Betting on the 2009 US Masters Golf Tournament
Betting on the 2009 US Masters Golf Tournament was expected to be brisk this week leading up to the four day event Thursday.
"We were certainly pleased with the interest generated by the US Masters last year," said Payton O'Brien of Gambling911.com. "There was no shortage of traffic related to the 2008 US Masters odds to win futures."
And there is a reason for such a phenomenon, as O'Brien points out.
"Traditionally, the major golf events pay out gamblers in a big way. Even those who decide to play it safe by betting on Tiger Woods can make some decent money."
Case in point: Tiger Woods betting props were available at BetUS.com. They were offering odds on how many Masters Woods would win this year with three paying $1000 for every $100 bet and four paying $2000 for every $100 bet. Two would pay out close to $300 for every $100 bet. And even a bet on Woods to win the 2009 US Masters promised a close to $200 payout for every $100 bet or a $1000 payout for every $500 bet.
But it's the long shots that make for a sweet payday.
Trevor Immelman would pay $6500 for every $100 bet at BetUS.com. He was last year's winner. And as we learned with Padraig Harrington (+1500 odds to win the 2009 US Masters Golf Tournament), it is very possible for a long shot to win two years in a row. Harrington did so at both the 2007 and 2008 British Open.
Betting on the 2009 US Masters Golf Tournament becomes even more exciting when one considers that no golfer other than Woods pays less than $600 for every $100 bet at BetUS.com should they happen to win. Phil Mickelson had the next shortest odds of winning after Tigers Woods.
BetUS.com had some of the best "field" odds available, with the promise of a $2000 payout on every $100 bet.
"This is actually not a bad bet," says O'Brien. "Essentially, the ‘field' category includes any golfer not listed among the odds and we have witnessed the ‘field' category come through in the past."
Emerging golfers with no major wins traditionally fall into this category and it is classified as an "upset". Of course, it's always fun to lay a few hundred at different online sportsbooks (found here) on different golfers playing in this year's US Open Golf Tournament.
Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
