Without a doubt the biggest sports betting event this year will be the 2010 World Cup soccer competition beginning in South Africa this June.  The soccer betting action that the World Cup is expected to generate is estimated to be in the billions of Euros.  Sportsbooks are already starting to offer a wide variety of World Cup betting options, with one of the most popular being the ‘outright winner’ bet.  Basically, it’s just what it sounds like—you pick the outright winner of the overall competition.

The payout you’ll receive if you’re correct depends on the odds assigned to the winning team.  Spain and Brazil are the favorites to win the competition, and a winning bet on either team will pay out in the 5/1 range.  Honduras and North Korea are among the biggest longshots, with a potential payout in excess of 100,000/1!  While it’s unlikely that Honduras or North Korea will even make it out of the group stage, let alone win the entire event there are still some very good teams that can be had at 25/1 or higher.

As you’re likely aware, the prices on an individual team will vary from one sportsbook to another.  For that reason, it is essential that you shop around and place your bet where you’re receiving the most attractive betting odds and the best potential return on your investment.  No one would purchase a TV or a computer if they knew that with minimal effort they could get a much better deal.  It’s the same thing in sports betting, and it requires only a couple of mouse clicks to get the better deal and potentially make significantly more money if your bet is a winner.

Here are a couple of examples—England is among the betting favorites to win the 2010 World Cup, as much for the country’s fondness for betting as much as the intrinsic skill of the team.  If you wanted to bet on England to win the World Cup championship, most books will offer a payback of 5/1.  With a little shopping, however, it is possible to find a sportsbook offering 8/1 or 17/2 on England.  At the other extreme, there are books offering as little as 4/1 odds on the ‘Three Lions’.  A $100 US bet on England could return as little as $400 or as much as $850 in profit depending on where you placed the bet.

For higher priced teams, the differences can be even more significant.  One team that has been pegged by many World Cup betting experts as a potential ‘dark horse’ is Portugal.  Most sportsbooks have Portugal priced in the 25/1 range, but depending on where you’re playing you could be getting as little as 14/1 or as much as 31/1 for the exact same wager.   If your bet on Portugal is a winner you definitely want to get as much money as possible in return, and by simply making a few extra mouse clicks your $100 US bet could pay back as little as $1400 or as much as $3100!

The concept of ‘pointspread’ or ‘odds’ shopping is of critical importance in every type of sports betting, but a futures betting market like the above World Cup odds examples make this crystal clear.  If you want to be a longterm winner at sports betting you need to always make sure you’re playing at the best price and the only way to do that is to shop around and perform thorough odds comparison.  Your bankroll will appreciate the extra effort you make.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 6:04 am and is filed under articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.