Many of basketball bettors usually decide to bet on men championships and leagues while women basketball does not get that much attention. This is a common mistake as many do not take advantage of such a niche which can provide decent return.
SmartBettingGuideΒ gives you the main basics of men/women basketball betting differences and some tips, so you can quickly adjust to it.
The key differences
Firstly, before speaking about betting differences, you have to understand main differences between women and men basketball.
In every league women play with a smaller, size 6, basketball. Basically, this is the only regular difference, while others depend on league.
Usually we can separate it to three categories of game which depends on WNBA, NCAA and FIBA rules.
The fundamental rules (like a 10 minute quarter length) are the same, but there are few differences that affect the space of the court and game tempo.
F.e. FIBA and WNBA rules give 24 seconds to make a possession while NCAA possessions take 30 seconds.
NCAA 3-point line is 6.32 meters away from the basket. In FIBA and WNBA competitions it is 6.75 meters.
At first sight this may seem not very important, but this makes the same game of basketball be different. Further 3-point distance means less shots from above the arc and more chances to drive to the basket. Possession time affects the number of shots taken, therefore game tempo and scoring. You have to take all these things into an account.
Looking at the actual game, soon you will notice that women score less points than men do. If you like to bet on scoring totals, do not be surprised by some very low scoring games.
Another important thing is the difference between team strength. In professional women basketball (especially outside USA), teams vary in strength greatly. Many teams have very different budgets and good or bad local players, so the competition level differs accordingly to teams. As a result, there are many high margin games. Same applies to the national team level as well.
Women basketball in betting
Betting-wise just like spectator-wise women do not get that much attention. Therefore, if you decide to try yourselves betting on women basketball, you will need an account at some of the biggest international bookies, such as BetAtHome.
Since this niche is pretty narrow, it is important to choose the bookmaker which can provide you most events of your selected league (or women basketball at all).
After looking at possible events you will notice that there are not many leagues available. This is because majority of women leagues are small and weak. Even bookmakers do not have much information about those leagues. Plus bookies want to be sure there are no tries to fix games which may become a problem since professional women players are not paid well.
Getting deeper in this betting field, you will probably decide to pay your attention to WNBA, FIBA international competitions, Women Euroleague and EuroCup. Maybe include some smaller national leagues like Russian league.
These all would be good decisions since very often you encounter the lack of information and even broadcasts.
When you have a chance to get quality information, use that. Many bettors pay no attention to women basketball. Just do not forget the negative which often may be reasonably smaller betting limits.
All in all, women basketball is often forgotten, that is why you can take advantage of this niche. It can be profitable if you put in enough of work.