Things You Should Know While Placing a Golf Bet
Golf is one of the sports where punters can actually expect to win big amounts of money with a modest stake. The reason for this is the significant number of participants in tournaments (usually 132-156 golfers) and, respectively, large odds even on favorites who are nearly certain to win. Odds for the winner of a tournament will usually begin at 10.00 and will go up to 100.00 or even more for players who are lesser known. Those who want to place bets on high-profile golf tournaments such as the Ryder Cup should look into Ryder Cup betting sites that have competitive odds as well as specialist betting opportunities on such high-end tournaments.
Golf events are usually played over four days (Thursday-Sunday), providing ample room for live betting and tactical re-strategizing throughout the tournament. Following every round, a cut-off is staged, dropping those players whose performances do not reach a set standard—typically the top 70 players and those tied on 70th.
One important consideration is the format of the tournament. Most professional tournaments are in stroke play, where the total strokes taken over all rounds are considered. There are other match play tournaments, however, where players compete hole versus hole. Those formats require other methods of analysis and betting.
It should be mentioned that golf is a very individual sport with extremely high variation in result. Even the world's best players win no more than 3-4 tournaments per season. The top golfers finish in the top ten, but the win depends on the right combination of optimal form, psychology, and favorable weather.
Popular Types of Golf Bets
Bookmakers make it possible to bet on golf in a variety of ways. Golf betting has its own features that make it different from other sports. Let's discuss the most common varieties of bets.
The most popular wager is the winner of the event (Outright Winner). Due to the fact that there are a huge number of participants, it is a difficult but potentially very profitable option. The majority of experienced bettors prefer to place numerous little wagers on numerous players to try to achieve the best possible success.
A conservative yet populist option is betting on a player finishing within a particular category, e.g., top-5, top-10, or top-20. The chances here are less, but the probability of winning is much higher than with a straight win bet.
Group Betting is to pick a player who will perform best out of 2-4 golfers who are grouped in categories by the bookmaker. Groups usually comprise players of nearly similar ability, and thus such bets are more guaranteed.
Match Betting is a bet on which of two specified players will have the best result in a round or overall in the tournament. Such bets are especially popular in match play tournaments, where golfers compete head-to-head.
Field or Player bets involve picking the favorite player (most often the outright choice) against the remainder of the field in a tournament. Another variation of this type of bet that is widely done is "Will Tiger Woods win, or somebody else?" when there is a clear favorite.
Nationality of the Winner bets allow you to predict not the individual player, but the country which he/she belongs to. With the traditionally dominant golf schools of the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, and with the growing stronger influence of Spanish, Japanese, and Korean players, these bets present tough challenges.
Successful Golf Betting Strategies
Successful golf wagering requires discipline and employing a systematic approach. It requires not only effort to assess sport-related variables but also a careful bankroll management.
The "Each Way" method is very common in golf. This procedure splits the stake into two half amounts: one for the player to win, and the second for placing among prize positions (either top-5 or top-6). If the player wins within the chosen range, the second half of the bet is multiplied by a factor (usually 1/4 or 1/5 of the winning odds). This system is suitable when betting on players with average odds (25.00-50.00).
Trading strategy involves gambling before the start of the tournament and hedging later on in the first or second round through exchange betting or bookmaker live odds. In case the selected player does well at the start, his odds decrease, and the gambler can make a profit irrespective of the tournament's outcome.
Portfolio Approach strategy involves splitting the overall sum of bets among multiple players with different odds. Typically, the bettors select 1-2 favorites, 2-3 middle-ranking players, and 2-3 dogs having high odds. The strategy increases the chance of a winning result.
Expertise in individual players, tournaments, or course types allows bettors to gain expertise in a specific field. For example, some bettors become experts in majors only or monitor individual players' performance on specific course types (links courses, water-heavy courses, etc.).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Golf Betting
Golf betting has advantages and disadvantages, which should be considered when choosing this direction of betting.
The greatest advantage is the high odds. Even for tournament favorites, odds do not fall below 10.00, and this offers a chance for huge winnings. This makes golf attractive to gamblers who are willing to play a long game with a relatively low percentage of winning bets but enormous potential return.
Availability of information is yet another advantage. Modern golf offers an unprecedented quantity of statistical data, complete coverage of all the major tournaments, a host of specialist media outlets, and qualified commentaries. A diligent player can research and study almost any information regarding players and follows.
The duration of tournaments (four days on average) leaves room for refining strategy in the course of the tournament. A smart bettor can spot trends not immediately visible to the market and turn them to his or her advantage with live bets.
But there are also quite severe negatives. The most obvious is the wild variability of outcome. Even world-class players will win few, if any, of the tournaments they compete in. For players who bet on themselves, this will be preparation for lengthy periods with no big payoffs.
The game is slowly unfolding, and it can be mentally challenging for the majority of bettors who are used to instant results in other games. It takes four days to finish a golf tournament, and even a three-round leader does not have a sure win.
There are many external factors that influence the result (weather, draw time, course quirks) that make prediction difficult and add randomness to the process. Even the best analysis can't be counted on due to the uncontrollable influence that these factors exert.