Betting on the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics


Sochi 2014 logo

From the 7th until the 23rd of February, the Russian city of Sochi will host the 22nd Olympic Winter games. We're going to show you in which ways you can bet on this huge sporting event. Of course we'll also give tips and have a look at the most interesting bets available at online bookmaker Unibet. Hopefully we'll be able to help you make a nice profit with betting on this winter's Olympic Games!

Hockey

Of all the medals that can be won in Sochi, the men's hockey gold is probably the most prestigious. For many Americans, the 'Miracle on Ice' in the Olympic Games of Lake Placid in 1980 is still the most memorable Winter Olympics moment. On their way to gold, a US team of amateur and college players defeated the Soviet Union, that had been dominating the sport for years:



Four years ago, the US were close to winning again, but they narrowly lost the final to home team Canada in overtime. In Sochi, World Champion Sweden (5 to 1), Canada (3.20 to 1) and home team Russia (3.20 to 1 as well) have a bigger chance of winning than Team USA, according to bookmaker Unibet. But we think the US has as good a shot as any of those three, and with 7 to 1 odds, they're the best priced pick among these favorites.

Sochi hockey quotes


These four countries are regarded as the clear medal favorites by Unibet, but if you look at the results of recent years, you'll see that the countries behind them are perhaps more interesting to bet on.
Slovakia (35 to 1) and Switzerland (40 to 1) were the runner-ups in the 2012 and 2013 World Championships respectively, whereas Canada has shown very little in international games recently.

All in all there isn't much between these teams, so we wouldn't be surprised to see any of them claim gold. And with these high odds for the "outsiders" at Unibet, there is plenty of profit to be made in the hockey tournament.

Biathlon

Due to the large number of contestants, it's always difficult to pick a favorite in biathlon, but for the 10k sprint (the first event in this sport) Unibet has picked Martin Fourcade of France (2.75 to 1). Not a surprise, seeing as he's got a firm grip on the top spot of the world ranking.
Most prominently on our list is Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen. He picked up two golden medals in Vancouver, and we're digging his 5.5 to 1 odds for Sochi.

Six time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjørndalen will also be present for the Winter Olympics in Russia. Even at 40 years old he's still a force to be reckoned with. We think the gold medal will be out of his reach this time, but the 3.50 to 1 odds for a medal offered by Unibet, are almost too good to be true.

Cross-country skiing

In cross-country skiing for women, it looks like Norway's Marit Bjørgen and Therese Johaug are going to battle it out for the gold. But it's still interesting to look at the other candidates for a medal.
We think the 3.50 to 1 odds for Germany's Denise Hermann are a bargain for the freestyle sprint, and as far as the 10k classic is concerned, we've put a big red circle around the name of Norway's Astrid Jacobson (3.50 to 1 as well).

In the team event it looks like we're headed for a classic Scandinavian battle between Sweden, Finland and Norway. If anyone could cause an upset, it's the United States women. With odds of 2 to 1 for a medal finish, we think it can be worth it.

At the time of writing, odds for the men's races had not been established yet. But you'll certainly find them once the event draws nearer. So if you're interested in those events, simply check back at Unibet's website.

Bobsleigh

In the bobsleigh it's every man's game, seeing as Germany's André Lange called it quits after his Olympic domination, which spanned three decades (four times gold and one silver). Maximilian Arndt (Germany), Alexander Zubkov (Russia), Steven Holcomb (US) and their partners are the favorites, but only by a narrow margin.
Due to the openness of this event, we recommend that you have a good look at the better odds for the contestants just below these three men at Unibet. Because when there isn't much between teams, it's usually best to bet on those teams with the highest payouts.

Alpine skiing

As far as we are concerned, Tina Maze of Slovenia is a solid pick for the women's alpine skiing. She finished a little bit higher in the World Cup ranking each year since Vancouver, and finally won it in 2013. Maze climbed the stage no less than 24 times in the entire season, excelling in all disciplines.
We were pleasantly surprised to see here quoted at 15 to 1 at Unibet for both the slalom and the giant slalom, because that's a lot higher than she should have gotten in our view.

