Gearing up for the Olympics? The online sportsbooks are

A little over a week left until the start of the 2008 Olympics and the online sportsbooks are preparing as hard as the teams set to compete. Although not as popular as the rest of the major sporting events, the timing for the Olympics has the potential to turn into one of the big betting points in 2008, mostly due to the lack of anything else going on at this time of the year.

But the odds makers at the online sportsbook BodogSports won't have the chance to get some patina this summer - the bookie has already published a long list of odds on the 2008 Olympics. The list of betting props on the Olympics is quite long, but worth mentioning is that the sportsbooks are firmly behind China to pack up the most medals in August. At Bodog the host country is listed with favorite odds 4/5 to win most overall medals, while the USA is trailing behind with odds 11/10, followed by Russia at 14/1. Any other nation would pay out on long odds 50/1. The Chinese are also favorite to win the most gold medals during the 208 Olympics - odds are 2/5, compared to second best USA with odds 13/8 and Russia with odds 25/1.

And although betting on the 2008 Olympics is not expected to reach epic proportions, the general interest in games is unquestionable. Even the online casinos are looking for a piece of the action - the River Belle online casino is offering its players the chance to win tickets for two to the Olympics, all expenses paid.

Published on 07/27/2008