It seems as though the sports world has been in something of a drought lately, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t events going on that you’re free to wager on. Most of the UK’s major betting shops have always offered wagers on golf, though it’s been something of a novelty as far as Americans are concerned. Ever since Phil Mickelson started to demand regular celebrity pro-am events, however, fans have started to take the idea of betting on golf seriously.
If you’re a complete newcomer, then you’ll want to look into getting a good deal before you throw down any money.
Look for Inexpensive Betting Opportunities
As you might imagine, the world of gambling is filled with many people who would like to cheat the system. This means you need to be careful when looking for free or low-cost opportunities to place a bet. Fortunately, however, you can find a number of legitimate chances if you take a moment to look around.
New bettors might be able to score some free bets from a subscription service just by signing up. If you plan on betting anyway, then you probably won’t mind the fact that these kinds of programs normally require you to spend a minimum amount of money in the future to get these free bets.
Let’s say you were going to place a wager of around £100 on a single match. If an online betting shop offers an extra £50 on your initial investment, then you could look at this as a chance to save £50 over the next week. Don’t fall into the trap of saying that you now have £150 to bet when you only wanted to bet £100 on each match.
Online directories make it easy to find these kinds of promotions. They’re normally offered at all times of the year, but some organizations offer additional programs when events are held at Royal St George’s and other major clubs. When golfers take to the links on the PGA European Tour, betting groups normally offer a selection of deals that they wouldn’t provide at other times.
You’ll certainly want to check these out.
Scoring Big with Seasonal Deals
Take a look at the PGA schedule and you’ll see that overseas events are held at times of the year when Americans have few other chances to place bets. When that happens, offshore casino sites will usually open their doors to these suddenly disenfranchised consumers. Keep an eye out for these kinds of deals, especially as more states legalize sports betting.
Once you find a place that offers offshore PGA bets, you’ll want to take a few moments to make sure that the group that owns it is legitimate. Bettors that don’t receive their payouts on time tend to be a vocal group, so you shouldn’t have too much difficulty determining whether or not you’ll be able to get your money out of an account after depositing it in.
While some of the events that you can bet on might not have as many big names as others, there’s no reason why you can’t try for a relative unknown who still remains PGA eligible. You might also want to look into off-beat events that feature top names. Some of these won’t attract bettors, but they can be quite interesting when they do.
Golfers like Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy have headlined charity events in recent months. You can expect that as we move forward you’ll start to see more people involved in this kind of program.
Since bookies involved with golf usually have simpler rules than those who take bets on other sports, you shouldn’t even have that much difficulty getting started.
Placing Your First Bet on a Round of Golf
Unlike most other sports, you don’t normally see expansive money lines when dealing with golf. While you’re not going to find completely straight up bets from most services, the gambling opportunities you’ll find are generally close enough that you can treat them as such. Unless a golfer is awarded a massive penalty, things will normally remain right on the level.
As a result, you’ll normally only have to pick which golfer you think will walk away with the lowest score after every 9 or 18 holes. While gambling officials might offer you a wide selection of side bets as well, there’s no reason why you can’t just have fun focusing on these relatively straight bets that offer decent payouts.
