Betting
Featured Articles:
The Value Betting On Tennis
by: Denis Giannikopoulos
The truth is that all sports are not equal when it comes to betting.
Some of them like soccer for example may have greater appeal to the
punters worldwide but that doesn't make them the best markets for
wagering.
One of the most interesting and profitable markets i have ever found
is without a doubt tennis. One of its main advantages is that the
very nature of the sport makes the bookies struggle to come up with
the correct odds so many opportunities and value bets arise. There
are many aspects that a punter must take into consideration such as
surface, tournaments, fitness, mental toughness, ranking of a player
but once he master these he will see value bets literally
everywhere.
First of all tennis season is ten months long with many tournaments
to choose from. The more important the tournament, the more money it
pays, and the more accomplished and high ranked players will enter.
Its not uncommon of high ranked players using low level tournaments
as a practice for the big one coming up and many times they lose to
an inferior opponent who treats these tournaments as gold cause he
has no chance on making it far in the big ones.
Of course surface still remains one of the most important factors in
tennis. Each player has a favorite surface, a surface that he
performs at his best. There are very few players that perform
equally well at all surfaces. Many of them play and choose most
tournaments in their schedule that have their favorite surface. You
can see for example a player that is ranked 15 in the world but when
he plays a guy who is ranked for example 50 but plays in his
favorite surface and least favorite for the other, things are not
good for the top ranked guy.
Surfaces combined with the weapons that each player has at his
disposal are perhaps the ones that top the list when we want to
decided the winner of a certain matchup: Take Clay for example. Its
the slowest surface of them all. Its difficult to hit through your
opponent so the big hitters are to an extent losing their edge here.
You have to be very fast and a great mover to survive in this
surface. Grass on the other hand is very fast and the ball bounces
low so the players have less time to react. Good servers with
volleying abilities are needed for this surface.
One of the things that are overlooked most of the times is the
mental toughness of a player. To learn how a player reacts under
pressure is a serious weapon in your way to making a profit out of
tennis punting. Many players are known to crack under pressure, many
others have a physiological advantage or vice versa against a
certain opponent so you can easily make a profile of each players
mental status. Whether he has a burning will to win or he is
indifferent to a tennis match its easy for you to spot him after a
while. You'll know that a certain player if gets just slightly down
on the scoreboard most of the time is starting to spray wild balls
around the court or another one in the same situation picks up his
game and starts to play like god.
Fitness and injuries are of course very important for every sport.
But since we are talking about an individual sport they take a much
more important role. An injury can end a match in a flash. when
someone has played some tournaments in a row or when someone is
coming off a serious injury are definitely some things that we have
to consider before we even begin to think about betting on them. Its
not uncommon that a qualifier beats the hot favorite in his first
match after a long layoff or the hot favorite loses an easy match
only because of getting extremely tired after a few tournaments in a
row. Definitely one to watch.
All these things and many more make the value betting in tennis one
of the most smart ways to bet. The fluctuation of the odds most of
the time is amazing and there is a reason why tennis is the most
traded sport in betfair. If you devote some time to familiarize
yourself with the game and its variables you ll find that the tennis
market is full of opportunities waiting to be grasped.
About The Author
Denis Giannikopoulos - webmaster of http://www.betonlytennis.com
How to Bet on NASCAR and the Betting Odds
by: RJ Bell
NASCAR has become one of the hottest sports to bet, so we're here to
put you on the fast track to understanding racing odds and finding
the best places to wager. The two main ways of gambling on NASCAR
are "Betting to Win" a race and "Matchup Betting" which pits a
driver against another driver or a group of drivers.
"Betting to Win" an outcome event like the Daytona 500 is the most
common way to wager on a NASCAR race. Since NASCAR has multiple
races over the course of a year, "Betting to Win" obviously offers
numerous wagering opportunities. It is very important to note that
not all the drivers in a race may be listed, so another NASCAR
betting option is on the "field" which includes all other drivers
not listed.
The NASCAR odds on a "field" bet depend on how many drivers are
listed and how likely it is for the top drivers to win. In other
words, if the same five or six drivers seem to battle it out for the
top spots each race, the odds on the "field" will be much higher
since there is less likelihood that one of the long shots in the
"field" will win.
Here's an example:
Favorites or top drivers = 5/1 to 10/1
30 or so other well-known drivers listed individually = 10/1 to
200/1
Field (collection of 20 or more not listed) = 80/1
Futures are another way you can "Bet to Win" that can offer you
appealing NASCAR odds because you are betting far in advance of when
the event takes place. For example, betting on the 2006 Daytona 500
now might get you much better value on Jeff Gordon, who may be 10/1
at this moment but dip to 6/1 closer to the event if he is on a
roll. For more information on the value of betting NASCAR futures,
read How Future Bets Can Pay Off.
In addition, NASCAR drivers are awarded Nextel Cup points according
to the place they finish in each race, and those points are
accumulated over the course of the season (click here to learn how
the NASCAR points system works). Some Las Vegas sports books will
allow you to bet on who you think will finish atop the Nextel Cup
standings, giving you yet another opportunity when it comes to
betting NASCAR.
Meanwhile, "Matchup Betting" offers an alternative to simply betting
on a NASCAR race's winner. Artificial head-to-head matchups are
created by odds makers and involve drivers who are all competing
against each other to win the race, with the bet specifically
focused upon how one driver finishes compared to another driver in
the matchup. Group matchups are another "matchup betting" option
particularly popular in golf and NASCAR, where you can select how
one driver will finish amongst a group of other drivers. Both
head-to-head and group matchup NASCAR odds are based on the money
line (check out How to Read the Money Line for more information).
Since NASCAR has pre-qualifying, not everybody will start the race,
so most group matchups will typically require all individuals in the
group to start in order to be eligible for action. Different sports
books will often feature different matchups, and this is very
important to note because you can shop around to different online
sports books and try to find the NASCAR matchup that's most worth
betting on. There are several advantages to betting at elite online
sports books but the very best will give you the most wagering
opportunities, so it's a good idea to consider betting online and
find out what everybody has to offer.
Also, keep in mind that popular drivers tend to be over-rated and
over-priced when odds makers create these artificial matchups due to
their status of being more well-known with the public, so the
underdogs are usually a good play because they offer more value. If
you like a particular driver going into a NASCAR race, your best
move is to compare matchups across multiple sports books and put a
larger wager on the biggest mismatch in your estimation. Then you
can also put down a small wager on your favorite driver to win the
race in case he takes the checkered flag. By betting your driver to
win the race and a matchup, you'll have double the fun knowing
you've got double the chances to win!
If you are a knowledgeable NASCAR fan who has a good feel about how
races will likely turn out, then you should most definitely trust
your insights and use them to find strong bets. For those of you
with less experience, several sports web sites have power rankings
for drivers which should give you a good idea of who's hot on the
NASCAR racing circuit and who's not. Of course it's up to you to
decide which driver you want to bet on, but the more you learn about
NASCAR racing, the more prepared you will be when placing your bet.
Hopefully now at least you know the basics of betting NASCAR and how
to use NASCAR odds to your advantage!
Contributed by:
RJ Bell
©Pregame.com 2006
Website: http://www.Pregame.com
About The Author
RJ Bell is the founder of Pregame.com - Where sports bettors get
ready. RJ has been an expert contributor to Maxim Magazine, CNN.com,
About.com, and ABC News - and has won 3 world handicapping
championships! Located in Las Vegas, the Pregame.com team works at
adding to your betting confidence with powerful game insights and
sportsbook reviews. FreePicksByEmail.com, the biggest daily sports
betting newsletter, delivers help from famous handicappers.