Card bettors now have lots of choices in terms of betting markets, and one of those markets is the ‘Player To Be Sent Off’ market.
For those unfamiliar with this market, it allows you to bet on a selected player to be shown a red card.
What does being sent off mean?
In football, a player is sent off when the referee deems that they have stepped far enough outside of the rules. In this scenario, the player is presented with a red card and ordered to leave the field of play for the remainder of the fixture.
Players can be sent off by either being shown a straight red card, or by being shown two yellow cards.
Betting on a red card
Because being sent off is something that can happen during a football match, e.g. a possible event, it can be bet on.
As well as being able to bet on whether or not a red card will be shown in the match, card bettors can choose individual players to be sent off.
For example, if youv’e noticed, over a period of time, that a particular player makes lots of fouls and, to use a football phrase, plays on the edge a lot, then you may decide to bet on that player to receive a red card in the next match. You can do that by betting on them in the ‘Player To Be Sent Off’ market.
‘Player To Be Sent Off’ Betting Strategy
With all betting you need strategy. Sure, you can pick players to be sent off at random, and every now and then, you may get lucky, but chances are, you’ll lose plenty of cash this way.
Narrow the approach
Try to focus on one league, get to know the players in that league. By doing this, you’ll start to understand how players behave in terms of fouls, and whether they behave differently in terms of fouls/aggressive play depending on the type of opposition.
Think big derby clashes or heated games between two teams fighting for the same prize. In such games, tempers can flare, and if there are players involved who normally give away lots of fouls, or who’re known for going into heavy tackles, then such games heighten the chances of red cards for these players.
Individual player stats
If you’re going to bet on players to be sent off, then you need to know the players you’re betting on. Again, it helps to focus on a particular league, or if you have more time, a small handful of leagues.
By keeping an eye on relevant stats in your league(s), you’ll know how each player performs. Find out how many fouls players commit on average, or how many fouls they commit in certain types of games, e.g. games against top-four teams, or big derby games.
It’s also useful to find out how often players pick up yellow cards, as well as how they behave once they’ve been booked. Some players can keep a lid on things after they receive one yellow, but plenty of players struggle to do this. Knowing these players can translate into betting opportunities.
Finding player stats
If you’re looking for player card stats, there are several options.
For the Premier League, the official website offers a handy breakdown of both yellow and red card stats, while there’s also a list for fouls, showing those players that have made the most fouls. To find the average number of fouls a player makes per game using this list, simply divide the number of fouls committed by the number of games that player has played.
Myfootballfacts.com is a handy resource if you’re looking to bet on red cards. For the top leagues, there are simple lists of players displaying the number of red and yellow cards picked up by each.
If you want to go into things in more detail, then whoscored.com is great. Their detailed player stats show many fouls a player makes per 90 minutes, and how many tackles they make too. You can also see the number of red and yellow cards that they collect on average.
Another excellent free resource is fotmob.com. Again bettors can access all the necessary player stats required to make better informed decisions when it comes to card betting.
Referee stats
Knowing referees can help too. For example, if you know that there’s a big game coming up that is likely to get very heated, and you also know that the referee in charge is one of the least lenient in the league, then the chances of the less disciplined players involved coming close to receiving a red card increase.
Spotting these instances early can be beneficial, as it can allow you to bet on your chosen player to receive a red card at a better price than those betting right before the game.
To see where to find referee stats, check out our full card betting guide.
Bookmakers offering the ‘Player to Be Sent Off’ market
While almost all of the big online betting providers offer card betting in general, not all provide a ‘Player To Be Sent Off’ market. In fact, very few offer a specific red card option for individual players.
If you want to bet on individual players to pick up a red card, then here are the best options:
- Bet365
- William Hill
- Betway
- 888sport
Bet365
To access the ‘Player to Be Sent Off’ market. Simply visit the 365 website or log on to the app. Find soccer from the list of sports on the left, find your chosen fixture.
Once on the main odds page of your chosen game, click the ‘Player’ tab from the top and scroll down until you hit the ‘Player to Be Sent Off’ option.
William Hill
To see what William Hill has in store, find ‘Football’ on the left hand side of their site, before finding your chosen fixture from the ‘Competition’ breakdown.
From there you just need to click on your chosen game and click the ‘Penalties/Cards’ tab at the top of the page. Scroll past the ‘Player to Be Carded’ odds and you’ll find the ‘Player to Be Sent Off’ market.
Betway
Find ‘Football’ from the ‘All Sports’ menu on the left of the main page. Find your fixture from either the competitions tab or the list of fixtures.
Upon opening the main page for your chosen fixture, simply click ‘Cards’ from the tabs available at the top. Scroll down to ‘Player to Be Sent Off’. You won’t find a list of odds, but one player name inside a box with a dropdown icon to the side. Click the box and you’ll find a dropdown menu with a list of players. Select your player from this list.
888sport
From the ‘Football’ menu on the left-hand side of the primary 888sport page, find the game you want to bet on and open up the main odds page for that fixture.
Select ‘Cards’ from the top of the page, then scroll down until you see a list of players and odds under the market heading ‘Player to Be Sent Off’.
PaddyPower, Betfred and Betfair
You’d think that big players such as PaddyPower, Betfred, and Betfair would offer the ‘Player to Be Sent Off’ market, but they do not.
Now, you can bet on a player to be sent off with these bookies, but you can only do this by betting on the ‘Player to Be Shown a Card’ market.
If you bet on a player to be shown a card and they receive a red, you will win. However, if you bet on this market, you will be accepting lower odds, the benefit of course being that even a yellow card for your chosen player results in a win.
