BETTING ON WINTER SPORTS
Even if it's not the most popular sports category available for online betting, winter sports target a wide range of bettors from all over the world. Excluding the most popular team sports played on ice, which deserve separated topics (e.g. ice hockey, bandy, curling etc.), the major online bookmakers offer betting possibilities for many other winter sports.
Most winter sports can't compare with ice hockey (NHL - especially) in terms of excitement, betting markets, promotions, but some online bookmakers do their best to offer great betting opportunities for the winter sports fans. For example, Pinnacle can deliver future winter sports betting and winter sports betting for alpine skiing, biathlon and even cross-country. Most major winter sports international competitions are included: Winter Olympics Skiing, World Skiing Championships, World Cup Alpine Country, World Cup Biathlon, World Cup Ski.
Other online bookmakers, such as Sky Bet, even offer the chance to bet on freestyle skiing competitions. Examples: Women Slopestyle - Olympics 2014, Mens Slopestyle - Olympics 2014. Generally, all the winter sports which participate in Olympic competitions are available for betting.
Because of the big variety of winter sports, online bookmakers decide which winter sport is most likely to attract bettors - therefore you will notice really big differences among the betting offers from several bookmakers. On some online bookmakers you can find bandy, speed skating, alpine skiing, cross country, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton, snowboarding and biathlon events, while on other online bookmakers you can't find any other winter sport/sport played on ice except for ice hockey.
Usually, online bookmakers like Bet365, William Hill, Paddy Power, Unibet and Ladbrokes have the biggest variety of sports available to bet on, including winter sports - because all of these bookmakers target Scandinavian bettors, and as we know - Scandinavian bettors place many bets on winter sports.
Here are some markets which you can generally use for the most popular winter sports.
o Event markets (including outright/podium/winning continent/winning nationality);
o Group betting;
o Winning margin;
o Finishing Position;
o Finish Both Runs;
o To take overall lead/to take round 1 Lead (run/jump 1);
o Shooting performance (including head to head);
o Shooting time in 1st shoot;
o Qualification markets;
o Match betting;
o Medal specials.
Overall, winter sports are definitely interesting and attractive sports to watch, so in the winter season you should expect to see major competitions and events available at all the top online bookmakers. Make sure to visit their betting sections in order to discover which winter sports are available to bet on.
You may also want to read the following:
