Bookmakers offer not as many tennis wagering markets as hockey and especially football. This is understandable because in a tennis match there are fewer players involved, there are no penalties, penalties, fouls, penalty minutes, etc. But every good bookmaker will have a decent line-up of tennis wagers and a decent spread, so there’s plenty to choose from. Apart from the main outcomes (victory of one of the opponents), you can wager on the results of sets, totals, handicaps (by sets and by games). In the most popular matches, wagers are taken on individual player statistics (e.g. eights, double faults, number of break points, and sometimes percentage of balls won, percentage of first serve). Note that sometimes wagers can also be placed in best UK casino sites.
Wagering on a winner
The easiest wagering option is on the outcome (winner) of the match. Winning is usually the one with the cheapest margin and the highest wagering limits, but odds are unlikely to vary significantly.
Statistically, this market is the most popular among wagerers. Many inexperienced players start wagering on wins in tennis. Low odds favourites and odds doubles are popular with newcomers, but such tactics are rarely successful (more on this below).
Handicaps
Handicaps are also known as handicaps. Wagering on a handicap in tennis means trying to guess the difference in games that one player will win against the other.
A handicap in tennis, as in other sports, can be a plus or minus handicap. A plus handicap is given to underdogs and a minus handicap to favourites. For example, if you wager on one of the players to win with a handicap (-3.5), you need to win with a total difference of at least 4 games (for example 6:4, 6:4 or 7:6, 6:3). If you wager on a handicap (+3.5), you’ll have to make sure that your player doesn’t lose by more than 3 games (for example 6:7, 4:6).
When wagering on a handicap in tennis, it is possible that your player loses, but the handicap wagering goes through. For example, you wager on X with a handicap (-2.5). He won the first set 6-0, then lost two straight sets, 4-6, 6-7. In the end, he clinched the match with a three-game lead. Such situations didn’t happen often, but they did happen.
Total Over/Low Total
The total in tennis is a wager on the total number of games played. The total is indicated by the letter “T”, followed by “B” (more) or “M” (less). At the end there is a numerical value, more or less than which you wager.
Wagers on game totals are the most common in tennis, but bookmakers also offer other variants. For example, you can wager on the individual total of each player – how many games the first and second tennis player will score. Also available are wagers on total sets, total games in each individual set, total double faults and eights of tennis players (such markets are only offered in top matches).
Accumulators on tennis
Accumulators in wagering are wagers on several outcomes in different matches. These wagers are also known as “multi wagers”.
Wagering professionals do not recommend wagering on wild cards because of the low odds. It can be hard to always guess the outcome of a single game, so where can you possibly guess the outcome of 3 or 4 games in a single match? And in order for a hand to be successful, it needs all the events in the hand to be played.
Nevertheless, tennis accumulators are very popular with wagering novices, as the odds of all selected events are multiplied. Often, inexperienced players choose 10 or more matches that offer very small odds (1.2 or lower) on a favourite’s win and combine them in a parlay.
However, the seemingly easy money almost never comes. Even a clear favourite may have a bad day, be in a bad mood, or lose motivation. In the end, just one tennis player can send your whole bankroll tumbling down.
Score in sets
A tennis match can be played in three sets, or a maximum of five sets. The second format is only found at Grand Slam tournaments, of which there are only four a year: the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. At all other tournaments, a player must win two sets to win a match.
Wagering on a set-by-set wager offers to guess the final score of the games. For example, a 2-0 wager predicts that the player you wager on will win both sets. In Grand Slams it is harder to stay on top of the table, where every player battles tooth and nail for massive prize money and prestige, and where there are more options in a five-set match
Individual Total
Individual total (IT) wagers are available in almost every sport, and tennis is no exception. The wagerer is offered to guess how many games or sets a particular tennis player will take in a match.
The individual total is calculated on the basis of the strength ratio of the opponents. For example, a clear favourite is usually given an IT of 11.5, with a modest odds of more. A stronger tennis player is expected to be able to play his opponent with confidence, hence the total number of games is exactly 12. For the underdog, the odds are usually between 6.5 and 7.5.
