Generally speaking, in golf, there are three different bet types that you can make in any given golf tournament. Gamblers are able to place a bet on a certain golfer to win the whole game, they can wager their money on a golfer to be put into top three places or just bet that the golfer is going to end higher than some other golfer. There are a number of tournaments that would allow wagering your money on a bet that is called a “Field”, which will consist of all the other golfers on top of the ones that will be listed in the sportsbook. Even if the gambler gets more than just one golfer with one bet, that field will almost always be filled with golfers that are given the least opportunity to win the game and will usually be avoided. With this, the odds will naturally be lower if you decide to bet on one of those golfers to finish in the top three places, since the sportsbook will have to pay off 3 different winning wagers, and not just one.
The bet that is not so commonly placed in this game is the head-to-head finish between two golf players. With this bet, the player does not really care in what place does his golfer finish in, as long as the golfer he bet on finishes higher than the other golfer. It is very simple, and the bottom line is that if you have bet on any other sports events it will not be hard to catch up to golf betting. Just remember, one of the most important things when betting on golf is that you need to find the best line. A lot of sportsbooks will have different kinds of lines on different golfers or even many different types of wagers you could place on an event. Finding the best options together with its odds is sure to reward the gambler in the end. However, before wagering your money on golf games or golfers, you should cover all of the basics about this game.
The two common questions that all of the bettors have to ask themselves are: “Where?” and “When?” Well, the golf game will be played, and is played, in almost every place on the earth, and it has professional tours in every region. There is the Austrian, Japan, Sunshine, Asian and Canadian Tour, which is naming just a few. The two main Tours are the currently rebranded Tour called Race to Dubai, and the US PGA Tour, which are all part of the European Tour. This Tour runs basically the whole year (virtually), while taking in all kinds of far-flung places, which include South Africa, China, Australia, and India. As you may have noticed, the last few events have been placed in Dubai, and that is why they are being rebranded.
Stroke play tournaments are the majority of events in golf, and they are played out in 4 rounds of over 4 days, which usually starts on Thursday, every week, and finishes on Sunday. The scores of the 4 rounds are added together, and the golfer who has taken fewer strokes will be the one who wins. Larger Fields would usually start on Thursdays, with typically about 150-odd players and there will be a cut that is made on the halfway with the players in top 65 together with ties that are played on the weekend. The ones who do not end up in the top 65 will go home empty handed. There is also a knockout format that holds a couple of match play events.
Just like in tennis, there are also 4 majors in golf. The US Open in June, the US Masters in April, the US PGA in August, and finally the Open Championship, that is also called (which irritates traditionalists) the British Open and it is staged in July. Besides the 4 majors, there are also the 4 World Championships in golf events, that are played by the golfers who are ranked the highest in the world. The 1st WCG event of the year is played in February and called the Accenture Match Play. That event is followed by the three stroke play event, which is known as the Cadillac Championship and it is held in March, together with the Bridgestone Invitation that is held in August, and the HSBC Champions event that is held in November, in China. The European and the PGA Tour are almost always televised live, but do be careful sometimes, usually in America, they are described as live shows but are actually played with a several minute delay. This can greatly impact the markets on play.
Another thing to have in mind are the types of Markets you will encounter in golf. The Winner Market is the main market of every golf event, and it will usually be uploaded on Sunday to Betfair before the tournament actually starts. Moreover, there is also the Top Five Finish market, the Top Ten Finish market, the First Round Leader and a Victory Margin market, and you will also be able to bet on all of the 3 balls and/or 2-ball market. Through the first 2 days of the typical golf event of stroke play, the golfers will be placed in groups of three and you will be able to bet on the outcome of every group. Usually, the 3-ball groups that would play on Thursday would play on a Friday afternoon, and the one who start on Thursday afternoon will play their second round on Friday, in the morning.
Following the cut, over the weekend, the golfers are going to play in pairs (typically), in the reverse score order. The leaders in the score will go last, and the ones who are losing will go first. If, by any chance, there are some delays due to the weather, the ones who organize golf events will usually stick to 3-balls, and the 2nd half of the field would probably start at the tenth hole and they will also operate what is called the U draw.
