Last Updated on July 24, 2025 5:19 pm by admin
When you think of sports betting, football is probably the first sport that comes to mind; however, it is by far not the only one. This article covers 4 sports, including their rules and types of bets that can be placed in them, which can be very interesting to bet on, yet might not have crossed your mind.
Figure skating was the first winter sport in the Olympic Games. It made its Olympic debut in the 1908 games in London. There are multiple disciplines within figure skating, the Olympic ones being men’s single, women’s single, pair skating, ice dance, and a team event which combines the four. Participants in a competition usually perform two programs: a short program and a long program, consisting of a minimum of seven and twelve moves, respectively, according to the International Skating Union (ISU) guidelines. The moves, which include jumps, spins, spirals, and lifts, among others, are judged by two factors: their level of difficulty and how well they are executed.
While figure skating does not have a high viewership globally, it is quite popular in countries with a cold climate, such as Norway, and you can find it on the best betting sites available to Norwegian bettors. As Alex Neumann explains, these sites not only provide betting on all of Norway’s favorite sports, but they offer good odds, generous bonuses, and are all licensed by regulatory authorities.
The following are types of bets that can be placed in figure skating:
- Winner of the competition
- Winner of a particular program
- A participant ranking in the top X
- Number of points scored by a participant
- Relative ranking of two skaters (i.e., who will have a higher score)
Darts is often played in pubs, particularly in the British Isles; however, it also has a highly competitive side. On a professional level, it is regulated by the Professional Darts Corporation, which hosts a number of tournaments.
The dartboard is divided into 20 sections (akin to thin pizza slices), valuing 1-20 points. The thin outer circle with green and red colored portions is the double zone (hitting these scores double the section’s value), and the similar thin circle at roughly half the full circle’s diameter, also colored green and red, is the triple zone. The outer ring of the central circle (outer bull) is worth 25 points, while the innermost circle (inner bull) is worth 50 points.
In a standard game of darts, two players have a starting score of either 301 or 501 from which they subtract points as they hit the board. They take turns throwing 3 darts each. To win, a player needs to reduce their score to exactly zero (“check out”), and the final dart has to be either a double or a bullseye. A darts game is called a leg, with a darts match being divided into a number of sets, which are further divided into a number of legs each.
The following are types of bets that can be placed in darts:
- Winner of a match
- Winner of a tournament
- Whether there will be a 180 (the highest number of points with 3 darts) in a leg
- Number of 180s in a match
- A player wins in a certain number of darts
- Total number of sets
- King of the Oche (a bet that one of the players will win the match, have the highest checkout, and the highest number of 180s)
Weightlifting can refer to many activities, from recreational strength training to a number of sports; however, in this article, we will be talking about the Olympic sport, often referred to as Olympic weightlifting. In Olympic weightlifting, participants lift a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to a position above their heads. It consists of 2 events. One is called the snatch, and the other the clean and jerk. The snatch is performed by lifting the weight in one motion. The clean and jerk has two phases: the clean, during which the weight is lifted to a position in front of the shoulders, and the jerk, which brings the weight above the head. Contestants get 3 attempts at each type of lift. The final score is calculated by adding the highest successfully lifted weights from each event. A head referee and two side judges decide whether a lift has been performed successfully or not.
The following are types of bets that can be placed in weightlifting:
- Winner of the competition
- Which of 2 weightlifters will do better
- The total weight lifted by a participant is over or under a certain value
Table tennis, or at least something akin to it, was first played in Victorian England as a parlour game. It was played with a golf ball, books served as rackets, and a row of books was used in place of a net. The sport we know today developed in the 20th century and became part of the Olympic Games in 1988. Compared to lawn tennis, table tennis is a game more reliant on reflexes than stamina and strength, since the area it is played on is significantly smaller, and the ball is lighter. One of the biggest rule differences is that, in table tennis, the ball must bounce on each side of the table before being returned, which means volleys are forbidden.
Some other rules by which table tennis is distinct from lawn tennis are listed below:
- The player serving changes every 2 points.
- In doubles, the players on the same team must alternate hitting the ball, regardless of where it lands.
- A game is played to 11 points.
A unique feature of table tennis in comparison to lawn tennis, but other ball sports as well, is the heavy employment of ball spin, which affects the ball’s trajectory as well as the direction it bounces in. There are 4 basic types of spin: backspin, topspin, sidespin, and corkspin; however, most shots incorporate a certain degree of multiple spins. The result is a game in which predicting the movement of the ball is challenging and plays a major role. This seemingly chaotic nature of table tennis makes it somewhat difficult to follow as a spectator, yet getting the hang of it is very rewarding.
The following are types of bets that can be placed in table tennis:
- Winner of the match
- Total number of games or sets
- Over/under score
- Score after X games
Betting on one of these sports is sure to give you a refreshing experience. We sometimes become complacent and forget just how fulfilling it can be to explore outside the mainstream.