In the giant slalom for men, Ted Ligety of the United States has been picked as the favorite with 1.85 to 1 odds. That makes sense considering he has been a top contender in this discipline for many years. However, we still remember that Ligety failed to deliver in the Vancouver Winter Olympics four years ago. So we're somewhat inclined to go for Austria's athlete of the year Marcel Hirscher (3 to 1) instead, especially since he beat Ligety in the World Cup ranking this season.

Sadly, Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn will be absent in Sochi due to injuries. Maria Hoefl-Riesch (Germany), Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden (Switzerland) and Tina Weirather (Liechenstein) now appear to be the favorites for this high-speed event.

But since the downhill and super G are scheduled towards the end of the Games, we advice you to wait until some of the earlier events have been wrapped up before betting on this. Alpine skiing is a sport of minimal time difference, so it's smart to see how everyone is doing in terms of form first. When the time to bet comes, you'll find all the odds and bets for these events at the website of bookmaker Unibet.

Ski jumping

The ski jumping community was recently amazed by the extremely unexpected win of Austria's 21-year old Thomas Diethart in the prestigious Four Hills Tournament. The bookmakers at Unibet were immediately convinced and they made him the favorite for Sochi. And that has created an interesting opportunity...

Because now an Olympic win by one of the previous favorites Simon Ammann (Switzerland, 5.5 to 1), Thomas Morgenstern (Austria, 4.5 to 1) or World Cup leader Kamil Stoch (Poland, 9 to 1) can make you considerably richer if you bet on them at Unibet.

We think that the bookmaker has panicked a little bit by shifting the odds so radically, and we don't believe that another chapter will be added to Diethart's fairy tale during the Winter Olympics. An ideal situation to take advantage of the seriously increased odds on his fellow competitors.



Curling

In men's curling, the gold for Canada seems all but set. They're the big favorite with 1.5 to 1 odds, and we can only agree with this.
But something interesting is going on with the odds for the ladies tournament. Four years ago, Sweden defeated Canada in the final in Vancouver, and they're still number 1 in the world ranking. Yet at Unibet, gold for the Swedish women is quoted at 2.75 to 1, which is quite a bit more than the 2.10 to 1 for Canada.

Even though we'd like to see Canada get their revenge, this seems like a good opportunity to place a bet on Sweden. You can play it a bit safer as well: a medal for Sweden is quoted at 1.75 to 1, which is still very generous in our opinion.

Even more bets

We haven't covered all of the sports at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics yet. There aren't enough odds available yet for skeleton, figure skating, short track, speed skating, and snowboarding to give any sensible betting advice. But if you check the Unibet website after reading this, there's a good chance that more information has appeared since the time this was written.

And while you're there, be sure to have a look at the specials as well. You can for instance bet at the overall medal leaderboard by nation. And there are several sorts of bets available for this as well, like the total amount of medals per country, but also the amount of silver medals. There are regular bets, but head-to-heads and over/unders as well. In short: there are a lot of opportunities to make some money by betting on this year's Winter Olympics.

Sochi medal odds


You'll only find bets like these at the Olympics, so it's definitely worth it to have a look at all the unique things that are offered in this segment.

Risk-free bet at Unibet

Even though betting at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi is a whole lot of fun: winning is never guaranteed. Therefore it's wise to make use of the risk-free bet at Unibet, which you will get after signing up and making your first deposit there.

If you use this bonus, the risk to lose your own money is lowered considerably, which means you'll have a much bigger chance at making a profit during these Games!


Keep track of changing odds

One final piece of advice. Many athletes compete in several events, and the results of the earlier events tend to influence the odds of those held later on. Therefore we advice you to keep track of the changing odds at the website of bookmaker Unibet. This allows you to always make decisions based on the latest available information.





top top

Online casino bonus
Betting Spot