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Gymnastics is a sport that showcases a mixture of power, strength, and grace. Many star Olympians and iconic Olympics performances come from the sport. As such, gymnastics betting has become popular among sports bettors. You can find out more about gymnastics and what bets you can place below.
Can You Bet on Gymnastics?
Just as you can bet legally on sports like basketball or football, gymnastics betting is also an excellent wagering option. Various gymnastics betting markets are available, and it depends on the nature of the competition. Here are some betting markets typically open for all types of gymnastics.
Winner
Whether you’re going for an individual or a team event, betting on the winner is the easiest and most common bet. All you have to do is pick a winner. If your chosen gymnast/team wins, you also win your bet.
Place Betting
With place betting, you wager on a gymnast finishing in the top x. It’s a great option if you think a gymnast will do well but doesn’t quite have what it takes to become the champion. You will predict whether they’ll finish in the top 3, top 5, and so on.
Points Totals
As the name suggests, this is a wager on the total score you think a team or gymnast will get. In a multidiscipline competition, you can bet on each discipline. Points totals bets are often over/under wagers. If you think the team/gymnast will score more points than the value given, you bet over. But if you believe it will be less, then place an under bet.
Handicap Betting
Of course, gymnastics betting won’t be complete without the chance to bet on the underdog. For first-timers, handicap betting can seem confusing. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent way to find better odds on the favorite. Understanding the handicap betting principle opens up plenty of new betting opportunities.
Match Up Betting
The match-up betting market offers theoretical contests between pairs of contending athletes. You’re wagering on which of them you think will have a better finish in the event. It doesn’t matter who will win or lose in the competition. All you need is to decide which of the two gymnasts will perform better.
In-Play Betting
Also known as live betting, in-play betting makes gymnastics betting even more thrilling. Here, you can wager on competition as it happens. Many betting markets similar to the ones mentioned above are available. The difference is that you can see their odds in real-time. By looking closely at things, you can spot some fantastic betting opportunities.
What Are the Types of Gymnastics?
When you think of gymnastics, it’s usual to picture bodies tumbling across the floor or gymnasts doing flips. But those only represent a few common types of gymnastics. A gymnastics betting guide won’t be complete without listing the official kinds of gymnastics. Take a closer look below.
Artistic Gymnastics
Artistic gymnasts complete short routines on equipment specific to the sport. Well-loved for its grace and artistry, artistic gymnastics requires gymnasts to showcase exceptional balance, flexibility, and strength as they perform flips, somersaults, and other acrobatic moves. The sport often has separate programs for men and women, with a few differences in the equipment.
Women’s artistic gymnastics has two events: balance beam and uneven bars. Female balance beam gymnasts flip and turn while balancing on a flat wooden board. Meanwhile, the uneven bars use two horizontal bars several feet away from each other and set at different heights above floor level. The female gymnast tries to stay in constant motion and swing and jump between two bars.
On the other hand, men’s artistic gymnastics include floor, rings, vault, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. The floor is an exercise in pure acrobatics, rings combine strength and swinging elements, while the pommel horse involves turning and traveling along with the horse. Meanwhile, the other three categories require power to perform stunts on bars and vault.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnasts leap, jump, and tosses with different apparatus—ball, rope, hoop, clubs, or ribbon. At the Olympics, rhythmic gymnastics is currently a female-only sport. Contenders compete in individual all-around, individual events, or group competitions.
In the individual all-around, a gymnast contends on four of the five events (an apparatus rotates out biannually) and all scores are totaled. Meanwhile, individual events name one contender the champion on each of the four equipment presently in rotation. Finally, a group competition sees five gymnasts battle in two different routines.
Trampoline
High-flying flips and twists on every bounce are what await you in trampoline gymnastics. At the Olympics, gymnasts do a compulsory and voluntary routine, each consisting of ten skills. They perform them on a trampoline. In the US, competitive events include synchronized (two gymnasts perform simultaneously on different trampolines) and double mini (uses a smaller, two-level trampoline).
Trampoline gymnastics have separate events for male and female gymnasts. Participants compete in a qualifying event to advance to the medal round. However, scores don’t carry over. Trampoline gymnastics has become an Olympic discipline for the 2000 Olympics.
Acrobatic Gymnastics
Unlike the previously mentioned types of gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics don’t have apparatus. Instead, the gymnasts are the equipment. Here, the two- to four- gymnast team does all kinds of handstands, holds, and balances on each other as their teammates throw and catch them.
Athletes perform acrobatic gymnastics on the same floor exercise mat. They compete in men’s/women’s pairs, mixed pairs, and men’s/women’s groups. While the sport is not an Olympic event, it is held internationally and is part of the US Junior Olympic program.
Group Gymnastics
In the US, group gymnastics fall under the name TeamGym. Here, gymnasts battle together in a team of six to 16 gymnasts, consisting of either all-male, all-female, or mixed. TeamGym contenders in the US battle in the group floor exercise and the group jump event—vault, tumbling, and mini-trampoline.
Like acrobatic gymnastics, TeamGym is not an Olympic event. However, competitions are held in the US and overseas. You can find local, regional, national, and international leagues.
How Does Gymnastics Betting Work?
Now that you’re familiar with the different types of gymnastics, it’s time to know how gymnastics betting works. Thanks to its popularity, you can find gymnastics markets in most major bookies. The World Championships and the Olympics are the most popular. Some bookmakers also offer a more extensive range of gymnastics betting options than others. The key is to find one that best suits your gymnastics betting needs.
Since gymnastic competitions are often team or individual events, the single is the most common wager. Here, you only need to pair your intuition with some research to try and select a winner. It can be over one piece of equipment, the team event, or the combined event. Given the number of different events here, the possibilities are almost limitless in gymnastics betting.
The three major events to watch for are the Summer Olympic Games, World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and Artistic Gymnastics World Cup/World Challenge Cups. But outside these competitions, you can also find a ton of other national and international events.
Gymnastics Betting Strategy
Magic wands are non-existent in gymnastics betting. When it comes to selecting winners, you have to do your homework and research thoroughly ahead of time. As with other sports, form is everything. You’d also do well to assess the performance during their previous matches while closely looking at their scores. While the event winner may seem like the best betting proposition, their actual score will guide you best. In some cases, they were up against average contenders.
If you’re planning to bet on team events, look no further than the powerhouses. The USA, China, and Russia are all dominating gymnastics competitions. The Chinese have been monopolizing the trampoline event since 2009, while the Russians are doing incredibly well in rhythmic gymnastics. Other than these three nations, the UK has also been performing well over the last couple of years.
Finally, gymnastics betting is about enjoying while giving yourself the best chance of going home a winner. Hopefully, the tips mentioned above will be helpful once you decide to bet on your favorite gymnasts.
