The Olympics started last week but for TrackNation they really start today. Today kicks off over a week straight of non-stop track & field coverage when the entire world cares about our sport. Normally this would be exciting enough but as we said in a release last summer, this year you can legally gamble on the Olympics in the United States.
It should be noted that gambling on the Olympics is only legal in Las Vegas and is legal for the first time since the Sydney games in 2000. The legal gambling age in Las Vegas for sports is 21 so if you are younger than that... forget about it!
With all those disclaimers out of the way lets talk about how you could make money by being the track aficionado you are.
For starters, here is how the gambling will work.
The sporting events in the Olympics will take "action" in a para-mutual fashion. Meaning the odds will go up and down based on the amounts wagered on each side. The "line" will be set based on what oddsmakers feel will draw 50% of the action on each side.
A good track example for this would be saying the line for the 100m dash is five guys will dip under 10 seconds in the final. That means they want 50% of individuals to bet it is more and 50% of individuals to bet it is less.
The same will go for odds on who will win what. This is run just like horse racing.
FloTrack actually wrote a great piece and you can check out the odds on some major races here!
Men's Track Odds - Women's Track Odds
Now that we know how all of this works, lets talk about how you can make some money.
The key to bringing home the big bucks is one of two ways... bet conservatively on the locks to win or be aggressive and go for the runners you think will show the world a lot this week.
Conservative Bets
If you are going the conservative way and looking for investments as stable as treasury bonds than these are the three races (plus one) you will want to make a wager on. Obviously we don't really suggest using these as investments for your children's college fund.
- Women's 800: Caster Semenya (South Africa) - 1/8*
- Women's 5000: Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) - 1/10
- Men's 4x400m Relay: Team USA - 1/6
- Usain Bolt in everything
* If she wins you receive $9 on an $8 bet.
Quick Take: All of these athletes and teams are just too good to fail. They face controversy for being so dominant and really it is them against the clock at this Olympic Games.
"I'm Willing To Risk It A Little" Bets
Here are the bets that we actually think have some bang for their buck. They aren't long shots but they aren't the locks of the century either. These have decent returns and are the types of bets that grow your $100 to $1000.
These three wagers are what we see as the best bets you can make for T&F this Olympics.
- Men's 400: LaShawn Merritt (USA) 5/1
- Women's 100: English Gardner (USA) 8/1
- Men's 1500: Matthew Centrowitz (USA) 25/1
Quick Take: Merritt is world #2 and the 2008 Olympic Champion... he is a beast and even his twitter handle gets that (@MachineMerritt). Gardner is world #2... in this event with little room for error you gotta take those odds. Centro may seem like a long shot but after watching his rounds in the trials it looks like he could actually be ready to run 3:29.30 (American Record).
"I'm Going To Be A Millionaire" Bets
Finally we come to the fun bets. These are the bets that you half place to make money and half place to make cheering on random events just that more exciting. You love the rush of cheering on an athlete you never knew existed and can't wait to run to the bank and deposit all the bags of cash once they win. Just remember to pay your taxes!
- Men's 200: Yohan Blake (Jamaica) 33/1
- Women's 400: Phyllis Francis (USA) 33/1
- Men's 400H: Byron Robinson (USA) 50/1
Quick Take: Blake is the second fastest man ever over 200m, Francis is World #5 and 4th seed in the competition, Robinson is from VA and #8 seed entering competition. All three of these athletes have serious chances at medaling and it will come down to lane assignments and how fast they have to run in the semi-finals to see if they can pull off an upset.