How to make a profit? Well, you have the Back, the lay or even both. Some of the gamblers would usually prefer to back up players to win that event while some gamblers would lay them and some other gamblers would look to just trade. You need to find what suits you the most.
Where should you actually start, is a very good question. First off, you need to get to know all of the golf courses very well. A lot of them will actually have their own websites that have their descriptions with the hole-to-hole guides, however, the study from the previous event’s statistics will surely provide you with more clues. While getting to know players might take up quite a lot of your time, their stats will definitely help with your profit making. For the traders that are more serious about making bigger profits, there are a lot of sites that explain everything there is to know about golf player profiles.
Strategies are another important part of betting on golf. There is a number of variables you should consider every week. The trickiest are the weather conditions since they are hard to predict in advance. You can place a benign Sunday, at there might be little to no wind when you actually place your bet, however, until you get to Sunday, a lot can change. With the unpredictable weather changes, even the best of sites about the weather can be accurate maybe about 1 day, but there is no way for the to surely know about the weather in 3-4 days. Just keep in mind that the two things you should always concentrate on are the courses and the players.
You should always check the stats of previous games and their players. Everybody is able to tell which of the golfers have played in which of the courses, however, if you are able to tell which of the golfers likes the course even if he has failed there before, will definitely profit you. Check out the previous winners and theory profiles. Sometimes, events can give an incredible number of shocking winners. Be careful not to back the players that are too short before the actual get-go.
One of the most satisfying things about betting in golf is the length of the tournament. Traders will have a lot of free time to adjust and access their positions due to the golf event being played over the 72 holes with a lot of longer breaks that are taken in-between each round (four). Do not be confused when the commentators still comment about the golfers being in the game, even if they have already finished a long time ago. There will also be some other events where the fast start will neither here nor there and on these occasions the pace settlers may end up being too short and worth wagering on.
Sometimes when you make an assumption about a golfer at the same moment he finishes, the statistics can dramatically change for him the next day. A good example would be, The Players Championships at the TPC Sawgrass, the finish might be brutal and the golfer’s price might shorten up right after they have signed their score since the ones who are finishing behind are failing to par their way in.
When talking about the brutal holes, you should educate yourself about the averages of holes, which are also known as the stroke indexes. SI 18 is the easiest hole while SI will be the hardest. All of the courses will have thought stretches and scoring sections. You should get to know where they actually are and you should trade accordingly. Unless it is already factored into the price, you should not back someone right before they play 3 or 4 of the hardest holes on the course. You should just wait until they finish the hard section. Basically, placing a bet on the golfer who is about to play in the easier section is something that is bound to make you a bigger profit.
The market is almost always going to favor the ones who are out on the course more than the ones in the clubhouse and the ones that are in the bad weather. One of the most obvious examples would be the Open Championship in 1999, where a golfer named Paul Lawrie finished a long way off the lead while he spent his afternoon with watching his own name climb the leader board.
If you like to be up to date in the in-play betting, then besides watching the TV you should check online leaderboards. There are a lot of sites that are fairly up to date, and you can learn a lot from there. However, you should be cautions there are a lot of mistakes that can be made in online leaderboards. Usually, when the odds look just ‘too good’, it is a good assumption that the information is wrong.
When talking about the PGA Tour, there is an option for you to listen to the satellite radio (for the commentary), which is much better since it starts before the TV coverage, and it is known to often advise of play even before it starts on TV, however, it does hold a giant downside. There are a lot of annoying advertisements that will be rolled, and that can basically drive you bonkers!
If all of the above, concerning the in-play live, is a bit time consuming and hectic for you, then so not worry, there is still the possibility of golf trading, without you having to endure all of the coverage. A lot of gamblers or traders would place their trades and leave them in markets. When the play actually starts on the day one, the markets would remind you about the in-play, in case you were planning or you want to back a golfer before the off so you can ensure the profit. If your pick actually gets in contention, and you are not able to face the hours and hours filled with coverage, you are able to lay in place, or just a serious lays in place.
With everything said, golf is an easy game to understand, but it can be quite unpredictable while considering the weather problems. Gamblers are attracted to gold betting, because of its few and easy to understand bets. The only advice we can give is to bet responsibly, do not waste your money if you cannot afford to lose, and just have fun betting and watching the game!
