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Curling is one of the world’s oldest continuously played sports, dating back at least 510 years to the freezing Scottish winters that allowed it to become a popular folk sport, spreading around the world wherever Scottish migrants went. The ice, the brushes and the heavy stone blocks are iconic, but while it’s all fun and games, it’s not exactly the first sport that comes to mind when you think of a great place to have a quick flutter. But is there more to ‘the roaring game’ than meets the eye? Let’s have a look, in our complete guide to betting on Curling. Here are some of the best bet bonuses if you are looking to place a bet on curling.
What is Curling?
Like a cross between lawn bowls, ten pin bowling and ice hockey, the four players of each time are tasked with sliding their eight curling stones down a long sheet of ice a bit like a bowling lane, and as close to the target or ‘house’ as possible. The house is made up of four concentric circles that decrease in size closer to the centre, and points are scored for getting stones within these rings as close to the middle as possible.
This is achieved by one of the team pushing the stone down the ice at just the right speed and angle to get the stone where it needs to be. However, they’re not alone. The rest of the team must prepare the ice in front of the stone with sweeping brushes as it moves, through which they can speed the stone up, slow it down and even change its course.
The ice can get very crowded when there are nearly 16 stones in and near the house, so it’s up to the sweepers and the shooter to coordinate their efforts to get stones through small gaps, around obstacles or even to knock their opponent’s stones out of the way in order to score highly.
When to bet
While curling is a very popular amateur sport around the world in countries such as Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Scotland it isn’t exactly big business that receives televised coverage most of the time. So when are the best times to bet, and which tournaments are most likely to be covered? Here are a few of the best options.
The Winter Olympics
This is the biggest occasion of all in Curling, and certainly when Curling gets its biggest worldwide audience, though obviously it’s only an option every four years. Dominated by Canada, though with honourable mentions to the UK and Switzerland, Curling has only been an Olympic sport on seven occasions but is one of the tournament’s best known events, with 15 participating teams to bet on.
The World Championships
Smaller than the Olympics but held each year, the World Championships are another good option for betting on Curling. These are also likely to be covered by good sports betting companies, and with a larger field of countries to bet on there are also more options.
Local tournaments
While there aren’t many options when it comes to major international Curling events, most Curling nations also host local tournaments that attract media attention and are even televised in some cases. The major advantage here is that these tournaments are far more frequent, occurring several times a year, though there may be limited betting options for some of the smaller competitions. Examples include The Brier and The Tournament of Hearts in Canada, The Bonspiel in Scotland and the World Curling Championships.
How to bet on Curling
Curling is sometimes known as ‘chess on ice’ so there are plenty of thrills and spills to bet on in every match. It’s also unusual to see tied games, with most games reaching a conclusion even if extra ends have to be played, so there’s usually a winner or loser to choose too. So what are the best ways to bet on curling? Let’s take a look.
Spread Betting
In many sports there tend to be favourites and underdogs in every game, which is natural, but can make for a boring betting experience with poor odds if it’s obvious who is going to win. Spread betting removes this bias by applying handicaps to the favourite team, so they have to win by a certain amount in order for the bet to pay out. Similarly, if you manage to bet on a winning underdog, the rewards are that much greater. Handicaps are expressed as a +/- figure, so keep an eye out for these for a chance to make a fortune.
Under/Over betting
Curling is a high scoring game, with final results in which both teams have scores in the double digits, which is why under/over betting can be a good option. You don’t need to pick a winner, you just need to correctly predict whether the teams’ score will be over or under a certain amount.
Moneyline betting
One of the most common types of betting, Moneyline essentially just means putting all of your money on one specific outcome, with no complications attached. This is quite a popular option in Curling because games very rarely end in a tie, so there are only two options rather than the usual three in Football or Rugby.
Prop betting
Prop bets are less common in curling because there are much fewer ‘parts’ to the game than in other sports, but it’s still possible. A prop bet concentrates on a specific element of the game to bet on, such as an individual player’s total points scored or the total number of ends played. These bets are specific and tend to attract better odds, but it can be risky to put all your eggs in such a niche basket.
Conclusion
Curling is a small sport with a solid fan base all around the world, and with several international tournaments that attract a high value of bets, making it a perfect way of branching out into a new world of sports betting. It’s a relatively simple game with tons of variables and nail biting action, making it perfect for capturing all the thrills and spills that sports betting can bring.
