Online Tennis Bet Types Explained
There are plenty of tennis bet types available today, especially when it comes to high-profile events like the Grand Slams. After reading this article you will have a complete understanding of what to expect from tennis betting, how to interpret the markets, as well as feel confident in placing your first few tennis bets.
The Grand Slam season may be behind us for this year, but there is still plenty of action due to take place before the end of the calendar year. So the timing is perfect to get a grasp on the world of online tennis betting right now, and you could be putting this to use over the coming weeks and months.
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Most Popular Tennis Bets – In Detail
There are numerous tennis betting types available through online bookmakers these days, but you need to first have a complete understanding for the fundamental three. This is even more important for the tennis betting types since the more specialized bets tend to stem directly from these three.
- Single bet
This is without a doubt the most simple of all the tennis betting types. And in tennis, the game has to end with a winner, meaning there is never an option to bet on a draw. Therefore you will always be betting on the winner of a particular game when you place a single bet. For example, if Roger Federer is playing Rafael Nadal in a tournament, you can either bet on Federer or Nadal as a single bet.
- Outright winner
This is very similar to a single bet, but rather than choosing the winner of a particular match you are betting on the winner of the whole tournament. From the various tennis bet types, this is the one where the odds are available first. For example, the Australian Open is not played until January, but there are already odds available for the outright winner of the event for both male and female competitions.
- Spread bet
To understand this type of bet, you need to understand tennis scoring. In tennis, a set consists of the first player to win 6 games. And to win a set, one player must win by a margin of 2 or more games – the only exception being a set that ends 7-6 thanks to the tiebreak. So, let’s use our Federer vs. Nadal example above. If Federer was the favourite to win, you may see a spread option on Federer to win of -3.5 games. This means that Federer must win the game by a margin of more than 3.5 games. This also means that if Federer won the match 6-4, 6-4, the bet would prove to be correct and you would win if you bet on this.
- Over/under
On top of these three bets, you will always see an option for over/under bets within the tennis betting types. Instead of betting on the spread, you will be betting on the total number of games or sets. For instance, you could place a bet that a game of tennis will go beyond 26.5 games. You could also place a bet on the set score, and maybe place a wager that the game will go over 2.5 sets. Over/under betting in tennis is always focused on these two categories, and this concludes our fourth option for the most popular tennis bet types.
Specialized Tennis Bets
You may recall that we mentioned all of the specialized tennis betting types tends to be more specific variations from the fundamental four. Well, you will notice from the bets mentioned below that this is usually the case.
- Set score sequence
Tennis is commonly played using a best of 3 sets format, which means a game can end either 2-0 in sets or 2-1. You can actually bet on who will win each specific set played in a match.
- Games played in a set
Tennis betting types will offer this nearer to the start of an event. Rather than betting on the total number of games played in a complete match, you can bet on the number of games played per set with this bet.
- Tiebreak in match – yes/no
This tends to be more predictable in men’s tennis, since the men typically serve faster and can win their service games much easier. And through this bet, you can bet on whether a complete match will have a tiebreak or not. A tiebreak is played if any of the sets reach 6-6 in score.
- Accumulator bet
This isn’t specifically tied to any of the pre-mentioned bets, but an accumulator bet is when you combine multiple bets into one bet slip. This is much riskier than placing single bets, and therefore much less likely to be correct. On the flip side, if you are able to win an accumulator bet you will probably get quite a large payout.
Understanding Tennis Odds
It doesn’t matter which one of the different tennis betting types you choose to bet on, since the odds will work exactly the same as they do for other sports. For example, let’s say that you bet $20 on John Isner to win a tennis match at the US Open, and the odds were 2.0. Your total return will be $40 if he does win, which means that your total profit would be $20. Tennis betting markets will always pay out according to this match, so once you understand this formula you already know what you could win before making a bet.
Getting Started
Larger tennis events will inevitably attract a greater number of tennis betting markets that you can place wagers on. The first Grand Slam of each year is not until January, at the Australian Open. However, the end of year masters will take place in London in just a few months time. This would be an ideal place to get started and build your familiarity with the world of online tennis betting. Make sure you have an online betting account by the time this event comes around, and always start by placing small bets to build your knowledge with very little risk.
Take a Swing with Online Tennis Betting!
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