How to Bet on the French Open

French Open Bets

There is a reason why so many fans watch the French Open, as it has been the place of some enduring battles between the top ranking players in the world. Here are some of the tennis bets available, some of them have multiple types and options that can be chosen from.

Moneylines

The bet most commonly placed is on which player or doubles team will win the match. This is a two way bet which can be placed on either of the contestants, or teams. The shorter odds will be offered on the player or team that the bookie sees as the favourites and the player or team with the longer odds will be seen as the underdog.

For most bettors, these will be the first bets they look at, before they start diving into all of the other markets. Even when there is a clear cut favourite, the odds will still be competitive, as anything can happen during the course of the game. When punters find particular games where the odds on the favourite are high, or the odds on the underdog are unmissable, then they may be tempted to give them a shot.

Handicaps

It is possible to change the odds or risk level of the moneyline bets. Handicap bets are the same as moneyline bets only they come with point advantages and deficits. Handicap bets can be placed on both sets and the number of games.

As the French Open is played in a best of five sets format, when placing handicap bets on sets, there are a limited number of options. A player can have a positive handicap of +1.5 or +2.5 or a negative handicap of -1.5 or -2.5. If a player is given a negative handicap of -1.5, it means that bets on that player will only win if the player wins by at least 2 sets. Conversely, if a player has a positive handicap of +1.5, bets on that player will win if the player wins the match or loses by no more than 1 set.

Handicaps on games work in much the same way. Positive or negative handicaps can be set on the number of games a player wins during the course of the game. A high negative handicap may be -6.5, meaning that the player bet on will have to win the match but also be 7 games clear of his/her opponent. If they win in 4 sets by 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, the total score in games will be 21-16, which is only 5 games clear. A high negative handicap will offer huge odds, but may be more difficult to win. A positive handicap will reduce the risk, just as with the handicaps on sets, but not as drastically.

Totals Over/under

Aspects of each match such as number of games and number of sets can also be bet on. These bets may not directly relate to the result of the match, but they can be just as hard if not harder to try to predict. Some of the odds offered in this market can be extremely long and definitely worth a try.

The over/under market basically works around a two way bet, where a value is presented (called a betting line) and there is a bet on whether the match will comprise of more or less games or sets than the value offered.

Bets for the total number of sets will be for over/under 3.5 and over/under 4.5. For under 4.5 sets, a match ending with 3 or 4 sets will win. For the over 3.5 sets, a match ending with 4 or 5 sets will win.

There may be bets that allow punters to bet on the exact number of sets, which slightly differs from the over/under bets where certain bets pay off in two instances.

The over/under bets for the total number of games in the match offer far more flexibility in range. These work in the same way, with a value that is presented for a number of games. These numbers can include 20.5, 21.5, 22.5, and so on. Some of these numbers can go incredibly high or low, offering punters a huge selection of bets with different odds to choose from.

Odd/Even games

This bet is more of a casual bet for fans who do not mind going for a “coin flip” style bet. This is a bet on whether there will be an even number of games or an odd number of games at the end of the match. There may be a slight advantage to placing money on there being an even number of games, as sets often go up to 10 games, and if the advantage is only by 1, the set continues until a player has an advantage of 2. All sets where there is a tiebreak will therefore end with an even number of games, such as 5-7, 6-8 and so on. However it does only take one odd numbered set to ruin this, so it really is more like a 50-50 bet than the others.

Live Bets

All of the bets mentioned above can be placed during a match as well as before it. The live bets work with live odds, meaning that the odds will dynamically change as the matches progress. When a player is performing well, their odds will shorten, whereas the player that goes behind will see their odds lengthen dramatically. Live bets are useful for fans who did not make bets beforehand, or for punters who want to watch the first bits of action in the game before they put any money in.

Parlays

Parlays can be used to raise the betting odds even higher. Parlays are when a number of bets are placed together and their odds are compounded. For the parlay to win, all bets must come through, meaning that the risk is higher. However, the odds can increase dramatically, here is an example:

Novak Djokovic to win vs Rafael Nadal at odds 2.3

Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal AND Over 24.5 games at odds 4.2

Andy Murray to win vs Stan Wawrinka at odds 1.8

If a €10 bet is placed on all of these bets individually and they all come through, they would pay out €83. If a parlay is made with the three bets, the new odds will be 17.388. A bet with only €10 would bring back a whopping €173.88, with only a third of the investment of the previous three bets.

In the example, two bets were placed on the same match, with a third on a different match. In truth, parlays do not have any limits as to how many bets can be combined, nor whether they should be on the same match or different matches, as long as they do not contradict other bets in the parlay.

Conclusion

The French Open is a hugely entertaining event, and fans can make watching the games even more with some thrilling by placing a few bets. These standard bets are a great place to start when exploring the world of tennis betting, and they are sure to make each match even more pleasurable to watch.