Betting on Equestrianism

Equestrianism is one of the most beloved pastimes all over the world that was always followed by a posh character, like the one you get when you use the Gala Casino promo code. For the lovers of this noble and ancient sport, there is a lot of betting options to choose from. Most common type of betting on equestrianism in Europe is to bet at fixed odds, meaning that odds are known in advance and you can easily calculate your potential winnings.

In the US, the more common way to bet is called pari-mutuel betting. In this type of betting, a money is being pooled and shared among the winners. Odds cannot be known in advance because they depend on the number of bettors and winners.

In the US, the most common bets are for a horse to win (i.e. finish first), to place (finish first or second) and to show (finish first, second or third).

Lingo is a bit different in the UK: instead of place and show you can bet each-way, placing two bets on the same horse, one that the horse will win and second that it will place. The exact terms of the each-way bet depend on the bookmaker, but the general rule is that if your horse wins you win both bets, and if it finishes second you win the second half of the bet at odds around ¼ of the odds for the horse to win.

In addition to these simple bets, there are also more exotic and riskier bets, that can potentially lead to huge winnings. These include exacta and trifecta, where the bettor must select two or three winning horses and the exact order in which they will finish the race. You can also bet on accumulators, placing bets on the outcome of multiple races at the same time, for example by picking the winner of three separate races.

You can bet online, via a land-based bookmaker, or on the site. Live betting is another exciting option that combines the excitement of being at the race track with the greater variety of options offered by online bookmakers.

As you can see, understanding the odds is crucial for betting successfully on horse races. Odds can be expressed either as fractions or as decimal numbers. Fractional odds are calculated by taking the number to the right representing your stake and the number to the right to represent your winnings if you bet the amount on the left. For example, if you bet at odds 4/1, you can win four for everyone you bet plus your original bet. Decimal odds are much easier to calculate, because you simply need to multiply the decimal number by your stake to calculate your potential winnings.

Study the history with the jockey, with the surface, and whether the horse recently changed group. Observe the horses before the race: do they look nervous, are they sweating a lot, do they look depressed? Chose a horse that looks calm but energetic. This will give you useful clues and soon you will start noticing patterns that will help you make better predictions. Most importantly, have fun!

Why is Cycling Good for Children

Cycling is an activity for people of all ages. Our children are full of energy and require exercise daily. Since physical activity is important for numerous health benefits for a child, it is highly recommended that your son or daughter uses a bicycle as their means of transportation and exercise. Moreover, it is a great way to bond with your child because we can all join in a bit of cycling fun around the block or through the park. Here are some of the most important benefits of cycling for children’s development, both mental and physical.

Exercise and Healthy Lifestyle

Cycling is a great way for children to develop their muscles and endurance. Riding a bicycle will build primarily the hamstrings and quadriceps; the pedalling motion develops the lower body rather than the upper body. In the age of childhood obesity, buying your kid a bike is the best present you can get them. Cycling will burn calories, keep them fit, strengthen their immune system and develop important exercise habits that will follow them throughout the life. It will make your child enjoy sport, which is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. With cycling, you will easily motivate your child to engage in 60 min of recommended daily physical activity.

Ecological Awareness and Contact with Nature

Your child will learn to be environmentally conscious by using this eco-friendly means of transportation. Riding a bike never releases the amountof greenhouse gases comparable to that of a car, bus, or train. Moreover, by regularly cycling, your kid will spend more time in nature, breathing fresh air, that seated in front of a computer.

Being outdoors presents new challenges that would not be present in the gym. Say, on day one you may wish to go uphill and on day two ride around a lake. Children love cycling for the freedom it affords them to explore and get to know their local area.

School Success

Some schools incentivise biking by hosting competitions and rewarding children that their own bring bikes every day to school. More often than not there is a school cycling club where trips are taken to nature, which is both a fun and educational activity for children to do. Moreover, schools report that children that cycle to school are more alert and pay more attention in class than kids that arrive by car.

Building Confidence

You will notice that your child soon formulates the idea in his early teenage years that personal improvement is required if he or she will become the best they can be. The child sets a goal such as “I want to be faster so I need to be stronger.” They do this with practice and understand what needs to be done in order to improve. This is an invaluable lesson for a child – hard work and discipline will result in achievement.

Socializing

Cycling is a great way for children to socialize and have fun together. Kids love to race and go on bike adventures. Going for a bike ride together with other kinds will improve your child’s social skills.

Finally, a word of caution: riding a bike is great but teach your children to be safe and always wear a helmet. If an accident ever occurs it is best to be safe than sorry.

Weirdest Sports to Bet On

One can bet on literally anything these days. But that’s all common knowledge. For this list, we are looking at six weirdest sports you can bet on in 2018.

Chess

It might seem weird, but betting on chess is quite popular. If you love this intellectual sport, make sure to check out some of the betting markets on offer. You can bet on all the major chess events, such as Grand Chess Tour, the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting and of course, the World Chess Championship. There is a lot of betting options too: you can bet on who will win, but also which opening move will be used, who will be the first to lose a piece, how many moves will a player make, and much more!

Sumo Wrestling

Sumo wrestling is a traditional and highly respected sport in Japan. To become ‘yokozuna’, i.e. to reach the highest rank in sumo wrestling, is a great honour in Japan. For this reason, betting on sumo wrestling is not officially allowed in Japan, where punters can legally bet on four sports only: horse racing, motorboats, cycling and motorcycle races. Nevertheless, bettors from around the world can place their bets on sumo wrestling online and in Japan, and several scandals over illegal sumo betting were reported in recent years.   

