Updated: 2024We are going to be looking at how you can make money by betting on rowing, to see what can be achieved and what else needs to be taken into consideration.
Online bookmakers offering rowing betting
An Introduction to Rowing
Rowing is one of the most beloved sports in the United Kingdom. This comes as no surprise, given that the island nation has been generously peppered with lakes and waterways. The cultural centre of the sport in England can be found around the River Thames, where storied events take place annually, including the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
As a storied method of reliable transportation, rowing has existed for centuries. It was mainly used by historic seafarers, including the Vikings and the Portuguese pioneers who spearheaded the Age of Discovery. Naturally, sport was a secondary thought in both of these situations, as exploring and conquering new lands was a much bigger priority.
We can trace the history of rowing in the United Kingdom as a competitive sport back to the start of the 18th century, when professional boatmen took to the River Thames for the country’s first organised rowing event. You might be wondering what they were competing for. Simply put, they were competing for a single red overcoat.
The popularity of rowing grew as soon as Oxford University and Cambridge University started competing on the River Thames for bragging rights. Their annual competition takes place in the Spring, and the course covers approximately four miles. But, the most popular rowing events are the ones that take place during the Olympics.
Betting on Rowing
Betting on rowing can be quite tricky because UK sports betting sites up and down the country tend to only offer bets for the biggest rowing events in the world. This means that, while you might be able to bet on the outcome of an event during the Olympics, you might not be able to bet on smaller regional events.
We would advise that you shop around when you are looking for a bookmaker, and make sure that you find one that is known to offer rowing bets that have good odds. A lot of bookmakers who don’t have much experience in this area will offer relatively mundane odds.
Types of Bets
When you are betting on a prestigious rowing event with a reputable bookmaker, there are usually three different types of bets that you could potentially place:
H2H Bets
H2H bets are some of the most attractive bets that you can place on rowing events because they are usually accompanied by relatively good odds. When you are placing an H2H bet, you have to try and decide which of the rowers or squads participating will rank higher in the overall classification.
Naturally, this is actually easier to do when you are betting on local events. This is because it helps to know a little bit about the rowers and squads who will be involved. If you are betting on a rowing event, we would highly recommend that you research the rowers involved before you start placing bids.
Bets on the Winner
When you hear about people placing generic bets on rowing events, you will usually hear about them placing bets on who the overall winner of the event will be. To win these bets, you need to accurately guess who will win the race, be it a single rower or a full squad of people.
Again, it helps to research both the teams and the individuals who are involved when you are placing bets on the winner. This way, you will have a little bit of insight to work with before you decide who you think the winner will be.
Bets 1 – 3
If it is your first time betting on a major rowing event (or a smaller local event), then we would highly recommend that you avoid this type of betting to start with. When you are placing this type of bet, you will have to correctly guess which rowers or squads of rowers will take the first three places on the scoreboard. You don’t have to get them all in the right order, but you do need to make sure that you have all three of the top competitors.
Unfortunately, the odds of winning with a 1 – 3 bet are naturally slightly lower, as it can be quite hard to accurately predict who the three winning individuals or teams will be at rowing events, especially if you are quite new to the field of betting on the sport. Try to remember that black horses are quite common at rowing events.
If you do want to place this type of bet, then you should make sure that you thoroughly research the teams or individuals that you are betting on first. That way, you can make an informed decision as to how you think the scoreboard will look.
Understanding the Odds
If you have ever bet on a sporting event before, then you will probably already have a good understanding of how odds work. But, if this is going to be your first time betting on a sporting event, then it could look like you’re reading a language that you don’t understand when you look at the bookmaker’s listings.
Most of the rowing bets that you will see being offered by bookmakers will be displayed with an “A/B” odds system. If the odds read as 2/1, then you will stand to win £2 for a £1 bet. If the odd read as 15/1, then you will win £15 for a £1 bet.
These odds are set based on probability. The bookmakers offering them take into consideration a number of different factors to determine what the most likely outcome of an event will be. Naturally, this means that you are statistically more likely to win on bets that are closer to 2/1 than you are on bets that are closer to 15/1, but rowing can be notoriously difficult for bookmakers to predict. Keep in mind that most UK bookies offer boosted odds which are short-term offers with immensely increased odds available around big sporting events – they are also available right before major rowing competitions so it’s always a good idea to be on the lookout for those.
Betting on Rowing: Tips & Strategies
There are a number of different strategies, tips and tricks that you can use to improve your chances whenever you are betting on a rowing event. They include:
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Research, research, research: before you bet on a major rowing event, you should spend some time researching all of the people who are involved. Make sure that you know about the statistics of the rowers who will be participating, or the squads who are taking part.
Try to look at their past results, and make sure that you look at whether or not they have had any recent roster changes. A last-minute roster change can quite literally spell disaster for a rowing squad. You should also look at what type of training they are doing and whether or not it is 100% relevant to your chosen event, as well as how often they are training.
With rowing, you can never research too much. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to make informed bets. When you are looking into the rowers who are involved, you should take the following areas into consideration to build your strategy:
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The competition: if you know what competition you are going to be betting on, then you can use that knowledge to your advantage. Just like most people, rowers are motivated by potential prizes and the recognition that they can receive. Naturally, both of these areas are much more considered at bigger events, and so the motivation levels amongst rowers and squads will be much higher.
This can make placing bets quite difficult, as it means that individuals and teams will be at their most competitive. If you want to look for the black horses who could win rowing events, then you should focus your attention on smaller events.
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The competing athletes: unfortunately, you do need to take the ages of all of the rowers who are going to be competing into consideration, as well as their overall health. Young rowers might seem like a safe bet because of their liveliness, but older rowers are often the ones to watch. This is because older rowers have the ability to make snap decisions and cope in intense situations, whereas younger rowers often don’t have enough experience to do the same.
If you want to know whether or not a specific rower is currently suffering from any ailments, then we would recommend taking a look at their social media profiles. A lot of rowers share information about their health, often with advice for other athletes. If you can see that a rower is seeing a physiotherapist to try and fix a specific problem, then you can assume that they might not be on their best game.
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The team dynamic: if you are betting on a full squad of rowers, then you should try to find out what you can about the bonds between teammates. If there are any underlying conflicts, then the team probably won’t perform as well as they otherwise would because of the atmosphere when they are training together.
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Pick the right bookmaker: all the bookies we promote on this site are safe & secure but it’s up to you to choose the one that’s best for you. A good idea when shopping around is to make use of free bets which are offered by all major sportsbooks to new punters signing up to their sites. This will give you the opportunity to try out a new bookie without the need of using up too much of your own money.
