluctuate a lot over the course of the season, you will be given the odds which were valid when you placed your wager. There are situations where this may play to your advantage.

So say for example that you have a really strong reason to believe that a particular underdog is going to win a major tournament. The tournament hasn’t even started yet, and there are numerous matches to play before the final outcome is decided. It is months in advance, and nobody but you seems to believe this team is going to win.

In a situation like this, you can probably get incredible odds. Your UK betting site will see your bet as unlikely to win, and you will be offered a huge payout if it actually does. As the season unfolds and the team starts to rise in the ranks, the public may finally start to notice and may want to start wagering on them to win. At this point it will get harder and harder to score the kind of odds you did when you placed your wager months before. At some point the team may even be seen as the favourite.

At that point, if they do win, you will receive a far bigger payout than you would have if you had waited until late in the tournament to place your wager. A friend who wagers the same amount of money a few days before the tournament may only receive a small payout. You meanwhile have made a killing.

Cons of Future Bets

There are of course a couple of major drawbacks to future bets:

1. Your money will be tied up for the duration of the bet. This may be a period lasting for months.

2. There is obviously a ton of uncertainty surrounding any future bet—no matter how sure you feel.

There are just so many factors which are next to impossible to account for before a season or tournament begins. Even if you are really dedicated to research (and you have to be for your future bets to pay off with any reliability), it can be hard to figure out how staff changes, lineup changes, and new strategies will impact a team’s performance.

What is the problem with your money being tied up? Well, aside from the obvious (it is never fun not being able to access your cash), you cannot use it on any other wagers. It could well be that you would win even more if you were placing a number of other bets throughout the tournament than you would on your single future bet. And if your money management plan restrains you from using additional funds, your hands are tied for the time being.

So now you know the pros and cons of future bets. If your timing and your analysis make sense, future bets can be very lucrative. Just make sure you have a solid basis and are getting an awesome value!