Betting on Cricket

Cricket is often called a gentleman’s game. Unlike football, it simply does not have the following around the world that the latter enjoys. Cricket is also mainly played by countries which have some kind of historical affiliation with the United Kingdom, be it through trade, the empire or protective mandates. Cricket has been in existence for hundreds of years, and it’s also quite a popular betting sport at the big sportsbooks, despite its obviously lesser audience to other sports.

But is betting on cricket, like betting on football a simple “pick a team to win” sport, or are there other things you should be looking out for? Of course there are.

Firstly, wagering on the international fixtures is better than on domestic matches, because researching the teams and players and past results is far easier. Research is always key when wagering online, specifically statistics – which are a sports gambler’s bible. Major internationals include the T-20 (Twenty-Twenty), Test (5-Day Match) and ODI (One Day International) games.

Obviously in a One Day International, there is only going to be one winning team at the end of the day. This is rather simple to eager on, and an elementary bet. Like football, the home team is the favourite and if they are facing a generally poor side, you should always back the home team; even if the odds are perilously low (which they generally will be).

Outright odds are the odds offered by the bookie that a team will win; it is the simplest kind of bet available and ideal for beginners in cricket gambling. Test matches however, provide an altogether different challenge. With a test match, is may be possible for the match to end in a draw, it is also possible to wager on who is winning after one day, two days and so on and so forth. This is something you must certainly keep in mind.

In 20-20 tournaments, you may also find that you can wager on a series of other odds too, such as the player to bag the most wickets, or to score the most runs. You can of course wager on the side that wins the match too, but these alternative bets are worth their weight in gold, if you know your stats and you know your players. Bowling is a key area where you can pick up good wins, but you’ll need to know your cricket Mr. Anorak.

Cricket gambling – indeed all sports gambling – is simple, if you’ve got a nose for stats and you know your stuff!

A summary of the 2012 London Olympic Games

What an Olympic Games is was. The spectacle that was bestowed upon the world by the people of London will not be forgotten. But it wasn’t all about what was arguably the best opening and closing ceremonies of an Olympics yet, it was also about the medals, the events and most importantly of all; the athletes.

The Olympics became the largest multi-national event ever to be held in the United Kingdom, with a total of two hundred and four countries participating in the games. Visa stated that transactions for betting on the Olympic Games went through the roof, and the bookies themselves were also celebrating their best ever haul at the games.

Many of the events were highly anticipated, and punters made a killing thinking they might out smart their bookies, and vice-versa. Key wagering centred around Usain Bolt who once again smashed the record books and came good, as he always does. Who can forget Mo Farrah, writing his name into the British record books either – and his face will keep us all smiling until the next Olympiad. Sir Chris Hoy tore everybody up in the cycling velodrome, and Jessica Ennis also did Britain immensely proud.

And what about outside of Britain? Many claimed that Michael Phelps had lost it, and that he would never swim as well as in previous Games. Again he defied the critics and hounded his fellow swimmers, with the exception of the breathtaking swim against Ryan Lochte.

This Olympic Games saw the breaking of third two world records, with China, Britain and the United States setting five of them each. Whilst the bookies might not have successfully predicted that eventuality, where they did come off fairly well as in the medals tally! The odds offered that the United States would top the medals table were quite low, and just as well for the bookies because the United States claimed a total of one hundred and four of them, including forty six golds. Britain was also expected to do well, and a third placed finish with sixty five, including twenty nine golds was much applauded. China were the big surprise, with a second placed finish with eighty eight medals, thirty eight of which were gold.

There were also controversies too, in which many bookies returned their bets as eight competitors in the badminton were disqualified for not playing to the best of their ability. Boxing, gymnastics and judo were also debated, while a few athletes failed drug tests too.

All in all, the London 2012 Olympic Games, the thirtieth Olympiad was a truly fantastic occasion and was great for sports betting, sports, Britain and London alike. We’re looking forward to the Games in Brazil now in 2016, and on the back of this performance, so will the athletes, the fans, and the bookies and punters too!

Betting on Tennis

Wagering on tennis is so much simpler than betting on football in one way. If one was to bet on the outcome of a football match for example, one would have to wager on a home win, an away win or a draw. In tennis, one of those options is cut from the table, meaning that the outcome of a tennis match can either be a Player A win, or a Player B win. Because of this, you have a fifty percent chance of backing the right winner. That is the most simplistic type of sports bet and in tennis sports betting, it is called head to head betting.

However, when it comes to placing wagers on a head to head tennis match, there are other aspects of the game that one must take into consideration to turn what would otherwise be fifty-fifty odds into something a little more advantageous.

Tennis players are ranked according to their results. For example, wagering on the world number one in a match against the world number ten would be the most obvious type of wager to make. The bookies however know this too, that is why the odds on the world number one player will be significantly less than those for the world number ten player. However, there are certain times of the year when other factors must be taken into consideration.

The favourite in a head to head tennis match might be carrying an injury, or may have performed poorly over the last few tournaments, and so the opposing player might suddenly be the right player to back instead. Ultimately, the bookies will know this too because like you, they have done their research before posting their odds online. But knowing your stuff and doing your own homework can certainly guarantee that you will at least be on level pegging with the house when the wager is placed; and that you will understand why a given player has been given a certain set of odds to win.

Other factors which might help you make an advantageous tennis bet is to consider their form. Making a list of all the previous matches the competitors have played, or checking out websites such as the world tennis association (with their databases and statistics) will certainly help you establish a clear idea of who really is the favourite and why.

Ultimately though, upsets do happen as with any sport and tennis is certainly no exception. So barring a remarkable comeback or one off bad match (or stunning performance) the stats don’t lie. If you’ve only got two competitors to choose from, and you know your stats, you can’t really lose too much now, can you?

