The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the fastest growing professional sports brands in the world. It is the top Twenty20 cricket league and one of the most watched, rivaling even NBA and MLB games. Itâs no wonder the IPL is also one of the most-bet sports leagues, and IPL cricket betting sites are everywhere.
We look at the basics of IPL cricket betting sites and cover topics like:
Odds
Bet365âs combination of quantity and quality in betting odds makes them a powerhouse in the industry; this includes a nice selection of IPL betting markets
Bonuses
Follow the terms and conditions and you can get rewarded up to $200 in bet credits with Bet365; this includes making a deposit of equal or greater value
Youâve likely heard or seen Bet365 even before you got into sports betting; the sportsbook is popular internationally and continues to grow with a wide array of betting markets in cricket and almost any sport. They should be one of your first choices when picking a book.
Read Bet365 Review
Odds
No betting site is perfect and offers a competitive set of betting odds.
Bonuses
Bovada more than makes up for this with its generous signup offer.
Bovada also has one of the smoothest interfaces ever so itâs a hassle-free surfing process for the ICC World Cup betting.
Read Bovada Review
Odds
Bodogâs odds are consistently on point with the betting market although they can be inconsistent when posted; some are posted early but some can be late
Bonuses
Bodog will match up to $200 in free bets if you deposit; they are also flexible in awarding more if you use Bitcoin
Sometimes controversial, the Canadian-owned Bodog has a colourful backstory behind its ownership but fret not as it is still one of the best books around. You will find plenty of betting markets with solid odds laid out over one of the industryâs sleekest interfaces.
Read Bodog Review
Finding IPL cricket betting sites and picks is as easy as doing a google search. You will come across countless articles with many tipsters opining. Some claim they have a pristine betting record. Hereâs a spoiler alert: they donât always make the correct picks.
The IPL can be unpredictable and although it is generally well-lined, finding a tipster who will consistently win will cost you plenty of money or a hard lesson learned.
Instead, you can invest your own time and money into learning more about how the IPL betting works. Keep in mind some betting principles before making your IPL betting picks.
The first is to have a betting budget and to stay within it. Do not nonchalantly bet random amounts. Use a unit system, a percentage of your total bankroll depending on the value of a bet. And this value is something you scrutinize with careful research.
The best research is a combination of the eyeball test and digging up statistics. Some will argue as to which is more important but you need both to get a clearer picture. Statistics may be more concrete and unbiased, but they do not tell the whole story.
Also, keep track of the IPL and its happenings. Keep track of player movement, injuries, and any off-turf events that could affect how the players play.
Keep all of these in mind before making your IPL betting picks.
The IPL is a new league but one of the fastest-growing. IPL cricket betting sites are following suit. It has a different type for format compared to the other major leagues in North America or Europe and it will continue being the flagship promotion for T-20 cricket.
Betting on the IPL is easy once you understand how it works. The first thing youâll need to know is how betting odds work.
Betting odds are implied probability: oddsmakers set betting lines for the public to bet on and the return you get is corresponsive to how likely a result is to happen. The more likely something is to happen, like a team winning, the lower your payout and the more unlikely, the higher the payout.
Odds usually manifest in three formats:
Moneyline: otherwise known as âAmerican oddsâ, this manifest as plus or minus numbers with plus indicating underdogs and minus revealing favourites. Plus shows how much you win on a $100 wager while minus shows how much you need to bet to win $100.
Decimal: the popular format in Canada, decimals make calculating your winnings more straightforward: multiply your wager by the decimal. If odds are set at 3.50, multiply that by your $100 wager and you potentially win $350.
Fractional: or âBritish oddsâ is the other side of decimal format and is what is traditionally used in layman terms. They are displayed as two numbers separated by a forward slash.
Now that you understand how odds work, itâs time to dig in on what you can bet on at IPL cricket betting sites. Quite frankly: almost anything. But letâs start with the bread-and-butter of cricket betting: match betting.
Match betting is the easiest to understand and is thus the most popular: pick the winner of the match. Itâs that simple.
The key here is to determine whether the betting odds have value or whether they are accurate. A team may be the favourite, but at what cost? Sometimes you have to stake 10 times or higher to get a return on your wager.
Play the odds, not the teams.
With that said, there are many other types of IPL bets you can make. Letâs look at some of the more popular ones:
IPL Futures are proof you can bet on this league any time even during the offseason. The Futures indicates you will be predicting an outcome for the next coming season. These types of bets deal with a big picture structure and are wholly different from in-game betting or pre-match betting. Here are some popular types of Futures:
Prop bets are side bets you make that deal with whether an outcome will or will not happen. It is more specific than outright betting and may deal with special circumstances. Due to the broad nature of these types of bets, and their arbitrariness, many books set lower betting limits with prop bets.
But prop bets can be seen as something you can either add on top of your straight-up bets or moneyline bets or something you do on the side.
There are usually two main groups of prop bets at IPL cricket betting sites: the ones related within a match and ones related within the broader sense of the league. Some of the latter can also appear like Futures bets depending on when they take place.