Badminton

Although extremely popular in many countries, badminton is simply an unusual choice for betting. The fact that bookmakers now offer a variety of betting markets for badminton really shows that online betting is on the rise. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. It is an Olympic sport since 1992 and requires a great level of skill when played professionally. You can bet on the outright winner, but bookmakers also offer over and under betting odds for the final score. The sport is currently dominated by the Chinese, so the players from China could be your best betting option.

Hurling

Here is a sport you might have never heard of until now (unless you are Irish) that is nevertheless an increasingly popular betting choice. Hurling is a traditional Irish sport with many followers all over the world. It is an ancient team game played since prehistoric times (really) and its main objective is to hit a small ball called a sliotar with a wooden stick called a hurley between the opponent’s goalposts. Players can also carry the sliotar in hand for four steps, kick it or slap it with an open hand. The game is incredibly fun to watch and extremely challenging, which is probably why more and more people enjoy betting on it.

Curling

Curling is probably the weirdest and the most obscure game on this list. Its rules are notoriously difficult and it is hard to master the terminology. It is recommended only for punters who really like to experiment. The game, which has been a Winter Olympics sport since 1998, is played on ice and is similar to bowls or boules. The main objective is to slide heavy rocks across ice as close as possible to a designated mark called a house. It is played by two teams of four players. Each team has 8 rocks, each player throws two and they are taking turns after two throws. A game usually consists of 10 stages, called ends, and the team that accumulates the highest score wins the game.

Biathlon

Another unusual Olympic sport, biathlon is a combination of rifle shooting and cross-country skiing. The sport is believed to have originated in Scandinavia and is especially popular in Norway, Russia, and Sweden. Currently, you can bet on who will win the World Cup, both for men’s and women’s competition.

Most Popular eSports Right Now

If you like video games, why not try competing in eSports for some very exciting prizes! Of course, the competitions are dominated by South Koreans exercising day and night, so the chances of actually winning are very slim, but you can still have incredible fun by entering one of the popular tournaments. Below is the list of currently most popular eSports.

Counter-Strike Global Offensive

Counter-Strike Global Offensive is an online multiplayer first-person shooter. The game pits two teams against each other in a battle between terrorists and counter-terrorists. Your task is to eliminate players from the opposing team while taking care of minor objectives. Of course, there are competitions that are organised on a large scale that attract professional eSports players. Why? Because the game is great and the prize pool has risen to 1,000,000 USD. Gamers that excel at this game can make a living just training for these events. CS GO won the 2015 “Game of the Year” award which gives testimony to its public appeal.

Dota 2

Dota 2 is a MOBA game which means multiplayer online battle arena. Developed by Valve Corporation, this game puts you on a map in a team of five players against five other players on the opposing team. The goal is to occupy the enemy base located on the map while at the same time defending your own. In the game, the player controls a hero and gains experience through battle in order to spend their points in upgrading their chosen champion. This team includes leagues where teams battle to become ultimate champions and the prize pool is the highest of any eSport – for the international competition the prize is over 14,000,000 USD.

League of Legends

Another MOBA, League of Legends is a game where the player controls a summoner or champion that will battle the opposing enemy player or computer controlled champions. The goal of the game is to destroy the opposing team’s “nexus.” The game was released in 2009 and has been gaining popularity ever since. In 2014, 67 million people played LoL per month which is an astounding number of people who return to this game. In social media, it is usually the most watched eSports game on YouTube and Twitch TV. In 2017, 60 million viewers tuned in to watch the LoL championship competing for a 4,000,000 USD prize pool.

Overwatch

Released in 2016, by Blizzard Entertainment, Overwatch is a 2-year-old multiplayer first-person shooter. You can play it on Windows, PS4 and Xbox One. Its total prize pool is currently close to $3 million, and there are 55 tournaments in 2018. Players are divided in two teams, with 6 players each. Each player can choose his or her “hero”, with unique powers and characteristics. The goal of the game is to control more areas on the map than the opponent. The game has received many awards for its gameplay and graphics, as well as the Game of the Year Award in 2016.

How to Bet on Dog Races

Bored from betting on regular sports such as football, basketball, or horse races on BetAmerica? Why don’t you try something totally new and visit a Greyhound racing track? The races are taking place daily all over the UK and fun and excitement are guaranteed!

When it comes to most simple bets, the rules are not much different than when betting on horse racing. You can bet on a dog to win a race or a tournament, and you can also bet “each way”, placing two bets on the same dog. In other words, you are actually betting half your stake on a dog to win and the second half on it to “place” (i.e. finish second). This is a very common way of betting on outsiders, because it secures that even if your dog ends up second, you will get a small return on your bet, usually calculated as ¼ of the odds for your dog to win.

There are also more exotic and riskier bets, but promising much bigger winnings. Forecast and Tricast are bets on two or three dogs to finish first, second and third in an exact order. The US variants of these bets with winnings determined by the number of winners are called Exacta and Trifecta. Reverse Forecast and Reverse Tricast bets, on the other hand, don’t require you to pick the exact order of the first dogs to finish. Instead, you can pick them out in any order.

Finally, you may also consider betting on an accumulator. Accumulators are multiple bets and they require you to predict the outcome of several races. There are numerous combinations thereof, and you will win only if all your predictions turn out to be true. These bets are extremely unlikely, but they can lead to truly life-changing winnings.

Another exciting option is betting live, meaning that you can place your bet as the race is taking place, based on direct observation of the race. This option is only available to online bettors.

If you decide to bet online, make sure to choose a reliable bookmaker, and compare the odds between several bookmakers to find the best ones. Keep up to date with the latest news from the world of Greyhound racing. Also, you should study the form, age, and gender of the dogs, as well as the racing lines that dogs take. Soon, you will start noticing patterns that will lead you to better predictions. You will become a dog racing expert in no time!

One last word of caution: always bet responsibly, don’t chase your losses and don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.

Good luck!