Winter Olympics Betting For 2018

The 2018 Winter Olympics are here. The Olympic games will officially begin on February 9, 2018, in PyeongChang, South Korea, and will run until February 25. The Winter Games feature 15 different sports split up into subcategories. Fans of the Olympics can bet on each sporting category throughout the event. Our team of online betting analysts put together this page to inform bettors on how Olympic betting works, which sports to bet on, teams to watch and much more. You still have plenty of time to prepare for how you are going to lay out your bets, but it is never a bad idea to get an early jump on your strategy and analysis.

Below we review the top rated online sportsbooks that are legally licensed to accept USA players. Each of these sites are what we consider to be the most reputable in the industry and offer a wide range of betting options for the upcoming winter Olympic games in PyeongChang South Korea.

The Road To PyeongChang

South Korea has been bidding to host an Olympic games competition for some time. PyeongChang was chosen back in 2011. At the time, only 2 other locations had put in a bid to host. These were Annecy, France, and Munich, Germany. PyeongChang won with 63 of the 95 votes. The vote was held in Durban, South Africa, on July 6, 2011, by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

An interesting fact about PyeongChang is they recently rebrand the city with the capital letter “C” in its name. This was done to differentiate the location from North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang. South Korea believed this rebranding would help them establish themselves on the international stage. This also helps avoid confusion for visiting fans when attempting to board flights to South Korea as opposed to communist-controlled North Korea.

Hosting the Olympics is always a strenuous task. If you look at former Olympic venues Rio and Sochi, there were a host of problems. Rio’s facilities were nowhere near ready to host the international tournament and there was concern over the Zika virus. Sochi introduced #SochiProblems as a result of unfinished facilities and the terrible housing conditions for athletes. The IOC reported PyeongChang was 90% ready to go regarding its facilities back in October 2016. They held numerous test runs for the various stages over the course of 6 months.

Layout of 2018 Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympics are spread out between 2 locations—the PyeongChang Mountain Cluster and Gangneung Coastal Cluster. The former location is hosting more events throughout the tournament.

PyeongChang Mountain Cluster Venues

• Alpensia Biathlon Centre (biathlon)
• Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre (cross country skiing, Nordic combined)
• Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre (Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding)
• Olympic Sliding Centre (bobsleigh, luge, skeleton)
• Phoenix Snow Park (freestyle skiing, snowboard)
• Jeongseon Alpine Center (alpine skiing)
• Yongpyong Apline Center (alpine skiing)

Gangneung Coastal Cluster

• Kwandong Hockey Centre (ice hockey)
• Gangneung Curling Centre (curling)
• Gangneung Hockey Centre (ice hockey)
• Gangneung Ice Arena (figure skating, short track speed skating)
• Gangneung Oval (speed skating)

There are also non-competitive venues including the International Broadcast Centre, Main Press Centre, PyeongChang Olympic Plaza, PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, PyeongChang Olympic Village and Gangneung Olympic Park.

Winter Olympics Sporting Events

Below are the 15 sporting categories bettors can wager on in the Olympics. We have included the specific events taking place in each category.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing involves moving downhill on skis with fixed bindings. It is split into 2 realms—speed and technical events. The speed events are Downhill and Super-G and the technical events are Giant Slalom and Slalom. Alpine Combined is a blend of Downhill and Slalom.

• Men’s/Women’s Downhill
• Men’s/Women’s Super-G
• Men’s/Women’s Giant Slalom
• Men’s/Women’s Alpine Combined
• Alpine Team Event

Biathlon

Biathlons are a mixture of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Shooting is split into 2 positions—laying down and standing up.

• Men’s/Women’s 20km Individual
• Men’s/Women’s 10km Sprint
• Men’s/Women’s 12.5km Pursuit
• Men’s/Women’s 15km Mass Start
• Men’s 4x7.5km Relay
• Women’s 4x6km Relay
• 2x6km Women + 2x7.5km Men Mixed Relay

Bobsleigh

Involves riding a sled down a slope at a fast rate of speed. Steering and braking responsibility is divided between the riders.

• 2-man
• Women
• 4-man

Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-country skiing involves crossing a snow-covered field in the shortest time possible. There are uphill, level and downhill fields for athletes to traverse.

• Men’s 15km Free/Women’s 10km Free
• Men’s 15km + 15km Skiathlon/Women’s 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon
• Men’s Sprint Classic/Women’s Sprint Classic
• Men’s Team Sprint Free/Women’s Team Sprint Free
• Men’s 50km Mass Start Classic/Ladies’ 30km Mass Start Classic
• Men’s 4x10km Relay/Women’s 4x5km Relay

Curling

Curling is one of the more recent sports to gain popularity. It involves players guiding a curling stone into a target area. Players use brooms to smooth out and brake the track for the curling stone.

