Alternate line: what is it and why is it needed

It is unlikely that you can earn a lot on the alternate line. But for entertainment, this is a great option.
Bookmakers in pursuit of new players come up with new options for betting. That’s where the alternate line came from. In this article, we will talk about what it is, talk about the main advantages and disadvantages of additional painting, and find out if it is worth playing on it.

What is alternate line

An alternate line is all possible betting options for a match that do not fall into the main line of the event. These are all betting options, except such basic bookmaker offers as match outcomes (W1, X, W2), the main total, and the main handicap.

In several betting companies, double chance bets are also included in the main list, but this market isn’t set in stone: different bookmakers treat it differently.

You can find an alternate line at the link next to the main line of the event. The link looks like “+123″. Plus means that if you click on the link, you will see all the alternate line, which consists of 123 options. The numbers indicate the number of alternate lines that can be found there.

How many outcomes can there be in the alternate line? As many as you want. There can be more than a thousand of them for top events. In this case, everything depends on the bookmaker’s policy, the popularity of the sport in betting, and the importance of the event.

The general principle does not depend on the company and the sport: the more interesting the event for the players, the wider the list. At the same time, some bookmakers do not deal with alternate lines, preferring to focus on the main line for the match.

What there is in alternate line

In general, anything can be present in an alternate line. It all depends on the desire of the bookmaker to complete the line and on their imagination. Of course, there are so-called traditional outcomes. They can be found in the alternate line of any bookmaker:

• additional odds (including Asian ones)
• additional totals (including Asian ones)
• will they score or not, the number of goals
• options for the exact score in half or the entire match
• individual totals of teams and players
• outcomes, scores, odds and totals by halves (periods, sets)
• time match market.

We are used to the fact that all the markets offered by the bookmaker can be conditionally divided into big markets and small markets. But when it comes to traditional options for an alternate line, they can rather be placed somewhere in the middle. The rest of the alternate line can be attributed to small markets, bookmakers make it very large.

What is in this category? First of all, these are bets on statistics: yellow and red cards, outs, offsides. This applies to football. Games, aces, and double faults in tennis; penalty time, power moves, and throws in hockey; three-pointers, rebounds, and fouls in basketball and so on.

There are also bets on the performance of individual players, on short segments of matches, on the order of occurrence of events, on even / odd scores of a basketball meeting or a set in volleyball, and many more similar options. As we mentioned, the choice of markets is limited only by the imagination of the bookmaker.

Signs of alternate line of the event

If you are in doubt whether the event from the alternate line is present, there are a few features by which you can distinguish such things.

1. Lowered betting limits. Being able to bet at least 5,000 roubles on additional markets is rare. Usually, it’s only possible for those events that we have classified as an intermediate category. But even a thousand or two roubles will be put on exotic markets for happiness. Therefore, if a player wants to win big for an event from an alternate line and hit the jackpot, they are, alas, unlikely to succeed.
2. Maximum margin. If the margin on the main line is small, and in some cases, like on promotions, it can even be zero, then bookmakers lay the commission in full in the alternate line. Margins of 10% are not uncommon here. Therefore, it is very difficult to win, as the operator’s handicap is too great.
3. Unstable coefficients. If you need to bet a hundred thousand on the outcome of the main line to shift the odds a little, then the alternate line is a much more sensible thing. Here, even a bet of 1000 roubles can seriously change the odds. Changes in quotes by 0.1-0.2 are not uncommon here.
4. A large number of errors in the line. This is true because these markets are less popular. Bookmakers follow the main line, pay a little less attention to the intermediate category, and pay attention to the alternate line, but they definitely don’t look as closely. Hence the errors in the line.

However, we must say right away that it is difficult to take advantage of these inaccuracies. The odds are low, the margin is high, and the limits are small, so even if the bookmaker made a mistake, they will still make the bet as uncomfortable as possible for the player. Remember: the bookmaker has the right to cancel your bet if there was a mistake by the company.

Betting tips for playing on alternate line

We do not recommend playing on an alternate line for the sake of earning money, as it is simply unprofitable. But if you want to try your luck, then we have a couple of tips on this.

• First, try to alternate bets on small markets with big markets, this will reduce the likelihood that the representatives of the bookmaker will drastically reduce your bet maximums. It makes sense to open accounts in all bookmakers that give a wide alternate line, so you can get around the problem of small limits.
• In addition, it happens that bookmakers make mistakes and put the same outcome on different markets. Moreover, the coefficients and margins in these markets are completely different, which can be used as an additional advantage.

And yet, the alternate line is an option for betting for entertainment. If you want to make sports betting your permanent income, we advise you to learn how to analyse and gain an advantage over the bookmaker in the main line. Good luck!