Online Athletics Betting Strategies to Win

Many sports bettors these days just assume that an athletics betting strategy needs to consist of complicated mathematical equations and endless spreadsheets. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and we’ve discovered many simple athletics betting strategies that require nothing more than a bit of research and a good head on your shoulders.

If this sounds appealing to you, and you’re ready to change your fortunes when it comes to online athletics betting, read through our beginner's guide to sports betting - you won’t be disappointed!

Pay Attention to the Weather Conditions

This may seem a bit of a bizarre strategy initially, but please stick with us! When there is a major outdoor event going on such as the Olympics, you’ll find heaps of markets that can potentially be impacted by troublesome weather conditions. Markets such as, will a word record be broken, or what the winning time could be for a track race are obviously impacted. 

If you are on the ball, you could choose to bet against a world record being broken after seeing the weather report, and if you are super quick, you might even beat the bookies to lock in attractive odds for this market. As we said, this is just one of the countless markets that could be impacted, and it’s one of the simplest strategies to winning on athletics bets that there is.

Shoot for the Underdog

We always advise this as one of the key strategies, especially if you are concerned with how to bet on athletics and win. Sports bettors so often fall for ‘mug odds’, which are essentially odds created by a bookmaker to make an event look like a sure thing when the reality is quite different.

If we take the 100m sprint as an example, maybe an online bookie has listed Usain Bolt as 1.3 to take the race, but you’ve seen that he is carrying an injury going into the event. If this is true, then surely Usain Bolt is not that much of a ‘dead-cert’ at winning the race, yet the bookies haven’t reflected this in their odds.

This doesn’t just apply to track racing, and it isn’t just something that arises when a player is carrying an injury. Online bookies advertise these mug odds all the time, as they suck in the punters and make a lot of profit for when sports bettors are incorrect. We don’t want this for you, so we advise that you look for underdogs with larger odds, rather than stacking your cash heavily onto any supposed ‘dead-cert’. 

Medal Winning Markets

At larger athletics events, there is obviously an intense following on a global scale, and medals are distributed for the top three athletes in any event. This provides a unique opportunity that is almost exclusive to athletics, for you can actually bet on a particular athlete to win a medal, rather than win an entire event.

This type of betting market is actually very similar to an ‘each-way’ bet placed in horse racing, as you are increasing your chances of winning in exchange for reduced odds. Leading on from that point, you will notice that the odds for these markets are not as high as the tournament outright or moneyline markets. Then it comes back again to the question, would you rather win a little or nothing at all?

These markets are usually available for the majority of sports in athletics, and it’s one of our most recommended strategies to answer the question - how to bet on athletics to win?

Don’t Always Bet by the Formbook

Online bookmakers largely base the odds that they produce due to an athlete’s current form, and any other news that may be going in their favor. Maybe they have a new athletics trainer, maybe they broke a world record a few weeks prior, and generally just anything that makes them look like a winner. Pay close attention here, for this is one of the most important of all strategies seen in the guide to athletics betting online.

This is the thing with athletics however, for it’s one of those sports where anything really can happen. Athletics isn’t quite like tennis or basketball, where an opponent needs to be consistently performing well to beat the other team. 

Take a 100m swimming race for example - an underdog could get off to a flying start, whereas the heavy favorite could pull a muscle when diving into the pool. Some of these events are over within seconds, and it just takes a little something like this example to happen and the formbook will be completely thrown out of the equation.

On Your Marks, Set......

These are just some of the basic athletics betting strategies that many players can implement, regardless of actual experience or understanding of athletics itself. Needless to say, these strategies aren’t guaranteed to get the money rolling into your betting accounts immediately, nor are any of these methods 100% failproof. 

What they will do however is increase your chances of betting successfully, which is what all sports bettors truly want. One last thing before you go - pay attention to the major athletics events such as the World Indoor Championships and the Olympics. Some of the top online bookmakers pump out huge promotions around the times of these events, meaning you can use these rewards to bet on the games. 

We truly hope that you’ve found some value in this article and that you are feeling more prepared to experiment with these online athletics betting strategies. Always remember, never bet more than you can afford to lose, and always keep it enjoyable!