Every year we see thousands of people flock to bookies up and down the country to make a bet. Whether their bet is based on loyalty to the team/person, knowledge or maybe their Spidey-senses are tingling, there are many reasons for people placing their bets.
Some people like to spice up their weekends and play slots, others head to gambling events. Some events receive a greater influx of bets than others – there are events across all sorts of sports – but what events are the highlights in the calendar?
The Grand National
One of the most famous horse racing events in the world is the Grand National. It is a steeplechase event that captures the attention of the nation and other countries across the globe. The Aintree racecourse is historic with the first Grand National being held 180 years ago in 1839. Now the event is at the point where we see over £200 million being bet on the event each year. That’s right, from all the sweepstakes, last-minute-bets, carefully calculated and joke bets that the public place on the event, the bookies take-in millions of pounds in bets. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on the odds the bookies give around the time of the Grand National so you don’t miss out.
The FIFA World Cup
Every four years the FIFA World Cup comes around and football fever grips every participating nation. Similar to the Grand National, the World Cup usually attracts a lot of sweepstakes amongst friends, work colleagues and families. When betting on the World Cup there are so many options to choose from. You can bet on the team to win, bet on the winner of a single game, bet on who scores in a game or even which team will receive the most amount of cards in the tournament – the list is practically endless. In the UK, the amount of money spent on gambling for the 2018 World Cup was around £2.5 billion, with bookies worldwide making a profit of around $36 billion, so be sure to get your bets in for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and see if you could grab some of that money for yourself.
Wimbledon
The oldest tennis tournament in the UK is played on the luscious grass of Wimbledon. The third tournament of the year in the series of Grand Slam events, Wimbledon is an icon in the world of tennis with young players aspiring to play there in the years to come. The five disciplines (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles) allow you to bet across multiple different events, chancing the winner of any match or the outright tournament winner. Each year this event sees a huge spike for betting in tennis with around £1.5 billion worth of bets placed each year.
The Super Bowl
You might be surprised to find this event on the list as it’s not even an English sport, but the Super Bowl is one of the most popular betting events of the year in the UK. With American football becoming increasingly popular on this side of the pond, more and more fans are staying up until the early hours to watch the annual event take place. In America, the bookies made a profit of $10 million after $145 million was wagered for the 53rd edition of the event which saw the New England Patriots claim another title by defeating the Los Angeles Rams.
So there you have it, now you know the biggest events in the UK to bet on, put them in your calendar and keep an eye out for those odds being advertised. With so much money to be made on these events, a small bet would be fun or get together a sweepstake at work – you never know, you might win big.
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