Tips On Betting The 2010 Winter Olympics
ByDavid Chan
The Olympics start on Friday. If you’re going to bet them, make sure you know your bookie’s fine print.
Very few American-aimed books plan for these things. It’s a seat-of-the-pants event. Markets come up late and sometimes come down early. Not all events get offered.
Hockey is in a good bookie’s comfort zone. The farther away you get from hockey, the less comfortable a bookie is. If you call up looking for snowboard prices, the first thought through your bookie’s head is “Uh-oh.”
It’s tempting to go European. Many European books offer skiing and skating events on a weekly basis, so they’re much better prepared for the Olympics. Make sure you know the house rules.
In general, Euro bookies and American bookies have exactly opposite rules. Seriously. In Europe, they list the home team first. Overtime is usually not included when calculating the final score. Euro rules vary widely on how scratches are treated.
That’s the biggest one, scratches. If you back a skier at +2000 to win the downhill, and he breaks his leg in the final training run, do you have a losing bet or is it “no action”? Find out beforehand. UK and Aussie bookies sometimes state “all in” to signify that all bets have action no matter what. The notation “NRNB” means that the entrant must start the competition proper for there to be action.
No matter where your bookie hangs his hat, he probably pays out on a podium finish. That means all bets are settled as soon as the medal goes around the winner’s neck. Failed drug tests and post-ceremony protests mean absolutely nothing.
If you’re betting a sport you don’t usually bet, make sure you know the quirks.
Here’s an example: In curling, the heavier the moneyline favorite, the lower the total should be. Curling is a sport where if a team falls way behind, the honorable, sportsmanlike thing for that team to do is to quit. So while most totals float between 12 and 14, if somebody’s ahead 8-1, the losing team is likely to quit, leaving the game well under.
One last opinion: Favorites are generally bad bets. They’ll win their share, but they won’t win enough to justify the short price. Square money naturally wants the best skier in the race, for instance—which may push that skier off at +125 when +250 is more like it.