Sports
Predicting the outcome of sports games and then wagering on those predictions can be a hugely rewarding, exciting, challenging and tempting experience. The list of sports available to bet on and the amount of betting types available is enormous however majority of punters tend to find a particular sport that they understand/are interested in and stick to wagering on that sport.
The most popular sports offered by online bookmakers tend to be NFL, NRL, Basketball, Golf, Motor Racing, Rugby League, Soccer and Tennis. Aside from these sports, AFL, Baseball, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Ice Hockey, Netball, Olympic Games, Snooker and Yachting are also sports which are offered however they may not be available on all online bookmaker sites.
Key Events
The Super Bowl is NFL’s greatest game and is watched by millions of people not just in America but around the world. The game combines the two greatest NFL teams of the season for a few hours of nail biting action. Closer to home, the AFL Grand Final is one of the most televised events in Australia and is supported by fans from around the country including celebrities such as Eric Bana.
Soccer features more games in one year than other sport and with over 380 games in one season of the English Premier League, punters will have no trouble finding a game that they are interested in and can wager on. Tennis’ grand slam tournament includes the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Each tournament is full of opportunities for punters to wager on the rising stars or current champions of the sport.
The best way to find out which events you can bet on is to jump online and check with your bookmaker as to which events they will cover. Although almost all major sporting events will be covered, it is often the smaller games which offer better odds as bookmakers have less time to work on these games odds compared to the odds of the larger events. Also, the smaller games provide a more even playing ground for inexperienced teams/players which usually increases the odds in the punter’s favour.
Betting Types
Similar to horse racing the most basic bet in sports is the simple head-to-head wager which involves the punter deciding whether a team will win, lose or draw with their opponents. Line betting, often referred to as handicap betting, is when the bookmaker places a handicap on both teams. The favourite team is assigned a negative value whereas the underdog team is given a positive value. The punter must bet on whether the favourite team can win by a certain amount of points (the handicap) or if the underdog can either win outright or lose by no less than the handicap assigned to them. Margin betting involves the punter betting on the difference in score between the two teams. The bookmaker selects a margin e.g. 0-20 or 21 and up and the punters must bet against this margin.
Exotic bets in sports are generally specific to the game being played but the basic betting types can include first scorer, half time/full time scores, correct scores, team with the most penalties and Asian handicaps etc. Check with your bookmaker to see what sport-specific exotic bets they offer. Under/Overs are a challenging bet to win as the punter must predict whether the game score will be over or under a certain margin determined by the bookmaker.
Live betting allows the punter to wager on game while it is in motion during the quarter or half-times. Although this bet doesn’t offer high odds, the probability of winning the bet is quite high and therefore you have a good chance of receiving a payout. Lastly, Future bets give punters the opportunity to bet on a game before the season has begun. Offering high odds due to the uncertainty as to how the season will play out, future bets are fantastic for experienced punters who know their players/teams inside-out.
Racing
Horse and Greyhound Racing are some of the largest betting markets in Australia, with both events taking place daily around the country from local tracks to the major events held at Flemington racecourse and Sandown Park. The racing industry makes up 92 per cent of the current wagering expenditure in Australia, totalling to an average of over $2 billion per year.
Horse racing is divided into several categories ranging from standard thoroughbred racing to harness racing and jumps racing. While the divisions and grades of each racing industry help to distinguish the better animals from the more average types, novice and experienced punters can wager on the tougher Group 1 races.
Key Races
The biggest horse racing event in Australia is undoubtedly the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. This 50 day event features the Group 1 Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Victoria Derby and $5.5 million Melbourne Cup. Aside from the major races, each day also features between 6-7 lower group and listed races. Internationally, the French Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Japan Cup, the American Breeders Cup and British Epsom Derby are some of the major races that punters can wager on.
Australian Greyhound racing produces some of the greatest runners seen in the industry and majority of these champion dogs can be seen at events such as the MTD Australian Cup, Sky Channel Galaxy and the AJS Corporation Silver Chief.
Betting Types
The most basic and popular wager in racing is the straight, which includes betting on which horse/dog will place first (win), betting on an animal to finish in the top two (place) or they must place in the top three (show).
Exotic bets are slightly more complex and allow the punter to wager on multiple horses or dogs in the one bet. A Quinella involves choosing two horses in specific order to win the first and second places in a race. An Exacta/Perfecta is similar to a Quinella however the punter must predict which horses/dogs will finish in each position in the correct order. The next step up from the Exacta is a Trifecta where the punter chooses the top three horses/dogs in the correct order. A Box Trifecta allows the punter to choose the top three placegetters in any order whereas the Standout Trifecta involves picking which horse will place first and then choosing the second and third placegetters in any order. The final and probably hardest bet in this section is the Superfecta and it involves the punter selecting the top four placegetters in the correct order.
On days that offer multiple races, punters can combine the results of various races into one bet which usually offers high odds due to the complexity of the bet. The Daily Double is used to predict the winning horses/dogs in any two races during a meeting whereas the Running Double involves the punter selecting the winners of two consecutive races. The Quadrella is used to bet on the winners of four pre-nominated races on a card. The final and most complicated bet (best left to the experienced punters) is the Straight Six, this includes the punter selecting the winners of six consecutive pre-nominated races.
Sports Betting Odds Explained:
Understanding betting odds is a simple task once you learn how to read the numbers assigned to each team on the betting markets. Using a simple head-to-head bet, the betting odds will be displayed something like this:
Australia 2.82
England 2.53
As Australian bookmakers stick to decimal odds, we will use them as our guide in this article. So the punter decides they will place $80 on Australia winning a rugby match. The odds of 2.82 indicate that for every one betting unit the punter wagers, they will receive 2.82 times that amount if they wager correctly. So if Australia was to win, the punter would receive (2.82 x $80) = $225.6, which includes the original $80 wagered on the team. Essentially, they have won $145.60!
