Key Norwegians to Follow for Betting
Each day, more and more people in Norway are realizing the enhanced options of sports betting available from websites outside of the country itself.
Norway is proud of its sporting heritage, and many of their best sportspeople feature prominently on the biggest stages. In ice hockey and boxing, Norwegians are proving themselves to be major names, so naturally, people who want to place a sports bet will likely seek their compatriots to show their faith in their fellow Norwegian – and be even happier when they succeed.
These are the sportspeople who would-be Norwegian bettors should keep an eye on, as well as how Norwegians can place bets at good odds, not restricted by the national monopoly.
Could a Norwegian win the Stanley Cup?
Mats Zuccarello’s Stars debut ends with a scare https://t.co/DCIMQRhp3U pic.twitter.com/h2YyEbpapE
— New York Post (@nypost) February 24, 2019
People often raise the question as to why there are so many top-class Finnish and Swedish ice hockey players, but so few from their Scandinavian brethren in Norway. Simply put, the mountainous terrain of Norway has hindered the adoption of ice hockey. But that didn’t stop Mats Zuccarello.
In 2014, Zuccarello became the first Norwegian to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. His team, the New York Rangers, lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals, but now he’s going to have another crack at the Cup. Before the NHL Trade Deadline, the Dallas Stars traded in the swift Norwegian winger and are now battling for a place in the playoffs.
Zuccarello got off to an incredible start, scoring a goal and tallying an assist less than 22 minutes into the game. But the on-form Norwegian made a block on a slap shot, breaking his arm. Luckily, Dallas’ newest winger is expected to return in time for the playoffs, and potentially for a few games at the end of the regular season in April.
That said, the chances of the Dallas Stars and Zuccarello going all the way to win the Cup are rather slim according to the bookies. At the time of writing, they were at 16.00 to win in the Western Conference Finals, behind divisional rivals like the Nashville Predators at 7.00 and the Winnipeg Jets at 4.50. As shown by this Norwegian betting guide, these odds are available to all Norwegian fans if they use their approved and trusted websites, rather than the very limited Norsk Tipping.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, every year, a team manages to cause some upsets, win more games than they should and progress, and the Stars have enough top-class players to do that this year. There’s also the chance to cash in on Zuccarello’s scoring prowess, especially now that he’s in a better team, by betting on him to score points or goals in playoff matches.
Norway on top of the boxing world
Cecilia Braekhus: ‘A fight with @CrisCyborg would be more competitive than Mayweather-McGregor’ #boxing #UFC #MMA https://t.co/hrZTrqMHzH pic.twitter.com/4pxIYVedyH
— MMA mania (@mmamania) May 6, 2018
The most notorious name in women’s boxing right now is the undisputed welterweight world champion Cecilia Braekhus. The Norwegian has ousted every single opponent sent her way, currently holding a 35-0 9 KOs record having defended her status as the undisputed world champion with all five belts seven times.
Braekhus has been the strong favourite in the vast majority of her fights over the last few years as she is a class above. However, there is an Irish upstart who has made her intentions of meeting Braekhus very clear. Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor is closing in on being the undisputed champion of the lightweight division and says that she could build up from 135 lbs to the 147 lbs needed to battle the Norwegian. This would be a battle for the ages, in which Braekhus would probably come in as the marginal favourite to win.
On the men’s side, there are two names to keep an eye on as they make their way to the top tier. Kai Robin Havnaa, now 14-0 with 12 knockouts, recently defeated Rad Rashid to claim the IBO International cruiserweight title.
Then there’s the incredibly exciting 23-year-old Hadi Srour who turned professional in 2018. Only 3-0 so far, he has many fights ahead of him where he’ll be the heavy favourite as he conditions himself to the professional ranks. But with 100 amateur wins and age on his side, it won’t be too many years before he’ll be bet on to win titles.
As you can see, in these two exciting sports, there are some superb Norwegian sportspeople for the bettors of Norway to follow and bet on this year.
