Football Playoffs Offer New Betting Opportunities
The world of sports gambling is ever expanding. Sites around the web offer odds and props for sports of all levels of popularity and complexity. Sites like Titan Bingo cover everything from this summer's Commonwealth Games to futures on the 2014 Super Bowl winner.
Last season at College Sports Madness, we attempted to provide readers and fans with some weekly college football picks against the spread in a recurring article titled The Betting Turf. As the season came to a close, we even took a look at some good bowl game bets and made inferences towards this coming season with appealing futures odds.
As we get ever closer to the pending start of the 2014 collegiate football season, it may be time to check in again on those futures odds. Vegas Insider, one of the premiere sites around for official odds and wagers, currently has Florida State as the favorite to take home the first ever College Football Playoff championship at 6/1 odds. Not trailing far behind are the Alabama Crimson Tide (13/2) and the Oregon Ducks (7/1).
Of course, betting on the favorites is neither fun nor smart. The best bets to make are on teams with longer odds who are undervalued for one reason or another. As long as a team has a legitimate shot at making the four-team playoff, the bet is worth investigating.
Back in January, the USC Trojans were 25/1 to win the title. Now, Vegas Insider has them at 35/1. For a team loaded with talent and returning a number of key pieces from last season, USC makes for an intriguing pick. Playing in a major conference and being such a big name will also give it a valid chance of making the playoff.
The same could be said for the likes of Stanford (55/1), Michigan (65/1), Miami (110/1) and others. These are all talented teams from major conferences who have incredibly long odds at the moment. While a berth in the final four may not be as likely as Alabama's or Florida State's chances, if any of these long shots are sneaking around near the top 10 late in the year, their title hopes will be just as high. And that's when I'd be glad to have 110 to 1 odds in my favor rather than hoping for a 6 to 1 payout.
While futures and props may be fun for casual fans, sports betting is progressing past that in many other avenues. Titan Bet is one of the sites that currently allows fans to bet live during events of certain sports. As plays happen, odds change and new wagers constantly pop up. This type of gambling is already going on in casinos and sports books, but the advancement of internet gambling makes the possibilities endless.
For college sports, fans and alumni will be able to follow their favorite team during game action and make picks as to what they think will happen. For die hards, this could be a huge boon. If you know your team struggles mightily in third quarters coming out of halftime, you could place a bet as the second-half kickoff is underway and then jump back on the bandwagon for quarter number four. Live betting not only offers infinitely more opportunities to get involved in the game, it also offers true fans more opportunities to capitalize on their knowledge.
And while gambling can be serious and even dangerous if not handled properly, the draw and fun of it is proving you know more than everybody else.