• Men’s
• Women’s
• Mixed Doubles

Figure Skating

Athletes perform acrobatic routines on skates. Participants are judged on the difficulty and accuracy of their performance.

• Men Single Skating/Women Single Skating
• Pair Skating
• Ice Dance
• Team Event

Freestyle Skiing

Freestyle skiing is like figure skating but on skis. Athletes compete at high rates of speed and perform various acrobatic moves.

• Men’s/Women’s Aerials
• Men’s/Women’s Moguls
• Men’s/Women’s Ski Cross
• Men’s/Women’s Ski Halfpipe
• Men’s/Women’s Ski Slopestyle

Ice Hockey

Olympic hockey is the same as performed in the National Hockey League.

• Men’s
• Women’s

Luge

Ice luges are similar to street luges—athletes lay down in a sled and race downhill. They are competing for speed over the course of several runs.

• Men’s Singles/Women’s Singles
• Doubles
• Team Relay

Nordic Combined

Nordic combined mixes ski jumping and cross-country skiing together. Each athlete competes in both categories.

• Individual Gundersen NH/10km
• Individual Gundersen LH/10km
• Team Gundersen LH/4x5km

Short Track Speed Skating

Skating competition taking place around a short-distance circular track. The track is significantly smaller than the speed skating rink.

• Men’s/Women’s 500m
• Men’s/Women’s 1,000m
• Men’s/Women’s 1,500m
• Men’s 5,000m Relay
• Women’s 3,000m Relay

Skeleton

Skeleton is similar to the luge event except the athletes slide face first on their stomachs in an open-air toboggan. The sport is considered very dangerous.

• Men’s
• Women’s

Ski Jumping

Skiers accelerate down a ramp and make a jump. They are judged for distance and their landing in the landing zone.

• Men’s/Women’s Normal Hill Individual
• Men’s Large Hill Individual
• Men’s Team

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is like surfing in the snow. Athletes are judged on the style, accuracy and difficulty of their runs.

• Men’s/Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
• Men’s/Women’s Halfpipe
• Men’s/Women’s Snowboard Cross
• Men’s/Women’s Slopestyle
• Men’s/Women’s Big Air

Speed Skating

2 athletes race around 400m circular ice rink. Skaters are supposed to change lanes throughout the race in the “in” and “out” zones.

• Men’s/Women’s 500m
• Men’s/Women’s 1,000m
• Men’s/Women’s 1,500m
• Men’s 5,000m/Women’s 3,000m
• Men’s 10,000m/Women’s 5,000m
• Men’s/Women’s Mass Start
• Men’s/Women’s Team Pursuit

New Categories For 2018 Winter Olympics

For the first time in Winter Olympics history, Big Air Snowboarding, Team Alpine Skiing, Mass Start Long Track Skating and Mixed Curling will be a part of the events.

Types Of Olympic Bets

There are a range of bets to be placed during the 2018 Winter Olympics. The most popular sports to bet on are ice hockey, cross country skiing and alpine skiing. There will be a series of standard, future, prop, parlay and live bets available over the course of the tournament. Below are some examples of common bets.

Winter Olympic Winners

This involves betting on the winner of certain events well ahead of time. For example, you would bet on Germany to win the gold medal in Hockey before the hockey tournaments even start. In betting terms, this is known as a future bet.

Most Gold Medals

This involves betting on which nation will come away with the most gold medals. This would be another example of a future bet, as the odds of this will obviously shift with each nation’s performances.

Head-To-Head

Head-to-head, or h2h, bets involve wagering which country out of 2 will win the most medals. This is the true test of pride and confidence in your country. For example, you could place a h2h bet between Germany and Norway.

Live Bets

Live, or in-play betting, involves placing wagers during the course of an event. The standard betting format is placing wagers before an event starts. An example of a live bet in the Winter Olympics would be placing a wager on a team during the second period of a hockey game for a team to score during the third. Live betting lines expire faster and usually have higher payouts.

Heavy Favorites In The Winter Olympics

Each year there are several nations projected to sweep the Olympics. These are typically nations with colder climates where athletes can practice throughout the year. As of now, the following nations are predicted to be the best: Norway, Germany, USA, Canada and Netherlands. This information may be subject to change as the tournament draws nearer.

Official Website Of The Winter Olympics: This is only an informational website and does not offer any betting options. However it's an excellent resource to follow the latest news, even schedules, results and more.