The Ace Profits guide to placing tennis bets
This Ace Profits service covers all the major tournaments, including the four ‘Grand Slams’ (Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open and French Open) as well as all the weekly tournaments on the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours.The season runs from January to December, with just a short three-week break over the Christmas period. Meaning there are opportunities to cash-in all year round.
Bookmakers offer several standard betting markets for every match (and dozens more markets for the big tournaments like Wimbledon).
- The two most common markets are Match Winner and Set Betting. All bookies offer Match Winner bets, and the majority also offer Set Betting markets.
- Your Ace Profits tips will mainly cover Match Winner bets – these are the simplest and most widely available bets.
- The service also covers the Set Betting markets, Match Totals, Handicaps and Tournament Winner bets – and any other market where’s there’s a winning bet to be had.
Using a match between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal as an example…
Match Winner markets
Example:
Match Winner
Andy Murray 2/1 Rafael Nadal 2/5
Bet Guide: This is the most common tennis bet, on one player to beat another.
Need to know info:
Different bookies have different rules for Match Winner bets
Different bookies have operate different rules for how they pay out on Match Winner bets if a match is NOT completed (for example, if one player retires injured).
Some bookies pay out on the winner as the player who goes through to the next round, as long as ‘one ball’ was hit in the match. Some bookies pay out on the winner if ‘one set’ has been completed, and void bets if less than one set has been played. And some bookies void all Match Winner bets if the match is not completed.
Ace Profits will only ever recommend Match Winner bets with bookmakers who use the ‘bet void’ rule. That way you will always get your money back on Match Winner bets if either player retires. This also works in your favour for multiples bets such as Doubles, Trebles and Accumulators – if a player retires injured or a match is not completed, instead of making your whole bet a loser, that match will simply be voided and drop out of your multiple bet, with the odds adjusted accordingly.
For Match Winner bets, bookies that use the ‘bet void if match not completed’ rule include: William Hill, Bet365, Victor Chandler, Paddy Power, Stan James and Boylesports. Any of these are well worth having an account with, as all our Match Winner bets are likely to be placed with them.
Set Betting markets
Example:
Set Betting
Murray to win 2-0 5/1 Nadal to win 2-0 Evens
Murray to win 2-1 4/1 Nadal to win 2-1 3/1
Bet Guide: This market lets you bet on the exact outcome of the match, in sets.
Set Betting markets can be a good way to boost your profits when backing a favourite. For example Nadal might be odds on at 2/5 (1.40) to beat Andy Murray, but for a straight sets 2-0 win, you’ll get the bigger price of Evens (2.00).
On the other hand, some players might have a habit of playing out close matches, and the usual odds of 3/1 (at least) for the 2-1 score can provide some decent payouts.
Our tennis expert Gilles Racquet studies all the form and player records – and he’ll send you a text message alert when he finds opportunities like these.
- Another common market is the First Set Winner – this is simply betting on which player win the first set of the match.
Men’s Grand Slam tournaments (like Wimbledon) and the Davis Cup have ‘best of 5 set’ matches. So for those, the bet options would cover all the possible outcomes, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2 to either player.
All other tournaments – the weekly men’s ATP tournaments – and all women’s events have ‘best of 3 sets’ matches.
Match Totals markets
Example:
Total Games
Under 21.5 Games 5/6 Over 21.5 Games 10/11
Bet Guide: Under/ Over bets give you the chance to cash-in on certain statistics and form lines, regardless of which player wins the match.
The most common Under/ Over bet is Total Games. This is simply a bet on the total number of games played in the match.
For example, if Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, the total number of games would be 18. In that case, bets on Under 21.5 Games would win.
Other Under/ Over markets include Total Sets, and for some matches, Total Aces and Total Double Faults, etc.
Handicap markets
For example:
Games Handicap
Andy Murray +3.5 4/5 Rafael Nadal -3.5 Evens
Bet Guide: Handicap bets mean you are betting on one player to beat another, with a particular handicap applied.
The bookies’ handicap levels out the match, so both players can be backed at similar odds.
Games Handicap is the most common handicap market. The outcome of the bet is decided by applying the handicaps to the actual result of the match.
These markets are great for boosting your profits on a favourite expected to win well - or for cashing-in on a fancied outsider or ‘underdog’ in the betting without actually needing that player to win the match.
For example, if Nadal beats Murray 6-3, 6-3:
Murray total games won (3 + 3) = 6.
Nadal total games won (6 + 6) = 12.
Bets on Murray +3.5 Games Handicap lose, as with the handicap applied, Murray’s score (6 + 3.5 = 9.5) still falls short of Nadal’s 12 games.
Bets on Nadal -3.5 Games Handicap win, as with the handicap applied, Nadal’s score (12 – 3.5 = 8.5) still beats Murray’s 6 games.
- Bookies also offer Sets Handicap markets which work in the same way, but using the number of sets won by each player instead of the number of games.
For example:
Tournament Winner – Wimbledon
R.Nadal 2/1
R.Federer 5/2
N.Djokovic 7/2
A.Murray 6/1
J.M. Del Potro 20/1
T.Berdych 40/1
R.Soderling 40/1
M.Raonic 50/1
R.Gasquet 66/1
A.Roddick 66/1
A.Dolgopolov 100/1
(Each Way terms: 1/2 odds for 1,2 places)
Bet Guide: Betting on a player to win a tournament. This is sometimes referred to as Outright Winner betting. Bookies offer these markets for all tournaments.
The favourites don’t always win! Every week there are opportunities to back winners at 5/1… 10/1… 25/1… and bigger.
Betting ‘Each Way’ means you place two bets, one on the player to win the tournament and one on them to finish in the top 2 places (to reach the final). Giving you the chance to profit from the big odds available, for instance on a player having a good run in a tournament without necessarily having to win it. And if the player does win – you win big - with both the Winner and Each Way parts of the bet paying out.
Doubles, Trebles and Accumulators
Multiples bets such as Doubles, Trebles and Accumulators are a great way to boost your profits, by backing several bets to all win.
For example, a £25 single bet on Rafael Nadal to beat Andy Murray at odds of 2/5 returns just £10 profit…
But a Treble on three players to all win at similar prices pays out around 2/1 – and your £25 stake gives you £50 profit.
And it’s not just Match Winner bets. All of the markets mentioned above can be combined in various multiple bets with the bookies.
- For example, two 5/6 Match Handicap bets pays out as a Double at over 2/1.
- Three 10/11 Total Games bets pays out as a Treble at almost 6/1.
***************************************************************************
Note:
All of these bets will be available via bookmakers' websites and over the phone.