iGB Affiliate 69 June/July | Page 23

T RAF F I C To assess each bookmaker on the first group of categories based on their range of betting markets, we determined the number of unique bet types available. So for example, while some bookmakers may list the following as five individual markets: ● ● Over/under 0.5 goals ● ● Over/under 1.5 goals ● ● Over/under 2.5 goals ● ● Over/under 3.5 goals ● ● Over/under 4.5 goals we chose to list them as just one bet type – ‘Alternative over/under goal totals markets’ and so on. For the second group of betting odds categories, we calculated the margins across the most popular match markets as well as the most popular tournament outright markets, including tournament winner, group winner and knockout stage qualification. All data was collected between 19 April and 4 May, 2018. Of course, by the time you read this, a number of bookmakers may have both increased the range of markets available and cut their margins on others, as the battle for punters’ attention and money intensifies during the tournament’s opening group stages. BEST BOOKMAKERS FOR WORLD CUP BETTING So, who did we crown the best bookmaker for World Cup betting? Well, after collecting and sorting our data, we found 888sport to be top dog in 2018. The company ranked highly for outright, player and special markets on offer, including its range of specials for the England team. In addition to popular outright markets, 888sport offers a range of exacta markets for both group play and tournament betting. The bookmaker has markets for player performance, including top goalscorer, goals scored by top goalscorer, top player for assists and top player for cards received. It also offers player markets for individual teams, such as the team player to score most goals and the player who delivers the most assists. As at May 4, 888sport was also offering 44 individual player goal total over/unders as well as team vs. team match bets for tournament progression. 888sport also ranked highly in relation to odds for the most popular World Cup betting markets, particularly for odds on group winner betting as well as tournament winner betting. In second place we have Unibet. Much like 888sport, Unibet ranked well for outrights, specials and player markets. In particular, iGB Affiliate Issue 69 JUN/JUL 2018 19