Tokyo Olympic Games Betting Tips and Strategies

Tokyo Olympic Betting Markets

There are countless betting opportunities at the Tokyo Olympics as each of the thirty-three sports has its own set of markets. The betting markets will of course vary depending on the event, and later in this guide, we will teach you how to interpret the majority of them, regardless of which sport you are betting on. However, there are also a few outright Olympic betting markets, and these are a great way to ensure you have some betting action for the duration of the event.

Tokyo Outright Betting Markets

Most Gold Medals Betting

As the name suggests, this market is on which country will win the most gold medals across all events in the Olympics. It is worth doing some basic research before placing this bet. For instance, the United States of America has won 2,522 Olympic medals, which is far more than any other country by close to 1000. However, this is no guarantee that they will win the most golds this year. This is not a bet to take too seriously, but it can be a bit of fun if you want to risk a little money.

Most Medals Betting

Similar to the above market, this is on which country will win the most medals of any colour. Once again, the USA are in the lead when it comes to statistics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, they finished with 121 medals while China was in second place with 70.

Tokyo Olympic Events Betting Markets

As mentioned, each event at the Tokyo Olympics will have its own set of betting markets and you will need to carry out research into the individual sports before placing your bets. However, here at mr.play you can find betting guides to the vast majority of these sports that will teach you about the different types of bets that you can place and the type of research you should be doing.

Each event will have standard bets, such as the moneyline, spread and various over/under markets, and there are also likely to be a few prop bets as well. Here we shall teach you about the most common types of betting markets found on Olympic events so that you will have no problems understanding your different options.

Tokyo Olympics Winner Betting

Betting on the winner of an event, also known as the moneyline or straight-up bet, is the simplest bet to understand and the most popular. You simply pick the winner of the given event and if they win, then you win your bet. The markets will present the odds and there is no handicapping involved. The odds are very easy to understand, and at mr.play you can even select in which format you want them displayed (decimal, fractional or American).

Tokyo Olympics Spread Betting

Spread betting is not very common on Olympic events, but you will come across it from time to time, and it is an important type of market to understand. Spreads are usually offered on team sports, as it gives the bookmaker a way to handicap the favourite and encourage people to bet on both sides, and there are plenty of team sports taking place at the Olympics.

A typical spread betting market may be: Team A +7.5 vs. Team B -7.5

In this example, Team A is the 7.5 favourite to win. Therefore, if you were to back Team A, you would only win the bet if they beat Team B by at least 8 points. If you back Team B, then you will win the bet if the team wins the game or loses by nor more than 7 points. The reason the market uses half points is to avoid a draw scenario, which would mean that all the bets would be refunded.

Tokyo Olympics Totals Betting

Total betting is a very common type of bet. Sometimes it is described as an over/under bet, and the market is not about who wins an event, rather it is about the number of times something happens. For example, you may be betting on what the total final score will be (the total number of points scored by both teams/players), and you will then bet that it will be higher (over) or lower (under) than the given number.

For example, Team A vs. Team B O/U 161.5

In this example, if you bet Over then you will win if the two teams score a combined total of at least 162 points and if you bet Under then you will win if the combined total is 161 points or less. Once again, half points are used in order to avoid a scenario where you bet would have to be refunded. You can find Over/Under an all kinds of different things, such as the number of games in a set of tennis, the number of punches landed in a boxing match, the number of fouls in a football game, and so on. The markets are always very easy to understand and provide you win many betting opportunities.

Other Tokyo Olympic Betting Markets

You may find a number of other markets offered on the various sports, such as player prop bets, team prop bets, specials, parlays, and more. The prop bets are usually in the form of yes/no bets; for example, whether a specific runner will run the 100m in under 10s or whether a basketball team will give up more or less than a given number of points in the paint.

Specials are very similar to props but they are usually on things that are incidental to the main event. You could find some truly silly bets, such as how long each country’s anthem will be at the opening ceremony. Parlay bets allow you to combine multiple bets into one. As these are harder to win, they will normally have much better odds than placing the bets individually.

As mentioned, each type of sport will have its own betting market and you should spend some time reading our betting guides to the different sports in order to understand them and gain some insights in how to plan your bets for each sport.

Popular Betting Events at the Tokyo Olympics

The Olympic Games present the perfect opportunity for sports fans to bet on sports that they may not pay much attention to normally. Here is a brief look at some sports that you may wish to consider betting on at the Tokyo Olympics.

Gymnastics

While gymnastics doesn’t attract much betting attention in a regular year, at the Olympics it always seems to be a big draw. At the last Olympics, the American gymnast Simone Biles won an incredible four gold medals and one bronze, making her one of most successful female athletes of the games. There is sure to be a tough field at this year’s Olympics, but she is certainly someone to keep an eye on if you are interested in gymnastics betting.

Swimming

Swimming is another sport that seems to attract a huge amount of attention at the Olympics. Michael Phelps basically became a household name due to his Olympic success and in recent years there has been a similar amount of attention given to American swimmer Katie Ledecky. She won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and then went on to win four more medals at the Rio Olympics. At present Ledecky holds the world records in the women’s 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle.

Track and Field

For some people, the Olympics are all about the track and field events and this will be the first edition of the Olympics in while not to feature the legend Usain Bolt. Nonetheless, there is plenty of fresh talent to keep an eye on. For instance, sprinter Noah Lyles recently ran 19.50s in the 200m while Sha’Carri Richardson is one of the top ten fastest women in the 100m and Abby Steiner is another young talent with a lot of potential in the 200m. It is also worth keeping a close eye on who makes the 4x400 relay teams.

Basketball

Basketball is a very exciting Olympic sport but it has been utterly dominated by the USA in recent years. The team has not lost a game since the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and they took gold at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. However, if you believe that a different team is capable of causing an upset, then this is certainly a sport worth betting on.

Women's Football

This is another sport where the USA has dominated. They won gold in four of its first five Olympic games, but then came in fifth at the 2016 Olympics. As such, football fans will want to keep a careful eye on the odds, as another upset is always possible.