Aussie Rules

When it comes to wagering on sports Australia may be one of the best places in the world to do it – if you are a legal resident of the country that is. Betting on sports is legal in Australia and has been for many years. When someone goes to an online sports media site Down Under, not only can they check the scores and find the latest line on the next National Rugby Union matches, they also can place bets, or “tip,” on those matches.

In addition to playing in the web site’s “tipping comp” Australian residents also can set up their own office betting pool. For a fee, the site will set up an account for private groups to enter bets and compete against each other. The most popular sports included in these competitions are rugby and Australian Rules football, a game that combines some of the finer elements of football, basketball, and a barroom brawl.

Aussie Rules Football

What the National Football League (NFL) is to the United States, the Australian Football League (AFL) is to Australia. Both games are national obsessions, both are rough and tumble, and both have been around for nearly a century (actually Aussie Rules football is a good bit older than American football). Both also attract millions of dollars in bets each week games are played.

With some complex rules and options for betting, sports fans can go to regular sports web sites (not just gambling sites) to find articles on the best ways to bet the games. These options include a couple of ways to work the point spread for the eight weekly AFL games and others for the whole season. “Tippers” also can place wager on the winner of the “Brownlow Medal,” given to the “best and fairest” player in the league, the AFL equivalent of the NFL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy

Rugby Plus

The other really big betting sport particular to Australia is rugby. There are two major rugby leagues in Australia and tipping is active in both. Australian newspapers and sports web sites carry news and gossip about the teams and players just like the media in the United States does for football, basketball, and baseball.

In fact, a scan of Australian sports and gambling sites will reveal lots of similarities between the southern hemisphere country and the United States. The exceptions are that Australian sports fans follow English soccer and cricket, instead of baseball. Tennis, with its long tradition of excellence in the country, also is more closely followed than in the United States.