How to Bet on Golf

Golf has dozens of major tournaments and events every year that are broadcast across cable television. They're carried by networks like ESPN, CBS and NBC. There's even a Golf channel that deals only with showing the many different golf tournaments on the tour. So if you're an avid golf fan, there are plenty of ways to watch your favorites face off from the comfort of your home. Being a widespread sport, that also means there are many different ways by which to bet on golf. You can find a golf section of every reputable sportsbook in operation. Golf brings in a lot of betting revenues, and there are many different options offered to sports betters looking to place wagers on this sport. However, things might get a little confusing if you're not up to par, so to speak, on how to actually bet on golf.

Luckily for sports betters looking to place wagers on golf, there are only two main types of betting line. There's the individual line that gives you odds on different players and their odds to win any individual round or tournament. And then there's the pairing line, which basically pits one player against another. This is done in order to basically force a favorite-underdog dichotomy and to create a betting line. While you may also be able to find moneylines out there for players, these don't need that much of an explanation. A moneyline is the same in every sport, and this means a moneyline on a golfer is no different than a moneyline on a football or basketball or hockey team.

For the first major golf line, the individual odds, it's a lot like a horse race. Let's say that Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are your two favorite golfers and have just made the cut for a major tournament. You see that the sportsbook has it listed as Tiger Woods 4:1, Ernie Els 12:1. Basically, just like a horse race, this means that Woods is favored more to win, but still he's a four-to-one underdog. For every $1 bet on Tiger, it will win $4 if Tiger manages to win the tournament. With Ernie, his odds are lower per the oddsmakers' confidence that he will win, but they're better for you if he does win. For every $1 you bet on Els to win, you will get $12 back if he does happen to win. Of course, this is the way it goes no matter what the odds are. And just like a horse race, you will undoubtedly find some golfers in the field whose chances are more like 40:1. Just remember, however, that they're long-shots for a reason. If they were better golfers, they'd have better odds. So chasing this type of bet may be a fool's errand. If you're going to take bets on huge underdogs, make sure you're leveraging out with bets on more likely prospects as well. This way, you're covered from different angles on the board.

The next major betting structure is the pairing line. Using the previous example, let's say that Woods and Els are paired up in the tournament and are thus paired up on the sportsbook. That pairing line might look like: Tiger Woods -200, Ernie Els +180. With this line, it's a two-way line. First and foremost, you may notice the moneyline numbers. Basically, this means that one would have to bet $200 on Woods to win $100. That minus in front of the number indicates that Tiger is favored in the pairing and you need to bet more to win. For Els, however, a bet of $100 will win $180, indicated by the addition sign in front of the number. A colloquial way to remember that is to think of it as adding money to your bet. Now, the second way this line works is that it's a head-to-head pairing. This means that Woods doesn't need to win the tournament. He only has to beat Els. So, as long as Woods' 18-round score is lower than Els', you win the bet.

Needless to say, lines like these can be incredibly attractive to betters, and that's also why there's so much disparity. E.g. $100 on Tiger wins half, whereas $100 on Els wins almost double (+80%). This is a line you should be able to find every round of every tournament on the right site. You can learn more on our page about Understanding Odds and Betting Lines.

Speaking of the right site, there's only so many ways we can help. We can explain golf betting to you. We can give you golf betting tips and tricks to use. And we will always thoroughly explain to you the legality of sports betting and help you to find legal ways to bet. But when it comes to finding the right site, this is something every gambler must do for him or herself. The right sportsbook makes all the difference. Of course, a sportsbook that welcomes your action as a US-based player is a must; but you also want a site that offers up a good welcome bonus and different types of golf betting lines and odds, which will include prop bets and live bets. Finding the right site is the key to placing the right bets. To assist you in making an informed decision, we have provided some thorough golf betting sportsbook reviews. We always recommend you deal with legal golf betting sites that have been aroundn for a few years.

When betting, always remember the two main lines we spoke about: The individual odds and the line pairings. When betting, you want to be very cautious about which bets you're accepting. For instance, selecting the pairing line is always a smart play because you can select different pairings every round and find pairings that really sing to you. You should be able to find dozens of different lines, giving you a wide range of different bets to potentially place. As long as you're being cautious and are betting on solid prospects, you can chip away at profit and build up a nice nest egg. Don't go chasing bets or placing enormous wagers. Keep things light; leverage smaller bets for extra potential; and exercise common sense when betting on anything.