posted October 9, 2007 at 16:46 in Tennis Articles

Tennis Betting is another online betting option available at BetUS Sportsbook. Just like betting on football, baseball, hockey, golf, boxing and so on, the objective is the same: winning. In tennis betting, typically, there is no point spread, just a money line or future betting option, and you bet on individual match ups or on an individual to win outright in a tournament.

Betting on tennis is most popular during Grand Slam events, but at BetUS Sportsbook you will find tennis odds on all major and non-major tournaments alike. BetUS is one of the few sportsbooks that takes action on all the tennis tournaments in an annual season.

Most tennis bettors play the money line. Betting on the money line involves head-to-head match ups. For example, you might have Roger Federer at –250 and Rafael Nadal at +150. This means that you need to bet $250 to win a $100 on Federer and $100 on Nadal to win $150.

In the second option – a future bet – the bettor bets on an individual player to win a tournament outright. For example, preceding Wimbledon you might have a future bet for Federer at -250 to win Wimbledon outright, Nadal at +350, Novak Djokovic at +500 and Andy Roddick at +2500. This means you need to bet $250 on Federer to win $100 and a $100 on Nadal, Djokovic and Roddick to win $350, $500 and $2500 respectively.

Betting on a player to win a tournament is more difficult than betting on individual match ups. When Federer, and to some extent Nadal as well, dominate major tennis tournaments, betting on other players to win outright can be a risk. Odds on top players do not have a lot of value and payouts are low. The odds on the rest of the playing field are long and payouts huge if they orchestrate the upset; but banking on such a conditional is chancy.

But it is not all bad news when it comes to betting on tennis. The good news is with a little good handicapping, you can definitely have a lot of success. Seriously, betting on tennis can be rewarding.

The best way to make money is to bet on individual match ups. Tennis betting picks up mostly during major tournaments. Most sportsbooks do not focus on tennis, and odds makers are not always sharp when it comes to pricing the money line. Therefore, it is not unlikely to find a bad line on a match up – a price that is totally off, but good for the bettor.

Handicapping tennis involves a bit of research. Surface is a key factor. Knowing a player strengths and weaknesses on a surface, and how well they perform on each surface is vital before making tennis picks. There are only a few players that play well on all surfaces, most players play well on one surface and struggle on the rest. For example, Rafael Nadal is indomitable on clay. They call him the King of clay for a reason. Therefore, any match up that involves Nadal and clay, your best bet is to bet on Nadal to win the match. It’s a no-brainer.

To find odds with the best value, you will have to get to know players beyond the Top 10 rankings. There are many players, who are not necessarily as well known as Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and so forth, but hold a lot of value, particularly when playing on their best surface.

Other factors involved in handicapping tennis are form, injuries and mental state. Knowing a players playing activity, win/loss record, and any big letdowns, upsets or huge victories can go a long way in making the best pick. For example, after Djokovic won the ATP Masters Series in Canada, beating World No.1 Federer for the first-time ever in his career, in Djokovics’ first match, a few days later, at the ATP Masters Series in Cincinnati Djokovic opened on the line at – 600 favorite odds against Carlos Moya at +350. Banking on a hunch that Djokovics’ huge victory would go to his head, I picked Moya for the victory. Djokovic went on to lose the match 6-4, 6-1 and I cashed in on my hunch!

Betting on tennis is not only fun, but rewarding especially when the right edge is found. Believe it, there are edges to be had; you just need to do a little bit of work to find them. When the rewards can be so great, the work hardly seems hard at all. It’s like I said "Good News all around!"

This week in tennis, BetUS Sportsbook is taking action on the If Stockholm Open and BA-CA Tennis on the men’s side, ptt Bangkok Open on the women’s side and the Kremlin Cup for both men and women. Tennis Odds are in full swing, so check out the stellar match ups and start making some money betting on tennis!

Federer might be winning everything except clay these days, but with online sports betting in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, betting on tennis has never been so exciting! Join the BetUS.com online sportsbook today and start using the latest tennis lines, odds and props to earn cold, hard cash!

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.