Wagering on Other Sports 101

While football, basketball, and baseball dominate the sports betting landscape in the USA, there are plenty of other great sporting events on which to wager, and many are often quite profitable for those who know the sport. Here’s a look at how to bet on some other popular sports.

Golf and auto racing are bet in a similar way as baseball or hockey betting. Before each tournament or race, all of the participants in the race are listed from favorite to the biggest underdogs, and you are betting on who will win the tournament/race. For example, Tiger Woods might be the favorite at 8/1 while Rocco Mediate would be a big underdog at 100/1. “Upsets” are common in golf as relative unknowns win tournaments frequently, unlike in auto racing where the same 8-10 drivers tend to always finish on top.

How to Bet on Sports

Tennis is also bet like golf and auto racing where you can bet on who will win the tournament. Over the last five years, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray have dominated the events that they have participated in, making them pretty big favorites most of the time. In tennis, bettors can also bet on individual matches, usually on the moneyline. Bettors can also bet on totals for games to go “over” or “under” a certain number of sets.

MMA and boxing, both combat sports, are also bet in a similar manner. Each fight is generally bet on the moneyline, with the more lopsided fights on paper having much bigger favorites and underdogs. Bettors can usually also bet on how the match will be decided for bigger payouts, such as betting a fighter to “win by knockout” or to “win by decision”.

Many online sportsbooks offer a variety of unique prop bets on each of these sports as well. Usually these prop bets are well-explained, and more details can always be found in a sportsbook’s “rules” section.

Read more on sports wagering strategies in the articles below.