What are the Easiest Sports to Bet on? A Definitive Guide [%YEAR]

Top 5 Easiest Sports to Bet on

When considering the easiest sport to bet on, we recommend our top five choices. There’s no particular order in which we look at them, and despite being easy to bet on, it’s not without risks. Even with the easiest sport to bet on, you must know your limits, gamble responsibly using the money you can afford to lose, and treat gambling as a fun pastime.

❗ You shouldn’t gamble trying to make money; even the most experienced bettor can lose their bet. Still, we believe everyone betting can have a thrilling time if they do so responsibly. That’s why we look at the best sports to start betting on if you’re a beginner.

🎾 Tennis

One of the easiest, if not the most predictable sport, to bet on is tennis matches. Tennis is popular with around 15.5% of sports fans, and a match’s outcome heavily rests on individual performance. As such, tracking the player’s progress and analyzing their chances of winning is easier.

Further, tennis is played on courts, which means you have consistent playing conditions with no weather abnormalities that can influence the game’s outcome.

❓ You can bet on multiple markets with this sport, such as handicap betting, first-set winner, and total games betting. You can also wager on the match’s outright winner or make various prop bets. These prop bets include total aces in a game, player to break serve first, or number of tiebreaks in a match.

📌 Tennis odds range vastly, generally given in American format. American odds are read as positive and negative numbers. Using the 2024 Wimbledon odds as an example, Djokovic is the favorite, with +200 odds, which means if you bet $100, you win $200. However, if it were -200, then you’d need to bet $200 to win $100.

There are some cons to betting on tennis. The sport isn’t to everyone’s taste, and player injuries and withdrawals are common.

🏀 NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is an extremely popular sport, with over half of sports fans watching it. It’s also one of the easiest sports bets to win, as there are a lot of statistics and data available on the teams. It’s a high-scoring sport, which means a single score often doesn’t impact the game’s outcome as much.

❓ Some of this sport’s most notable markets and bets are Race to 30 Points, Conference Winner, and Quarter Winner. Bettors can place their stakes on point spreads, moneyline, points total, or prop bets.

📌 Sometimes, NBA odds will be close together, as there’s a thin line between who has a better chance to win. Looking at the NBA Championships 2024, the Opening odds place Boston Celtics at +550, Denver Nuggets at +450, and Milwaukee Bucks at +600. These odds are close together, showing they’re the favorites to win in the Opening.

Still, you should know the cons when betting on NBA matches. Due to licensing rights, many sportsbooks won’t offer live streaming of the matches. As such, you might need to join a specific sportsbook to wager on a live game between, for example, pro basketball teams from PA and NJ.

🥊 MMA

Despite being relatively young compared to other sports, boxing enjoys a fanbase of 23.4% of sports fanatics. Still, since it’s only been about 30 years since the MMA and UFC became an official sport, there are giants in the industry that ensure it’s one of the easiest sports to bet on. It’s easy to research boxers’ history and their possible injuries to make an informed decision on who to wager on.

❓ Some popular bets are Method of Victory, First Round Victory, and Draw No Bet. You can also go straight to the Head-to-Head option, choosing an outright winner or placing wagers on the total rounds.

📌 Generally, UFC matches have a clear favorite to win, but it can depend on the boxers. Take the Oktagon MMA: Oktagon 54. With the game between Lengal and Torres, Torres is a clear favorite to win with -500 odds, while Lengal has +325 odds. Meanwhile, Nafuka and Bogdanović are closer, with Nafuka having -130 odds and Bogdanović +100 odds.

One of the drawbacks of betting on this sport is that some matches have limited betting markets. Further, watching the matches can have high pay-per-view (PPV) costs.

🏈 NFL

The National Football League (NFL) isn’t necessarily the most predictable sport, but it does have some predictable elements. Understanding the team dynamics and history will allow you to make more accurate predictions. Further, this is the most popular sport in the US, with 74.5% of sports lovers watching it. As such, a lot of data and statistics are available to help with match predictions.

❓ A few of the easiest football bets to win are the Super Bowl Winner, Over/Under markets, and NFL Draft Specials. Other easy bets are moneyline wagers; you just need to pick an outright winner.

📌 The NFL can be a volatile and fast-paced sport, with odds that change at the drop of a hat. For example, the recent Superbowl had the Kansas City Chiefs boasting their third Super Bowl win in five years. However, at a point, the odds weren’t in their favor, with the Chiefs having +100 odds and the San Francisco 49ers having -120 odds.

Before betting on the NFL, remember that this sport, while easier to wager on than others, requires much research. It can also change at the drop of a hat, and unexpected results come to pass.

🏀 College Basketball

When considering what is the safest sport to bet on, we wouldn’t say college basketball is the one. However, some elements make it more predictable than others. These games are played on the same courts, so you won’t need to consider outside influences like the weather. Further, it’s one of the sports with dominant teams and college programs, making it easier to predict a winner.

❓ Betting on the spread is the most popular bet type, followed closely by moneyline and over/under bets. However, prop and parlay bets have also become popular in recent years.

📌 College basketball can have volatile odds, as the name March Madness suggests. Currently, the Purdue Boilermakers have +700 odds, followed by the Connecticut Huskies at +700, too. However, these odds can change easily depending on the events of the season.

Still, there are some reasons why this isn’t the best sport for beginners to wager on. The recently introduced NCAA transfer portal tool caused some instability in the betting circles, making it difficult to keep up with the teams. Further, this sport is known to sometimes have unpredictable results, where small teams take out the giants.

What are the Hardest Sports to Bet on?

We’ve looked at the easiest sports to bet on. Now it’s time to consider the hardest sports to bet on. Soccer, golf, and baseball are sports that bettors have a harder time predicting and betting on than the five above.

⚽ Soccer

For beginners, soccer is challenging to wager on, as multiple variables can change the game’s outcome. The match lasts 90 minutes and can even go another 30 minutes, with penalty shootouts changing the game’s flow. It’s a passionate sport, with anything that can happen on the field without the coach able to call a timeout.

Further, players often get injured, which can turn around the entire game, and crowd hostility can lead to unpredictable results. While it’s an extremely fun game, bettors should know that it’s the hardest sport to bet on safely.

⛳ Golf

Another difficult sport to wager on is golf. Just as this sport is mentally tough on its players, it’s tough on bettors. Many outside influences exist, such as the weather, various terrains, and unpredictable ball movements. This sport requires immense talent, so it’s not just the top-ranked players who can pull a win out of a hat.

Technique is a significant part of winning golf tournaments, and having an off day can mean the difference between winning and losing. As such, it’s difficult to predict who’ll win or make accurate prop bets, like if a player will score hole-in-one.

⚾ Baseball

Baseball is the last of the hardest sports to bet on that we look at. Baseball seasons have 162 games, meaning bettors can become overwhelmed with data and statistics. While it’s good to have a lot of information readily available, it can also result in missing something important between the heap of irrelevant data.

Teams have to travel and play games often, which means that even with an impressive win record, they can still have a significant losing streak. This volatility makes it difficult to predict who’ll win. Even the LA Dodgers, who have a recorded MLB season that’s one of the best in history, still lost about 30% of their games.