Sports Books Bracing For Billions Of Dollars Gambled On World Cup

Many analysts like to tout the Super Bowl as the most bet on sports event every year. That may be true on normal years, but every fourth year the World Cup comes along and blows the Super Bowl out of the water when it comes to wagers placed.

This year, analysts are predicting that billions of dollars will be bet on the World Cup games that begin this Friday in South Africa. The number is staggering, even for those within the industry that are used to seeing large amounts of bets.

"With some of the high profile countries that are in this year's World Cup, the betting will be fast and furious," said Gaming Analyst Brad Dawkins. "The match between England and the US on Saturday should see millions of dollars in bets on the winner."

With that much at stake, tournament officials have made sure to demonstrate the importance of keeping the matches free from scandal. In European and Asian leagues in recent years, betting scandals have been exposed involving referees and players. World Cup officials want to ensure the fix is not in for this year's event.

Of course, the stakes are much higher for players when national pride is on the line. Finding a player willing to sacrifice national pride will be an almost impossible task for those looking to fix games. Instead, it will most likely be personal opinion that leads to much of the billion dollar betting.

The majority of the bets will be made in European nations, and the time difference between South Africa and England of one hour can only increase the possibility that European gamblers will have the time necessary to place their bets.

In the past four years, online sports books have become much more prevalent than in past World Cups. The increase in online sites, combined with the improvements that existing sites have made, will make it easier than ever for bettors to wager on the World Cup matches.

June 7, 2010
Posted By Vincent Tapoglia III
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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