How to bet on the red cards of a soccer game:

Nowadays you can bet on several different markets within the same game. Long gone are the days when we could only bet on the match result in the 1×2 markets or the over/under goal bet market.

But the yellow and red card betting markets are very different.

Let’s understand how this amusing betting market works, and how professionals and recreational bettors place bets in these markets.

Red Card Betting vs Yellow Card Betting

Like we explained in our yellow card betting card, that market tries to guess the number of yellow cards. However, red cards are much rarer events in a football game.

The market of red card betting is focused on whether there will be a card in the game or not, and not the number of potential reds.

The usual markets are the following:

Will the hosts have a player sent off?
Will the visitors have a player sent off?
Will there be a red card in the first half?
Will there be a red card in the 2nd half?
Will there be a red card in the entire match?

These markets are normally available to most games of the big soccer leagues. In special tournaments like the World Cup, we can also bet if a specific player will be sent off or not.

Odds in the red card betting markets

The betting markets release odds to the events at different times. The match result betting odds (1×2 and Asian handicap) as well as goals over/under have odds much earlier than specific markets like red or yellow card betting.

In big leagues, the match result odds are usually available 2 weeks in advance. We normally have more than 1 round with odds available simultaneously.

The odds are proportional to the risk of a potential red card. For example, odds for a red in a specific half will be higher than for the entire match, as there is more time for the red to happen within 90’ than just 45’.

The odds for red cards to a specific player will be much higher than for the entire team. Players that are prone to violent fouls like defenders and defensive midfielders will have lower odds than let’s say a striker or a goalkeeper.

But that also depends on the reputation of the player: footballers that are sent off all the time have the attention of the betting markets and therefore have lower odds.

How to spot value with red card betting

Sometimes the reds ‘announce their arrival’. If a team is winning by 1 goal and is focusing on just defending, like the old park-the-bus tactics of Mourinho, and many defenders have received yellows, we can expect red cards very soon.

The odds may change in the live betting market, but it’s always wise to research the teams and the players involved in the game. A team that is qualified let’s say after matchday 4 in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League like Brugge right now is less likely to have players sent off: they are ‘relaxed’ and don’t need those points.