One of the best things about online sports betting is the wide variety of options for different sports from around the globe. You could be up really late and find live betting markets at a sportsbook like Bovada for Korean basketball or a Russian hockey league.
With popular sports like NFL, NBA, and MLB, they get the most action from bettors, so those lines are usually very sharp and hard to beat the bookmakers at. “Vegas always knows” is a common line uttered by a defeated gambler after the NFL game they bet on just ended right on the spread and total it was set to.
That’s why you can find real value in betting on niche sports such as darts, handball, or something like esports, which are video game competitions where teams of players face each other in popular games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2.
What makes them niche? They are not nearly as popular, so fewer people bet on them, which can lead to some betting edges if you really study them well. Below, we have included some tips on how to bet on niche sports like a pro.
Learn As Much As Possible About the Sport
If you routinely bet on popular leagues like the NFL and NBA, you probably feel like you’re an avid follower of the leagues and know everything going on. To bet on niche sports, you need to do the same thing no matter how obscure it seems.
With those popular sports, those are some of the greatest, most highly-paid and skilled athletes in the world. It’s not an insult to say the same is not quite true for the world’s best dart throwers if you’re comparing them to LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.
With niche sports, you’re looking at more specialized sports with rules that can be more strict than popular leagues. That’s why you should get to know the sport’s scoring system and any game dynamics or strategies that lead to wins and losses.
Do Your Research
The internet is a fantastic research tool for finding data on teams/players in niche sports. You can even find a player’s performance under pressure on doubles in something like darts or check out a table tennis player’s win rate against left-handed opponents. Use this data to find edges in the odds from the sportsbook just as you would with looking at home-road splits for an NFL or NBA team.
With esports betting, there are many sites dedicated to delivering matchup data on teams and players in a variety of games. Be sure to check out a site like Liquipedia for such data on esports.
Start watching these niche sports any way you can (YouTube, Twitch, Reddit, Discord, X/Twitter, etc.) to gain further insights into what ultimately causes people to win and lose these games so that you can exploit it in your bets.
Uphold Your General Gambling Tips
Whether it’s betting on niche sports or traditional sports, there are always betting tips to follow that will help you become more successful with your betting:
- Manage your bankroll by sticking to a budget and only betting a small rate for your unit sizes for each wager (usually 1-2%).
- Do not chase losses when a losing streak happens as it’s natural. Consider taking a break and collect your thoughts.
- Create accounts at multiple sportsbooks so you can stay on top of the best promos for new and existing customers.
- Shop around the sportsbooks to find the best prices (odds) for your desired markets, and they can vary more on niche sports (more volatile) with less money coming in compared to the more popular markets that have to compete with each other for the best lines.
The sportsbooks are excellent at what they do, but they are not perfect, and if they’re going to have blindsports that can be taken advantage of, they’re going to come on niche sports rather than NFL moneylines or NBA spreads.
You just have to be willing to take a great interest in these leagues and give it a shot.