If you have to pick one sport to specialise in – then tennis has to be up there.
Obviously, a tennis match is a two-horse race so, all other things held equal, the ability to bet at anything better than even money will see you come out ahead – however gradual that may be.
Now this is, of course, gambling Nirvana and it’s the “all other things held equal” part that poses the
difficulty. But if you come to gradually specialise in tennis betting, you’ll begin to see that the sport does throw up some anomalous odds from which you can capitalise.
The basic reason for this is that tennis professionals don’t put as much effort in to the minor tournaments as they do the majors – on the whole. But the odds don’t always reflect this.
Similarly, the odds generally reflect the player rankings – but some older players who used to be closer to the top of the ladder don’t turn it on as much these days – until the majors, that is, when they can be back at their best.
The betting exchanges like Betfair (the world’s biggest) offer excellent opportunities to back and lay tennis players, of course, including during games. So this is another area where you can benefit. You get to recognise player patterns whereby, for example, the top male players in five set tournaments
often relax into their game, gradually finding their firing range against a opponent they’re pretty sure of beating. So this means the weaker opponent is often a great bet to win the first set, whilst the seasoned pro is ideal to bet on during play immediately after the end of the first set when his
odds will tend to be overly generous.
You also begin to sense who’s playing well during a match – before the less expert tennis gambler, thereby giving you an edge.
Also, by watching tournament matches, and reading all you can around the sport, you’ll gradually begin to pick up on which players may be carrying a niggling injury and not giving quite 100% to each match – and which really are firing on all cylinders and likely to cause an upset.
There are other sports where the same is true, but tennis offers up some great opportunities of backing or laying at better than even money for an outcome which really is more like 50-50. Just remember that on Betfair, you’ll need to make an additional 5% to cover the commission, but this is
usually more than covered by the superior odds you’ll get (and the ability to back and lay in play).
In this way – betting on tennis can be better than the closest thing to even money which exists in games of chance in casinos. In UK and European casinos roulette’s edge comes from the single zero comes up – and in the USA this is also the case for the double zero comes up. But the casino also has
an edge on individually numbered bets as the pay-outs are set at 35 to 1 when you actually have a 1 out of 38 in the USA or 1 out of 37 in European roulette chance of winning.
The afore-mentioned Betfair betting exchange also now includes an online casino with what it terms a zero lounge. Betfair is the best casino in this way as the ‘zero’ refers to the complete lack of a house edge. In other words; you have the same chance of winning as the Betfair casino itself does.
What’s more, any new players registering with the Betfair casino qualify for a welcome bonus of £200.
Whether you’re betting on tennis at odds of what you perceive to be better than 50-50, or in the Betfair casino (or any other casino), it’s always advisable to try your luck and judgement with a small trial stake and gradually build it up if you can. And by joining Betfair’s Casino and taking advantage
of the generous introductory bonus offer of £200, you could be also gambling on tennis with a free stake if you play your cards right.