Best Upcoming Sports Events to Bet On
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/9/2010
Your Super Bowl hangover does not have to translate to wagering also. The Super Bowl is not the end of the gambling season, it is just the highlight of it. If you won your block pool or hit the Saints on the money line then there is plenty of big-time games and tournaments coming up to wager your newly found bankroll on. Here are the Top 10 upcoming events to wager on.
10. ESPN College Basketball Big Monday
Every Monday now until March 10
College Basketball’s answer to Monday Night Football, ESPN gives us Big East and Big 12 action back-to-back every Monday night until the conference tournaments start. Remember how much fun the opening Monday Night Football games are because they play two games? Well, it also happens on the hardwood. A perfect set up for a two-team parlay.
9. The Masters
April 8
With or without Tiger Woods golf must go on and there is no bigger stage than Augusta National during the second week in April. The event has gone to two foreign underdogs in the last two years with Trevor Immelman (South Africa) and Angel Cabrera (Argentina) winning the last two tourneys.
8. NBA All-Star Game
Feb. 14
Next we have the perfect Valentines gift for any gambler, a weekend of NBA All-Star action. The game itself is just one of many things to wager on including the Slam Dunk Contest, the Three-Point Contest and perhaps a race if Charles Barkley decides to challenge a referee.
7. NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments
March 1-14
The perfect tune-up for March Madness, conference tournaments provide us with round-the-clock games starting with weekday afternoon tilts on the East Coast and going late into the night on the West Coast. Not only are betting these extremely fun but they can be the perfect tool to learn who is who come March Madness.
6. NBA and NHL Playoffs
Starting April 14-16
The long regular seasons finally turn into longer postseasons but the drama intensifies. NBA players start playing defense and NHL players grow beards. Sixteen teams in each of the playoffs may seem like a lot and four rounds of seven-game series are not exactly all filled with drama but it is tough to beat the constant onslaught of playoff action seven days a week.
5. The Triple Crown
Kentucky Derby, May 1
Preakness, May 15
Belmont Stakes, June 5
The three Saturdays out of the year where ESPN acknowledges gambling, the Triple Crown races give us some of the fastest ways to win or lose money, except for the Super Bowl coin toss of course.
4. Winter Olympics
Feb. 12-28
The Hockey games alone would land this half-month long event in the Top 10 list but there is so much more. There are the individual matches to wager on, the total medal count for each country, and who will take home the most gold. There is literally something for everyone and nearly around the clock coverage provided by the networks.
3. Major League Baseball’s Opening Day
April 5
The true opening of the baseball season, not the April 4 Yankees/Red Sox overkill, but 26 teams playing throughout the day with most first pitches at 1 p.m. on a Monday afternoon. The best thing about the long day of baseball is that it culminates with the championship game of…
2. March Madness
March 18-April 5
Every four years this gamblers feast is knocked back a notch to second but make no mistake, the feeling of waking up on a Thursday and watching four college basketball teams playing in elimination games in a 65-team tournament is like nothing else. From your March Madness pool at work, to individual game betting and last chance saloon Sweet 16 polls with you and your degenerate friends, March Madness was made for gambling.
1. World Cup
June 10-July 11
The world’s biggest sporting event is also the biggest gambling event of the year. It is by far without question the most followed sporting event in the world and its results are felt continent to continent. South Africa hosts this year and Italy plays the role of defending champions. The group stages start June 10 with the knockout stages in late June. By the time you get through the Olympics, March Madness, post-season action in the NBA and NHL and then the world’s biggest game, you may forget who even won the Super Bowl.
Honorable Mentions
The Indianapolis 500, May 30
French Open, May 24
Most Recent Sports Handicapping
- Big Problems to Profits: How One Bettor Found the Cheat Code to Beat the Sportsbooks
- Which US States Earn the Most Taxes from Casinos and Sports Betting?
- Olympics Men’s Golf Props with Odds and Betting Predictions
- 2024 Olympic Men’s 3x3 Basketball Betting Odds and Predictions
- Olympics Medal Counts by Country: Over and Under Best Bets
- My Journey with Doc's Sports: from Fan to Fact-Finder to Family
- 2024 College World Series Betting Odds and Predictions
- WAGs of MLB: Who has the largest social media following and earning potential?
- A Statistical Analysis of NCAA Athlete NIL Earning Potential
- College Baseball National Championship Odds and Expert Predictions