Here are some examples of in-game prop bets:
Here are some examples of league-related prop bets:
The Over/under or totals is another common type of bet and is usually on par with the outright betting or point spread not just the IPL or cricket. The goal here is to bet whether the total match aggregate (both teamâs combined final run total) will go above (over) or below (under) the bookieâs totals.
With each different betting market for the IPL, you will need a different strategy. This is why the first thing to note is to what kind of betting market do you favour?
If you prefer to just predict the outcome of the game, youâll do with match betting. This is straightforward but is also a crowded market. Youâll also need to be more detailed and be keen on analyzing the mechanics of cricket. This is much different than Futures betting.
Weâd recommend Futures betting for the big picture type of fans. If you love to make predictions with how the season will play out or if youâre keeping track of more than one team, this could be a better market for you.
If youâre a casual bettor who likes to just bet for fun, maybe the prop bets will give you your fill. There are hordes of prop bets and you can hone in on players or teams or even random happenings. The possibilities here are near limitless so go wild.
The IPL takes place from March (or April) to May with 14 matches between eight teams. Itâs a double round-robin format where each team plays each other once with a home game and away game once apiece. IPL cricket betting sites will have bets available well before the season gets underway.
There are eight IPL teams with the top four advancing to the playoffs. The IPLâs playoffs work a bit different than most leagues. The matchups are between the first and second team, and the third and fourth team.
The winner of the top-two teams advance to the final while the winner of the third and fourth-placed matchup will face the loser of the top-two matchup. The winner will be the second team to advance to the final.
This can lead to two teams facing each other twice as was the case in the 2019 IPL playoffs when the Mumbai Indians faced the Chennai Super Kings in both the preliminary round and the final.
You can bet on the IPL at any point of the season. Betting during the offseason goes through Futures betting, where you predict an outcome for a team or player. Betting during the season is either pre-match betting (the most common) or live betting, during the actual match.
The IPL is played during March or April and May of every year. For the 2020 season, the IPL was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is unclear how long the suspension will last or if the season will get cancelled altogether. Otherwise, the IPL should continue at the same time of the year moving forward barring the continuation of coronavirus limitations.
The IPLâs first edition dates back to 2008 and while still a relatively young sports league, plenty of records have already been set for the IPL. As the league continues to grow, so will its history. Expect more records to be made and broken.
Here is a list of some of the most significant IPL records and statistics:
Teams:
Most titles: Mumbai Indians – 4 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Best win %: Chennai Super King – 61.28%
Most matches: Mumbai Indians – 187
Most wins: Mumbai Indians – 107
Worst win %: Delhi Capitals – 44%
Most losses: Delhi Capitals – 97
Highest successful run chase: Rajasthan Royals – 217/7 (2008)
Lowest score defended: Chennai Super Kings 116/9 (2009)
Highest totals: Royal Challengers Bangalore – 263/5 (2013)
Lowest totals: Royal Challengers Bangalore – 49 (2017)
Players (batting):
Most runs: Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 5,412 (2008-2019)
Highest individual score: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 175 runs (2013)
Fastest century: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 30 balls (2013)
Most runs in a series: Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore (2016)
Players (bowling):
Most wickets: Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians) – 170 (2009-2017, 2019)
Best bowling figure in an inning: Alzarri Joseph (Mumbai Indians) – 6-12 (2019)
Best bowling average: Kagiso Rabada (Delhi Capitals) – 17.93 (2017-2019)
Best economy rate: Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 6.55 (2017-2019)
Most wickets in a series: Dwayne Bravo – 32 (2013)
Players (wicket-keeping):
Most stumpings: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant) – 38 (2008-2019)
Most catches (wicket keeper): Dinesh Karthik (6 teams) – 101 (2008-2019)
Players (fielding):
Most catches (fielder): Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions) – 102 (2008-2019)
Three points: the IPL betting review
Try different sportsbooks; sign up for more than one
There are no perfect IPL cricket betting sites hence why it makes sense to try more than one. Each sportsbook has its perks and when you sign up for more than one you get to use each to their strengths. You can also avail of each oneâs signup bonuses. And best of all, you get to shop for the best odds.
Different betting markets for different folks
With the amount of betting markets available for the IPL, it can get confusing trying to analyze each one. Donât. Pick and choose which betting market youâd prefer based on your experience level. Try match betting first since it is the easiest to understand then move from there.
Keep betting principles in mind before making betting picks
Your betting principles are the foundation for you. Things like maintaining a bankroll, betting within your limit, and doing research seem like obvious things to know, but so many bettors donât follow them. If you want to profit betting on the IPL, you have to think of it as an investment. Stay disciplined and play with a strategy.
About the Author
Trent’s your man when it comes to all things sports. He covers a wide range of sports for Sports Betting Sites, and has been published in some pretty reputable outlets, such as USA Today Sports, Vice, Bloody Elbow, Fight! Magazine, UFC 360, and Narratively. Trent’s got the inside track on all the happenings in the world of sports.
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