A group stage to remember
While the first four knockout games of the FIFA World Cup 2022 have ended in victory for the clear favorites, this certainly wasn’t the case in the group stages. Rank underdogs such as Japan, South Korea, Cameroon, and Saudi Arabia all claimed wins against some of the tournament favorites in bizarre results that cost bettors highly.
many of the short-priced favorites blowing out many an accumulator!”
Speaking exclusively with VegasSlotsOnline News, Kindred Group head of sportsbook operations Anthony Cousins explained why these results were bad news for bettors. He said: “It has been a very tough start to the World Cup for bettors with so many of the short-priced favorites blowing out many an accumulator!”
In addition to the “traditionally fancied teams massively underperforming,” Cousins also noted “a host of 0-0 draws amongst a flurry of one-sided high scoring matches” which added to the difficulties for bettors hoping to cash in on the return of the world’s biggest soccer tournament.
Favoring the underdogs
As Cousins explained, the peculiar group stage results also created a shift in betting trends. “With so many favorites losing, there was a trend (albeit short lived) towards underdog betting, with customers throwing caution to the wind and hoping for some continued big upsets,” Cousins explained.
Kindred has also seen this trend in the outrights betting market, according to Cousins, where gamblers are placing money on the outsiders. He continued: “We saw money coming in for unfancied teams as some of the big nations looked uncertain to qualify.”
Bet Builders galore
It’s not just increased betting on underdogs that Cousins has noticed, Kindred customers have also opted for more alternative betting options. “There has been a lot of activity on ‘Bet Builder’ bets, with customers placing the biggest ever proportion of bets on these match combinations,” the Kindred man explained.
customers are adding onto the traditional bet types”
“With an extended offering launched in time for the World Cup, customers are adding onto the traditional bet types with more specific statisitic bets such as ‘player shots on target’ and player’ fouls,’” he added.