The United States of America and the United Kingdom are the two largest betting markets for sports. Although it’s well known that these two markets have plenty of great gambling activity, there are a few important distinctions to be aware of, particularly if you’re an American planning to register with a UK sportsbook or vice versa.
Sports Popularity
The popularity of sports is one of the main distinctions between US and UK sports bettors. Football, or soccer, is perhaps the most popular sport in the UK, and sportsbooks that cater to UK consumers often run exclusive specials focused on the English Premier League, World Cup, and other soccer competitions. There is almost no market for sports like darts in the US, whereas tennis, horse racing, and even darts are far more popular in the UK.
Basketball, baseball, and football are the most popular sports in the US. These are clearly quite different from UK sports. For instance, conventional soccer matches have finish times, while American sports sometimes include the option of overtime periods and frequently go an extra hour over their scheduled conclusion.
Odds
The money line, which is used in America, gives the favorite and underdog odds to win. Plus and minus signs indicate the odds and the favorites or underdogs. For instance, the New England Patriots odds may be -130 if they were the small favorites against the Indianapolis Colts. This implies that you will gain $100 if you wager $130. In the event that the Colts were +120, you would gain $120 on a $100 wager.
These days, the decimal is the most widely used betting odds method in the UK. Since your return is determined by adding your investment to your wins, the decimal betting odds scheme makes the calculation simpler. To get started, just multiply your bet by the provided decimal price. For instance, if you invest $100 x 1.90, you would get a return of $190, which comprises your $100 original stake and your $90 in winnings.
Handicaps
The most common kind of sports betting in the US is point spread betting, which is beginning to spread to the UK in the shape of handicaps or Asian handicaps. You may wager on a handicap if you’re not interested in the 1.10 odds ($100 to win $10) for Manchester United to win over West Ham United. One possible handicap is Manchester United -1.5. In other words, you are placing a wager that Manchester United will win by a minimum of two goals. You lose the bet in other circumstances.
Sportsbooks
There are sportsbooks that are MUCH better than their UK equivalents if you wager a lot on American sports like MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL. This is because, in contrast to UK sportsbooks that only utilize uniform lines, these sportsbooks provide a wide variety of promos, better lines, and other benefits. For the UK, it is the opposite.
Some of the best brands for online betting in the US include DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. You can find out more about the online sportsbooks in the US, specifically the state of Michigan, at iGamingMI, a place for all the latest news and articles. There are also options when it comes to offline sportsbooks, including BetMGM, Golden Nugget, and FanDuel.
When it comes to sportsbooks in the UK, we recommend online brands like bet365, BetVictor, and Betway. When it comes to offline locations, you might want to check out Bettinglounge, Paddy Power, and Stan James.
