What are Futures Bets?

In Australia, online sports betting can be fun and rewarding at the same time. Sports betting NZ gives punters the ability to place bets on their favourite sports, increasing the excitement of the game and offering an opportunity to win big. But for those just starting out, understanding the different terms can be quite difficult. One term that confuses a lot of punters is futures bets. In the notes below, we are going to take a look at what it means to place a futures bet and how it differs from standard fixed odds betting on every day matches or events.

What are Futures Bets?

Most punters get confused with futures bets since all bets actually take place in the future. Even live bets placed on the telephone are for a time in the future, even if it is a couple of minutes. So how do these futures bets differ from regular bets?

Basically, futures bets are bets placed on a sporting event or game that takes place well into the future, meaning a few weeks or a couple of months. Sometimes, this can extend up to 11 or 12 months. You may be wondering how you can place a bet on a sporting event that will only take place in 12 months.

How Futures Bets Work?

This is the defining characteristic of futures bets. Most futures bets are placed on annual sporting competitions such as the Australian Open tennis championship, the baseball World Series, the NRL premiership or the English football premiership. Each year, there are dozens of annual sporting events that take place at the same time of the year with the same teams or players. As soon as the event has taken place the bets will actually start opening up for the following year.

In Australia, most future bets are placed as fixed odds bets. This means that the betting odds are fixed at the time of placing the bet even if it is months in advanced. If the odds change, you will still be paid out the odds agreed on at the placement of the bet.

An Example

Let’s take a look at a simple example of a futures bet. Let’s say you were following the Australian Open and the runner up in the men’s competition was Rafael Nadal. When the bets open for the following year, you can immediately place a bet on Nadal to win. This far into the future, the odds would be around $3 or as high as $7.

At this point, you have no way of knowing if Nadal will even be in the competition, never mind win it. If Nadal pulls out due to injury or chooses not to enter, you will have lost your bet before the event has even taken place. On the other hand, if Nadal continues to play well throughout the year and is in fine form leading up to the event, the odds will most likely drop to $2 or $1.5. The good news is your bet of $7 will still pay out if he wins. Placing a futures bet requires more foresight and a lot more luck than standard fixed odds bets. The closer the event, the lower the odds offered.