From March to September, many online bookmakers are abuzz with Australian Football League or AFL betting. Hardly surprising, as the league is Aussie rules football’s most important competition.
All sorts of bets are offered by bookmakers, and a huge amount of money changes hands during the season. It needs to be said, however, that the betting actually begins with the pre-season games played by the league.
Punters who have never bet on the league before should familiarise themselves with the teams in the league, how the seasonal competition is structured, and the types of bets that are available.
Teams in the AFL
18 teams from five Australian states comprise the AFL. Punters can find out more information about the teams by reading match reports, betting guides published by online bookmakers, and Aussie rules football print and online publications.
The league sees the following teams play against one another during the season: the Western Bulldogs, the West Coast Eagles, the Sydney Swans, the St Kilda Saints, the Richmond Tigers, Port Adelaide Power, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, the Melbourne Demons, the Hawthorn Hawks, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, the Gold Coast Suns, the Geelong Cats, the Fremantle Dockers, the Essendon Bombers, the Collingwood Magpies, the Carlton Blues, the Brisbane Lions, and the Adelaide Crows.
Basic Guide to the AFL Season
As stated above, AFL betting at online bookmakers usually commences with the league’s pre-season NAB Challenge games, which are played in February each year. The Challenge sees each team play 3 games, and it is during this pre-season that any changes to the rules are put to the test.
The premiership season gets underway in late March. During the premiership, 23 rounds are played, with each team playing 22 games.
The season, which comes to an end in September, features various special matches, as well as themed rounds. The most popular of them are the Queen’s Birthday, the Heritage Round, Anzac Day, the Women’s Round, the Rivalry Round, and Dreamtime at the ‘G.
The end of the home and away season, online bookmakers offer punters the opportunity to bet at mobile AFL betting sites on which team will be named the minor premiers and receive the McClelland Trophy.
Once the premiership season has been concluded, 8 AFL teams go on to play in the Finals series, which runs through September. On the last Saturday, the previous months’ football all comes to a head with the league’s Grand Final in which two teams battle it out for the EL Wilson Shield.
AFL Betting Options
The AFL is big news at many online bookmakers, and their markets include a variety of bet types. Punters have the option of placing outright bets, exotic bets, prop bets, match bets, season bets, future bets, bracket bets, multiple batch bets, and live bets.
Outright bets on matches and on the season are the ones placed by the majority of punters, and that is because placing such a bet is more about getting into the spirit of the competition than serious wagering to win money.
Die-hard AFL fans who fancy they know their stuff and serious sports punters often place exotic bets. Among the most popular of them include betting on correct game scores, betting on correct player score points, and betting that certain league records will be broken.