The Olympic Games start soon and we're here to take a closer look at some of the better betting options that we'll find in London.
First off, let's go over some of the quick facts for the
2012 Summer Olympic Games.
London plays host to the event, which has its opening
ceremony on July 27. The games will wrap up on August 12.
Approximately 205 different nations will be participating in
the various events, with close to 10,500 total athletes expected to take part.
There are 302 combined events spawned from 26 sports.
The United States enters the Olympics as the favorites in
the odds to win the most total medals. Their line is at 38 on 5Dimes and
there's only one other country that's expected to challenge them throughout the
games. The main competition is China, whose medal prop number can be found at
36.
Other countries that should win quite a few medals include
Russia, Great Britain, Germany and Australia.
With so many different sports on offer, surely there's got
to be a lot of value out there to exploit, right? The betting odds makersaren't going to
get everything right, and we've got to be ready to pounce on any weak lines that
are public.
Here are a few mainstand sports we can't wait to watch and
potentially make a profit on and some others that may be overlooked.
Basketball
The Americans are humungous favorites to win the gold here,
the main challengers being Spain, Argentina, France and Brazil. They're going
to have to deal with some crazy high spreads to cover.
We suggest keeping a cool head and not going too crazy on
the USA team, considering basketball will be one of the most heavily bet sports
at the Olympics. There could be much more value to take advantage of on some of
the other contenders in the competition.
Swimming
Considering what Michael Phelps was able to accomplish in
Beijing, we know swimming is going to be one of the most popular events this
summer.
All eyes will be on Phelps and what kind of follow-up act
he'll be able to muster up, but don't sleep on Ryan Lochte, who's been training
exceptionally hard and is out to prove that he's the best American swimmer now.
Track & Field
So many events, so little time. Will Usain Bolt dominate
like he did in 2008? Or will American Tyson Gay upend the Jamaican from his
throne?
On the whole, Jamaica (keep an eye out for Yohan Blake,
who's actually beaten Bolt this year) is the only country that comes even
remotely close to what the USA will show up with. The Americans are loaded in
practically all of the events.
Other sports to check out include soccer, gymnastics, tennis
and boxing. Don't forget that many of the soccer teams are filled with younger
talent and aren't indicative of what those nations would feature at the World
Cup.
For example, the only members of the Spain team (that's won
three straight international events) from this past summer's Euros are Jordi
Alba and Javi Martinez.
Remember this too: even though there will be tons of
activity and plenty of betting options available, don't get suckered in to
wagering money on something you know little about. Do the research and make
sure you're confident first and foremost.
Once the work's been done, it's always fun to venture
outside of what you know. You may find some awesome value if you load up with
information and it'll be interesting to place action on a sport you never would
have bet on in the past.