Sports Betting – Do’s and Dont’s

Betting on sports is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the world, and it is also quite probably the oldest form of gambling in the world. Although forbidden in many countries, as some feel as though the bets may interfere with or influence the outcomes of a match; sports betting is still hugely popular. In the United Kingdom in particular, betting on sports is entirely legal and everything is above board (except for wagering on underground boxing matches). Before you decide to place money on a sports bet however, you should know a little bit about each sport and a few do’s or don’ts would come in handy too.

Learning about statistics is quite possibly the most important thing you can do when wagering on sports. Keeping a log of how teams have performed, who has won what and how often they come good is a great way of staying in the know. A sports bettor must understand why a bookmaker has given Player (or Team) X the odds that they have. The bookies are always in the know and so must you be too if you wish to stay abreast of the betting crowd.

Paying attention to injuries, and past performances are just a small part of statistic watching however. Learning about probabilities is also a key part in sports betting. By this, I mean that if you are going to wager on the outcome of a football match, you should know that you have a default thirty three point three percent chance of success, for the outcome of the match could be either a home win, an away win or a draw. On tennis and other head to head sports however, you have a fifty percent chance of success as there can be no draw. Of course the probability is never exactly fixed at these rates because one player or team is better than the other, but in principle you have those odds.

You should also familiarise yourself with the terminology of each sports. For example in Rugby it would be good if you knew what a “drop goal” is before you wager on how many there will be in a game. The same is true of “offsides”. It will do you no good at all to wager on how many offsides will be called in a match if you don’t understand the term.

Simply put, if you are new to sports betting, bet simple and wager only on the direct outcome of the game. If you know a thing or two about sports, then take your time to learn about statistics and how they can be used to your advantage. That is the key to having the best advantage when it comes to betting on sports.

The simplicity of horse racing betting

The ability to go and stuck a punt on the nags has long been available to sports betting customers across the United Kingdom. In mainland Europe and Scandinavia, betting on horse racing is a major source of income for online gambling institutions also. The United States hasn’t had the luck of the drawer, though that might change in the future – although some races in some states have always had a green light (with certain blind eyes turned) when it came to horse racing.

The opportunity to bet on horse racing was one done down the local bookies and that was about as far as it went. Oh sure, you could also pop down to the track (if you were fortunate enough to be there), but otherwise you had an hour, perhaps two at most to browse the tabloid papers for the latest odds, and then race down to the bookies to get your bet on.

With online sports betting now at an all time high, and a new type of sportsbook being developed (the racebook – which specifically caters to horse racers), horse racing betting is more popular and easier than ever before.

What hasn’t changed are the bets, and betting systems. You can still bet on the totes, you can still bet each way, and to win. You can bet the first three, or you can even bet which horse won’t win. The possibilities to predicting and punting on a horse race are so spread across, that like many online sportsbooks that offer wagers of every kind on practically any sport; horserace books are opening themselves up to the masses.

Horse racing has received its critics in recent years, traditionally around the time of the year that the Grand National in the United Kingdom takes place. Every year a horse stumbles, often one or more die. But horse racing has endured despite the protests of animal rights activists. Horse race betting has endured, and horse racing itself is still one of the most loved sports and most watched sports in Europe.

The ability to bet on horse racing however isn’t just localised to your own domestic region. That is certainly the case in the bookies on the high streets, but online, it’s a whole different world. With online horse racing betting, you can wager on horse races in France, Sweden, Greece or even as far away as Australia, the United States or Argentina. Indeed, the Kentucky Derby, one of the United States most prestigious horse racing events is easily wagered on from Europe, and almost impossible to wager on in the very country that hosts it.

Horse racing is gaining popularity, and it is no longer an old men’s sport. Horse race betting is big, and with it come untold riches for the smartest predictors.

The best sports betting sites

 It might not exactly be legal in the United States, but for the vast majority of Europe, and in many places across the rest of the globe, betting on the outcome of various sports matches is one of the most popular forms of online gambling in the world today.

The ability to bet on sports online makes the trip down the high street rather mundane now. A great many online sports betting sites allow their customers to make wagers via their online sites, or more recently, via an application on their mobile device.

Bet 365 Mobile is just one such example of an online sportsbook that has taken to the age of mobile phones perfectly. Their application is filled with all the latest sporting events, and for the most part their offer far better odds across the whole board of sports, than many of their competitors.

Bet Fred mobile sports betting is another one of the more popular sports betting sites that offers excellent service across a whole range of sports. Although far more popular in the United Kingdom, than across Europe in general – unlike Bet 365 – Bet Fred offers something that most don’t. Bet Fred allows players to bet in such a multitude of ways that baring a few exceptions, almost anything a player wishes to wager on to do with any sporting event is fair game.

In days gone by, it would be inconceivable for a sports bettor to walk into a bookies, and slap a wager down on the number of corners Chelsea might have in their favour in a football match. It was impossible to lay a bet down on how many fouls Andy Murray might incur in his latest tennis match. It was simply not practical to permit someone to wager that Jenson Button would finish the Formula One season in fifth place of the world championship. But now, with the advent of online and mobile sports betting, the doors have all been opened.

The very best sports betting sites will permit their punters to place stakes on positively anything. They will be available in numerous languages and have various currencies available, and most of them will offer some kind of deal if you choose to sign up and wager on sports with them. Welcome bonus, once a liberty only the online casinos could afford are now common place in the best sports betting sites for instance.

Sports betting sites are expanding, you can now play online slots and more via their pages, and mobile sports betting is continuing that trend by allowing players to wager on ever more increasingly zany bets. That, coupled with the advent of the betting exchange, is what every best sports betting site should be aiming for!