A debate that’s been going on for years and years among sports fans and is set to carry on for generations to come. The fact of the matter is there is no clear, black and white answer, it all boils down to what sports you have the most knowledge on, heading into making a bet. If you know the exact ins and outs of the team or athlete you’re betting on, such as recent injuries or form, these can all be factors in the end result and may make the sporting odds more favourable to you.
Football (Soccer)
To a first-time better, the world of football can be an overwhelming. A factor in this is the rise of in-play betting meaning you can now play on the number of corners, free-kicks, penalties awarded or the number cards given by the referee. This is where knowledge of certain teams can pay off. For example, if the teams playing have a long historic rivalry, a classic case-in-point would be Manchester United vs. Liverpool, you can expect these teams to pick up a few yellow cards due to the intense nature of the clash. Historically both teams have picked up a number of both yellow and red cards over their rivalry. You may prefer to pick a basic who will win the match bet or who will win the league. With few exceptions, like Leicester, the favourite wins more often than not, which does mean smaller odds so don’t expect to win big money.
Tennis
Tennis is another sport where the players are ranked/seeded for your convenience. World No.1 Novak Djokovic has won a combined 12 Grand Slams in his professional career and looked set for a 13th heading into Wimbledon 2016. The odds on Djokovic to win would have been small pre-tournament, but too many would have seemed like a safe bet worth taking. Andy Murray, ranked second, would have offered greater odds as he wasn’t expected to win the whole thing. All that changed when Djokovic was unexpectedly knocked out in the third round which led to Murray replacing him as favourite, but his odds dropping. Murray then went on to win the whole thing but those who bet on him pre-tournament would have been the happier. The US Open is the next Grand Slam and starts next month, it will be interesting to see how more men fare.
UFC
Like Tennis players, UFC fighters are ranked in accordance to their previous wins, losses and general performance inside the Octagon. It is also worth doing some research into UFC roles and fighters previous fights. For example, the majority of UFC fights are three rounds, only main event and Championship fights are five rounds. Therefore if a young rookie has been rapidly rising through the ranks, winning his fights in the first couple of rounds, when he finally gets to a title fight, the reigning Champion would be more experienced in five round fights and could use that as an advantage if the fight would get to that stage and fatigue could set in for the young rookie.
Darts
Darts has two professional organisations, the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation. Sports like tennis, football, and MMA require their athletes to be in peak physical fitness and their performances often decline as Father Time catches up with them, unlike darts, where as long as you can throw and have good eye-sight, you can play for a long time. Phil ‘The’ Power’ Taylor is a former 16-time World Champion and has been generally consistent since his debut in 1987. Once again it pays to look at the players rankings and their past performances before making a bet.
WWE
While professional wrestling technically isn’t a sport, and not legal to bet on in the United States because of the fact it is pre-determined, however outside of the USA you can bet on WWE pay-per view and network events to your heart’s content. Bookmakers get their information from insider information and the odds they post usually reflect that. Therefore, whoever they list as the favourite for each match is usually a spoiler, except in certain circumstances where there is a change of plan. For example, in June’s Money In The Bank event, then-reigning World Champion Roman Reigns was the favourite heading into the event but a few hours before the start the odds started to shift into the favour of his opponent Seth Rollins. This turned out to be the case as Rollins did win the match, this was likely punishment as two days later it was revealed the Reigns had violated the companies Wellness Policy.
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