Betting on Equestrian Events

Placing a wager or two on one the multitude of horse racing events that occur each day around the world is completely understandable. The various distances, horse age limits, track surfaces, weight handicaps, fast-paced action, and numerous other variables make for an extremely exciting racing format that has over the ages created numerous equine legends who will live on in the hearts and minds of avid supporters of the sport of kings.

In contrast, placing a bet on equestrian seems a bit less likely, especially considering most people probably have never heard of the sport and have no idea what the sport entails. Moreover, it quite possibly would rank highly on a list of the weirdest sports to wager on. Equestrian comprises of several different events but the action primarily consists of judging a rider’s ability to gallop his or her horse, at times the rules may require the horse and rider to jump over obstacles, mostly they simply need to strut around in front of a panel of judges.

While one cannot deny reaching the desired level of proficiency would require years of intense practice by the horse & rider combination, still the slow pace and relative lack of head to head competition makes for rather unexciting levels of drama and spectator enthusiasm. Definitely one of the weirder betting sports and decidedly doubtful to raise my levels of enthusiasm high enough to go placing a wager on it. Although there is no doubt that some find the excitement buried somewhere in equestrian events since a few bookmakers consistently offer betting odds on such sporting events!

Betting on Badminton Matches

While it is undeniable that Badminton matches make for extremely exciting spectating, mostly due to the high levels of skill displayed by the world’s top-level players. These guys and gals often deliver unbelievable levels of gymnastic skill during matches that require the reflexes of a cat.

Badminton’s top-level players have highly proficient at smacking a bundle of feathers across the 5-ft 1-inch (1.55 metres) net using a tool that looks like a cross between a squash racket and a flyswatter. It is also an extremely fast sport where a shuttlecock can reach maximum velocities of up to 493km/h.

Still, who would round up their friends to sit in front of the television and watch a badminton match together? Despite the sport having become an Olympic event in 1992 and proved extremely popular in some areas of the globe, enough so for top range matches to enjoy televised coverage on major sports channels. Historically, players primarily from China have dominated the sport having garnered 41 Olympic medals in total, it still remains unusual to place a wager on a badminton event.

However, due to popular demand bookmakers offer betting lines covering most major badminton events, allowing players to place bets on final score as well as over and under odds. Undoubtedly Chinese sports books will provide more comprehensive coverage on the sport, but for the moment it remains one of the niche betting sports in the western hemisphere.