It has certainly been a tough last few weeks for sports fans around the world. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, virtually all major sporting events have been postponed or canceled for the time being. That has left a huge void in the sports calendar for people to deal with.
Initially, sports betting looked like it would also take a hit. Fewer people are indeed betting during a time of the year that is usually extremely busy, but the pandemic has forced companies to come up with creative ways for people to still have wagering opportunities on sports.
Is there a silver lining to all of this? People are actually making solid money putting money down on sports, as bookmakers try to sort out the odds. They have struggled to make odds nearly as accurate as they would like in popular sports.
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A month ago, sports handicappers never thought their day would be focused on random events such as table tennis, basketball in Taiwan, soccer in Belarus, and a ton of eSports. They have been forced to take a crash course just to offer something to those people thirsty to place bets on some live event.
The problem is, whenever there is a lack of data and general knowledge about a sport, handicappers lose their edge. This is why, in some ways, they struggle with accurately handicapping early-season games in major sports. However, this is unchartered territory for many of the top bookmakers in the world. They have little to no knowledge on these leagues, but the alternative is to offer no wagering opportunities at all.
eSports and Simulations Betting Tips
Everyone would love to have traditional sporting events back to watch and place bets on, but for now, this is the world everyone is living in. Some of these lesser-known sports and leagues are finally getting their shine, and adding a wager on the game makes it all that much more exciting. If live sports are not doing enough to keep a person interested since they do not know the names, eSports and simulations are another way to go.
Yes, oddsmakers have jumped on the bandwagon of offering opportunities to wager on eSports and simulations. The advantage here is that using games such as Madden and NBA 2K means the players and teams are familiar to the audience. The ratings are accurate enough to give realistic results without everything feeling too controlled.
How to win in this new sports betting world
With bookmakers struggling with accurate odds, how can people use this to their advantage? The best suggestion is to begin focusing on one or two consistent opportunities. The faster someone can start to pick up on some trends, the more success they will have.
Find something that also seems interesting enough to watch. Most people are wanting to make some money, but also be entertained. Table tennis might have lines listed, but if the sport is of no interest, it will not be filling any entertainment void.
The longer this goes on, the more accurate odds will become. Take advantage now for the best opportunities to win in this new sports landscape. The opportunities are there if people are smart with their bets.
Lasting impact
These new opportunities to place wagers have been seemingly thrown together in the last few weeks, but will these opportunities last? Some are thinking that this could be a way to add another element to gambling long-term as well.
For the smaller sports and sports leagues, they have always had smaller crowds placing wagers on these events. They are getting a lot more attention, but they will go back to their regular popularity once the big leagues get back together. Ultimately, people gravitate towards the leagues with the most talent.
For eSports, simulations, and similar setups, this is mostly unchartered territory up until this point. Wagering on competitive video gameplay has been around, but what they are doing with simulations is definitely unique. No one thought it was possible that a Madden simulation tournament on Twitch TV would get a lot of people placing bets in March.
Video games rely on numbers, so it’s easy to see that analytics-driven people could gravitate towards these betting opportunities if they stick around. There is also the advantage of there being opportunities to bet on popular sports like football and basketball 12 months out of the year. The season never has to end when actual athletes are not involved.
No one is enjoying this current situation, but it makes sense to try to make the most of it. The unknown sports are sometimes scary to gamble on, but remember, the oddsmakers are pretty confused at this point as well. There are more opportunities to win, just not in the traditional sports betting way.