On May 14, 2018, The United States Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which had made sports betting illegal in most (48) states since 1992. In doing so, the US Federal Government allowed individual states to create their own sports betting legislature. As of January 2024, 37 States had permitted some form of legalized sports gambling, including my home state of Massachusetts. Six (6) mobile sports betting apps are currently active in Massachusetts, including Fanduel, Caesars, Fanatics, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, and BetMGM.
As a DraftKings user, I have been searching for beach volleyball odds since legalized sports betting became legal in Massachusetts in January of 2023. No luck. I checked FanDuel, and ESPN Bet. No luck. I resolved at that time to start setting my own future odds and occasional game spreads, and Bet The Beach was born. I started putting my stuff out on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and X user and “beach volleyball bettor” @burnaby_jo reached out. He was finding odds and gambling (quite successfully) on Beach Pro Tour events on Bet365.
This past Saturday, I decided to check in again and, to my surprise, found Tepic odds on BetMGM. GAME CHANGER! I signed up, deposited $100, and was off and running. If you follow along our social media accounts , you may already know I had a VERY active weekend gambling on Tepic quarters, semis, and finals. Here’s the breakdown:
The First Bet
I decided to start with a moneyline bet, picking Canada’s Mel and Brandie to beat Switzerland’s Huberli & Brunner outright. I liked the odds and had Canada as the higher ranked team. I hadn’t seen Switzerland since their 5th in Doha earlier this year, a tournament in which Canada took a Silver.
It was a loss. The first of many, I am sure. Switzerland took it in straight sets, 21-15, 21-19. Gambling is hard.
The Best Moment
Bronze Medal Match, Sunday afternoon, 3:30pm. Barbara/Carol vs. Gottardi Menegatti. I had already bet on the Italian women as set spread dogs the day before, my first set spread loss. They looked great early in that match vs. Stam/Schoon. Then in the 2nd set, the wheels came off. I thought they were due for a bounce back. A moment to show their resolve. And we GOT IT. After dropping the first set, Gottardi and Menegatti showed incredible resolve and keep swapping punches. Stole the set. Won us the bet. Legends.
The Worst Bet
A very wise man once said “Life’s Too Short to bet the under.”
This was my first under bet as a volleyball bettor. The men’s Gold Medal Match, Sweden vs. Brazil. My logic, Sweden was going to win in straight sets, and this gave me better odds than taking them as set spread favorites. Even 21-19, 21-18 would be a win for me. Sweden took their first set 21-17 and things looked good. Then, tight and late 2nd set, Brazil’s #1 team showed why they’re a top 5 team in the world. George and Andre took the second set 21-19, and the bet was dead. Looking back, it was dead-on-arrival (DOA). Never had a chance. Bad bet. Listen to Big Cat. Life’s too short.
The Chase
Any bettor knows the feeling. A tough day, a bad beat, the balance falling. Find the easy out. Chase the win. I lost the under bet in Sweden/Brazil. The third set was just starting. Sweden was down 2-3. I checked the live moneyline odds and found Sweden at +105 to win the 3rd set, to win the match, to win Gold. And I thought to myself, “there is no chance Sweden loses this match.” At plus money?!?!?! So I did it. I doubled my standard unit ($10) and live bet Sweden to win at +105. And the rest is history. Sweden turned things around quickly, established a 3-4 point lead, and sided out like they were supposed to, all the way to a Gold.
The Lesson
So class, what did we learn this weekend? First- gambling is hard. Even when it’s a sport you know really well and follow really closely. The casino knows more than you do, and is better than you. Always. The house always wins. That’s why Las Vegas has all those nice pools. They built them with all of our lost bets. Doesn’t mean we can’t keep trying to beat them (responsibly.)
Set Spread Dogs are the play! I hit at an 80% clip on them this weekend, and love the experience. Just gotta steal one set. Get a little lead, then Side out like you’re supposed to! If you lose the first set, it’s time to learn, adjust, bounce back, and steal the second. When you do take one of the first two, you are rewarded with a stress-free 3rd set to sit back and enjoy.
I started my beach volleyball career with $100 in my account. I went 5-4 on the weekend, and with the help of a bonus bet (thank you BetMGM) ended the weekend up $17.01. The first goal- doubling my bankroll. When we get to $200, we cash out our initial investment then play with BetMGM’s pool making money.
Congrats to Sweden (men) and Switzerland (women) for taking Golds in Tepic. Maybe the story of the tournament was the Cuban men following up two Silvers and a 4th in the last three Challenge events with an Elite 16 Bronze, beating a very tough Germany team in the 3rd place match. Also, a very tough weekend for USA with our four top teams (2 men’s, 2 women’s) all taking 9ths. We’ll talk about all of this and more Wednesday night on Bet The Beach Live, 9p ET, 6p PT on our YouTube channel. You can catch up here…
Chris DeTurk – April 23, 2024
Bet The Beach 
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