Betting on Tennis

Wagering on tennis is probably not the most popular form of sports betting in the world, but it can be an excellent way to make money betting on sports. Someone with an astute eye for tennis lines and with good knowledge of the players can make some excellent wagers and really add to their sports betting bankroll.

Bets offered in Tennis

While there are many different kinds of wagers available in tennis, the most common are the regular money line bet and a spread bet based on the result of the match. We will get started by showing examples of each type of bet.

Basic money line bet:

Federer  -350
Del Porto + 290

So in this example if you think Federer will win then you would need to wager $350 in order to win $100. Since Federer is the clear favorite, the bookmakers will make you wager a lot of your own money just to win a little of theirs. Now, if you wish to bet on Del Porto, then you will need to risk $100 with the chance of winning $290. This is the most basic of money line bets and it is commonly available at almost any sports book that offers tennis wagering.

Match spread betting:

Federer -2.5
Del Porto +2.5

This type of spread betting is very similar to that of say football or basketball. Basically Del Porto enters the match with a 2.5 set lead. In order for a bet on Federer to be a winner, he would have to take at least four or three sets in the match. If he did not, then the bet for Del Porto would be the winner.

Why betting on tennis is smart

Tennis is not like football or basketball in terms of predictability. After all, predictability is what the sports betting market is built on. Bookmakers depend on their great knowledge of the games as well as the undeniable power of numbers to set odds and lines that are profitable for the agencies they work for. Tennis is probably one of the most difficult games for bookmakers to set numbers on. There are many reasons for this but the most prevalent is probably that the competition between world tennis players is quite fierce and unpredictable.

You’ll probably notice that not all online sports books offer tennis. The main reason for that is either they don’t have a good tennis odds maker or they simply have not found a way to be consistently profitable with tennis offerings in the past. Remember, bookies have to set their odds in such a way that they entice the most possible action from bettors yet put themselves in the best position to win. This is where your excellent knowledge of tennis and the players can really help in your tennis betting. By studying the players and knowing the odds and lines available you can find some excellent opportunities with tennis betting.