How often have you seen an improbable sporting event come to pass, and have said to yourself ‘I wish I had put a bet on that…’ Well, with Futures Betting you can do precisely that!
In this article, we will explain exactly what futures betting is, how it is different to other popular forms of betting as well as some of the key strategies you can use when placing a futures bet.
Then finally, in conjunction with the markets available at the time of writing at bet365 Sport, we will look at ten of the best futures markets bets you can wager on today.
And who knows, I may even throw a couple of tips your way too!
So let’s begin by asking the most pertinent question:
What Is Futures Betting?
Futures betting is a bet on any market that will not be decided until some point in the future. Most often, a futures bet will be on a market that will not be decided for days or weeks at the very least or sometimes even many months or years.
For example, you can bet on which team will win the 2024 European Championships in Germany at bet365 Sport at the moment. The result of that bet won’t be known until Sunday July 14th, when the final of the tournament takes place in Berlin.
You can place Futures Bets on a massive range of sports and markets. Sometimes for some sports, particularly horse racing or greyhounds, they may be called antepost bets. Other sports can see them called, or listed, in the Outrights section.
They differ from standard bets which are usually played to a result usually within the next 24-48 hours.
Is There Any Value In Futures Betting?
Yes, futures betting is very popular with punters and part of the reason for that is because it does offer customers great value.
For example, the most famous futures bet made by sports fans in recent times was probably those that backed Leicester City to win the Premier League a few years back, at odds of 5,000/1 at the start of the season.
Those that took that price early will not only have been delighted to see Leicester’s shock form put them in contention over the course of the season, but also been happy they took those long odds at that time as by the midway point of the season, or later, the odds on the Foxes dropped massively.
Therefore, the timing of the futures bet can be key to ensure you get the best odds. That may mean betting as early as possible, or perhaps backing a selection to come good when they have not had the best of starts in the tournament.
The aim of futures betting is to get the longest possible odds on your selection, but it to ideally still have at least some chance of success!
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the top future betting options available right now with this top ten countdown!
Top Ten Futures Betting Markets At Bet365 Available Now!
For each of the futures betting options we will state the sport, the competition and the market you can bet on.
1.Soccer – FA Premier League – Outright Winners
Manchester City have long been odds on favourites in this market, which makes the each way bet for a first or second place more appealing. You can back Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham at shorter priced odds for this market and given their starts they look decent value bets.
However, if you are going to go for a winner, assuming that Manchester City are not your pick at 8/11, then I think Liverpool at 5/1 may just be a better call than Arsenal at 4/1.
2. Horse Racing – Antepost – King George VI Chase (Kempton, 26th December 2023)
One of the classic races of the Christmas period, Kempton’s King George VI Chase always attracts a high quality field on the traditional Boxing Day meeting. There’s a lot of good jumpers in the field including Shishkin, Allaho, Galopin Des Champs and the current favourite Bravemansgame.
My pick here though is Jonbon who is a great 16/1 shot for an each way bet.
3. Boxing – To Win Fight – Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk
We don’t know exactly when this unification bout for the World Heavyweight titles will take place. All we do know is that it will be in Saudi Arabia and likely some time in late 2023 or early 2024. Fury v Usyk is probably the fight that most fans want to see and bet365 Sport are already offering early odds on who would win the fight if and when it takes place.
Fury is the big favourite here at 2/5 due to his size advantage over Usyk, but the unbeaten Ukrainian is a very tempting 2/1 to win the fight and I think I’d back him to land a surprise win here.
4. Basketball – NBA Champions 2023-24 – Outright Winners
The new NBA season will soon be underway and the race will be on to see who follows the Denver Nuggets into the history books as the 23/24 NBA Champions. Bet365 is already offering odds on who will be named Champions in the playoffs next year with Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets the three early favourites.
Personally, I’d wait a little bit to see if the trade rumours that could see Damian Lillard leave the Blazers for Miami are true. If he does join, then I think Miami Heat are a great bet here at 20/1.
5. American Football – Futures – Super Bowl LVIII – To Win Outright
The new NFL season is underway, and we have two teams with a perfect 5-0 record at present, the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles. And it is not surprising that they, along with Super Bowl holders the Kansas City Chiefs, are amongst the shorter priced options in the futures Super Bowl winner market.
However, I think that now is the perfect time to back the Cincinnati Bengals to land the win as they returned to form big time last week and now have QB Joe Burrow healthy once again. At 25/1, the Bengals are a great each way punt at the very least.
6. Golf – 2024 Specials – To Win A Major in 2024
One of my favourite bets each year is a bet on which golfer will win any of the four Majors (Masters, US Open, USPGA or The Open) in the following season. That is the 2024 season and you find the usual suspects, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland amongst the lower priced options.
Golf though is a fantastically open sport and personally I think that Max Homa at 8/1 is a good bet to earn his first major win next year.
7. Rugby World Cup – To Win Outright
You’ll have to get this outright bet on quickly as the Rugby World Cup has already reached the quarterfinals stage, which begins this weekend. Just eight out of the 20 teams remain and the smart money is on either hosts France, world ranked number 1 Ireland, current World Champions South Africa or the mighty All-Blacks of New Zealand to lift the trophy.
I backed Ireland at odds of 13/2 a while back and they are now 3/1, so that is a good example of selecting the right time to place your Outright bet to get the best odds!
8. Snooker – Outrights – To Win The 2024 World Snooker Championship
Last spring, Luca Brecel fulfilled his immense potential by winning the 2023 World Snooker Championship. The Belgian will be back to defend his title next year in Sheffield once again where he will face a stiff challenge from the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump and company.
My tip here to back for the win is Mark Selby at 5/1, but Mark Allen at 14/1 as an each way bet is also pretty enticing.
9. Darts – Outrights – To Win The 2024 World Darts Championship
The first and one of the biggest sporting titles of the year is crowned early in January at the Alexandra Palace in London, as the top PDC professionals in the world contest the PDC World Darts Championship. Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and last year’s winner Michael Smith are amongst the shorter priced options but there are also a number of other up and coming players to consider.
For the win, I like the look of recent winner Luke Humphries at 9/1, while Josh Rock at 22/1 could be a decent outside each way bet.
10. Soccer – Euro 2024 – Outright Winner
We still don’t know who the qualifiers are for Euro 2024, other than hosts Germany, but that hasn’t stopped bet365 offering early odds on who will win next year’s big summer football tournament. France are the 4/1 favourites after their narrow World Cup Final loss on penalties to Argentina with England 9/2 and hosts Germany a 7/1 chance.
However, my tip to land the win is Spain at 8/1, who I think have a young and improving team and who are such good value at the present moment.