Accordingly, there are those who would like to stir up interest in watching the next competitions with the help of a bet. In this article, we will tell you a little about the history of curling, as well as what you need to know and what you need to pay attention to if you plan to bet on curling at a bookmaker’s office. At the same time, we will also tell you about which bookmaker offices in Russia accept such bets via the Internet.
History and rules
One of the oldest sports has its roots in medieval Scotland. It is not known for certain when the first curling match was played, but the stones found, art and literary monuments testify to the birth of this sport at least at the beginning of the 16th century. And the first curling clubs began to appear centuries ago, in Scotland in the early 18th century.
Over time, the quality of stones, ice and other equipment gradually improved, which turned curling from a discipline where everything was decided by throwing power and luck, into an incredibly tactical and complex form, nowadays called “chess on ice”.
Curling became widespread in the world in the 20th century. In 1924, test competitions were held at the Olympics in France, and curling entered the Games program fully only in 1998 and is now an integral part of the Olympiads. More than 60 countries are represented in the World Curling Federation, and there are more than one and a half million officially registered players.
The curling area is 45 meters long. At the end of the site, there is a circle drawn under the ice called a “home”. The game is played by two teams of four people.
The meeting lasts 2-2.5 hours and consists of 10 periods called “ends”. Team members take turns throwing stones, in total the team makes 8 throws during one end. After launching the projectile, other athletes try to increase the speed of its movement or change the trajectory using special brushes.
The end is won by the team whose stone is closer to the center of the target than the opponent’s projectile closest to the center. This team is awarded one point for each stone that is inside the “house”.
Largest curling competition
The curling season is busy these days, with numerous World Curling Tour events and elite Grand Slam tournaments. However, the overwhelming majority of competitions do not attract much public attention, and therefore bookmakers. As a rule, you can find only five tournaments in the lines.
Olympic tournament . Curling matches at the Winter Games take place only once every four years and attract huge attention of bettors around the world – not only those who are fond of this sport or at least know the rules, but also ordinary fans of their countries. Competitions are held in men’s, women’s and mixed categories, 10 teams play with each other once in the group stage, and the four best teams continue to fight for medals.
World Championship . In the world championship, the best teams bring out the best every year. The format almost completely repeats the Olympic one, only in the group stage 12 teams are represented instead of 10. The men’s and women’s tournaments attract a large volume of bets, but competitions in mixed teams and in double mixed are also in demand.
European Championship . The tournament is not so popular in the world due to the absence of “trendsetters” – Canadians. But in the post-Soviet space, bets on the European championship are common due to the frequent successes of Russians.
The tournament has been held annually since 1975 in the men’s and women’s categories. 10 men’s and women’s teams take part in the matches of the Superior Division. The competition system includes a group round and playoffs.
Championship of Canada . The only national championship, the line for which can be found at the bookmakers. This is not surprising, since Canada is the most successful country in curling, and the largest number of players is registered here. The men’s tournament, called The Brier, was first played in 1927 and is now held every year, bringing together the best teams from different Canadian provinces.
The women’s competition in Canada, known as The Tournament of Hearts, is also an annual event and has attracted much attention from curling enthusiasts since 1961. The Canadian Championship in both categories is held with the participation of 16 teams, divided into two equal groups. The eight best go to the second group stage, where the participants in the final four are already identified.
Types of curling bets
At the end . Curling is one of the sports where teams play to the last to determine the winner, and in case of a draw after the 10th end, a decisive extra end is appointed. Therefore, bookmakers usually offer outcomes with two options, without the possibility of a draw.
Head start . Quite a popular market in matches where teams of an incomparable level meet. It is unprofitable to bet on the favorite to win in such games, but it is scary to bet on the underdog, so the handicap can be a good option.
For example, the Swedes face the Dutch, and in order for the conditional coefficient of 1.90 to go into a handicap of +3.5, the Dutch curlers inferior in the class must not lose more than three points.
For total . Here you can predict how many points will be scored at the end of the match, including the extra end (if necessary). In the top level men’s curling, the average total is 11-13 points. In big events like the Olympics and World Championships, bookmakers also offer odds on the individual totals of both teams.
For the first end . A popular bet among people who want to get their winnings as quickly as possible. The element of randomness is high, and the odds of a weak team to “shoot” in a single end are higher, but it is not a fact that the odds for winning the underdog in the first end will be tasty. Bookmakers are trying to adapt and assign more or less fair odds for individual ends.
Long-term rates . Many bookmakers offer to bet on the winner of the future world championship or the Olympics long before the competition. As a rule, there are no more than four or five real applicants, so the coefficients are quite working.
In some lines, you can also bet that a certain team will at least reach the final. This option will allow you to hedge against the defeat of your favorite in a gold match.
The captain is more important than the flag: how to place curling bets correctly
Curling is a rather difficult sport to analyze. It is not for nothing that it is called “chess on ice” – in the strategy there are many non-obvious things and pitfalls that often determine the result of a team.
The “leader” and the main ideological inspirer of each team is the skip – the captain, who determines the direction of the throws and tactical ideas throughout the game. As a rule, in addition, the skip itself performs the two decisive last throws in each end. Therefore, for successful curling bets, due to not so rich statistical information, it is better to simplify the analysis to a competition of two skips and rely mostly on their performance history and form.
From year to year, national teams can bring different captains with a different style of play to major tournaments – in some countries the principles of selection for the main team are competitive, and somewhere the national team members are determined by special commissions in the national federations.
So curling is not at all the kind of sport where you can blindly rely on the achievements of a particular country – you need to be well versed in the principles of team formation and understand with which skip the national team arrived at the tournament, whether it will be convenient for him to play if the federation sent him new partners or on the contrary, it made it possible to play in a familiar environment.
It is important to understand the differences in curling for men, women and mixed disciplines. In men, the results are more stable, and in women, you can often see sensational outcomes and breakthroughs, a larger pool of teams claims to be medals.
In mixed disciplines, especially in “twos”, the factor of teamwork becomes really important, how long they play together and in what relationship the participant and the participant are. We can say that in women’s curling and double mixed betting on favorites is quite dangerous, if we are not talking about Canadians.
Curling can be called a developing sport, and with due attention to education and training of young players, the country is quite capable of reaching the favorites in a decade. For example, in Russia during the Soviet era, curling was considered a bourgeois sport and did not receive funding, but development began in the 90s, and now the Russian women’s team is one of the strongest in Europe.
In studying the latest news and statistics, Canadian curling sites will help you, where there is some kind of coverage of events, as well as the resources of the World Curling Federation and national associations – there you will get acquainted with the results of international tournaments and domestic competitions of individual countries.
In which bookmakers can you bet on curling?
Curling is an Olympic sport whose finest hour comes during the Winter Games. It is then that you can take bookmakers (list of the best) – and choose.
Some firms, accustomed to attracting clients with an abundance of sports and tournaments, offer odds for the World, European and Canadian competitions every year. Among them, ” Marathon ” or the same , margin and bet limits may vary depending on the status and popularity of the championship.
Having understood the rules and nuances of the game, do not rush to risk big money on curling. Firstly, in small tournaments you are unlikely to be allowed to do this due to the low limits, and secondly, there is no win-win strategy, and for successful curling bets you need to gradually develop your approach.
The season is short and there are few tournaments for betting, so it may take an entire Olympic cycle to get in shape and gain the knowledge you need. However, developing predictive skills across multiple sports will help make Winter Games betting more successful.